RECRUITING 101 FOR SMALL BUSINESSES |
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Small businesses across Virginia are looking for talented employees to help them move forward. What steps can an owner take to ensure new staff are recruited and properly brought into the business?
The process can be broken down into six steps. Owners currently advertising job openings should examine each step and identify potential areas of improvement. Making some adjustments will help identify and bring the right candidate into the organization.
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Step One: Determine the need.
Identify what position needs to be filled and what knowledge, experience and skills must a candidate possess to be considered for the position.
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Step Two: Provide a detailed job description.
A comprehensive job description not only emphasizes the duties and responsibilities of the position but also:
· Helps the small business owner understand the type of candidate required and should frame the search based on title, position, and location and
· Helps a prospective employee better understand the workplace environment and the duties and responsibilities it entails.
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Step Three: Promote the position.
There are many different ways to advertise a job opening, but not every option is the best fit for each business and/or position. Before posting the opening, consider speaking with current employees about their source preferences when job hunting.
Possible recruitment avenues include media advertisements, employment commissions, online job boards (Indeed, Monster), social media, employee referrals, employment agencies, job fairs, educational institutions, temp agencies, and professional associations.
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Step Four: Prospective candidate selection.
Small business owners need to find and hire the best candidate for their business because the new employee quickly becomes a key factor in your business's overall success. Often, the selection of the best candidate is accomplished through screening. Adequately screening all applicants enables unqualified candidates to be deselected while, at the same time, promising candidates can be identified and further evaluated.
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Step Five: Interview process.
The interview is the first time that a prospective employer and employee have the opportunity to personally interact with one another. It is a formal meeting in which an applicant is asked questions to determine his or her suitability for the advertised position. Additionally, the small business owner is given the opportunity to specifically “sell” both the position as well as the company. The importance of advanced preparations cannot be overstated. Questions should be designed to obtain information about the applicant’s relevant experiences and capabilities. Questions about the applicant’s race, ethnicity, color, gender, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, or country of origin should never be asked.
After the interview, the goal is to narrow down the list of candidates to those with the greatest future potential for the organization.
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Step Six: Offer, hire, and onboard.
Extend the job offer to the selected candidate. Typically done over the phone, sometimes the offer is followed up with a written letter. Once the offer is accepted, time should be scheduled for the new hire to complete any additional training and to complete a form of “workplace orientation.”
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Finally, small business owners must realize that there are two selling processes occurring simultaneously during the recruiting process. The prospective candidate is selling him or herself to a prospective employee while, at the same, the small business owner is “selling” the opportunity and business to the candidate.
While the process can seem daunting, the importance of small business owners properly preparing for the recruitment of new employees cannot be overstated. Following an established procedure minimizes the number of disruptions to operations, especially at this critical time in the recovery and reopening process.
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LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES THIS MONTH |
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FUNDAMENTALS OF CYBERSECURITY
Wednesday July 14, 2021 at 12:00 PM
Virginia SBDC Cybersecurity Advisor, Tom Stamulis, will discuss current threats impacting small businesses and the risks that could impact the operations of your business.
He will introduce fundamental cybersecurity controls, which are in alignment with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model developed by the Department of Defense.
He will provide instructions on how every small business can implement these controls using the people, processes, and technology they have in place.
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HUBZONE CERTIFICATION OVERVIEW
Wednesday July 14 at 10:00 AM
This session, presented by Shirelle Taliaferro, Deputy District Director, Richmond District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration, will provide important information about HUBZone certification.
The process for certification and the criteria to become HUBZone certified will be discussed.
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Cybersecurity awareness is essential for all businesses regardless of size. Your employees are the first line of defense in protecting your digital information and your business from hackers. This training will focus on the latest online threats such as phishing, malware, and ransomware. During this session the Virginia SBDC Cybersecurity Advisor, Tom Stamulis, will provide an overview of the latest threats along with tips that every employee can use to protect your network.
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Interested in pivoting more of your efforts to ONLINE SALES?
This session will cover:
- the variety of websites available, upgrading possibilities, and the costs associated to an ecommerce website
- the various e-commerce platforms and how to select the best one for you
- how to maximize your e-commerce website
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