Recruit: How To Attract The Right People

Sourcing is about finding attractive candidates. Recruiting is about being attractive to candidates. Employees have countless options for employment, why should they pick you? What can you do to make yourself an “employer of choice” within your market? THE place to work.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a waiting list of potential employees instead of struggling to find them? The following ideas will make you more attractive to candidates.

Perception & Presentation of Company

Everything you do reflects on the perception of your business, your company, your brand…

• every policy you have,
• every piece of printed or online material,
• your name tags,
• to the font you use in your signage,
• to if you call the CEO of your company by her last name or she prefers a first name.

A sloppy hand-written Hours of Operation sign or dirty bathrooms contradict all the money spent on branding and advertising.

Does this sign look like something you expect at a Starbucks? They are a huge, premium, well-put-together brand. But this sign makes you question the quality and operations at this location.

On the other hand, the Silver Diner has atop their customer comment/feedback cards… “If I owned the Silver Diner I would…” This question allows the Silver Diner to get the broadest feedback possible.

An Employee In-Hand, Is Worth Two in the Bush:

Pay More than the Others

We don’t need to explain to you, hiring, training and keeping good employees is time-consuming and expensive.

Pay workers more if you want to…

• ask and get more from your employees,
• hire those with better skills, and
• keep them longer – pay them more.

Pay more than the market rate for your employees. While labor budget is often considered such a challenge, by paying more you can expect more and attract better employees. The money you save may save in keeping your labor rate low, you lose in having to churn and train new employees.  It is much better to have a smooth, efficient running business full of capable staff who can think and make smart decisions than a revolving door of lower skilled staff, always asking and needing support to do their job.

By offering more than anyone else in the area, you’ll be able to attract more candidates, and expect more of them – better service, more smiling, friendlier attitude.

Remember, pay is more than just the salary, you can also offer better insurance, vacation, and sick leave, and other perks.

Check out our “20 Unique Company Perks” to spark ideas for your company.

How do you put your best foot forward to attract an employee?