Making the decision to hire new employees for your company is easy in theory, but the hiring process is time-consuming and requires patience. And since hiring a new employee costs an average of $4,129, you want to make sure you get it right. In this article, we’ll guide you on how to find employees — and keep them around.
How to find employees
Instead of simply posting a “help wanted” sign, recruit employees by:
- Creating a good company culture
- Using social media
- Posting on job boards
- Going to job fairs
- Implementing employee referral programs
Having a hard time finding employees?
Since 2020, small businesses have faced many recruitment challenges in today’s job market and struggled to find the right employees. However, there are solutions to these challenges.
Lean on company culture
Company culture is an essential part of finding top talent. It affects every part of an organization, from recruiting good employees to improving employee retention — and it’s the backbone of a productive team.
According to research from Pivotal Advisors, 47% of job seekers cite company culture as their main factor for wanting to work in an organization.
Ouriel Lemmel the CEO of WinIt confirms that showing you have good organizational culture does help during the hiring process.
”In recruiting new talent we have focused more on showing our positive company culture and we have been able to get the right talent,” Lemmel says. “In interviews, we make sure to point out to applicants that the benefits of working for our company also include connecting with a positive group of people.”
Implement an employee recognition program
You can set a good culture for your organization by developing an employee recognition program. Employee recognition programs are crucial to motivating your employees and preventing them from looking for a new job.
A study by Gallup found that employees who feel appreciated are more productive and engaged. For example, if one of your core values is teamwork, give bonuses based on teamwork and not a person’s performance.
Create good onboarding programs
Onboarding programs teach your new employees about your value system, desired organizational behaviors, and norms. Unfortunately, only 12% of people think that their company does a good job in onboarding, according to a Gallup study,
Make sure your new hires feel welcome by having the current employees help them settle in and guide them in their new responsibilities.
Build diversity and inclusion programs
Diversity in the workplace boosts your business’s brand and presents your company as a desirable place to work. Moreover, 67% of job seekers believe a diverse workforce is vital when considering job offers according to a survey by Glassdoor.
Also, consider including job seekers who are disadvantaged such as people with disabilities and ex-felon in these programs — not because of the financial benefits of hiring targeted individuals, but because your company cares.
Listen to your employees
Sometimes what employees want is feedback. When you listen to your workers, you make them feel important and enable them to work harder towards achieving the company’s goals.
For example, consider setting up days when you talk to your employees. Try and understand what they are going through on a day-to-day basis, and where you can help improve the workplace.
Post on job boards
Hiring employees through job boards is a quick way to connect with potential candidates. To nail your recruiting strategies on job sites, here is a list of the best ones with information on the cost of posting a job and the duration of the process.
Indeed
Indeed is the most popular job board among jobseekers and business owners. You can post jobs for free or sponsor them to reach more qualified candidates.
Moreso, finding a good candidate here is easy. There are over 200 million CVs of candidates that might have the skills you’re looking for.
Craigslist
Job ads on Craigslist attract many applicants, and posting on the site isn’t a complicated process. You can target your users based on location. The price to post jobs here is between $10 and $75, depending on the state you are in.
ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter is easy to use for both business owners and job seekers. Use its Quick Apply feature to make it easy to post open roles. According to their company website, 4 out of 5 employers get qualified candidates on the first day.
We Work Remotely
This is the best site to hire employees for remote work, especially if you offer an online job. According to reviews from their website, many business owners have seen success in finding top talent. The site gets over 3 million visitors and it’s easy for job seekers to apply there. Posting a job will cost you $299.
Need some help? Homebase hiring has your back. We’ll post your job description on the leading sites and help you find qualified candidates. We’ll even streamline the onboarding process by sending your new hires a digital packet with all the necessary paperwork, saving you time on human resources obligations.
Review other job postings
Your brand doesn’t exist in a bubble. Check where your competitors are posting their jobs, how they write their job title descriptions, and the recruiting strategies they have to make job search easy for their candidates.
Go to job fairs
Think of job fairs as speed dating — but for recruiting. At a set time and location, job seekers and companies get together to see if they’re a good match through professional networking.
To make sure you promote your company well and attract the best candidates for your open positions in a career fair, try these tips.
Be strategic on which job fairs to attend
Career fairs take place in a wide variety of locations, within specific job categories and many industries. Since you can’t attend all the events, the best resource to use is National Career Fairs which lists all the job fairs for the entire year. Check their calendar to plan out your schedule.
You can also use LinkedIn to find other career expo events that may interest you, using the filters feature to find your preferred event.
Prepare for the event
Prepping before you attend a job fair will increase your chances of finding good candidates. Consider appointing someone to be responsible for the whole event, from registration, travel, and more.
