Quality employees can make or break a business of any size but are vital to the health and success of a small business. Whether you need to replace a worker who’s left or your business is expanding, hiring top talent takes energy, time, and company resources.
According to benchmark studies conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management, the average cost per hire is $4,683. Though that number might feel like it applies more to large corporations, consider that the median cost came in at $1,244. If your budget for recruiting feels small, here are five ways to help stretch it a little further.
1. Consider Hiring From Within
Small business owners and managers often have the advantage of personally getting to know the strengths and talents of their employees. As businesses grow and change, employees may want to take on new roles within the company but may not see a clear path for a changing job description. As you define the parameters of a new job in the company, consider looking around at the employees you already have. It may require some creativity to add or subtract responsibilities from an existing employee into a newly created job description, but it’s possible a perfect candidate or candidates are already a part of your team.
If your business is undertaking a multiple hire situation, something like an anonymous survey of employees may reveal current employees’ hidden career goals or talents. This information can provide clarity on both promoting from within and drafting a job posting.
2. Optimize Your Job Postings
Armed with data from your existing employees, current and future business plans, and immediate hiring needs, spend some time carefully crafting your job postings. You could involve current managers or department leaders to help describe specific duties and desired skills. Watch out for common buzzwords in both job titles and descriptions that could be interpreted more than one way. An applicant with extensive customer service experience, for example, may apply for a vaguely described “account manager” position, but in your business, that job requires bookkeeping experience. Be sure the posting includes detailed information about requirements for:
Qualifications
Education
Experience
Skills
Special requirements (such as atypical work hours or travel)
And include details for:
Flexible work arrangements (in-person or remote work possibilities)
Paid time off (such as company holidays, starting vacation time, and sick leave policies)
Salary range
An Indeed survey revealed that employers often felt the need to revise job postings because they received too many under-qualified candidates. It will save both yours and the applicants’ time if your posting is clear about non-negotiables.
3. Evaluate Where Your Budget Is Best Spent
Small business owners often carry the load of performing various tasks. Whether your business is just starting out or you’ve seen quick growth that outpaced the hours available in a day, it’s likely there are helpful tools that you may not have had time to research. A personal approach to identifying and crafting job descriptions may feel like a valuable use of your time. Once the applications and resumes start pouring in, however, delegation of some tasks might ease some of the additional load. That’s where an applicant tracking system (ATS) like ApplicantStack comes in.
We’ve all been there: sifting through a long email thread with multiple people to locate some nugget of information about an applicant. Or trying to remember where and how you saved a resume file on your hard drive, only to come up with an empty search box. From your first application to making offers, ApplicantStack organizes and sorts relevant information for all involved to evaluate. It makes for smooth collaboration and prevents dreaded errors that can cause your company to miss out on a perfect hire.
4. Hire Young Talent
Experience and education are hard and fast requirements in some sectors, but consider if your company has room to grow by hiring young people just entering the workforce. These individuals may bring an level of enthusiasm and willingness to learn that benefits the team, and come in prepared for a starting salary commensurate with their position. Your company may consider mentorship as one of its core values to prepare new workers for a long and fulfilling careers.
5. Re-Evaluate Your Public Brand
Ask yourself (or your marketing team) some probing questions about how potential candidates are introduced to your company. It’s common practice for a job candidate to start their research with the basics.
How do you present yourself publicly?
If you have social media accounts, are they updated regularly with useful and informative posts? If you don’t post regularly, do they look neglected? Are they an important part of your business identity?
Does your website accurately reflect the current course of your business? Are hours of operation, contact information, or staff pages updated? Does it function properly or are there broken links or pages?
In terms of cost, social media and website updates can take anything from company time to the investment in an agency rebrand. Low-cost solutions like courses from a social media coach or simple text and photo website updates might make a big difference in your public persona.
New hires in a small business represent exciting growth. Hopefully these five tips can help you recruit quality talent even on a budget. Success awaits with careful consideration of your internal resources and external tools like ApplicantStack. You’ll be organized and on the way to hiring the best workers for your company.
Is your company planning to hire in 2024? If so, you’re among the nearly 60 percent of businesses that expect to add new permanent positions in the first half of the year. This number comes from the State of U.S. Hiring Survey, conducted by Robert Half, a talent solutions and business consulting firm. Another 39 percent of respondents reported anticipating hiring to fill vacant positions.
As you gear up for recruiting processes and efforts, take a look at what you can expect this year. We’re rounding up the 2024 recruiting trends to expect among companies of all sizes.
