What happens when you want to hire top talent, without the bait that larger companies have on offer? Trying to chase professionals without the perks of your competitors can be tricky but it’s certainly not impossible. Today we’re going to take a look at the top 5 things any small business can offer to woo top talent and win against big competitors.

1. Less Is More

There’s a lot of talent out there who, despite working for what many would call an enviable employer, find themselves wishing they were more than just a cog in the system. Some large employers combat this with excellent employee engagement methods, many don’t.

This is where small companies carry a lot of weight, since you offer candidates the opportunity to have a significant impact in what you do. It’s one of the enviable benefits that comes with flat hierarchies, including:

Closer bonds between leaders and and employees
The opportunity to make meaningful decisions
Seeing the result of hard work at first hand
A more relaxed working environment

2. Job Diversity

Typically in small businesses the company will start out with a handful of people performing a combination of roles. Even when one is assigned a particular task it’s hard to not get involved with what others are doing, the workplace is a constant evolution of roles and responsibilities.

For some this is chaos, for others it’s ideal. For every person that enjoys a regular 9-5, there’s someone who relishes the chance to do something different. To put it short, you gain the upper hand by offering more job diversity.

3. Opportunity for Fast Growth

Most entry-level talent can look forward to several years slogging away in the corporate world before getting their first promotion, in smaller businesses this could happen in the first few months. It’s partially because there’s less competition, but also because there’s more opportunity for employers to recognise and reward hard work.

4. Flexibility

In large corporations it makes sense to have a fixed schedules. With hundreds or thousands of employees to keep track of it’s unnecessary and potentially costly to allow flexible shifts, holidays or working hours. Small businesses however, don’t have that problem.

Today’s emerging professionals are starting to expect a work-life balance as standard, so if you’re one of the employers offering flexibility then you’re already gaining the attention of a much sought-after Millennial workforce.

5. A Sense of Community

In small businesses employees feel a sense of togetherness. For modern employees work is no longer just something that pays the bills, it’s a fusion of work and life. Top talent are looking for a career that fulfills their professional and social needs, and where better than a small, well tailored team?

How Softgarden Can Help Small Business Attract Top Talent

It wasn’t that long ago that softgarden was one of the many small firms battling big companies for top talent. Just because we’re bigger now doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten how hard it is, after all it’s one of the main reasons that our company was born.

We know how important it is to encourage candidates with impressive employer branding and an excellent application process. Did you know, for example, that 74% of job seekers use companies’ career websites as their most important source of information online?

softgarden recruitment software aims makes the hiring process as profitable as possible for small businesses with the following:

Discounts on the world’s most popular job boards
A fully branded career site and professional job ads
An award-winning application process*
Mobile optimized job ads inc. online application
Professional advice on the best job boards for you
Social sharing options for maximum job ad exposure

Want to try it out? We offer a 14 day free trial with full access to the entire system. To find out more visit our site at softgarden.com.

*Following an APOLLO survey by online recruiting experts Potentialpark, our clients Fresenius were awarded first prize for the best online application process of 2013 and 2024.

Image Reference: Flickr Duriel Lawson