How to Attract New Employees: 12 Proven Strategies to Hire Top Talent
According to the Hawaii State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), the state currently enjoys an unemployment rate of 2.9%, even lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.9% reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is excellent news for job seekers, who face less competition when applying for available positions.
However, it can be challenging for small businesses seeking top talent. Even with systems in place to manage Hawaii payroll services, hiring, and onboarding, you still have to figure out how to attract new employees. Luckily, we have several proven strategies to help you entice desirable candidates.
12 Tips for Recruiting Top Talent
When you’re running a small business, every dollar counts. That means weighing the pros and cons of any employee recruitment plan. What can you include in your recruitment pitch to appeal to top candidates? Consider these 12 tips as you search for the right candidates for your small business.
1. Offer Competitive Salaries and Benefits
The road to hiring top talent starts with the salary and benefits you offer. As a small business owner, you must compete with other businesses your size. Still, it can take a lot of work to match larger companies' competitive salaries and Hawaii employee benefits.
However, you can offer a few things corporations might not, such as flexible scheduling, a commitment to work-life balance, and an office environment where employees feel like family instead of a cog in the machine.
For instance, many applicants are concerned with personal wellness benefits; framing your proposition to include such opportunities can make your benefits package more attractive.
2. Create a Positive Company Culture
When it comes to how to attract new employees, fostering the right company culture is vital. Improving company culture helps you create a positive work environment to find and retain the best employees. Committing to inclusivity, strong communication, and growth opportunities will generate high morale and a good reputation.
Other aspects of company culture you might focus on include employee recognition and rewards, collaboration and team building, and a set of shared values that drives purpose and performance.
3. Provide Opportunities for Growth and Development
When it comes to how to attract new employees, fostering the right company culture is vital. Improving company culture helps you create a positive work environment to find and retain the best employees. Committing to inclusivity, strong communication, and growth opportunities will generate high morale and a good reputation.
Other aspects of company culture you might focus on include employee recognition and rewards, collaboration and team building, and a set of shared values that drives purpose and performance.
4. Offer Flexible Work Hours or Remote Work Options
One of the most popular talent attraction strategies in recent years has been offering opportunities for flexible work schedules and locations. More employees are seeking these options, and they can be mutually beneficial.
Studies have shown that workers given flexible scheduling are 29% more productive, and remote workers are 7% more productive on average than their in-office counterparts. If your business allows for flexibility in scheduling and follows remote work best practices, you stand to enjoy more outstanding performance, happier employees, improved retention, and more leverage in hiring.
5. Highlight Unique Company Perks or Amenities
A competitive package for salary and benefits may make up the bulk of your strategy for how to attract new employees. Still, you could also increase your appeal through powerful incentive ideas for employees. For example, some companies offer employee discounts on products or services.
Perhaps you’re committed to employee wellness initiatives, such as providing healthy snacks in the office, offering gym memberships, or supporting exercise groups. You could include benefits like flexible scheduling, remote work, and paid vacation to help employees manage their work-life balance and consider tuition reimbursement to encourage professional development.
6. Use Social Media and Online Job Platforms
Gone are the days when you could recruit top talent with little more than an ad in the local paper. An estimated 60% of job seekers use online job boards to search for employment, while 56% use professional networks. However, perhaps one of the most popular ways people find new jobs is through referrals.
Social resources play a significant role in this equation because they can help you connect with job seekers and gain an advantage with candidates connected to your employees and followers. That can lead to improved quality of hires and increase your appeal to top applicants.
7. Implement an Employee Referral Program
If you’re looking to work smarter, not harder, when figuring out how to attract employees, one great option is to mobilize your workforce to recruit new candidates for you. Since referrals are a major factor in finding quality candidates, incentivizing your staff to recommend new hires is a great way to compete for top talent.
8. Attend Job Fairs and Networking Events
Something as simple as raising awareness can go a long way when determining how to attract new employees. Use common recruitment tactics to get on the radar of talented professionals who aren’t actively seeking a new job but are open to the possibility.
On the other hand, attending job fairs and networking events connects you with candidates actively seeking employment, improving your hiring prospects. Come prepared to wow them, though, because you will face competition at such events.
9. Showcase Your Impact
It’s not unusual for candidates to have some concerns about the type of company they want to join. Your mission statement and core values are a good start, but actions speak louder than words.
Don't be shy about touting your impact regarding innovative ways to attract talent. Whether you subscribe to sustainable products and practices, are committed to promoting employee welfare, or engage in charitable efforts and give back to your local community, it will make a positive impact on candidates.
10. Promote Work-Life Balance Initiatives
Even when people love their jobs, they have personal interests outside of work. That might include family and friends, hobbies and travel, or wellness activities.
Promoting work-life balance could start with flexible and remote work opportunities and include perks like gym memberships, mandatory paid vacation time, mental health days, and regular workload reviews to ensure that workplace demands are fair and achievable.
11. Ensure a Smooth and Engaging Interview Process
When strategizing about attracting new employees, you may want to consider professional HR services to streamline your interview process. The right tools, technologies, and procedures can help you narrow down candidates quickly, interview effectively, and engage with prospective hires to get their attention and become their top pick.
12. Highlight Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts
No modern recruiting strategy plan is complete without efforts to ensure diversity in the workplace. Most companies know the benefits of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, like the potential for innovation, productivity, and profit.
You might not know that many employees are seeking companies with a strong reputation for DEI, which can give you an edge in hiring and help with employee retention.
Grow Your Business With ProService Hawaii
Growing your business starts with effective hiring and retention strategies. Implementing streamlined systems to manage Hawaii payroll, training and development, HR compliance, Hawaii employee benefits, and more only helps to facilitate planned growth.
If you need a strong support system to manage HR in Hawaii, ProService Hawaii has the tailored solutions you need to drive hiring and retention. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you expand your small business.
