Chicago, IL — For small business leaders, finding top talent can be hard enough, but competing to hire that talent is even harder. Lori Dann, founder of the Presidents’ Leadership Council, an exclusive forum for small business presidents, CEOs, and partners to engage, and grow through peer support, has come up with eight ways smaller employers can compete for top talent.

According to Dann, the current employment landscape makes it especially difficult for small employers to compete with large corporations. While they may be unable to throw money and traditional benefits at a candidate, there are ways to attract and retain top talent. And big business is missing it.

1. Hire for potential over experience. Consider hiring a candidate based on their personality and behavior, i.e., a capable learner with initiative and integrity that can be taught the job responsibilities. They will be grateful for the opportunity and may be more loyal to the company in return.
2. Pay more attention to transferrable and soft skills than quantifiable qualifications gained through training. These are less measurable than hard skills but include essential qualities like negotiation, problem-solving, listening, teamwork, confidence, adaptability, and empathy.
3. Don’t draw hard lines around work history gaps. Gaps in work history are usually attributed to the candidate tending to non-career related responsibilities that likely have enriched that person in some way. Explore the possibility.
4. Employees who feel purpose in their work are more productive, effective, resilient, healthy, and have staying power.
5. Provide growth opportunities. Every candidate wants to understand what they must know to do the job, how they will be supported, and what opportunities are available for growth.
6. Be a mentor. The greatest benefit to working for a small business is the opportunity for mentorship. Imagine hiring a candidate that meets 1-5 above, then teaching that person the job, the business, the methodologies employed, and even an entire industry. Not only will they be set up for a long and successful career, but tremendous loyalty will also be built.
7. Allow for job crafting. Be open to let employees adjust their work parameters to be in alignment with their skills and preferences, while still meeting company expectations.
8. Offer low or no cost employee benefits such as a voluntary benefits menu, savings program, employee assistance program, additional PTO, or tuition reimbursement for work-related education.

“Feedback we get from our membership is that in today’s very competitive world to find talent small employers have to find other ways to make their jobs more appealing to candidates,” said Dann. “Oddly, it isn’t necessarily about money anymore. There are lots of reasons people chose a job and that’s the trick – figuring out just what those reasons are.” 

About PLC

Presidents’ Leadership Council is an exclusive membership organization for small business presidents, CEOs, founders, and partners, who are running businesses with three to 50 employees.  Forums of peers, in non-competing industries, are formed and meet monthly in a strictly confidential environment to work through challenges and opportunities together.  Members appreciate building relationships with others at their level that can share their expertise, strengths, perspectives, and resources. PLC is designed to meet the unique needs of the small business leader. Visit www.myplc.co.