A Guide to Recruitment for Small Businesses

Recruitment can be a time and resource-draining endeavor, leading many businesses to employ someone quickly to do a job, rather than focusing on finding the most suited candidate. While the urge to get the recruitment process over and done with is entirely understandable, it is likely to affect efficiency further down the line. Having a clear recruitment and onboarding strategy will help small businesses invest in the right people, those who can grow with the business in the long term.

When is it the Right Time to Hire?

Studies show that on average, one bad hire costs $17,000, which demonstrates just how important it is to get the recruitment process right. To help determine whether a company needs a new employee, there are a few things they can consider:

1. Staff are having to put in lots of overtime
2. Routine work frequently has to be delayed or neglected
3. Customer service is falling below usual standards
4. The business is maintaining a comfortable level of incomings
5. There are areas of expertise currently missing from the workforce
6. The business is meeting all projections
7. Staff are unhappy with their level of workload
8. Work is having to be outsourced

Who to Hire?

Once decided on recruitment as the best step, it is time to focus on the type of work to offer, namely how many hours required. While about 80% of the American workforce is on full-time contracts, part-time and flexible hours are on the rise.

Full-time workers are usually paid a salary and will work more than 40 hours a week. Jobs that require less than 40 hours, commonly paid by the hour, are generally regarded as part-time. Businesses looking for short term work might want to consider hiring an intern, as it will enable a business to employ talented and passionate individuals on a limited budget.

Don’t Forget Onboarding

Finding the right person is an important step, but to ensure all this hard work has not gone to waste, a business needs to onboard this new staff member. Research has found that this process of helping a new recruit to acquire the necessary skills, knowledge, and behaviors to fulfill their role positively increases both job satisfaction and performance. Zenefits offers fully integrated employee onboarding software that helps companies onboard successfully without expending additional resources. Make sure you have an onboarding plan before you recruit.

Moreover, when you begin the onboarding process, don’t forget to educate your new recruits regarding pay stubs. Tell them how to create pay stubs online as an easy alternative. Doing so will help your company further when it’s time for filing taxes.

Write a Detailed Job and Candidate Description

One of the best ways of making sure applicants are coming from individuals best suited to the job is to give an unambiguous indication of what the business is looking for. A job description should include a brief outline of what the job will entail and well as some examples of the types of responsibilities involved. It should also indicate the personal qualities a business is looking for. A candidate description should include the required qualifications as well as a list of company values to ensure they will fit well in the working environment. For both the job and candidate description, it is beneficial to give examples and ensure it is as clear as possible.

Employees are some of the businesses’ most valuable resources, and this is why it is so important to take the time to find the right person for the job. Getting everything right at this stage will save pain, time, and money.