How to find good employees as a small business

While technology has made it easier to publish job postings to a broad audience, in order to identify the most qualified candidates, it is still necessary to implement a number of recruitment strategies. These processes can help your business not only attract more top-tier candidates but also create a better first impression of your business, giving you a greater chance of hiring your ideal candidate every time.

From effective networking strategies and referrals from current employees to using social media to your advantage, below we have outlined our top tips for finding and hiring the best candidates for your small business.

Create a detailed job description

A business must make a favourable first impression to potential candidates when advertising for a role. As the first point of contact a candidate has with a potential employer, it is key that your job description establishes a positive impression of your company through an attractive and well-constructed posting or advert.

It is important to put time and effort into making job descriptions accurate, detailed, engaging and attention-grabbing. When creating a job description, consider the following:

• Keep your title specific: The more to-the-point your title, the more likely you are to pique the interest of the best, most-qualified candidates.
• Highlight essential aspects: Make things like core responsibilities, required and desired skills and the pay range as clear as possible – this will help to weed out unsuitable candidates.
• Write an engaging introduction: By providing a brief yet captivating summary of the vacant position early on, suitable candidates will be drawn in from the first word and keen to learn more about the position.
• Stay concise: According to research carried out by Indeed, job descriptions that are made up of between 700 and 2,000 characters (roughly 150 - 500 words) attract as many as 30% more applications than those that are longer. With this in mind, keep job postings short and to-the-point.

Talk to your employees

Successful and capable employees have a tendency of surrounding themselves with like-minded individuals and other qualified professionals. Although some of your employees may already be sharing job vacancies, Indeed recommends introducing an employee referral incentive programme to not only attract the best new talent to your small business, but also to motivate and engage your existing employees.

Talking to your employees about what they think is missing from the team or what skills they would like to see a new recruit possess is a great way to help you make a recruitment selection, and also helps to identify if there is anyone in the internal team which would like the apply for the role.

Use social media

Social media is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to find good employees, whilst also increasing your visibility for future recruiting opportunities. Whether your business is very active on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram, social media can provide the perfect platform to showcase your business and signpost potential candidates to your website. The Access Group suggests creating a social media profile solely dedicated to careers if you want recruitment and retention to be a priority within your business.

Even if your social connections are not interested in the specific vacancy you are looking to hire for, they may know someone else who is. Thanks to the nature of social platforms, which tend to encourage content sharing and two-way conversations, job adverts can be passed on with just a click. By staying active on social media and sharing not only job adverts, but also photos, videos and day-to-day office updates, you can give followers (and potential future employees) a glimpse of your company culture, which may be the difference between someone accepting or declining a job offer with your business in the future.

Many social media platforms also provide the opportunity to purchase ads, which are able to provide you with better targeting and reach.

Network within your industry

Networking by attending industry conferences, job fairs, conventions and networking events is a great way to make useful industry connections and potentially find ideal candidates for vacancies within your business. Whether you are a new start-up looking to hire for the first time or an established business that is searching for a highly specific role, seeking out industry and role-specific events can open up a whole pool of skilled candidates for your small business to interact with.

Encourage your industry connections to share vacancies with their wider networks and enquire about referrals.

Stand out from the crowd

Broadcasting the benefits of being an employee at your company is an excellent way of attracting applicants. LinkedIn recommends highlighting unique perks, for example flexible working hours or professional development opportunities, to reflect your company’s support of employee wellbeing. If you are unable to showcase such benefits, sharing positive employee testimonials and stories helps to show your company in a good light from first-hand experiences.

Company transparency also plays a key part in standing out from the crowd, with Forbes sharing how next-gen talent now expect job recruiters to clearly define their environmental, social and corporate governance initiatives, therefore it is essential to provide examples of a socially good and open-minded culture.

Utilise online job boards & recruiters

Job boards are simply a third-party website or app that deals specifically with employment and recruitment. Posting job adverts on these platforms will help you cast a wide net and attract large quantities of applications, which can be highly effective if you are looking to fill a junior position or multiple vacancies quickly. Start Up Loans reports how most online job boards allow you to browse applicants’ experience and skills, with the ability to filter for potential candidates, making your recruitment process much more time-efficient.

On the other hand, if you are looking to fill a vacancy for a highly specialised role, seeking out a specialist recruitment agency or an industry-niche job board may be a better option. Although using recruitment sites does come with additional fees, they work more effectively to help your business target qualified candidates, saving you from sifting through numerous unqualified CVs.

Be proactive with applicants

Successfully recruiting for a new role and finding a good employee requires an enthusiastic and hands-on approach. Make sure to review resumes daily and always keep an eye out for talent. As emphasised by The Guardian, it is important to be decisive and act fast if you find someone who is a great fit, to avoid the risk of losing them to a different recruiter.

Secure employers’ liability insurance

It is important to remember that if you are hiring staff, employers’ liability insurance is a legal obligation. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcement and can fine businesses up to £2,500 a day if they don’t take out the required cover – they are also able to fine businesses £1,000 if they fail to display their employers’ liability insurance certificate. You can learn more about this type of cover on our employers' liability insurance page.

Discover more help & guidance for small businesses, here, or read about our small business insurance solutions.

Please note: This article provides guidance for information purposes only. It should not be relied upon wholly when making or taking important business decisions – always seek the services of an appropriately qualified professional. The views expressed by websites referenced to are limited to those of the websites, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Markel Direct.