Finding staff

Find out how to attract the right staff in the time it takes to have a shower.

Before the water gets to your ideal temperature and the shower gel is lathered up, we’ll help you clean up your criteria for an ideal candidate, sort out what tools you’ll need to attract staff and exactly where to find them.

That’s about five minutes of reading time.

They say that finding good people is hard. And it can be, if you don’t know exactly what you need or where to find it.

The first step when it comes to taking on new employees is figuring out what your business needs and if you can afford to take them on. You can read more about that here.

Defining what you want in a candidate

Once you’ve got an idea about the role that needs filling, you should put together some criteria for what your ideal person is like.

Two important things to consider are:

1. Skills

What exactly do you need this person to do every day, and what skills do they need to have to be able to carry out their job?

Write out the skills you need in a list.

They could range from specific technical skills, such as putting up scaffolding, or a skill like good written communication skills. Decide whether those skills are essential to do the job, or just nice to have.

2. Team fit

As much as skills are important, you’ll also want your new employee to fit into your existing team nicely. Making sure they’re a good team fit for your company will mean that they’re more likely to enjoy their job and stay with the business long term.

Make a list of the values and ideal personality traits potential candidates should have. This will help you understand what your “company culture” actually is.

Attracting and retaining good talent

In today’s digital world, it’s easier than ever to find good talent – but it’s also easier than ever for that good talent to find better jobs.

When it comes to attracting and holding on to good talent, there are a few things to consider. You can read more about those here.

How to advertise the role

When it comes to getting the word out about the role you want to fill, there are two documents that you’ll need to write up:

1. Job description: This is an overview of what the job will require, both in terms of everyday tasks and your business’ expectations of the employee’s performance or behaviour. You should also consider including an indication of the salary range.
2. Company overview: This is where you talk about the company’s values, vision and purpose. This is where you can describe the company culture, which is often a big draw card for potential employees.

How to reach potential candidates

Now that you’ve got some in formation together about what the job entails, it’s time to put the feelers out. Some of the most common ways to find employees are:

Social media

Having quickly become one of the most well-renowned platforms for jobs, posting on LinkedIn is a good place to search for potential employees.

You can also post on your Facebook page and encourage your followers to tag people who might be interested.

Employment sites

Recruitment websites, such as seek.com.au, allow you to post jobs and collect applications from potential employees.

Recruiters

You can engage third party recruitment agencies to help you find potential employees, who will take care of most of the recruitment process for you at a fee.

Referrals

Word of mouth is still one of the best ways of finding people who can help your business.

Reach out to your connections – friends, former colleagues or other people working in the industry. This is often an easy way to find quality employees.

Top 3 takeaways

1. The first step in hiring is defining what role you need filled and what qualities the ideal candidate will have.
2. A job description and a company overview are two tools you should use to attract employees. They let potential candidates what you’re looking for and what you’re prepared to give them in return for their work.
3. You can find potential candidates in many ways, including through social media, employment sites, recruiters and personal referrals.

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