SmallBusinessNewz

Be good to customers, one may be your next staffer

The person you want to fill a particular position probably puts those skills to work each day for someone else, meaning you will need to reach that passive candidate with more than a want ad.

When recruiting people, think of your business as a destination for a capable candidate. It isn't enough to toss an ad into the online recruiting sphere and hope the best candidate emerges.

The top person probably has a job now, and is in the best position to pick and choose from potential employment destinations. Local Na8ion (not a typo folks, it's just marketing) suggested reaching out to job candidates as you reach out to both current and prospective customers.

They make the argument how people may select or discount a possible employer by their experiences with the brand. Think about that - if someone judges you by a bad experience with your product or service, it's likely they will never entertain a position with you:

"You just have to make small adjustments to your marketing strategy to include job candidates. Make yourself a careers page. When you run online or print ads include a link to your careers page and make sure there’s a careers link right on your home page. That way your consumer or B2B marketing gets people thinking of you as a preferred employer, not just a product or service.

If you think this is just something big companies need to do, think again. Job creation in the real world happens in small businesses. The need for good people doesn't change with the current size or future growth of the company.

Remember, that passive candidate doesn't need your job. That's why a career page, even if no openings currently exist, provides a branding opportunity either way. Talk about what the business does, who is its ownership, and why it should be a destination for anyone, customer or employee, with an interest in the business' niche.

Keep in mind the customer you treat well today could be the person to make your accounting software sing or marketing campaigns bloom tomorrow. Everything comes back to customer service, and that's true for job recruiting.