Start-ups and small businesses need creative ways to recruit top talent.
The same could be said for any size company, but the smaller guys need to find talent in a different way. If your company has three employees, the next person you hire is effectively 25 percent of your entire staff.
That’s a big deal. But how does a small company find the rich talent they need on their restrictive budgets?
You gotta be cheap and you need to be good. Pitch your company with the things that don’t carry a price tag.
1. Hire with emotion
What you lack with money, make up with vitality. You’re the captain of your own ship, braving risky waters. When you get hired here, you’re not employee #345345. You can take pride in that.
- What problem does your product solve?
- What value does it create?
- What greater good does your company do?
True believers want something to believe in. Give it to them. You’ll get extra hours, hard work, dedication and results when match the right person with the right motive.
2. Challenge them
You can’t hide from your actions and you’re responsible for producing. Set the stakes, make the challenge, and watch the real stars rise.
People with real, defining talent need problems to solve. You wouldn’t want Einstein entering data would you?
The world of small business can challenge the smartest and strongest. Present your company’s challenges to your next hire in a straightforward way.
You don’t want the kind of person who will shy away from those dangers. You want the kind of employee who hops up and runs into the burning building because someone or something needs help.
3. Present growth potential
You may not be the most successful business in the world right now, but you could be. Take that sort of sentiment and present your candidate with a realistic, but inspiring pitch for potential.
Your next employee will be able to grow with the company, they’ll be able to grow professionally by expanding their skill set, and they’ll be able to grow financially.
Show the candidate that you understand your market and customer. Show them the level of growth you’re talking about actually exists. Prove your product and business model can attain it.
Your next employee should be smart and very capable of seeing through a pie-in-the-sky billionaire dream (if it’s not based on any real data).
You need to know what you’re talking about to attract someone who knows what they’re talking about.
Ways to recruit top talent
Your pockets may not be as deep as the bigger guys, but your business (or spirit) may be.
Don’t be afraid to speak to your candidates as people. They have dreams, hopes and beliefs. Just as you do.
Find where those overlap to recruit top talent for your business.
This article originally appeared on The Resumator Blog.