Top 30 Hiring Hacks for SMBs in 2021

1. Start by Offering Basic Benefits

Take a look at what other SMBs in similar markets are offering their employees. It's a competitive market, and to make sure your company is attractive, you must provide the basic benefits that others are at a bare minimum.

2. Allow Single Click Applications

Make the application process simple for any who might be interested. Rather than forcing applicants to sift through countless pages, add the Apply with LinkedIn option for your postings.

3. Create Internal Deadlines for Communication

Quality candidates shouldn't have to wait for your response. Remember that, more than likely, you aren't the only company they are talking to. Set up a 24-hour response target to any forms of communication with prospective candidates.

4. Call Candidates

It might sound silly, but it is as easy as picking up a phone and talking to your candidates. In such a technological age, having a conversation over the phone can make a huge impact.

5. Get Organised with Trello

Rather than utilising something like an applicant tracking system, opt for something simpler like Trello to help keep you organised with your hiring process.

6. Add a "Careers" Section to Your Site

Adding a careers page to your website helps let your prospective candidates see what it would look like to work with you. Here, you can also keep all of your current listings posted and easily visible.

7. Make Time for Recruiting

Put a fixed time into your scheduling each week to spend recruiting. Use this time for sifting through applicants, scheduling interviews, or conducting interviews. Making the time for it ensures you will get it done.

8. Understand the Rule of 100

The Rule of 100 states that you will need to contact 100 candidates to make one great hire. Keep this rule in mind as you go through your searches.

9. Know Where to Look

If you're having a hard time getting bites on any of your current leads out there, try sourcing candidates from someplace new.

10. Touch Base on LinkedIn

Try making contacts with potential candidates through LinkedIn. Don't be afraid if people start browsing your page to ask them for a connection.

11. Use Video Screening

You can help cut down some of the time spent interviewing candidates by setting up video screening. Have them submit a video of themselves that has been pre-recorded and filter through that way.

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12. Create Disqualification Rules

Make the application submission process very clear and have rules listed in it. If the applicants cannot follow these rules, you can disqualify them immediately.

13. Search Applicants Socials

Social presence can tell a lot about potential candidates. Make sure you ask for their entire social identity in their application process.

14. Setup Behavioral Questions

You always want to ask behavioural questions in interviews, but you want to have these all mapped out before you get into the discussion.

15. Create a Template for Interviewing

Standard templates will help to give you a baseline to work with. It gives you the freedom to stray from the template and structure to stick with if you're having trouble staying focused.

16. Have a Whiteboard in Interviews

Create a case study and have your interviewees step up to map out how to solve it on the whiteboard. It will give you something to reference once they leave the interview as well.

17. Try Out One-Day Trials

Invite your top picks to come in for a one-day trial to work in the office and see how they do. You will be able to see how they collaborate with others and get feedback from your team.

18. Be Mindful of Cultural Fit

Competence is essential, but cultural fit may be arguably more. Make sure that your candidate will fit the environment.

19. Introduce Candidates Early

Speaking of cultural fits, you'll want to be sure to introduce your candidates as early as possible to the rest of the team.

20. Understand Salary Benchmarks

Get a good idea of what competitors are offering in terms of salary and equity for SMBs. If you find that your options vary significantly from others, make sure you answer why.

21. Create an Offer Letter Template

All offer letters should be legal and explicitly detail the benefits and perks to candidates. If you need help, ask your lawyer for assistance.

22. Expect Questions

Candidates looking for work amongst SMBs will likely have a list of questions of their own. Be sure you are ready to answer any questions about benefits, perks, etc.

23. Handwrite Notes

Make sure you are memorable to your prospective candidates. Instead of sending a simple email, send them a handwritten note if you're moving forward with the hiring process.

24. Host a Team Event

As soon as you bring a new team member on board, host a team event to help get everyone to know each other outside of the office.

25. Make Welcome Kits

In addition to employee packets, create unique welcome kits that help new hires feel welcome in their new environment.

26. Start New People on Thursdays

If you start new people early in the week, they can easily get lost in the shuffle of the weekly grind. Usually, by Thursdays, people are winding down for the week and have more time to chat with new workers.

27. Regularly Recognise Efforts

Don't wait for quarterly reviews, or however frequently you host them. Regularly recognising the efforts of your workers will help your retention.

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28. Rotate New Employees

Make sure your employees rotate around the company so they can get an idea of other functions. This concept also helps them to build lasting relationships with coworkers early on. 

29 Consider Offering Unlimited Vacation

It's no surprise that offering unlimited vacation is becoming so vastly popular these days. Especially in SMB environments, this added perk shows your employees and prospective employees that you respect their judgment.

30. No Work on Fridays

If you're looking to be one step ahead of the competition, consider an added perk like no work on Fridays. The 4-day workweek is becoming increasingly popular but is not always offered to employees right off the bat.

Final Thoughts

The hiring process can be a bit overwhelming, especially for SMBs who are especially limited on time. Hopefully, these tips and tricks can help you find good people and keep them around. 

But, if you're looking for a way to digitise and automate your hiring process, saving you time in the process, make sure to check out Occupop.

Occupop is a simple, easy way to manage the hiring process for your SMB, go online and try Occupop for free with a full-access 14-day free trial!

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What is Occupop?

Occupop is a beautifully simple recruitment software built for small and medium businesses. We empower our customers to become great at hiring through our smart hiring technology and suite of solutions that almost anyone can use. So whether you're a team of five or fifty, it only takes a few minutes to onboard your team members, set permissions, and start recruiting. If you think Occupop could be a good small business recruitment software solution for you, try it out today with a free 14-day trial.