click to enlarge
Finding reliable employees for your new business is more than just posting a help wanted sign. But, finding and keeping the right employees can easily be done if you do your homework on prospective applicants and once hired, pay them what they deserve.
There are many places to find employees from unemployment offices to headhunters or employment agencies to advertising in the newspaper. Your employee search should begin with what skills you need in an employee.
If you are a retailer, you will want someone with retail experience and good customer service skills. A computer support or analyst would need to be educated with past history in the computer field. Managers should be able to handle everything at your place of business in your absence and should possess many skills.
So, which way is the best way to find reliable employees?
Unemployment or Job Force Offices - Many employers don't consider placing a job opening at a county job force or unemployment office. With our economy in a downturn, many professionals, administrators, and skilled workers have visited their local unemployment office looking for work. By advertising there, you'll get a larger pool to choose from; some skilled, some not skilled, but this resource will cost you nothing.
Headhunters / Employment Agencies - These sorts of organizations have a wide range of applicants where you pay a fee or a percentage of their salary if you hire them. As an employer for over sixteen years, I have found that while these organizations do the "research" for you on job skills, there are many other avenues to consider such as relocation, size of your company, and benefits. The problem here is that unless you are seeking a highly-skilled person, once the you hire the person and pay the fee, if the person quits, you're stuck.
Advertising - There are many ways to advertise job openings. You can utilize your local and surrounding county newspapers or find websites that are dedicated just to the job seekers you want such as automotive or construction. Other websites, like Monster.com, will charge you a fee to join and search their job-seeker database, but the fees are typically not as high as an employment agency.
Temp to Permanent - Look in your phone book, find and call some temporary work force firms. Places like this will allow you to bring in a temporary employee and let you get a feel for the individual before you make them a permanent offer. Temp to permanent employee is a good way to see if the person has the skills and attitude you want. Temp to permanent is also cheaper than an employment agency if you hire the person and the temporary agency will keep sending you people until you find the right one.
