A business is defined not just by its brand, not by its business plan, or even just the quality of products and services it provides. It’s defined by the people within it and the culture that they shape. As such, getting your hands on good talent is vital and, in many fields, that talent can come fresh. Here’s how to make sure you’re getting some new blood in your business regularly and why it’s important.
Don’t fear inexperience
You might be thinking “why would I want someone who doesn’t know the industry on the team? It is true that younger employees don’t have the experience of their older colleagues, but the experience isn’t the only thing that you need. For one, in many fields, younger employees are likely to bring newer skills that might be more relevant to modern technologies, making them better able to adopt the latest methods and tools. However, you should also never underestimate the ability to train someone to perfectly fit your business, rather than having to retain someone who knows it all, but might not work how you want them to.
Get them fresh out of education
Don’t underestimate the benefits of visiting colleges and universities to start talking about career opportunities with the people that attend there. If you’re able to provide potential paths for people straight out of graduation, then you’re a lot more likely to get more interest. Of course, in order to do this, you need to sell your company to them as well and show them what kind of employer you are, including some of the perks of working with you.
Start taking them on temporarily
Even if you don’t always have permanent positions open, you can still scope out the latest talent by offering them the opportunity to work and build their experience within your business. Creating an internship contract isn’t too tricky, once you make sure that you know what you can legally expect or an intern and how to stay consistent with their rights. It’s good access to additional labour without as much cost as hiring someone permanently, and you can build connections with up-and-coming talent that can pay off even if you’re not going to employ them immediately. Of course, if you do want to employ them, working with them as interns first can give you a headstart over your competitors.
Get yourself out there
If you want to find the most active and eager young talent in the industry, then you need to go where they are. Any aspiring professional is going to do whatever they can to find the best role for themselves and this means that they’re most likely out there networking. Get networking, yourself, looking for events and groups near you that you can join. It has plenty of benefits beyond being able to scope out talent, but that’s certainly a big one.
An injection of new blood into the business can bring fresh skills, fresh ideas, and an energy that can keep the place motivated and productive. Don’t neglect to get some of it for yourself.
