How To Recruit High-Performing Employees: Hiring For A Startup

The recruiting process can be challenging, especially in today’s economy with such demanding salaries. Yet, it is such a crucial process in consolidating your startup. You must see it as a tipping point where your success can either rise or fall. According to a Career Builder survey, the average cost of a bad hire is $14,900. Poor hiring can negatively impact the productivity of your startup and lead to revenue loss.

Hiring the right people at the right time is particularly necessary for startups, especially when they grow from five to 50 employees in a short period of time. Founders may become desperate and hire inefficient workers to fill gaps. In this article, we’ll show you some techniques you can use to optimize the hiring process in your startup.

This post is from a Elizabeth Mackenzie, a guest contributor from Global Associates.

Leverage Your Employer Brand

What most entrepreneurs don’t know is the hiring process of a startup can be even more challenging than the initial stages of building your company. Employer branding helps organizations attract top talent by showcasing their culture, mission, and values. It’s a strategic marketing process that lets businesses tell the story of why they are the best place to work.

Most people decide whether to work for a company within the first few minutes of meeting its employees. This is when the brand matters the most. With an effective employer brand, your staff will be more likely to be hired for positions, stay with your company for longer, and become brand advocates. An employer brand can help you attract top talent, retain your existing employees, and improve your company culture.

Identify Which Position(s) to Hire  

You need marketing, so you hire a marketing person–right? It depends… A critical decision to make at the onset of a hiring decision is whether or not it should be fulfilled in house or by a team of experts.  

We suggest a combination. There are some tasks you’ll absolutely want handled by your internal team, while others can be managed (or even automated) by engaging a third party. And this is not to deter you from hiring–the point is to help you make more strategic hiring decisions. By engaging third parties or designing systems to manage certain workflows, you reserve capital for attracting and retaining top talent in those critical areas.  

Dr. Wang and Joey discuss the importance of digital transformation and the role it plays when considering hiring decisions.

For more insights like these, check out the Business Intelligence Podcast

Prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practices

In today’s competitive hiring landscape, it is more important than ever for startups to stand out from the crowd and attract top talent. To achieve this, employers must demonstrate their commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace by adopting these practices.

Investing in diversity, equity, and inclusive hiring practices can significantly increase the hiring of high-performing candidates. Startups that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion have been found to have higher employee engagement, higher staff retention, and increased company productivity.  

Offer Employee Benefits and Perks

Employee benefits can help you attract top talent, as well as retain your current employees. When hiring new employees, ensure you’re offering them benefits that they’re interested in. A good way to do this is by asking what type of benefits they’re interested in during the interview process. That way, you can make sure you’re offering them something they’re interested in.

Employee benefits and perks can come in the form of healthcare, family/medical leave, paid time off, flexible work schedules, a retirement plan, life insurance, disability insurance, a wellness plan, tuition reimbursement, a company-funded pension plan, a profit-sharing plan, a relocation allowance, and more.

Create Compelling Job Descriptions

Writing an efficient job description is crucial for attracting and hiring high-performing teams. However, most businesses fail to write compelling job descriptions. You can’t make the same mistakes. Below are a few tips to consider:

1. Use a captivating tone: You don’t want to use a dull tone when writing job descriptions. The goal is to keep it personal while evoking emotions.
2. Add keywords. Keep in mind that job boards typically use keywords for job research and to recommend job postings to potential candidates.
3. Keep it precise and concise. Keep in mind that you’re also looking for passive candidates. These are people who already have a job and aren’t necessarily looking for another but might be interested in working with you if they find an appealing offer. These candidates are already busy, so all they need is to read something simple and precise.  
4. Emphasize the benefits of working at your company. A good idea is to ask your employees what they enjoy most about working for your startup. You will be able to give unbiased feedback about the benefits of working at your startup in the job description.

Assure Candidates That You Offer Training Opportunities

There is no better way to show that your company is committed to its employees’ growth and success than by offering ongoing training and development opportunities. Training provides positive outcomes in the long term.  

It is important to let candidates know that you offer training to help them grow their careers, as this proves that you are invested in their success. You can ensure that your employees enroll in an online coding bootcamp like General Assembly, Thinkful, Coding Dojo, Springboard, and App Academy.

Conclusion

Hiring for a startup is a crucial and fundamental step for your company’s growth. You need to be prepared, conduct research, evaluate your needs and create a strategy that works for you. Keep in mind that you should treat potential candidates the same way you would treat your clients. That is why you should use the right words, highlight your abilities, and keep your message brief.

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