Recruiting For The Right Fit In Smaller Companies

Smaller companies face some significant challenges when competing for talent. It’s hard to compete with the bigger companies that have a seemingly endless supply of resources and benefits to offer their employees. Leadership in smaller companies know the challenges of getting insurance rates down, competing with high salaries, etc. These are real challenges.

Obviously, you want to make sure that you are doing everything you can do in terms of salary and benefits. Afterall, most people are working to provide for themselves or their families, even the ones that enjoy their job. But, the fact remains that there are limitations, especially if the budget is tight.

Focus On Your Value Proposition

Sometimes, smaller companies need to focus in on the many intangible benefits they can offer their employees. The candidates that are only interested in the highest pay and best insurance may not be the best candidates for you.

The key is to find those talented candidates that place the highest value on the things that you can offer. Often times, smaller companies have a lot to offer, but have a hard time effectively communicating these things to perspective employees.

Things like flexibility, family atmosphere, opportunity to have a greater impact on the company, more diversity of responsibility, open door with top leadership, etc. are things that many smaller companies can provide. They may not even realize the vast amount of value their company has to offer people who value a work/life balance and a job that allows them to have a broader scope of work.

Drill down on the value proposition that you have for your employees, and find the candidates that value those things. If the candidate has the right skill set and values the things that you can offer them, it can lead to a more successful long-term employment relationship.

Interviewing For Company Fit

One of the things that you want to accomplish in your interview is determining whether or not the candidate is a good fit for the company. But, you are also trying to figure out if the company is a good fit for the them.

Obviously, you need to determine if the person has the right skillset to perform the duties of the job at hand, but that’s only one small piece of the interviewing process.

Focus part of the interview on what the employee values in their job and management. This can tell you a lot about whether or not the employee will enjoy job satisfaction at your company. The importance of employee satisfaction cannot be understated in terms of potential for a successful long-term working relationship. If someone is dissatisfied with the work, pay, or opportunity, the relationship will not last long (or at least the engagement of the employee will be lacking).

I hope this article is helpful to those who are struggling to find the right people to work for their company. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts, or any additional insights you have to share.