The guide to recruitment for small businesses in 9 manageable steps

The value of each team member is proportional to the growth of your business. 

Strategically outsourcing different tasks and building a team for growth is highly beneficial. It allows you to improve your focus working on the business as opposed to spending most of your time working in it. 

However, one of the biggest challenges is finding the right talent that’s capable of meeting your most complex needs. 

So in this guide, we’ll be going over recruitment for small businesses and how you can improve the selection process in 9 manageable steps. 

What makes recruitment different for startups and small businesses?

Before we move on to the main topic of this article, it’s helpful to understand why the recruiting approach is different for smaller businesses compared to larger companies and enterprise-level organizations. 

This is mainly because of the following reasons:

• Limited funding and resources
• Faster-paced environment
• Significant responsibility for each employee or contractor

It’s especially important to hire those that are a good fit since each person will have a significant impact during the growth phase. With this in mind, one priority is to hire skilled job seekers to handle the revenue-generating activities that lead to an ROI. For example, the sales and marketing components of the business.

9 Steps to effective recruitment for small businesses

We’ve listed 9 steps you can take to establish your recruiting process as a small business or startup company with limited resources. You’ll find from each of these that technology and social media are one of your biggest advantages when it comes to building a talent pool.

1. Identify the jobs that should be outsourced

The first step is to identify exactly what jobs should be outsourced. 

In other words, what are the skills and expertise you need onboard to continue growing the business? 

If you’re also spending too much time on a task that isn’t within your area of expertise, it’s a good sign to outsource the job to another professional. Take note of the skills gap and where a significant portion of your time is being spent, e.g. admin tasks. These are the areas where you could hire someone better to do the job for you.

2. Understand what the ideal job seeker looks like for the role

After identifying the job positions to hire an in-house employee for or to outsource, you’ll need to know what the ideal candidate looks like.

For instance:

• What are the required hard skills and soft skills to succeed in this role?
• Are there any qualifications that are ideal to have?
• How much experience is necessary to carry out the duties and responsibilities to a good standard?

If you’re hiring a freelancer or contractor, take into account their track record as well as what others have said about them. 

Ideally, you’d want to bring someone on board that is capable of finding solutions to problems with minimal supervision. More importantly, they need to have the necessary competence to succeed at the job you’re hiring them for.

3. Write a great job description

Job descriptions are used to advertise a vacant position to attract the right type of candidates. 

A good job description details the expected duties and responsibilities of the role, including the company perks and benefits. On top of that, it includes the core competencies you expect from the candidate to make sure the people you interview are at least qualified for the role.

Without outlining what the job position entails, it’s difficult for them to see if they align with what you have to offer. From this angle, it plays a part in employee retention and turnover. 

However, it’s not enough to determine the ability of a candidate based on what they’ve written on their resumes.

4. Create a career page on your website

Unlike the traditional methods of recruitment, you’re capable of reaching job seekers on a global scale thanks to the internet. 

That being said, one way to attract more candidates is through your online presence via social media and your website. That’s why it’s important to create a career page where you showcase the different job vacancies available.

The more that people find you and land on your career page, the higher the chance of appealing to potential applicants. 

The person also gets an insight into your company culture and whether or not they’re qualified for the role. In other words, candidate sourcing. Naturally, this develops employer branding and can raise awareness of the opportunity you have to offer.

5. Implement recruitment marketing strategies

This is another way to build employer branding and trust with audiences of different backgrounds. 

While it has the capability to attract job seekers for the short-term, i.e. a temporary job position, it could also attract long-term candidates since they resonate with your values. Meaning, they’re a good fit for both the job vacancy and company culture. 

The key benefits gained from effective recruitment marketing are that it improves the following:

• Candidate experience
• Employee engagement 
• Retention rates
• Turnover rates

6. Use a skills assessment to verify the skills of each candidate

Different types of skills assessments are used to evaluate an applicant based on their job skills and performance. 

Instead of using your own interpretation of their application, test how they solve a problem by giving them a short assessment to complete. This lets you see what their biggest strengths are as well as insight into the skills gap in your list of candidates. 

From there, see who’s the best fit based on the data shown from each of their performance. Since you’re taking a data-driven approach, it leads to a more accurate and unbiased method of hiring.

7. Develop an interview process

An interview gives you a better understanding of the candidate in terms of their:

• Way of thinking
• Personality
• Communication skills

More importantly, you’re able to determine if the candidate understands what they’ll be getting themselves into. Including whether or not they can cooperate in a team environment, match your brand values, and meet the needs of your current workplace. 

Alternatively, you can conduct a technical interview to evaluate an applicant for a tech-based job position.

8. Manage your talent pipeline

Stay in touch with everyone and aim to nurture your relationship with each person to maximize the company’s growth opportunities.

Rather than resorting to finding another new candidate, it’s more effective and efficient to retain your existing group of talent by keeping them engaged with the organization. Every now and then, it’s also worth doing a skills test to stay on top of the skills gap in the workplace and see where training could be sufficient.

9. Continuously optimize the hiring workflow

Throughout the recruitment process, monitor the KPIs to see what’s performing well and what areas could be improved such as:

• Cost per hire
• Time to hire
• Quality of hire

For instance, if the time to hire is long, consider using an applicant tracking system (ATS) that filters candidates automatically. This checks for keywords and skills on their resume to confirm that they match your job description. 

Or if there are other jobs that could be handled by an expert who specializes in the area, start preparing to meet those demands ahead of time. 

The alternative option of recruitment for small businesses

Here are some common goals and objectives: 

• Reduce business expenses
• Improve the quality of recruitment
• Consistent business growth

With Testlify, each of these is more attainable because they’re focused on helping you build a team of top talent who knows what it takes to scale. Moreover, they offer an affordable solution to make the hiring process easier by giving you the data you need regarding an applicant’s knowledge and expertise without breaking the bank. 

Their test library contains a range of skills assessments, including customizable tests for you to get more insight into specific traits or abilities. 

Start building an effective talent pool by signing up here for free!

Final thoughts

Aside from hiring a full-time employee, part-time workers and freelancers are also good alternatives depending on your situation. 

However, it’s just as important to ensure you’re hiring the right people to meet the needs of your current workplace. Otherwise, it can lead to serious consequences, especially for a startup company or small business. 

By following each of the steps discussed in this guide, you’ll be on your way to scaling to the next level.