HR recruiters and hiring managers, especially those working with small and medium enterprises, face many challenges that prevent them from acquiring the best challenges for their businesses or workplaces.
The main challenges faced by SMEs during talent acquisition–
- Limited resources.
- Salary and growth expectations by candidates.
- Low employer branding, the company is not well-known.
Hiring the right talent is crucial for the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Because when the organisation is low on resources, good talent is the way to fight out bigger organisations.
That’s why the ability to attract and retain skilled individuals who can contribute to the growth and innovation of an organization is a strategic advantage. In this blog post, we will explore specific tips that SME owners can implement in their recruiting process to recruit better talents within a limited budget.
Here are some powerful strategies to hire better talent for SMEs–
1. Behavioural Interviews:
Incorporate Behavioural Interviews to provide valuable insights into a candidate’s past experiences and how they have handled specific situations. By using behavioral interviews during the hiring process, SMEs can gain a deeper understanding of a candidate’s problem-solving skills, decision-making abilities, and potential fit within the organization. These interviews allow recruiters to evaluate candidates based on real-life scenarios. And provides indicators of how they may perform in similar situations.
An example of a behavioral interview question would be:
“Tell me about a time a customer came to you with a problem that wasn’t covered by your company’s standard policies. How did you approach the situation?”
The answer to such questions would ideally include an experience from the candidate’s previous job, or life experience. The specific real-life example will help the employer understand the candidate’s approach to work and problem-solving. While on paper most of the prospective employees look the same, behavioral questions help in choosing the the ideal candidate from the crowd.
2. Focus On Potential:
While experience and qualifications are important factors when considering candidates, SME owners should also prioritize potential.
Most companies go to the campus and look for the brightest candidates. Generally, they ask the TPO for the list of high SGPA candidates.
Yet, smart small and medium enterprise (SME) business owners often disregard the importance of grades achieved. They select candidates who are outgoing and active in extracurricular activities. Even if their SGPA grades are low. Because these students fare better in real-life business scenarios.
Insight: Clever recruiters understand that the right attitude is important. So they look for individuals with growth mindsets – those who are adaptable, eager to learn, and open to new challenges. Such candidates bring new energy and innovation to an SME, even if their educational scores are low.
Clever recruiters understand that the right attitude is important. So they look for individuals with growth mindsets – those who are adaptable, eager to learn, and open to new challenges. Such candidates bring new energy and innovation to an SME.
By focusing on potential rather than solely relying on past achievements, business owners can build a team that excels in dynamic and evolving environments.
3. Cultural Fit Matters:
Assessing cultural fit is crucial when hiring new team members for an SME. It is essential to evaluate whether candidates align with the company’s values, mission, and company culture.
Hiring individuals who resonate with the organization’s ethos leads to higher employee engagement, improved teamwork dynamics, and increased retention rates. A strong cultural fit ensures that employees share common goals and work together harmoniously towards achieving them.
An example of cultural fit would be an SME that needs a new sales manager–
The perfect candidate would share the company’s passion for prioritizing customer satisfaction with their product quality and creating an overall comfortable buying experience. The beliefs of the new sales manager would align with the organization’s culture completely. A cultural misfit for the SME would be a sales manager who thinks that efficiency and number of sales are more important than quality and customer satisfaction.
Top Tip: Many SMEs ignore A-league B-schools and go to small-town B-schools for recruitment. Hiring managers from larger companies ignore such management and engineering institutes. So SMEs can acquire exceptional talent from this talent pool still available to them. Also, job-seekers from small towns fit well with SME culture. These recruitments are cost-effective also.
4. Offer Growth And Development Opportunities:
Highlighting opportunities for career and professional development is essential when attracting top talent. SMEs may not always offer the same resources as larger corporations, but they can stand out by showcasing a commitment to nurturing and empowering their employees.
By providing access to training programs, mentorship opportunities, and the chance to take on new responsibilities, SMEs can attract ambitious individuals eager to advance in their careers.
This helps the young employees as they learn and grow faster in comparison to their other college friends. The SME businesses get better ROI from the employees even at a lower salary cost.
Learn Why Upskilling Should Be a Priority for Your SME’s Growth?
5. Seek Employee Referrals:
Employee referrals can be a valuable source of high-quality candidates. Current employees already understand the company culture and values, so it is more likely that they would recommend individuals right for the team. Encouraging employee referrals through incentive programs or recognition initiatives can lead to more talent entering the recruitment pipeline.
- Normally, candidates referred by employees tend to have higher retention rates, as they are more likely to feel connected and engaged from the start.
6. Utilise Skills Assessments:
Incorporating skills assessments or practical tasks into the hiring process provides concrete evidence of a candidate’s abilities related to the role they are applying for. SMEs may not have extensive resources for lengthy assessment processes but incorporating simple skills tests or case studies can help gauge a candidate’s competency effectively.
This hands-on approach allows SME owners to evaluate candidates based on their skills rather than relying solely on resumes and interviews.
Example: An example of a skill assessment for a web developer in an SME would be giving the candidate a short coding project relevant to the company’s website technology (e.g. adding a new feature to the company website).
Conclusion: It’s possible, to hire better talent for SME budgets!
Hiring the right talent is an investment in an SME’s future success. By implementing these tips and strategies, small business owners can build strong teams that drive innovation, and business success within their organizations – even on a limited budget.
SMEs can attract top talents to their organisations by:
1. Behavioural interviews
2. Focusing on potential over experience alone
3. Assessing cultural fit
4. Offering growth opportunities
5. Seeking referrals from existing employees
6. And utilizing skills assessments effectively
FAQ
What is a behavioral interview?
A behavioral interview is a job interview where the interviewer asks questions about a candidate’s past behavior in specific situations. The idea is to understand how he or she has handled various work-related scenarios in the past. Their past behavior helps the recruiter to predict how the candidate might behave in similar situations in the future.
This type of interview aims to assess various soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, and adaptability based on your previous experiences.
This is a talent acquisition strategy for recognizing the perfect candidate from the available talent pool.
Should SMEs hire B-school graduates?
Many SME business owners shy away from hiring B-school students. They think these students will not fit into their organisation culture and would be expensive.
It might be true about prestigious B-school students who may want to work only for MNC companies. But clever SME business owners go to small-town B-schools and hire their best talent at realistic salaries. These students fit in well with SME culture, bring a new professional skill set to SME organisations, and contribute to the achievement of business goals!