How to attract and retain employees
Finding good and reliable employees can often feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Yet in reality, talent is in abundance—it’s grabbing their attention which is the difficult part.
So, what are the best ways to attract candidates to apply for a position in your company?
Social media presence
Like it or loathe it, social media is an enormously beneficial tool when it comes to finding suitable candidates, since most people tend to have some kind of social media app in their lives. Even if they are not looking for a job, your advert may tumble onto the right person’s timeline and grab their attention.
LinkedIn, the professional social network, is a gold mine for talent. Your next hire may be just a few clicks away. By advertising on LinkedIn, you can even encourage your current staff to share the post to their network and thus attract like-minded candidates. You can also use LinkedIn as your own headhunting tool by searching for candidates that match your desired criteria, experience and job title.
Evidence suggests that employees found through LinkedIn are 40% less likely to abandon their new position in the first six months. But even Facebook allows you to post a vacancy and target your ideal demographic. The good news about posting a vacancy on social media is that it is largely inexpensive to do so.
Word of mouth
In addition to utilising digital platforms, the traditional ‘word of mouth’ trick is equally advantageous at finding employees for your business. Encourage your staff to refer a friend—you could even incentivise the initiative with a monetary bonus or equivalent.
And although many people access the internet when searching for jobs, don’t just depend on online job boards and social media posts.
Passers-by, locals and even frequent customers of your business make for equally invaluable employees, so be sure to attract their attention too with posters, flyers and a blog post on your website.
Once you’ve created these promotional materials, any leads you get through word of mouth advertising are completely free!
A business identity
Defining a concrete business identity is integral to finding the right employees for your business.
Whether you are the owner of a creative company, lead a luxury brand or manage a fast-paced and high-pressure work environment, your company ethos needs to shine through in the job advert.
By showcasing your company values and business identity upfront, you’ll attract exactly the right talent for your establishment. Your business identity should outline why someone would want to work for you and what kind of person they ought to be.
Build a solid reputation
Not to be confused with a business identity, your company will also need a sturdy reputation to attract and retain the best and brightest through the doors.
Research by Deloitte found that only 28% of young workers plan to stay with their employer for more than five years, while further evidence suggests most staff leave when a better opportunity arises.
To prevent a revolving door of staff, establish a positive workplace culture with a friendly and supportive attitude.
This alone is enough to retain staff from being pulled elsewhere, plus you’re less likely to suffer a PR hit of poor reviews by disgruntled former employees, the likes of which can shatter your company’s reputation in no time.
Be sure to build a reputation as an employer who truly cares about their staff, and then outline this in your job advertisement.
Here you could mention your company benefits, but remember these don’t always have to be financial: you could offer a gym membership, private medical insurance or simply a regular work social.
Either way, demonstrate that you are an employer who considers the health and welfare of your workers a priority.
Schedule recruitment time
Recruiting new staff can take as long as 23 business days.
Not only do you need to use the right job boards and websites to post the vacancy, but you need to set up time for interviews, optimise your advertisements with SEO-friendly buzzwords, and cater for no shows and other hiccups along the way.
It is crucial that you schedule time to recruit your ideal candidate. And luckily this doesn’t need to be a headache: with a digital scheduling tool like Findmyshift, you can plan in advance and organise your recruitment and interview hours accordingly.