Nearly one out of every two small and medium-sized businesses are facing recruitment difficulties that are considered serious. And many of these small and medium-sized businesses admit that these talent recruitment problems are hurting their revenue development. And yet, recruiting and retaining talent are important issues for them. Here are some tips on how to do this:
What is a talent?
Two out of three SME managers believe that a talent is an above-average professional ability. He or she combines several qualities that would make it possible to define him or her as such. It is someone who would be difficult to replace, who is competent and committed, and who works hard. He is someone who is a team player, who has good interpersonal skills and likes to work in a team, and who does not have an ego problem.
Work on your employer’s brand
To attract talent to your SME, you must compete with large companies. It is more difficult for an SME to attract talent than for an international firm or a large corporation. Because small companies suffer from comparison, they need to build on their strengths. They need to work on their employer brand.
A company that wants to attract talent must be able to showcase its values and culture. When a talent researches the SME, he/she should be able to feel a good atmosphere that prevails there. Today, the work environment is a very important criterion. You can enhance your reputation through social networks or your company blog. For example, photos of internal events, or during a seminar, are an excellent way to let candidates discover the work atmosphere within your team.
Define the job profile and the required skills
Unfortunately, recruiting talent is not just about posting a job. To be relevant and effective, talent recruitment must be well-prepared. You must identify the missing resources in your SME. These are the human resources that are essential to the company. In this sense, you must have a medium and long-term vision of the SME’s evolution.
You must also describe each position. There are several online tools to help you create the perfect, inclusive job description. You should also be able to create a recruitment campaign. This campaign can be mixed, i.e. both digital and physical. In any case, it is preferable to allow candidates to apply online with ease. This has the advantage of allowing you to sort the applications more easily according to predefined criteria.
Use relevant channels
One of the best ways to attract talent is to multiply recruitment channels. However, you also need to optimize processes. Many SMBs struggle to turn their recruitment into an effective sourcing tool. Done right, this can reduce costs, improve productivity and, importantly, identify the most interesting profiles.
Don’t hesitate to use digital tools in this sense. They are incredibly effective in facilitating recruitment and multiplying the distribution channels of your job offers.
Anticipate recruiting
You don’t have to wait for the talent to come to you. If they don’t, you can also take the initiative and go to them. For example, you can approach educational institutions with internships or work-study contracts. This is an excellent way to give your company visibility while attracting the best people to your company.
Focus on managers
They are on the front line to convey the values and vision of the SME. It is therefore essential to train and equip them at all stages of their new employees’ careers. Managers must not only be made aware of the messages to be delivered but also of the new management expectations of the talents. Today’s managers must learn to develop behavioral skills such as communication, trust, empathy, and listening.
Finally, managers must have motivational levers to retain talent over time. This may involve career management, compensation, and bonuses, or training.
Inform and support new talent
Once the talent has been recruited, the next task is to support your new employee from their first steps within your company. Your onboarding process must be the focus of attention. This phase can last several weeks and is an integral part of the employer brand in some companies.
Focus on continuing education
Training employees in an age of skills obsolescence is not only a performance factor for the company but also the surest way to avoid turnover. Talent increasingly prefers organizations that offer a coherent training path.
This type of program can focus on the development of technical skills, but also on the development of soft skills, key skills today.
Demonstrate flexibility
Hybrid hours, telecommuting, etc. Employees today want to choose where and how they work more than ever before, or they are likely to leave. For SMEs, this requires a lot of adaptation. Redesigning offices to create more ergonomic workstations, providing living areas and collaborative spaces to encourage informal meetings to maintain team cohesion. These are some of the initiatives that can be taken to attract talent to the office.
Talent is also hungry for meaning. For them, work is no longer just a way to earn a salary, it is a way of life. We must therefore give meaning to work by listening to them, by considering their impression and their work. Finally, you have to show leadership to retain a talent.
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