Hiring, Retention & Social Media
I recently met with fellow business owners who went through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program with me. As we started the meeting, we went around the room sharing what has gone well and what hasn't in the past six months.
As you might expect, each attendee reported their growth since completing the program. But most of them also reported what we hear in the news every day, they are having a hard time hiring and keeping employees.
Today, I started my day with an article from the Harvard Business Review. The article suggests that employee retention starts with onboarding. I would take that a step further. I believe that gaining new employees can start there as well.
Start at the beginning
When we bring in a new client, we have them complete a brand identity questionnaire. One of the questions we ask is, "Do you employees know what your brand stands for?" The answer for most of our new clients is no.
At ASMM Digital, we believe that what we stand for as a brand is as important as the tasks we ask our employees to perform. That's why we share our story and our brand in the interview, before we even think about onboarding.
We tell them our core values, authenticity and gratitude and almost always they get an ah-ha look on their face. Yes, they can see that already. We explain our connection to Burgers and Bands for Suicide Prevention. And finally, we tell them a little bit about our relationships with our clients. All of these things help them to see what we stand for and their reaction to each of them helps us decide whether they will be a good fit.
Strategy: Start with your core values. Stick to the two most important core values. If your sole purpose in business is to bring more money into your business, chances are you will have a difficult time gaining loyal employees. If instead, they see your core values as something that will add to their lives and the lives of your customers, you are much more likely to gain their trust.
Cause Marketing For Employees
For years we have spoken about the benefits of cause marketing. During the pandemic, cause marketing became more important than ever. Yes, it matters to your customers but in this job market, it's even more important to your potential employees. It's no secret that businesses are struggling to hire and it's no secret that small businesses cannot compete with big corporations for salary.
Cause marketing gives you an advantage with potential employees. If your company is passionate about a cause and can bring the culture of giving into the workplace, then, you may have an advantage over the faceless corporations.
Strategy: Choose your cause carefully. Although you want to make sure your cause does not alienate potential employees, you also don't want to choose something you are not personally passionate about. It will show. People want to know that your cause is part of your culture.
Use Social Media To Target Potential Employees
Businesses are struggling to hire. We have clients who are juggling their hours to make up for the lack of employees to man the store. For crying out loud, some Domino's locations have stopped delivering because they cannot hire enough drivers. Hiring has become a crisis.
That's why it's more important now than ever to target your marketing not just to your potential customers but to your potential employees as well.
Strategy: A simple way to do this is through "Day In The Life" photos and videos. Show your staff behind the scenes. Celebrate good employees. Share big internal events such as birthdays, work anniversaries, and baby showers. Share photos when you take the team to happy hour after work. Show people how much fun it is to work for your small business. Show them how much you care.
The SEO Factor
As a small business, it can be difficult to stand out in the job market. Social media is an often overlooked factor in search engine optimization. Posting every day across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile and Twitter, is one more way to stand out in the search results.
Strategy: Create accounts on all social media platforms. Use a scheduler such as Hootsuite or our favorite, Zoho Social or better yet, hire an agency to handle the scheduling for you.
Are you too late?
Many of these tips won't help you right this very second, but the saying goes - the best time to plant a shade tree was 50 years ago. The next best time is today. Social media marketing takes time to build. Start today to create the culture online that helps you attract and retain employees for years to come.