Small Business Strategies to Select the Best Talent

It’s critical for small businesses to get their talent selection strategy right. Here are some of our best practices to guide the way…

In a recent study, 52.5% of SMEs noted that talent is not only their biggest challenge, but also their biggest opportunity when it comes to future readiness and business growth. The need to hire, retain and grow the best employees is made even more challenging by limited resources and fierce competition for top talent.

We've worked with organisations of all sizes to build and optimise their talent strategy. In this article, we’ve put together some key guidelines on how to get the most out of selection for small to medium businesses.

The Importance of Selecting the Best People for SME's

Selecting the best talent means hiring the right person for the right role – at the right time. Individuals with the right knowledge, skills and abilities for the current role are important, but it is equally critical to look at how they fit with the culture and values of the organisation, as well as how they are likely to grow with the company in future. With the right mix of technical skills, competencies and agility, these talented employees are the main driver of business stability, longevity and growth.

An efficient talent selection strategy should focus on how to make the right decisions, while keeping time, financial and manpower costs to a minimum.

5 Strategies for Effective Talent Selection

Here are 5 ideas for you to implement in your small business to select the best talent.

1. Create a well-defined job description

The Golden Rule has always been, “your job description speaks for you in your absence’. Make it do just that! Create a job description that will find the right candidates.

Before selecting the best candidate, there is a need to attract the right talent. Having a clearly defined job description is critical in finding the candidate with the best fit for the role, organisation, team, culture and values. 

In designing the job description, a number of stakeholders (e.g., current incumbent, manager, colleagues) should be consulted to ensure all aspects of the job are captured. Once the job description is finalised, the next step in the process is selecting the right competencies for the role.

2. Select the right competencies for the role

Competencies are defined as the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours necessary to perform successfully in a role. It is important to define which competencies are essential for effective job performance, and then to measure candidates’ role fit against this profile. We recommend that a competency profile consist of six to eight competencies that are critical for success. 

There are a number of ways to create a competency profile for a job role:

• Where an up to date, detailed job description exists, this should provide sufficient detail on the job KPIs, tasks and deliverables to create a profile.

• A group of experts can be brought together (e.g., incumbent, line manager, HR professional) to debate, discuss and agree on a profile.

• Current high performers in the role can be assessed and a profile built around their standout strengths.

Lumenii has a comprehensive, online competency app that can assist in creating your role profiles.

3. Utilise an assessment screening tool

You are likely to receive dozens of job applications per vacancy. Utilising an assessment screening tool could help you save time that would otherwise be spent manually sifting through applicants who do not have the required potential for the role.

Modern approaches to talent selection highlight the value of objective data in making good decisions, while harnessing the power of this data as early in the process as possible. This is achieved by leveraging off technology and the ability to assess every single applicant – at a fixed price.

Assessments are typically thought of as expensive additions to the recruitment process that require an external consultant to use and interpret. However, small businesses can, in fact, take advantage of technological advances in this area that provide unlimited assessments at a monthly fee, with full ownership and control of the process. 

Some of the benefits of assessment screening tools include:

• Saves time and resources

• More objective indicators and fewer human errors

• Only interview qualified candidates

• Reduces probability of incorrect hires i.e., fewer false negatives and false positives

• Ability to focus efforts on other areas in your business.

4. Use competency-based interviews

Competency-based interviews have been shown to be one of the strongest predictors of job performance. Questions take the form of “tell me about a time when you…” and are designed to assess a candidate’s proficiency for the necessary competencies. It is a structured approach that provides insight into how a candidate has previously responded to certain situations within the workplace – in other words, their ‘actual’ practical knowledge and skills. Competency-based interviews can therefore assist small businesses in selecting candidates with the right fit for the role.

5. Start thinking about succession planning

Once you’ve found the best people, your next challenge will become holding onto them. Succession planning would be your natural and logical next step. Check your business succession risk here.

High-performing individuals within your organisation could be potential successors for more senior roles. An internal development and promotion strategy is therefore another method to ensure you select and retain the right candidate for current and future roles.

People normally stay in organisations where their growth aspirations are taken seriously. Opportunities for promotions and better working conditions are always appealing.

Succession works by combining objective and qualitative insights to determine:

• Who your top talent is

• Where their strengths and development areas lie

• What their next steps could be in the business

• What they need to work on to get there

Learn more about succession planning in our ultimate guide.

HR Seminars and Events in South Africa

Sign up to be notified about HR events in South Africa. Designed to give you the tools to bring out the best in your staff.