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Small businesses are the biggest employers in the United States and are therefore faced with the challenge of attracting and retaining the best talents. Since the economy is recovering from the recession, most workers who had held on to jobs they do not like are beginning to look for other opportunities. At the same time, both large and small businesses are increasingly on the search for top talent among the job seekers and also among employees who are not looking for jobs.
The good news for small business owners is that many people would want to work for them. However, faced with a vast pool of labor force to pick from can be the biggest challenge as well for the small companies. Furthermore, the small firms ought to be sure that once they tap into the best talent, they are able to manage and retain them. Here are some ways through which small businesses can compete against larger companies to attract and maintain the best skills.
Ensure that the company website and social media profile’s appearance has the potential of making a top talent stop and have a look at your company details. To achieve this, correctly and adequately display the company logo, values, short and long-term values, work culture and the brand message. Apart from that, the website should have color uniformity, and the choice of colors should also communicate the values and the professionalism of your firm. You also need to include essential messages for job seekers such as hiring details, through text and images as well as outline the kind of talents most valued in your business. Furthermore, put an easy to use application and submission system to avoid losing high potential performers through the application and submission process. It is also useful to engage in discussions with employees and potentials on the social media platforms.
Make known to job seekers the benefits and packages that are unique to your company. You can do that through social media interviews, online and offline advertisements, e-newsletters and industry articles. Let the job seekers have a glimpse of the kind of organization they would be working in by providing pictures of your modernized office space, probably a co-working space equipped with comfortable furniture and fast-paced, cutting-edge technology. For example, you can indicate that you only conduct initial interviews virtually and is open to receiving non-traditional applications such as a tweet that includes a LinkedIn profile URL.
Any manager who intends to compete for the best talent must offer compensation that will attract candidates. Top skills value good pay that keeps them comfortable as they go about doing the activities of your business. But a competitive package includes more than just the remuneration, other things like the mission of your organization, its culture plus type and level of engagement determine how candidates will rate your company. In the contemporary work environment, skilled job seekers look for employers who can offer a useful health package, an attractive benefits package, flexible work environment and work-life balance. Some examples are, to include things like a rewards cards bonus arrangement, extended maternity leave, on-site day-care areas, telecommuting opportunities , and a paternity leave.
Today’s skilled employee’s look for companies that have more flexible work arrangements with many of them preferring to work under the flex time contracts which allow them to work from home during some days of the week. Another critical thing to consider is to drop the regular working hours and only concentrate on the productivity. For instance, make it known that the time an individual spends in the office does not matter as long as the day’s work is accomplished efficiently. Therefore an employee can report very early in the morning and leave early or report late and leave late after completing the day’s tasks. Many employees will opt out of an organization where their presence in the office is prioritized more than their output.
Talented and motivated candidates would want to be part of a company that gives them the chance to develop and become part of a bigger unit personally. You can create the sense of community by choosing to work in office spaces with bright and lively colors. Moreover, choose an office building whose exterior has a well-kept garden or some lively plants that present the feeling of relaxation. Ensure to use pictures of employees relaxing outside the building on your social media pages and website to give the candidates a glimpse of how peaceful the work environment is. Apart from that, you can include in your publicity pages information regarding recent team-building events and retreats that were full of fun and success. You might consider providing links to learning resources such as online courses, local college classes or higher education specialized programs for working people.
If you already have a team of the best talents, the chances are high that their networks include similar persons. You can check up your employee’s connections on social media platforms or through industry-specific sites. It is also worthy to develop a candidate referral program with perks for every successful referral. The process of using your employees to reach top external talents can save money that would otherwise be spent on advertisements both offline and online. However, that does not mean that you should merely trust any referral because it comes from one of your best employees, as a manager, you must conduct your research on the candidates to determine if they meet the required threshold to serve in your organization.
Your duty as the business owner is to target the right people for your job. In as much as your employee’s networks can lead you to the best talents, you have to choose between different kinds of candidates. For example, you can have three various candidates; one is a graduate who is hungry to land him/herself a job, another is a mother who is just completing her maternity leave and the other is an experienced worker looking for a job-share. You need to pick the person you are sure is likely to thrive in your business. Therefore, you will scrutinize their interests and abilities and relate to those of your company to come up with the best employee.
Team building and teamwork are all about listening to the needs of your employees, talking to them and laughing with them as well as going to fun events like charitable contributions to make them have the sense of belonging to the company. You can also tailor jobs to fit individual employee skills and abilities to make them comfortable in their work as well as to reduce frictions within the work environment. The most successful way to go about team building is to make it part of your organization’s culture. It is, therefore, your duty as the business owner to oversee the creation and nurturing of team-oriented culture. Team culture can be built on simple things like making meetings more inclusive and engaging, choosing an office arrangement that makes people sit as a family and encouraging friendliness and respect among employees and for clients. You are more likely to keep the best talent serving your business when they love the team they belong and the way that group operates.
Organize training aimed at improving the skills of employees and get paid back with better performance plus increased productivity. Employees are also likely to have great respect for the company that supports their personal development about the acquisition of new skills. Young talented workers tend to leave an organization because they lack mentoring and training from the top management. In fact, when dealing with the younger generation employees, it is important that you work towards meeting their expectations of receiving support and coaching from you as their superior. That way, you are likely to make them feel satisfied with the job and have them stay.
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