“Good help is hard to find.” “I struggle to find dependable workers.” “Turnover is a huge problem for us.” “I can’t seem to get new employees who are qualified.”
Can you guess who made the statements above? Local business owners like you and clients we work with every day. So we hear the message loud and clear—finding good help and hiring team members you can trust isn’t as easy as it should be. And while the effort you put into hiring, training and managing employees is important, you’ve still got a business to run.
It’s time to get creative.
Top 5 Ways to Find Good Help
1. Offer referral bonuses.
Consider offering your current employees a referral bonus (in cash or via other type of incentive) for any successful candidate recommendations. Most people won’t recommend someone they think could make them look like a poor judge of character. So they have a vested interest, outside of the incentive, to only refer high-quality candidates.
2. Pay attention when you’re out and about.
You’d be surprised how many qualified candidates you run into on a daily basis without even knowing it. Pay attention to the people you meet, and if you find someone who might be a good culture fit, ask them about themselves!
Pro tip: Some local business owners try to poach employees from the competition. After all, they know the industry and likely already have the skills you’re looking for. All’s fair in love and running a local business, right? …approach this tactic with caution. Your reputation in the local community is important, and upsetting the competition could stir up some drama that’d be tough to squash.
3. Post on industry-specific job boards.
Generic job boards have their place in the hiring toolbox. Sites like ZipRecruiter and Indeed reign supreme in that particular space (more on them in a sec). But did you know many industries have job boards out there specific to you? Good&Co actually took the time to list out 100 niche job boards that cater to particular kinds of work. Though I’m not sure Sled Dog Central will be relevant to many of you, many of the other sites listed could contain candidate gold if you’re willing to dig a little.
4. Speaking of job boards, don’t let Craigslist creep you out.
Even if you still have a bad taste in your mouth from the last time you bought a “lightly used” lawn mower (that broke just a few hours later) from Craigslist, don’t discount the site altogether. Craigslist is still a popular site for job postings, particularly in the restaurant and other services industries where turnover is high and companies need to find good help fast. Pro tip: To avoid spam, leave your phone number off your listings, and stick with a business email.
5. Give the bigger job boards a shot.
Employee turnover is expensive. So why do so many local business owners try to hire on the cheap? By investing a little cash into job sites with the highest visibility, you’re likely to get a much larger pool of candidates to choose from. More candidates means you have a greater chance of hiring the right employee and hopefully, a decrease in that expensive (and undesirable) turnover. Long story short, the investment’s definitely worth it.
As I mentioned, ZipRecruiter and Indeed are the big names in the recruiting and job board game. ZipRecruiter offers 3 plans – Starter, Team and Enterprise options, each varying in price and available job slots. Our research shows their plans start around $249 per month and offer customizable options. Indeed offers a few plans as well, starting with free job postings. The next plan up allows you to “sponsor” (advertise) your jobs in their search results for $5 a day, and so on and so forth.
