5 small-business tips for attracting and hiring top talent

Every business, small or large, needs great employees to thrive. The problem is that every business wants the best people, which makes the competition fierce.

How can a lean small business with a limited budget compete in a world of well-known, deep-pocketed behemoths of the business world? Keep reading for five strategies that can help you attract the right people.

Embrace the Benefits of Being Small

Many big companies have hundreds or thousands of employees, treating the individual contributor as little more than an easily replaceable cog in an enormous machine.

Small businesses are different. The leaders of a small business are often directly involved in every decision of hiring top talent. Far from being a standardized part of the machine, each employee can put their skills to work in a variety of roles. This work environment makes a small business the ideal environment for talented, motivated individuals who are looking to make a difference.

Highlight Your Flexibility

Managing employees is a challenge for large businesses. Big companies often have multilayered bureaucracies that end up being inflexible. Small companies, on the other hand, tend to be agile and can offer a challenging and fulfilling company culture for employees.

If you want to attract ambitious candidates who can push your business to be the best, be sure to highlight the autonomy, flexibility and growth that they can expect to experience at your organization.

Talk About Advancement

For someone who works for a company with 5,000 employees, it may be difficult to imagine a path of advancement. But at a small business with 15 employees, it’s easy to see a path to success. You can make this path even more transparent to your employees by offering skills training, stretch exercises and educational programs.

Keep an Eye on Social Media

Social media is a useful place to post your open positions, and it also gives you insight into what workers like and dislike about their jobs. When you post a new job opening, be sure to highlight how working for you will differ from working for a giant in your industry. Show potential candidates that you have created a business culture they’ll want to be a part of and where they’ll enjoy coming to work every day.

Use Automation to Accelerate Your Selection Process

An employer that advertises an opening about a desirable work environment may find itself flooded with applicants, and that means more time to sort through candidates in search of the best. But technology offers an answer. While you would never trust your ultimate decision to an algorithm, automation offers many useful tools that can help you hire the best applicants. In the initial phases of recruitment, these tools let you focus your time and attention on finding the best of the best.

No business will succeed without good employees. Particularly in a small business, a great employee can be the difference between mediocrity and excellence. Do you want to attract great employees? Then tell them what makes your business great.