Recruiting Trends Coming in 2024
Here’s what we’ll cover in our five-part series:
An Increase in Upskilling
The Value of Automation
More AI in Recruiting
Hybrid Work Shifts
More Entry-Level Hiring
Trend #1: Increase in Upskilling
Upskilling is a trend in the workplace that involves expanding an individual’s skillset and abilities. In the past, college grads went into roles feeling like they had the skills needed to perform their duties. But in today’s fast-changing workplace, needs shift and people take on all different roles, particularly when working in startups or establishing their own companies.
In the recruiting world, upskilling is important because it gives potential new hires a glimpse into what they can expect in a role. Providing opportunities to learn and develop additional skills is essential in any workplace, as doing so can contribute to improved retention. Among jobseekers, more than half report wanting to work in a place where they have access to learning and development programs.
Another advantage of upskilling is that it can make existing employees more qualified to take on new roles. If you have a star team member who is reliable, supportive and willing to work hard, why not help them move up and continue to bring their existing talents to your workforce? Offering the chance to learn new skills and become more ready to take on additional responsibilities will only help your business.
According to a survey of CEOs across the globe, more than 90 percent of company leaders who introduce upskilling opportunities see significant benefits. Some of these include improved talent acquisition, higher employee retention rates, increased productivity, and a workforce that includes resilient individuals.
By investing in upskilling, your company may be able to attract more talented individuals and retain those who are interested in improving their abilities. It’s a trend that likely won’t be going anywhere soon, so jump onboard and look for ways to help employees, whether new hires or seasoned staff members, in their efforts to grow and advance.
Keep an eye on our blog as we cover the next four 2024 recruiting trends to expect. Next up: the value of automation in hiring.
If your organization is struggling to find and recruit top talent, you’re not alone. In fact, filling a new position takes an average of 44 days, with more specialized roles taking as long as multiple months. But with the right approach, your business can improve its hiring efforts and strengthen the teams. Find out more about the role of recruitment marketing in building a strong and happy workforce.
What is Recruitment Marketing?
Recruitment marketing refers to the efforts made to promote a brand as an appealing place to work. Throughout the recruitment process, a business should continue to emphasize the advantages of working there through discussions of the core mission, vision, and values, as well as the overall culture. Using this strategy can boost brand awareness and encourage top talent with shared values to join the team.
What’s the Difference Between Recruitment Marketing and Recruiting?
Recruiting is the process of finding and screening candidates to fill job vacancies. It’s something that happens in nearly every organization that has employees, as people leave and their roles must be backfilled. Additionally, small businesses may invest in the recruiting process when experiencing growth that requires the addition of staff.
By contrast, recruitment marketing is the process of targeting people who might be interested in working for the organization, whether now or at some point in the future. Through the use of tools like employer branding and awareness, targeted ads, and social media platforms.
Goals of Recruitment Marketing
As you consider incorporating recruitment marketing into your hiring strategy, think about the goals you may be able to achieve.
Increase the number of applicants for job listings: With more applications to consider, it becomes easier to find well-qualified individuals for open positions.
Improve applicant quality: The quality of the people who apply for jobs determines the success of the hiring process. Improve applicant quality by casting a wider net and reinforcing the appeal of working for your organization.
Support nurturing efforts for candidates: Candidates need to feel supported and nurtured throughout the process, whether they receive an offer or not. Maintaining these efforts when filling positions can also generate more positive awareness around your organization as a supportive and appealing place to work.
5 Advantages of Investing in Recruitment Marketing
As mentioned, it can take a long time to fill an open position. With every day that goes by, the team members of that unfilled role are likely taking on additional tasks and responsibilities, potentially increasing the risk of burnout and declining morale. Reducing the time it takes to hire can make a big difference in overall satisfaction while keeping costs under control.
Lower cost-to-hire
Speaking of reducing costs, recruitment marketing can also aid in lowering what your organization spends on bringing on new hires. As you create a framework for the hiring process, you can reduce the time and money typically spent on various efforts that become obsolete. Additionally, getting employees involved in building the brand doesn’t cost a lot, yet can have a significant impact on the overall success of finding top talent.
Encourage engagement
Beyond just those directly involved in the hiring process, recruitment marketing encourages the entire employee base to get involved with recruitment efforts. Employees can serve as brand ambassadors, sharing their experiences with the organization to encourage others to apply for open positions. You can also request feedback and insights from employees, using this information to market the employer brand more effectively.
Improve candidate quality
Candidate quality is a key factor in hiring top talent. When you don’t have high-quality candidates applying for open roles, you can’t bring on the best people. But utilizing recruitment marketing tactics allows a company to seek candidates who already have similar experience and may be good cultural fits. As a result, you can target better candidates who may not be actively searching for jobs, yet open to better opportunities that come along.
