How to hire the right people to help your business grow

This year SMEs are taking on more staff than larger companies, but how can you make sure you hire the right people?

According to the latest Labour Market Outlook survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, this year small businesses are five times more likely to recruit new staff than larger companies.

While this is a positive sign that SMEs in the UK are continuing to develop at a healthy rate, there are various challenges that come with recruiting.

Hiring the right people can be tricky, but making good choices will help to ensure your business keeps growing. Making the wrong choices however could see the company lose money and could greatly affect staff morale.

Below is a guide highlighting key steps to making the right people decisions and how to hang on to good talent.

Consider attitude and values as well as skills

A key strength of small businesses is a shared attitude and values among its employees. Making a wrong hire could have very noticeable effects on company culture and overall productivity. Therefore when recruiting, SMEs should consider a recruit’s attitudes and values as much as their skills and abilities. Skills can be learned, values cannot.

What makes your company special?

Hiring the right staff also comes down to how you present your company to an applicant. They will want to know what it’s really like to work for your business, so you should highlight what makes it special and an enjoyable place to work. You also need to be honest about what applicants should expect if they join you, as this helps them to make an informed decision.

Be consistent

As a business grows and develops, different members of staff may take the reigns of the recruitment process. To ensure recruiting is consistent across the business, there needs to be a system in place which ensures company values are always considered when hiring new talent and that interviews are conducted effectively.

Encourage learning in your business

Make the most of your employee’s skills and ambition by providing training and development opportunities. In SME’s there tends to be little room for staff promotions, so providing continuous development training can help businesses to retain valuable members of staff and attain new skills in a cost-friendly manner. Learning opportunities will also make the company more appealing to potential recruits.

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