Practical Ways To Save Money When Hiring Employees

The second chapter of the year is done. With 2019 in full swing, now is the time for business to open vacancies and focus on meeting their staffing needs. The hiring process can exhaust someone’s time, effort, and money. There is no doubt that hiring can be cumbersome!

On that note, here are practical tips that you can apply during hiring process.

BEGIN WITH THE INTERNAL CANDIDATES

One of the simplest ways to make hiring more efficient is to consider the talent within your company. Hiring internally entails that you do not have to worry about background checks or goodness of fit. Your current talent has already been coherent with the team and has already completed the reference checks.

If you are looking for a principal, perhaps you can source out from your current teacher pool! You just have to train him or her. Promoting existing employees will not necessarily help you avoid training. Instead, you are leading an employee to a smoother transition with his or her basic knowledge in mind.

SPEAK TO THE CANDIDATES THROUGH THE PHONE

Conducting multiple face-to-face interviews is a waste of time! Instead, you must filter out the applicant pile by conducting a phone interview. Screening through the phone is a quick, cost-friendly, and easy way to ensure that the employer’s basic requirements are met.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Once you weed out the bright from the dull candidates, you can reserve a slot for the candidate to meet the Hiring Manager. This way, the Hiring Manager can focus on more important tasks at hand.

CONSIDER HIRING INTERNS

Many companies and startups can agree that interns carry a huge value in the team. Firstly, hiring them is cost efficient. You give them the substantial experience they need for the “real” world while they provide you with their inexpensive services. Secondly, you can train a potential employee. You will know all of his or her strengths, weaknesses, skills, knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and work ethics. Choose your interns wisely.

All the hard work is done! Consider hiring an employee from the interns that impressed you.

SCHEDULE THE INTERVIEW PERIOD STRATEGICALLY

It is no secret that the hiring process takes time. Screening the potential candidates or writing a job description can already take up your entire day. To ignite productivity within the hiring process, you must arrange for all key players to commit to being available within a week-long stretch. Doing so will prevent you from having gaps between the candidate phone screens and the candidate meetings.

You will be able to make decisions smarter and sooner.

GET SOCIAL WITH THE CANDIDATES

Did you know that more than 90% of companies prefer to recruit through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn? Yes! Times have changed and you must too.

Have your Human Resources team (or do it yourself) analyze the social media presence of a potential candidate. You will be surprised with what you can uncover! This is a good strategy, especially if you are hiring employees in the Silicon Valley.

MAKE CLEAR AND CONCISE JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Last but not the least, you must create clear and specific job descriptions. There is a higher chance of attracting the right candidate when you invest your time in making sure that job listings are detailed and precise.

State the skills and qualifications that you are looking for. Furthermore, you may state the qualities or behavior that are deal-breakers for you. For instance, the candidate himself will skip through your listing when the skills you are looking for are not parts of his repertoire. The candidates will have a realistic sense of what they have applied for.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Good luck with the tricky and complex period of hiring! 🙂

Sources: 1 & 2

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Helpful Tips For Hiring Employees As A Startup

One of the most stressful tasks that business owners ought to face is the hiring process. In particular, each new hire for a startup causes a significant impact on the work culture. Why is this so? Cultivating a business from scratch entails that the stakes are high. The owner is diving into the market with an innovative business model. Thus, he or she needs to ensure that the recruits are creative, passionate, and committed.

Considering all these factors as well as the limited resources makes the hiring process more complicated. On that note, here are 5 helpful tips to ease the stress of recruitment.

1. FAIR PAYMENT

Whether you are aware of it or not, many startup owners undermine the worth of a position. These owners offer salaries based on the company’s size instead of the market’s competitive rate. As a result, the recruitment efforts seem to be unsuccessful. Who can blame the candidates?

If the going rate for administrative officers or receptionists is S$12 per hour, why would you settle for S$7 per hour? You would receive better response by offering a salary that matches the market or at least a dollar off it.

2. NOWHERE BUT UP

Let’s face it! Millennials crave dynamism in all areas of life – including the workplace. Said generation has shifted away the traditional view of holding a position for 20 years and beyond. Millennials are looking for jobs that will fulfill their present purpose. So, consider luring them in by offering opportunities for advancement.

What can the position offer aside from monetary gains? Is this position a stepping stone for more responsibilities within the company? Highlight the skills and knowledge that they cannot learn elsewhere. Self-enhancement through experience is a priceless and valueable incentive.

3. EMBRACE CHANGE

Another way to attract the Millennial employees is to know where they lurk. Millennials frequent social media pages and popular recruitment sites. Advertise on these platforms to widen your search. For instance, you may set up a public Facebook page for your startup. Regularly post the vacancies on your feed (i.e., at different time-slots). You may also post a job advertisement on JobsCentral or Gumtree. You need the nationwide traffic that these online classifieds receive.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Aside from refining your job search, you may assess a potential employee by scanning his or her online profile. A standard background check may provide a supplement to your initial interview. The candidate’s social media profiles can give you a better picture of his or her personality and working experience. The latter can be achieved by examining one’s professional blog or online portfolio.

4. MORE BENEFITS

Given that you are nurturing the crucial years of your company, it may not be a wise idea to exhaust all your efforts and funding to the employees’ wages. It is acceptable if you are not able to shell out the monetary incentives right away. Consider adding the surrounding lifestyle as an incentive. Attract a potential quality employee by selling the non-monetary benefits of working in the startup.

If you are fortunate enough to be located in a place where there are various dining options, sell that too. If your business includes a health facility (e.g., a meditation spot) or is near the town park, sell that too. If there is a possibility to work from home, sell that too. Other enticing workplace features can play a part when the candidate decides to take your offer.

5. PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY

More and more employees in Singapore are opening up to the idea of deviating from the 9-to-5 jobs. Top talents desire to have the choice of accomplish their tasks at the coffee shops or at home (while in their pajamas). I, for one, am one of these people. I am certainly guilty of wearing my slippers and comfortable clothes as I wrote this. With its convenience, flexibility is a strong selling point.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Image Credits: pixabay.com

As long as your humble team can meet the goals and collaborate well, you may consider putting the flexible schedules on the table. Think about the amount of electricity and water consumption you can save by minimizing the “office” costs. If it is doable, allow remote once in a while.

Sources: 1 & 2

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