Build diverse teams
Diversity in the workforce contributes to enhanced opportunities for solving problems and responding creatively to challenges. Additionally, a diverse group of people is able to pull information from a wider range of experiences and sources, leading to educated decisions that benefit the organization as a whole.
With recruitment marketing efforts, your business can target specific individuals to fill open roles. Doing so can aid in building more diversity across departments.
Technology for Recruitment Marketing Efforts
Access to the right technology can make a big difference in your company’s efforts to find and bring on skilled individuals, as well establish the organization as a welcoming and supportive place to work. As you think about how you can increase the number of applications and generate a wider talent pool, consider the following tools and resources:
Job board listing management tools
Candidate management technology
Text-to-recruit capabilities
Content creation and graphic design tools
Recruitment Marketing Tactics to Consider
Wondering how to make the most of this process? Check out these tips:
Make the most of job posting sites: Job boards are among the first places people go when looking for new opportunities. Make sure all open roles with your organization are accessible across a variety of boards, including those targeted to specific groups and niches.
Utilize online paid advertising to recruit: It may be worth putting some money behind your efforts, as paid advertising can get your message in front of a wider audience. Some options allow your business to target those in specific locations or with unique skills. Consider sponsoring or boosting job listings to reach more potential applicants.
Use traditional advertising channels: Similar to other marketing efforts, your organization should utilize traditional channels when getting the word out about the employer brand.
Develop a social media recruitment strategy: Social media has skyrocketed in the recruiting world, so get your piece of the pie by developing a strategy that utilizes the top platforms. Advantages of this tool include the option for two-way communication, an easy option for brand ambassadors to share information about open roles, and a wider reach.
Rely on employees in recruiting efforts: Include your current team members in efforts to find and bring on talent. Employee referrals tend to be higher-quality candidates, and current team members may be able to reach passive candidates who aren’t currently looking for work yet would be excellent fits in specific roles.
Showcase talent and subject matter experts: Think about how to incorporate your existing talent and subject matter experts in your efforts to find talented individuals.
Utilize customer base as recruiting source: Use every resource available to you when seeking to fill open positions, including reaching out to your customer base. You never know who may be open to changing roles or knows of someone who would align well with the organizational culture.
You could also look into video recruitment marketing tactics, such as creating video-based employee testimonials or interviews with brand ambassadors and including the media on your hiring page or recruitment ads. Other options include offering virtual office tours, showing remote work setups, and providing a “day in the life”, behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be an employee of your organization.
Recruitment Marketing Metrics: Measuring Your Efforts
After you take steps toward creating and implementing a recruitment marketing plan, it’s essential to keep an eye on the success. Metrics like time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and how long an employee sticks around can indicate how well your efforts are working and what you can change to make the process even better for all involved.
Other metrics to look at for online channels include:
Content impressions
Click volume
Click-through rate (CTR)
Cost-per-click
Cost-per-application
Cost-per-hire
Application rate
Even offline channels have metrics that your hiring professionals can keep an eye on to determine what works and what doesn’t. These include:
Phone calls
Landing page visits
Cost-per-application
Cost-per-hire
Use your data to identify the top candidate sources and measure the effectiveness of new tactics. You can also use the information to determine what your company is spending, on average, to bring on a new hire and whether it’s more worthwhile to hire and promote from within or seek out external talent.
Invest in Your Hiring Efforts with ApplicantStack
ApplicantStack is an all-in-one hiring and onboarding platform that can aid in your efforts to bring on top talent. You can easily use the system to create and post open jobs across hundreds of job boards, as well as connect with social media platforms for a wider reach. Plus, you can maintain your company’s transparency with consistent communication, like email notifications and texting, to hire the best candidate with less effort. Try it for free today to learn how it can complement your plan to invest in recruitment marketing and build a stronger employer brand.
Gearing up for a new year often comes with setting goals and looking toward the future. If your small business is growing (or you’d like it to be), hiring may play a key role in 2024. Explore our guide to preparing for recruiting needs this coming year.
Assess Current Strengths and Weaknesses
Before you decide what positions you want to create or fill, take a moment to assess the current strengths and weaknesses of your team. Identify what skills your employees have and which ones might be lacking. Could existing team members take on additional responsibility after completing training and development? If so, you might be able to put off hiring a new employee, at least for a while.
Identify Positions that Need to be Filled
With a firm grasp on what the team is doing well and where improvements could happen, you can create a list of roles that need to be filled. Maybe you’re creating additional positions on your sales team to fuel growth, or perhaps your goals involve establishing more brand awareness with a bigger marketing team. You could even need to create a new department to provide support or additional resources.
