Assess the Competition
Especially for specialized roles, we highly recommend looking at your competitors to see how they operate. What salary do they offer? What benefits do they provide? What sort of things do they include in the responsibilities and job description?
Often, we’re asked where to start with creating a job advertisement. For us, the competition is a very good yardstick against which to measure. If you’re offering a lower salary with fewer benefits than the competition, prospective candidates may be less motivated to choose you.
Consider the Modern Worker
While salary is certainly important, we need to remember that the modern worker cares about more than just money. In years gone by, it was normal to spend every hour at the office trying to provide for the family; some would only see their children for minutes during the week as a result of their long hours. Now, we recognize the importance of a good work-life balance.
Over the years, Google has captured the attention of the global workforce with their slides, ping pong tables, relaxation areas and more. We aren’t suggesting you should spend lots of money to provide this sort of infrastructure, but you do need to offer an enjoyable workplace where each employee feels valued. The more valued somebody feels, the further they will go for your brand. This will also help you attract high-quality employees.
Offer Quality Training and Opportunities to Grow
You want to attract the best talent, right? Well, you aren’t going to do this by offering a dead-end job. The best talent wants to progress in the industry, grow their skills and feel as though they’re really contributing to a good cause. If you need advice on how to attract talent, Richard Branson is a great place to start. Here are two of his most famous quotes:
- If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers. It’s that simple.
- Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.
Build a Reputation
One of the reasons established businesses are able to attract top talent is the reputation they’ve built as a workplace. As a small business, it might be hard to get the first few through the door. However, as you grow your reputation as a great place to work, it will only get easier. We don’t just mean allowing employees to have fun; we mean allowing them to grow, valuing them and their families, and making them a vital part of your company.
Be Creative
Finally, with the actual advertisement process, get a little creative with the perks you offer. You can’t compete with huge multinational corporations, so don’t even try it. Instead, can you team up with a local gym to offer free or discounted memberships? Can you offer employee discounts when they order from suppliers? Can you offer them a small number of shares as an early employee? Can you offer special attention and smooth payroll processing working with payroll companies (a brilliant move!)?
No matter the size of your business, we hope you learned some useful tips today. Good luck!
