Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often find it difficult to compete with multinational corporations (MNCs) in attracting the right employees to fill up the executive management jobs. Here are some tips for SMEs seeking to woo the right talent to their companies, and helping out with your business:
Create a detailed job description
Spend time defining in detail the role you want to fill, including duties of the position as well as the qualifications, skills and experiences. This may sound obvious, but the more information you provide at this point, the more likely you are to receive the CVs you want.
Make sure you list the required soft skills such as values, attitude, personality, interpersonal skills and personal or professional activities. Some entrepreneurs think that alignment of values with the right attitude is more important than experience. Employees who share the same vision and values as the company and who have positive attitude are more likely to succeed in the company.
Since you are competing with MNCs and other SMEs, make sure the job description is attractive to candidates who are looking for more than working in large corporations or a large pay check. It’s important to convey aspects of the company that will appeal to candidates. Describe how the position has the potential for growth and more job diversity as well as specify other benefits other than salary.
Establish different levels of filter in the selection process
Some employers find it difficult to assess a candidate’s strengths and weakness within the time frame of an interview. A productive way to filter resumes is to create a written job criteria list. Discard the candidate resumes that do not meet your top three criteria. To ensure that the candidates match the criteria, entrepreneurs can communicate with potential candidates via telephone or email prior to the interviews. The initial contact is a good way to test the candidates required knowledge and filter out those who do not meet the criteria. Invest time speaking with previous employers about the candidate’s abilities and experience. Another way to test potential employees’ knowledge and abilities is to conduct a test or project that they can complete independently. Behavioural testing can help you assess the right hard and soft skills of the candidates.
During the selection process, it is important to hire a candidate based on relevant work experience rather than the number of years of experience. A public relation manager who has five years of experience may not be as useful as someone with a year’s worth of previous work experience that meets your company’s needs.
Finding the right talent through networking
While placing an advertisement in the newspaper may attract a large number of candidates, many will not be qualified. A way to narrow down the search is to use social media and websites. You can also source potential candidates through your networks like professional societies, current employees and customers. Candidates who are being referred are more likely to meet the job scope than those who come in through advertisements.
Internships
An internship program is becoming a popular way of attracting the right potential employees. Young, ambitious interns are likely to make a significant contribution to the success of your company, both as interns and as permanent employees in the future. There are a few advantages of hiring interns from local colleges. They are tech-savvy and keep up to date with the latest technology and tools. Most of them use social media such as Twitter to express themselves, demonstrating an ability to generate new ideas and perspectives in the workplace. Young interns are also less motivated by monetary compensation and likely to make the extra effort to learn the rope. Internship is a good way to train potential candidates about the culture of the company. With the correct guidance and practice, these interns can work alongside present employers to make positive contributions to your company.
Think about ways these tips can be applied to your company to help you hire the right candidate.
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