Hiring employees can be a drawn out, painful process. What happens when you need an employee and you place an ad in the local paper? You get hundreds or even thousands of applications to weed through. Then there’s the interview process. And after going through all this, you still may not even find a suitable employee. Cut down on the time it takes to find the employees you’re looking for and increase the success of your recruitment process by taking one (or more) of these hiring shortcuts.
1) Connect with your local college or training school.
Instructors of various business-related programs can be invaluable shortcuts to finding good employees. Get to know who’s who and call the instructor of the relevant course or program, introducing yourself, explaining what you need, and asking for recommendations.
2) Get involved with your local college or university’s cooperative training program.
Cooperative programs are always looking for employers to provide suitable job placements. You get an employee with current skills and while it’s a temporary staffing solution, you may be able to hire the person as a full-time employee when he or she has completed the program.
3) Hire through a government program.
The Targeted Wage Subsidy Program, for instance, is designed to provide employment for unemployed Employment Insurance eligible individuals.
You’ll find more employment programs listed in my Small Business Grants library.
The downside of these programs is the time spent leaping through hoops, such as filling out application forms; the upside is the considerable cost savings.
4) Hire a student.
If you can get by without having a permanent employee fill the job, the various hire-a-student programs available can be a great staffing solution. HRSDC (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) adminsters the federal Summer Career Placements Program. (The link will take you to their page with information on the program in each province and territory.)
Local programs are also very visible in season (late spring/early summer). Watch your local papers or visit the YouthPath site, where you can use the Electronic Labour Exchange (a job matching service from HRSDC) to look for employees.
If a college or university exists locally, it will also have its own “hire-a-student” program – another great place to find enthusiastic temporary employees.
5) Use employment agencies.
Employment agencies can be the most direct route to finding and hiring the employees you need. A good employment agency will take care of all the recruiting and preliminary weeding of applicants for you, sending you only a few qualified applicants to choose from. In terms of time and trouble, the cost of having the agency do it for you can be well worth it – especially if you are regularly recruiting. Having trouble finding an employment agency? Try HeadHuntersDirectory.ca, which lists employment agencies by province or territory.
6) Use the web.
There are many “job board” sites on the ‘Net where you can place a job listing or search for employees. Two of the biggest and best are Monster.ca and Workopolis.com. Using job sites can help you get your job posting before a national (and international) audience of job seekers at a low monetary cost. You will have to spend some time, however, learning how the particular site’s system works and/or searching for desirable employees.
7) Put the word out on the street.
If the situation isn’t critical (an “I need someone right now” situation), try using word-of-mouth and/or referrals to find employees. Tell all your contacts (both business and personal) about the position you’re seeking to fill and what kind of employee you’re looking for.
For small businesses that don’t have departments devoted to Human Resources, finding the right employees at the right times can be an especially time-consuming and frustrating struggle. Why not try one or more of these strategies for hiring employees the next time you have a position to fill? You may be surprised at how much shorter and more successful your hiring process becomes.
Source:
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/humanresources/a/hiringemployees.htm
1) Connect with your local college or training school.
Instructors of various business-related programs can be invaluable shortcuts to finding good employees. Get to know who’s who and call the instructor of the relevant course or program, introducing yourself, explaining what you need, and asking for recommendations.
2) Get involved with your local college or university’s cooperative training program.
Cooperative programs are always looking for employers to provide suitable job placements. You get an employee with current skills and while it’s a temporary staffing solution, you may be able to hire the person as a full-time employee when he or she has completed the program.
3) Hire through a government program.
The Targeted Wage Subsidy Program, for instance, is designed to provide employment for unemployed Employment Insurance eligible individuals.
You’ll find more employment programs listed in my Small Business Grants library.
The downside of these programs is the time spent leaping through hoops, such as filling out application forms; the upside is the considerable cost savings.
4) Hire a student.
If you can get by without having a permanent employee fill the job, the various hire-a-student programs available can be a great staffing solution. HRSDC (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) adminsters the federal Summer Career Placements Program. (The link will take you to their page with information on the program in each province and territory.)
Local programs are also very visible in season (late spring/early summer). Watch your local papers or visit the YouthPath site, where you can use the Electronic Labour Exchange (a job matching service from HRSDC) to look for employees.
If a college or university exists locally, it will also have its own “hire-a-student” program – another great place to find enthusiastic temporary employees.
5) Use employment agencies.
Employment agencies can be the most direct route to finding and hiring the employees you need. A good employment agency will take care of all the recruiting and preliminary weeding of applicants for you, sending you only a few qualified applicants to choose from. In terms of time and trouble, the cost of having the agency do it for you can be well worth it – especially if you are regularly recruiting. Having trouble finding an employment agency? Try HeadHuntersDirectory.ca, which lists employment agencies by province or territory.
6) Use the web.
There are many “job board” sites on the ‘Net where you can place a job listing or search for employees. Two of the biggest and best are Monster.ca and Workopolis.com. Using job sites can help you get your job posting before a national (and international) audience of job seekers at a low monetary cost. You will have to spend some time, however, learning how the particular site’s system works and/or searching for desirable employees.
7) Put the word out on the street.
If the situation isn’t critical (an “I need someone right now” situation), try using word-of-mouth and/or referrals to find employees. Tell all your contacts (both business and personal) about the position you’re seeking to fill and what kind of employee you’re looking for.
For small businesses that don’t have departments devoted to Human Resources, finding the right employees at the right times can be an especially time-consuming and frustrating struggle. Why not try one or more of these strategies for hiring employees the next time you have a position to fill? You may be surprised at how much shorter and more successful your hiring process becomes.
Source:
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/humanresources/a/hiringemployees.htm