Create a game plan and recruitment objectives for your open positions. These can include:
- Meeting 10 candidates for your mechanic position
- Finding 15 great employees for your sales team
- Creating social networks with 10 employees from our top competitors (job fairs are also popular for poaching quality candidates from your competitors)
Leverage your social media presence
According to LinkedIn, 40 million people look for jobs there every week. And roughly 84% of recruiters already use social media for employment purposes.
More recently, TikTok introduced TikTok Resumes Eight hundred applications were submitted in the first 48 hours, and the numbers continued to increase.
This means your competitors are finding candidates you’re missing if you’re not also using this recruitment process.
To make social media work for you, get creative and show your work culture. For example, you can:
- Show how your organization works behind the scenes.
- Post team-building activities with your employees.
- Let your employees share their personal stories and how your organization has improved their lives.
- Share #hiring posts and state what a person will gain working for you.
- Encourage your employees to share that you’re hiring in their personal profiles.
The best social channels to use are Twitter and LinkedIn, and recently Tiktok. For example, you can try a Twitter thread like this one from your careers page to reach more people.
James Crabtree, the CEO of Complete White Label SEO, comments, “We like to share a lot of what we do on sites like Twitter and LinkedIn, Often, we will get job applications off some of our audience who reach out to see if we’re hiring.”
Need to find employees for the first time?
It’s important that as an organization you get the timing right on when to recruit employees for the first time, especially if you are a small business hiring. If you hire too soon, your cash flow may decrease. If you wait for too long, your work may start piling up.
So, hire employees when:
- There’s work you can’t handle
- There is enough money to pay employees
- You have new business opportunities
- You need to fill roles for new skills
Hiring an employee can be daunting. Here’s a simple process that can help you:
- First things first: Learn the legal rules of an employer.
- Plan a candidate profile by considering the job openings description, role specifics, and culture fit.
- Create your job post openings by picking the right job title, highlighting the perks and factors for the job.
- Review the applicants through their resumes and pre-screener questions.
- Conduct a short phone call to know the candidate better before inviting them for an in-person interview.
- Conduct a physical interview covering areas such as background training, behavior, and personality.
- Verify if what they have said is true by contacting their references.
- Give a job offer through a formal letter and include the benefits and perks package.
How to streamline finding and hiring employees
Using modern hiring systems like Homebase hiring is the best way to streamline your recruitment process. You’ll be able to automate the whole job openings process and get the perfect candidate that matches your skills.
As you can see from one of our customer reviews, we make it easy to post multiple jobs on your preferred job boards and track the right candidates.
What to look for when vetting a new employee
Hiring employees without vetting them can cost you time and money in the long run. To be on the safe side, have a streamlined vetting process to ensure you’re choosing the right candidates. You can vet applicants through their resume by checking:
- If they meet the requirements for the role
- If they follow directions
- Grammar, spelling, and punctuation issues
- Their attention to detail
- If they tailored their resume to fit the job post
Another method you can try is to vet them during the first interview:
- Assess personality and work style traits
- Look out for communication skills
- Ask what they know about your company and why they want to work there
- Get to know why they left their previous company
- What motivates them to work
To help streamline the vetting process, use our free, downloadable interview scoring system.
New hire red flags
As an employer, there are questions that may be offensive (or even illegal).
How old are you?
The ADEA act protects people older or 40 from discrimination because of age in the favor of younger workers in the workplace.
Are you married?
Questions about marital status are prohibited in order to prevent discrimination against women in the workplace.
What religion do you follow?
Questions on religion are sensitive and it’s illegal to discriminate against potential employees based on the religion they practice.
What is your race? Are you an American citizen?
You can’t use immigration and citizenship status against a potential candidate during the recruitment process.
As an employer, you have to file for Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) Form for each employee on their payroll and submit documentation that proves employment and identity authorization, but, you must wait until after a job offer has been extended before asking a worker to fill the form.
Improper criminal background checks
You aren’t allowed to ask about a prospective employee’s criminal record on the application, this shows that you discriminate against employees without giving them a chance.
How to find employees FAQs
What is the best place to find hourly employees?
Job boards like Indeed, Snagajob, and ZipRecruiter are popular with hourly job candidates.
How do I find employees online?
You can find employees online in many ways, such as using social media sites, posting on job listings, and having a strong online presence.
Where can I find independent contractors to hire?
You can find the best independent contractors on job posting sites like Upwork, Toptal, and Linkedin Profinder. You can request their portfolio templates on these sites.
Does Homebase help find employees?
Yes, Homebase hiring can help you find employees. By using our applicant tracking system, we make it easy to manage applicants for your job listings.
To find good employees, you should first create a brand that people want to work for. And once you begin your hiring journey, Homebase can help. Get started today to take advantage of our job posting, applicant tracking, onboarding tools, and more.