We often hear how difficult it is to get a good job, but it’s just as hard to find good workers. This is applicable to almost all professions – from programmers to cooks or car mechanics. Not to mention how time-consuming searching for new workers is, and most businesses feel like it’s a waste of time that could be used for other important activities, like improving the operations within a business.
But there are services, or ideas to utilize if you want to stop wasting time and concentrate on something more important. In this article, we’ll give you a couple.
1. Hire an agency to deal with the recruitment process
Whether it is a small company or a large corporation, the owners or the management want to have quality and professional employees who, in addition to knowledge and experience, also have many skills. Often, they cannot find such employees themselves, so in recent times they seek the help of different services which are specialized in doing this.
Right in the beginning it is necessary to clearly indicate the difference between agencies that are really looking for adequate employees for their clients like Northern Virginia Staffing Agency, and recruiting them from competing companies because clients are looking for specific employees (the so-called “head hunting” agencies).
Let’s take a look at the difference. The headhunting agency will, with some secret methods and abilities known only to them, attract employees who “caught the client’s eye” and entice them to transfer to a specific position in the client’s company.
Such personnel are not looking for new employment, but are “recruited” to another company, to a higher position, and with a better salary. These are mostly highly educated employees who come to middle and high-ranking positions in a company.
Another type of agency that deals with finding quality people for certain jobs are the so-called employment agencies that find job candidates using classic methods, such as job postings, receiving CVs, conducting interviews, and psychological testing.
Their way of working covers a wide range of potential candidates. However, their services are limited only to workers who are actively looking for work and to those who contact them for work.
2. Work with what you already have
Sometimes, a good reorganization of your current staff and their responsibilities will work wonders, resulting in you not needing new ones. Below you can find ideas that are probably not always applicable, but we are sure that everyone will find something for themselves.
Find out what motivates your workers – for someone it will be an official vehicle, for someone a piece of better equipment. Some may be more interested in the following:
- shares in the company (it doesn’t cost the employer much, and the loyalty they get in return is priceless)
- subsidize housing for workers (this is sometimes a very large item) or offer low-interest employee loans
- create your own training courses where you will educate your current employees so they can take on more or new responsibilities
- enable occasional work from home if possible (some will use it to work from an apartment on the sea, and afterward they will be able to swim)
- arrange discounts and benefits for your workers (e.g. gyms, parking lots, restaurants, etc.)
- enable workers to educate themselves (provide a budget for books and conferences), and work on things that matter to them (e.g. bug fixes, code refactoring, etc.)
3. Branding yourself as an employer
Branding yourself as an employer is the key. If you have a good image, you become more attractive to potential employees and it is easier for you to reach them than your competition, the time you spend searching also decreases.
In order to increase the attractiveness of your company, it is important that the existing employees are satisfied and that they consider your company to be the best. The question here is what makes the company the best and most sought-after employer? What can the company do for its employee so that he is satisfied? Of course, the regularity and amount of salary are certainly one of the more important things. But is it the most important? Every employee expects his employer to provide him with a balance between work and private life. Also, if you are able, provide flexible working hours. An important item is to enable independent work, praise when they have done something well, and equality among employees. All of this, including the things we’ve mentioned in the previous point.
4. Learn how to manage your current employees
Keep your employees working on what they find satisfactory. For example, if someone is good at what he does (e.g. programmer), it is often bad to promote him to a managerial position (e.g. manager) because there is little chance that he will be good at leading, and he will no longer be able to do what he really likes (this way you can lose a good and loyal employee).
5. Ask your employees for an opinion
Be sure to use half-yearly or annual questionnaires with employees about leadership and satisfaction with the company. Show that their opinion is important to you. Offer them the opportunity to say what they are not happy with and what they think could be changed or improved. With this approach, you create a transparent culture in the organization itself and provide the possibility of regular information and the creation of a good working atmosphere. All this gives a positive image to you as an employer. Motivated and happy employees who love their company use their talent for you in the long term.
Finally, when searching for new workers never deviate from your standard – if a good enough candidate doesn’t come along, don’t hire people who applied just to hire someone, instead, use some of the methods we’ve mentioned to turn things around and try to reorganize.
