Recruiting Tips For Startup Businesses

Posted on Aug 1 2013 - 1:06am by Sonia Moran

Startup

So you’ve come up with a plan and decided to start your own business. Now all that’s left is, well, everything! From formulating an official business plan to finding office or production space to obtaining appropriate funding, there are of course many aspects to take into consideration. Another important factor to any business startup is staffing and human resources.

Startup business owners need to make intelligent decisions every step of the way. But what if you’ve never been in a management or recruitment position? This can make it difficult to take the right steps as far as contracting qualified people to help you in your mission. Check out the following human resource tips for startup businesses.

Analyze your Business Needs

The first step is to carefully analyse your business needs in terms of the kind of people required to meet those needs. In Human Resources, this is a determination of KSAs, or knowledge, skills and abilities.

What is it that each person must be able to do on a day to day basis? Break each position down by category and list the KSAs necessary to carry out each task. These are the things you’ll look for in your prospective employees.

You may also want to consider any KSAs needed for future positions. Do you plan to expand your business in order to provide website design and programming, for example? These are good skills to look for NOW, in order to be prepared to grow your venture.

Assign each Position a Salary

How much will you pay each person in your company? How much can you afford to pay, and how much do other companies in your area pay for the same skill set? These are the questions you’ll need to ask yourself as you assign a salary to each position you’re recruiting for. You need to be fair, yet competitive.

Work your staffing costs into your overall business budget to determine how much cash flow will be allocated to payroll each month.

Write and Post your Job Announcements

According to your analysis, carefully write your job announcements, focusing on the knowledge, skills and abilities for each position. Do your research when posting them, to see where your desired pool of candidates actually hangs out and looks for jobs. Are they more social media oriented, or would they look in the newspaper; would they look at certain sites over others?

Smart Screening of Applicants

As the applications or resumés start coming in, be sure to compare each person’s qualifications to the actual job requirements, or what you stated in the job announcement. Don’t be swayed by gender, nationality, age or disability. Not only will you help yourself avoid any legal issues of discrimination, you’ll keep your applicant as large as possible.

Find the Right Fit

Ideally, you’ll only be interviewing people whose profiles closely match the needs of your business. You can then determine whether they seem like a good fit for your organization’s culture (formal, informal, quirky, very strict, etc.) and whether they have the potential to grow with your company and in turn help you meet your goals.

Finding qualified staff can take a while, and you should expect to dedicate a significant amount of time to research and analysis throughout the process. Recognize your human resources as a vital factor in your business’ potential for success, and make a commitment to learning about proper staffing procedures throughout the life of your venture.

Photo Credit: Flickr/Heisenberg Media

About the Author

Sonia Moran has over 15 years of experience as a Human Resources consultant and legal advisor. She is also a freelance writer for several successful eCommerce clients, including www.officeallsorts.co.uk. In her free time she enjoys hiking and biking with her two active boys.