Dig Up Job Descriptions
Now that you have a list of what roles you need to hire for in 2024, you can start prepping for the recruiting process. If you’re backfilling an existing position, the job description may be out there somewhere. Try to find it, but don’t just throw it onto job boards immediately. Instead, review the content and determine whether everything is still accurate.
A job description is often the first interaction a jobseeker will have with your company, so it’s important to make a positive impression. Instead of listing out bulleted responsibilities and skills, why not spice it up a bit and make it more interesting to the reader? Include information about the company culture and what someone can expect when working in this role.
You can also use templates to further simplify this process. It’s easy to create and store description templates within ApplicantStack, a powerful recruiting and onboarding platform built for small business needs.
Jazz Up Your Online Presence
Today’s jobseekers are more interested in finding jobs that are the right fit, so they’re spending more time looking at companies to ensure alignment. If your website is outdated or your social media accounts are gathering dust, take some time to jazz them up. Create or update your careers page to emphasize what you’re looking for when it comes to new members of the team, and leverage social media to get in front of a wider audience.
Improve Your Hiring Process
If you ask hiring managers and small business owners what they dislike about hiring, aspects of the process will likely come up. For many organizations, the process of finding and bringing on talent is clunky, slow, and frustrating. But as 2024 kicks off, why not make it easier on yourself and everyone else involved?
Implement an applicant-tracking system that keeps everyone on the same page. ApplicantStack is affordable yet packed with features, including job posting and communication tools that make hiring easier for all. Plus, you can utilize the onboarding functionality when you find your top talent and they accept your offer.
Learn more about ApplicantStack and how it can help you ramp up your hiring efforts in 2024. Try it for free or take a quick tour to see how it works.
Gone are the days of a “help wanted” sign in the window to fill an open position. In today’s world, jobseekers rely on virtual resources to find and apply for jobs. Job posting sites are essential for appealing to top talent, and we’re covering how your business can make the most of these valuable tools.
What is a Job Posting Site?
Also known as a job board, a job posting site is an online resource for sharing open positions and providing information about how to apply. Nearly all are free for jobseekers, and many offer free tools and resources for employers seeking to fill open positions.
Some job posting sites are more generic in terms of industry, with roles for people in all stages of their professional lives. Others cater to specific industries or niches, such as those geared toward graphic designers or tech experts. You can also find sites that are designed to pair freelance or gig workers with companies seeking to complete specific projects.
Applicant tracking systems can integrate with job posting sites, making it easier to push a description to multiple boards at once. If you handle this process manually, you may have to set up an account with each site and upload the information, one by one.
What Job Posting Sites are Best?
Ultimately, the best job posting sites for your organization will depend on its goals and type of applicants that you want to attract. If you want to get in front of a wider audience, a highly utilized option will be the best fit. When you want to appeal to individuals with specific skills or experience, a niche site may offer more benefits.
Among the free job posting sites, LinkedIn and Indeed rank highly. They have a lot of daily visitors, which means open positions are seen by more people. Additionally, LinkedIn company pages can feature job openings and descriptions, allowing potential applicants to learn more about the organization and workforce before submitting an application.
Monster is a well-known paid job posting site with multiple plan options available to employers. Higher-cost plans offer increased exposure to fill roles faster, while the standard plan requires payment whenever a candidate views or applies for a position.
But rather than setting up individual accounts on these job posting sites, it makes more sense to invest in a hiring solution that simplifies the process from start to finish. For example, an applicant tracking system that allows you to post to multiple job boards with a single click saves time while keeping costs under control.
Setting Up Your Recruiting Efforts on Job Posting Sites
When you need to hire, your company needs to get the job description in front of people who are good fits. Make sure to consider the following steps in the process when preparing to recruit.
Brand profile: Think about your company branding and how it sets you apart from competitors. Today’s jobseekers are looking to work for organizations that share their values and help them feel like they’re contributing to something meaningful and fulfilling. Explore how you can incorporate your brand profile into your listings to give applicants a sense of what they could expect when working for your company.
Writing and posting job listings: Stay away from job descriptions that read like a lengthy list of requirements and opt for concise and engaging content instead. Consider what you would want to see when applying for a job and adjust your content accordingly. You can also take advantage of templates and other tools built into an ATS.
How to Stand Out on Job Posting Sites
Another challenge faced by employers of all sizes is standing out. In today’s hiring world, it can feel like you’re competing against countless organizations, especially when sharing and filling entry-level roles. But you can take advantage of the following tools to maximize your reach.
