Starting a new business requires preparation and the ability to adapt to changing situations. The inability of any entrepreneur to understand this could lead to things going awry. The processes involved in establishing a company vary from conducting in-depth market researches to hiring competent helping hands and, ultimately, selling products or rendering services. Hiring the right talent who possesses the wherewithal to help your company achieve its set goals is essential. Startups and companies at the growth stage need employees who have adequate passion, solid work ethics, requisite skill sets, and desirable work styles to achieve their goals. What practical tips can help you make a job post that attracts more applicants and better talents? This is the question most startups and growth-stage business owners ask. Well, creating an excellent job post is easy. Here are six practical tips to construct a job post that will get you more applicants and better talents.
Pitch to Your Future Employees as You Pitch to Investors
Imagine a scenario in which you have been given some products to market and sell within a limited period of time. In order to market and sell your goods successfully, you need to find the right set of people to market to, a set of prospective customers who could end up making your dream a reality. Now, imagine seeing yourself in front of such a crowd, trying desperately to ensure that each person goes home with at least one of your products. That is exactly how your job post for your startup should look.
Always keep in mind that the people you are looking for are likely to be juggling several job offers. Hence competing for outstanding candidates could be quite a hassle. The process of hiring future employees is especially challenging for growth-stage companies. The talent markets are pretty competitive, and being a startup with little or no fame would not make it any easier. Thus, it is of extreme importance that you convince your future employees that the position they are working so hard to occupy is actually worth it.
Make Mission Statements Interesting, Concise and Impactful
A mission statement says a lot, if not all, about a company. It can be described as the sole purpose of your company’s existence. Every business should have a mission statement, one that is strong enough to send positive and hopeful signals to anyone who cares to read about it. Your company’s values and all your company stands for should be stated in a clear and concise manner. A solid and meaningful mission statement should include;
- What your company does and what products or services you render
- How your company does what it does. Here, what the general public is interested in are the core values your company stands for.
- Why your company does what it does. This is a crucial part of a mission statement as it reveals the passion behind your business.
Talk about Company Culture
As a startup or growth-stage company, hiring competent hands could prove to be a hell of a task. Most elite candidates judge companies according to their company culture. If you do not have a great company culture, you really do not have anything. A company’s culture is a set of attitudes, values, beliefs, goals, and other characteristics a company follows to create a gratifying work experience. It is basically the company itself in all its greatness. Now, imagine how disastrous it would be for a startup without a company culture or with a company culture that can be rated as bad even from afar. It is of extreme importance that your company culture accurately reflects the organization and its people.
Talk about Equity
Equity at a workplace means fairness. Employers hire, pay, and promote according to policies that give people equal opportunity, while employees expect their efforts to get fair recognition. As a growth-stage company, it is necessary to lay special emphasis on equity as long as it exists. If equity exists and rewards are fair, employees feel motivated to give their best effort. To employees, equity expectations determine performance level, which in turn affects the performance of the business as a whole. Workplace equity paves the way for meritocracy, a situation in which rewards, raises, bonuses, promotions, and recognitions are achieved through merit and not as a result of preferential treatment. Equity also helps boost morale, create a climate of security and trust, and foster a sense of belonging. When employees are also happy and satisfied with their jobs, it helps to increase the retention rate as they would be too happy to quit their jobs. Simply put, equity is a reason for employees to invest themselves in a company, and its importance cannot be overemphasized.
Use Rich Media, Video, Images to Sell
It is often said that visual memories are the strongest memories as life is all about attraction. We humans, particularly, are visual beings, and we are naturally attracted to beauty. Humans are easily captivated by eye-catching visuals, and we tend to use that focus to get a better idea of what a message is trying to say. We get a better understanding of the message and the idea behind the message, as well as a cluster of written words. For starters, web content containing visuals like images or videos perform better on average, receiving up to 94 percent more views. A growth-stage company needs to exploit the advantages of using media to communicate to the general public to the fullest. This will go a long way in captivating people’s interests and reaching a larger audience at once.
Show the Founder
Most startups and growth-stage companies do not attach enough importance to transparency and do not see the need to reveal the founder to the public. This is, however, one of the most common mistakes made by these startups. Showing the founder of a growth-stage company gives employees and prospective employees a sense of security and is actually an essential food many startups need to grow. This could be likened to trying to order a product without actually seeing what you are paying for. This is not very encouraging and, in fact, demoralizing. Hence, growth-stage companies must attach a reasonable level of importance to transparency as a whole.
What other advice do you have for creating a job post to attract talent to a startup? Let us know down in the comments.
This article originally published on GREY Journal.
