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Business Builder

Four essential steps to recruiting the right people

Once your business starts to grow, it’s important to find staff that are the right fit. Here are some pointers.

1. Use social media to find and manage talent

Social networks are a great way to fish in the pool of potential candidates – something that recruitment agencies have been doing for a while. First off:

Make a good impression: how’s a potential recruit going to see your business?

  • Are your employees posting positive reviews and news about the business? Encourage staff to be active with regular updates of their work, promotions, etc. on sites such as LinkedIn.
  • Update your website and/or app to better showcase your business to prospective candidates so they’re aware of your culture – and growth aspirations.
  • Look into how to promote via social media pathways such as LinkedIn, TikTok or even niche platform communities like Stack Overflow.
  • Market your brand by posting quality content, awards, recommendations, charity work and even fun days out.

2. Engage employees to help nail the job description

It sounds obvious but think hard about how you describe the role that you want to fill.

  • Dig down to exactly what you want - a good job description will attract and hold the attention of a talented candidate. Current employees might be really useful in listing the skills and talent required from a new joiner.
  • Existing staff might also have a network to draw on so ask them for referrals – consider offering a financial reward for the recommendation of a successful candidate.
  • Think about the skills, both hard and soft, as well as other characteristics needed in an ideal new hire. Set clear expectations for their roles and responsibilities.
  • Research comparable job postings to check out salaries and competition.

Reach out to people directly even if they aren’t actively job hunting. If they aren’t available, they might recommend someone who is. Remember to treat the recruitment process – and the candidate – with respect, you still want to make a good impression even if you don’t ultimately offer them the role.

3. Consider employing a recruitment agency

This could save you valuable time spent sifting through countless applications, leaving you with the lighter task of meeting a shortlist of qualified candidates who have been pre-interviewed, checked, and their skills tested where necessary.

A professional recruiter will also be able to guide you on where to advertise your roles and recommend specific sites. Look into fees – some will only charge if they actually place a candidate with you.

4. Privacy and protecting your staff

The Data Protection Act 2018 controls how personal information is used by organisations. It’s the UK’s version of general data protection regulation (GDPR).

There’s a transfer of sensitive personally identifiable information during the recruitment process. When you’re recruiting you must:

  • Have clear privacy policies and recruiters should make those available to candidates.
  • You must state where you store candidate data and that you will use it for recruitment only.
  • Data protection principles must be followed, which include keeping data for no longer than necessary and handled in a way that ensures appropriate security, limiting those with access to it and following appropriate encryption methods.

Where next?

We (NatWest Group plc) can't accept responsibility for any decisions or actions you take based on this article. It’s for information only and not meant to offer specific advice. And although we think it’s reliable, we haven’t independently checked all the information in it.  You also shouldn’t copy the article anywhere without our consent. All views and forecasts in it are ours and can change.