Organic tools
One of the best organic tools at your disposal as an employer is your reputation. Building a positive reputation as an appealing place to work can attract talent in droves. Utilizing feedback mechanisms from departing employees is also highly useful, as this information can help your organization identify areas for improvement.
Another beneficial organic tool is relying on existing employees. Ask your engaged and satisfied team members to share open positions and recommend people they know to fill them. Employee referrals don’t have to cost the company anything (although offering a bonus for referring a successful hire can go a long way). Nearly 90 percent of employers report that employee referrals are the most reliable source to generate quality candidates.
Paid/sponsored options
Putting some money behind your job ads will generate more views, and typically results in a higher number of applications. The key advantage to sponsoring a job listing is to boost its visibility. Indeed Sponsored Jobs deliver up to three times as many applications as a non-paid option. Employers can hire quicker and get in front of more people when using this tool.
Job posting site features to utilize
Each job posting site will have its own unique features, but some are shared across most platforms. You may need to create a login as a hiring professional with your organization, as well as establish a profile. Once you have completed these steps, you can begin posting descriptions and reviewing applications as they come through.
You may also search for registered users on job posting sites based on experience level, education, skills, and other factors. When you find someone who has the qualifications you’re looking for, consider sending a brief message with an invitation to apply.
Another tool to consider using is building a pool of qualified individuals. If you come across people who would be good fits with your culture and needs but don’t necessarily align with the current positions available, keep their information on file for future needs that may arise.
More is More: Managing Listings Across Multiple Job Posting Sites
Now that you understand job posting sites and how to use them, you can maximize your efficiency with ApplicantStack. Our applicant tracking solution is designed for the needs of small businesses, yet comes packed with the features used by the top organizations in the world.
You can create and manage templates, post to job boards and social media sites with a single click, and manage all your listings from a single location. Plus, robust features make it easy to identify top candidates, schedule interviews, keep the communication line open, and bring new hires onboard.
At the start of 2023, we covered some of the expected hiring trends throughout the year. Now, we’re taking a look back to see which of those trends impacting hiring efforts for employers. Dive into the hiring challenges faced by recruiters and managers in 2023 as we prepare to start a new year.
2023 Hiring Trends
We mentioned internal movement as an expected trend, and that was certainly a thing in 2023. Internal mobility is a significant factor in employee retention and loyalty, so creating and offering opportunities for existing team members to advance are essential in your strategy. Contract or gig work also expanded substantially this year, with approximately 59 million people in the U.S. working in such roles. The demand surged significantly, and by 2027, it’s estimated that over 85 million Americans will perform some type of gig work.
Company culture remains an influential factor in the hiring market. It’s becoming more and more challenging for workplaces with toxic or unsupportive atmospheres to bring on and retain top talent. Investing in culture is a must for a business, regardless of size, to improve hiring efforts. Another trend was identifying ways to allow employees to integrate their personal and professional lives, rather than just separating and balancing them.
Challenges in Hiring This Year
Recruiters and hiring managers faced unique challenges associated with these trends and economic swings in 2023.
Finding top talent
One of the most commonly discussed difficulties was finding quality candidates. Intense competition and low unemployment rates contributed to this challenge, which plagued employers of all sizes. However, small businesses tend to struggle the most with finding top talent, as they may have trouble getting their open positions in front of a wider audience. The right applicant-tracking system can make this easier, with tools to share job descriptions to hundreds of sites with a single click.
Training and skills gaps
It’s hard to keep employees engaged and happy if they don’t feel like their employer is investing in their growth and development. Skills and training gaps are significant issues in workplaces that haven’t made learning and development a priority. When these elements are lacking, people often look elsewhere, resulting in higher employer turnover rates.
Unpredictability in the job market
The economy has played a serious role in hiring and growth efforts among businesses of all sizes and across all industries. Instability and unpredictability have resulted in fewer people looking elsewhere for work, instead choosing to remain where they are to feel more stable. Layoffs in many industries have forced others into the job market, requiring creativity and adaptability among those responsible for filling open positions.
Younger jobseeker preferences
If your hiring tactics are geared toward baby boomers or millennials, you may be having trouble attracting younger jobseekers. Members of Gen Z expect their workplaces to prioritize digital communication and collaboration, and this expectation starts with the hiring process. Without a proven solution in place that simplifies the hiring process, your company likely won’t get in front of Gen Z applicants.
The best tool for overcoming these and other challenges impacting hiring managers and recruiters is an applicant-tracking system. ApplicantStack aligns with your needs while fitting into your small-business budget. Explore how this hiring and recruiting system can help you take your efforts to the next level and build strong teams, despite the difficulties.
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