Are you an Australian business owner looking to recruit the right entry-level staff? It can be hard to know where to begin.
If you’re new on the Aussie business scene, it’s likely you have few (if any) existing employees – let alone a Hiring Manager or HR team. In this case, it’s solely up to you to determine the entire hiring process, right down to selecting the winning candidate. You could try advertising on job boards, taking referrals, or engaging recruitment agencies – the list of possibilities is endless.
As a small business owner, there will be times you need to upskill to keep up with business demand. You could pursue an online certificate in project management for example, in a virtual capacity at the same time as running your business, depending on your schedule.
Expanding your skillset as a business owner while simultaneously overseeing its operation is no easy feat, though. Perhaps it’s the reason you sought to recruit more staff to begin with. So, what exactly is the best way to acquire hardworking, reliable entry-level employees?
Let’s discuss.
What is the Job Market like in Australia Right Now?
As an Aussie business owner, you’ll be delighted to hear that at present, the Australian job market is strong. With her consistently stable economy – and opportunities for growth across multiple industries including mining, healthcare, and construction – Australia is a great place to be in business.
But with a current unemployment rate of below 5%, good quality talent resources are in high demand on Australian soil. For this reason, your bid for staff needs to be competitive: you must be able to offer attractive working conditions to applicants – including enticing career prospects, wages, and entitlements – to stand out from other employers.
Here are 5 steps to recruiting the right staff:
1. Establish (and Perfect) Your Hiring Process
As a small Aussie business, you’re likely under-resourced. Studies have shown that Australian employers’ increasing need for staff has caused imbalances in labour demand and supply, with shortfalls when it comes to finding suitable talent to fill roles.
When recruiting staff, understanding the variances between the roles you need to fill within your business is central to perfecting your hiring process. You must know the difference between an employee and a contractor, for example. Once you’ve decided on what employment type you’re recruiting for, hiring a suitable candidate for the role in question is quite a process, with many moving parts to consider – including external perceptions of your brand.
2. Consistently Build on Your Business’s Brand
A recent survey by Seek found that 64% of Aussie job seekers would decline an offer from a potential employer with a weak brand image, even if the alternative was to remain unemployed.
So as an employer, you need to play an active role in managing your business’s brand. This includes responding to reviews, updating the company’s online profile, and sharing updates across your social media platforms.
In this sense, you must ensure that you are consistently working on your brand image and reputation to stay relevant (and attractive) to potential future employees.
3. Be Transparent At All Times, Especially In your Job Description
When a potential candidate reads a job description, this may often be their first impression of a company. As an employer, you need to disclose all that you require in the role, but conversely, you must also remember that you are pitching your company to applicants. So, what can they gain from working with your company?
With one in five Australians quitting their jobs within the last year, it pays to consider your company’s retention strategies, as well as the incentives you offer to keep your talent on the books. This means not only paying competitive wages but also cultivating a positive company culture. In addition, you need to be able to provide your staff with transparent advice regarding their entitlements – including a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement, which outlines critical details about Australia’s National Employment Standards (or NES, for short).
4. Improve your Interviews with AI
Looking for a streamlined strategy to level up your interview techniques? Some Australian businesses are incorporating some AI-assisted methods to enhance the hiring process, specifically:
- Keyword scanning in candidate resumes.
- Screening social media profiles.
- Matching selection criteria with cover letter content.
- Automating written interviews via chatbot technology.
Used strategically, these AI enhancements (read: not replacements) to human-led recruitment drives can be highly effective. According to one postgraduate student, the majority of her applications were subject to multiple rounds of computer-driven screening before ever reaching a face-to-face interview with a fellow human. In this way, AI automation can be a considerable time-saver for many under-resourced HR teams.
5. Clarify Qualification Requirements
When it comes to recruiting the right entry-level staff, it’s important to check their qualifications. Are they suitably qualified to fill the role in question? Have they completed the relevant degree?
The great news is that thanks to Australia’s world-class tertiary facilities, our education system produces university graduates with top-tier skills. This makes it even easier for Australian businesses to draw from a readily available pool of fresh talent resources.
Of course, as an Aussie business owner, recruiting new team members is never an easy feat. But ultimately, your success in securing suitable staff will reflect the effort you put into your recruitment drive.