3 Small Business Recruitment Trends You Need to Know in 2024

Small businesses are facing a critical moment in the world of recruitment. The traditional recruitment playbook no longer cuts it in this competitive landscape. To compete, small businesses must adopt a keen understanding of emerging talent trends to attract and win over top candidates.

Here are the three key trends that small businesses must understand to attract, hire, and retain the best candidates & workers in 2024:

Embrace Remote (if you can):

Remote isn’t for everyone. If you’re a plumber you can’t talk a client through unclogging their toilet over the phone. They’re probably going to do a crap job (pun intended). So what can you do if remote isn’t an option? Well, can you offer flexible start and finish times? Flexible lunch breaks? Or maybe even the fabled early Friday finish? All of these things make your vacancies far more desirable, so if possible, include them in your job listings!

If you can embrace fully remote work then go for it, the world becomes your oyster, or more accurately, your talent pool. The pool of potential candidates gets so much deeper when you can hire someone from anywhere around the globe. In saying that if you want to keep it local there are plenty of Kiwis and Aussies (and everyone in between) who would love to work at home or from a coffee shop right here in Australia and New Zealand.

If you’re caught somewhere in the middle, why not give Hybrid a go? Even if it’s just one work-from-home day a week, that still counts as hybrid! Candidates will appreciate options, so if you can offer more than just Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm, always make sure that comes across in your recruitment.

If you can’t offer any remote work or flexibility you’re still in luck – we have two more recruitment trends you can jump on.

Highlight your Employee Benefits Package:

You might have a great benefits package without even knowing it! Do you do team lunches for special occasions? Cake for employees’ birthdays? Recognition & rewards for smashing goals? If you offer any of these benefits, shout them from the rooftops (or pop them in your job ads on SEEK or Indeed). Even better actually! Tell your Recruit Shop consultant so they can articulate your offering to great candidates making you the employer of choice. If you would like to know what Recruit Shop offers over SEEK, Indeed, etc. read ‘Why Choose Recruit Shop over D.I.Y Recruitment Solutions’.

Your employee benefits package also fits with the first trend of remote work and flexibility. If you can offer family-friendly policies that allow parents to do the school run before and/or after work, then you will be winning over so many more candidates. If you haven’t thought about an employee benefits package before, we have a full blog post about building an employee benefits package. Give it a read for some top tips on how your business can offer candidates more, to attract higher quality applicants. The best usually want the best. Be the best.

Nail your Employer Brand to the Mast:

Look, you want to attract lots of quality candidates of course, but not everyone is going to be for you, and you certainly won’t be for everyone. Make sure your business wears its heart on its sleeve, and then you will attract more candidates who align with your business.

Employer branding goes beyond attractive benefits. Employer branding is about defining your business’s culture, values, and overall mission. Why does your business exist, & what is its purpose? I bet you know these things by now, so make sure your business, and your recruitment lives by them.

Some actionable ways you can start building your employer brand today are, celebrating employee anniversaries, employee achievements, and overall business achievements on your website or social media channels. You should also showcase employee stories on these channels as well as in your recruitment material. Be the author of your brand’s narrative and attract individuals who resonate with your business’s ethos.

You could be thinking your business size might prove a challenge, and it could for attracting some candidates, but it won’t for them all. Recruitment success is not about mimicking the corporate giants. Small business recruitment success lies in crafting a unique employee value proposition that aligns with your distinct culture, purpose, and goals.

Together, let’s fight for small business success, one talented hire at a time.

If you would like to tackle your recruitment together, for a flat fee of $2,495 +GST, for any role across any industry, enquire with Recruit Shop today.

If you would like some more tips on how to secure the best candidates in 2024, check out our guide on ‘How to Snag Top Talent in 2024’.