Hiring IS NOT Recruiting

One of the biggest problems I hear from small business owners is the challenge of finding and retaining good people. 99% of the time this is an activity problem.

What do I mean?  When I say this is an activity problem, I mean that your company is not investing enough resources into RECRUITING.

Hiring is not recruiting. They are different.

Anyone who runs a business with employees performs the act of hiring on a regular basis. However, very few small businesses recruit, and even fewer do it well.

I have found that most businesses don’t put more resources into recruiting because it is hard to track. It’s not as straightforward as tracking an average ticket per customer, daily tech revenue, or lead conversion.

Recruiting is similar to marketing – you need to track where you are spending your time and money.  Only do the things that create a positive ROI (Return on investment).

Most small business owners tell me that ‘I just can’t find enough qualified employees.”

My first question to those business owners is, “Why would I want to work for you versus your competition”?

I typically get two types of responses.

For the first response: Owners either rattle off several reasons why they are better than their competition, or they tell me how they can’t compete because the competition is too big.  If you want to make an excuse, then any excuse will do.

I will not address the second response here because this is an attitude issue.  “Can’t, never could”…Am I right?

When I hear the great things that separate a business owner from the competition, my next question is, “If I’m looking for work, how would I know that you have a position for me?”

Typically, the response is “we have it on our job listing”. This is where most owners are falling short. You must start to think differently about recruiting and hiring.

Many business owners think that an employee would be fortunate to have this opportunity.  Instead, may I suggest that as business owners, we are fortunate if we can hire and retain good employees.  We need them MORE than they need us.

If this person is great for our business, then we should be selling the benefits of our business to them.  How can they achieve their goals working for your company?

Most things in life come down to effort…you get out what you put in. Recruiting is no different. You either allocate the resources, or you get what you get. We must always be recruiting. You never know when you are going to meet the person who will take your business to the next level!

5 tips to Recruiting the A team

1. Create a Benefits List (Why would I want to work for you? Nothing is too small.)
2. Create an Incentivized Referral Program (Birds of a feather…)
3. Keep a Back Log of Qualified Applicants (You might not be hiring today, but you will be in the future.)
4. Use Social Media (Over 40% of the workforce is made up of millennials.)
5. Always Be Recruiting (You are either growing or slowing, there is no third direction.)