Believe it or not, perfect employees do not simply come striding through your office door uninvited. As a business owner, there are things you must do to strengthen your chances of finding the perfect candidate – including having an offering which makes them want to work for you.

Great talent is one of the most important foundations when growing your business. You can’t do everything yourself and having the support of skilled, reliable and creative employees is integral.

What to look for in an employee… (and what to avoid!)

Defining the ‘perfect’ employee is different for every business. Before you start putting the call out for new staff it’s very important to figure out what a perfect employee means for your business. Remember, there are many types of jobs out there that require different skills and often suit different personalities.

Imagine you’ve just finished a fantastic interview. The applicant seemed perfect and you had great chemistry. But wait; were they really a good fit for the actual position? Yes, they have the experience and the training, but will they still be here 3 months, 6 months, 1 year from now?

A person with the gift of the gab, who can show their charm during the interview, might be fundamental for a sales position. But that same person might not be suitable for a book keeping role which requires attention to fine detail and a willingness to spend hours behind a desk crunching numbers.

What you absolutely don’t want is to continually make the same mistake when choosing employees, because a high turnover rate means more time spent training new staff members and that’s a huge drain on resources.

Recruitment tips for attracting great staff

  • Job descriptions. In order to attract the best and the brightest you’ll need to know what you’re looking for. Having a well written and thoughtful job description will (hopefully) weed out candidates who lack the right skills or required level of experience.
  • Interviews. Make the most out of interviews; they’re often the most important part of the recruitment process. Don’t be afraid to bring them back in for a second round of interviews. Get to know their personalities and ask in-depth questions that will test their knowledge, enthusiasm, skillset and experience.
  • Cast a wide net & be proactive. Try and interview as widely as possible. A great suggestion is putting a call out to your current employees; often having current staff vouch for new employees is a great way to recruit. You should also consider hiring/promoting from within your company.

Of course try the traditional route of advertising in newspapers and online via websites like Monster. However, don’t just expect the best to come to you. Social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, and industry forums are great way to proactively look for candidates and employ targeted searches. By using sites such as LinkedIn your field of applicants increases dramatically. This is because not everyone on LinkedIn is actively looking for work and you can head hunt for your perfect candidate. If you have the resources you may also want to try a recruitment agency.

  • What can you offer? If you want the best, you’re going to have to offer attractive incentives and benefits. That can be in the form of pay packages, flexible work hours or even a great office culture. Think about what makes you unique as an employer.
  • Trust your gut, but don’t lose your head. As stated previously, finding the right person for the right role is crucial. You’re not looking to find friends but people who will work for you and fit in well with your current work environment.
  • Experience versus attitude. This is a judgement call. Sometimes you come across the kind of candidate with the enthusiasm that could really shake things up, but may be lacking the usual qualifications. It may be beneficial to offer this person the training they need.
  • Resume check! As House MD likes to say in the hit TV series, “people are liars.” It may sound harsh but quite often people will lie about their qualifications and work experience. Pick up the phone and make sure you check the references of the more promising candidates. Call their previous companies to make sure they actually worked the dates they’ve stated. There are also a range of services out there who are able to check employee backgrounds, and will even find out their university GPAs! That being said, sometimes candidates have good reasons for having abruptly left their last job. Again, it’s a matter of discretion; you may want to give them the benefit of the doubt, especially if they are otherwise a great match.