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Large Employer in a Startup Culture? Here’s How to Hire Employees

The Betts Team
January 9, 2020

Most people want to work at a large company…right? It seems intuitive. But in the current economy, recruiting sales and marketing professionals is more competitive than ever, even for an enterprise company. Baby boomers are retiring in droves and a lull in unemployment has sparked the “tightest” labor market experts have ever seen. Sales and marketing powerhouses have more bargaining power and higher demands – and many are choosing startups over the big, household-name employers that usually have little trouble attracting top talent. As a result, these larger employers are figuring out how to hire employees at scale in a new job market. 

 

Bringing in the right sales and marketing professionals means competing with small-to-medium sized businesses and startups that are fast, lean, and can offer flexibility, big titles and lush salaries to a millennial-dominated workforce. And Millennials have a different approach to work than Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers. Startups and smaller employers can offer these up-and-comers the opportunity to build something and propel their careers by starting at the ground level. Top talent today isn’t always looking for foosball tables, kegs, or open office floor plans. They’re looking for socially responsible employers and can be turned off by an enterprise company lacking a culture of innovation with a legacy product ripe for disruption.

How to hire employees may be changing…but best hiring practices can help

Mostly, millennial candidates are looking for flexibility. They don’t want to be boxed in by rigid job descriptions and a cumbersome, immovable organizational structure. And they want the flexibility to find that perfect work-life balance—think onsite day care, flexible paid time off (PTO) and of course, working from home or fully remote. According to a Deloitte study, almost 75% of Millennials prioritize working from home.

 

The good news? Enterprise companies still have some undeniable edge in attracting and engaging long-term employees.

 

Here are some best hiring practices to guide you in how to hire employees give you a competitive advantage.

 

1. Keep the focus on innovation

Sales and Marketing professionals know what their target audience is looking for—innovation. Deep data is making more possible, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is a priority for sales and marketing. Keep innovation at the center of your hiring process. Any new technologies or updates to your product should be highlighted on your website, in job postings, and throughout the interview process. Disruption is everywhere, and in the contest between legacy products resting on their laurels and new innovations priming to unseat them, more and more professionals would rather work for the latter. Show the technology that sets your company apart and ignites and motivates experienced SaaS sales professionals.

 

2. All about collaboration

Silos can kill productivity and plague your Glassdoor review page (which candidates are probably scanning while you read this). They’re also hard to avoid at a wide-reaching global enterprise. Make sure your company is driving cross-team interactions and collaboration—connecting team members in different locations with the right technologies. Even recruiters fluent in how to hire employees and best hiring practices can’t make these changes alone. Involve department leaders across your enterprise company. Talk about the role that collaboration plays on your career pages, in job descriptions, and throughout the hiring process.

 

3. Flex your big-company benefits

As an enterprise company, your benefits package can be a major motivation. Glassdoor highlights brands with the best benefits every year—the list is virtually dominated by the enterprise sector. Talk about time off, 401K matching, equity incentive plans on on-site gyms and childcare. Don’t forget to mention life-changing perks and benefits like fertility assistance, adoption assistance, tuition reimbursement, and even pet insurance.

 

4. Share your stability

Working for a startup is taking a risk. Forbes recently weighed risk as one of the biggest cons of working at a smaller company or startup that may not succeed. Let candidates know you’re a thriving, leading industry brand, and you aren’t going anywhere—a selling point they can use when they’re onboard.

 

5. Brag about your brand

Brand recognition is important to sales and marketing professionals – particularly younger ones starting their careers. Even in an immersive and disruptive tech space, it’s easier to sell when customers already know who you are and what you do. It can be challenging to get a callback or email reply when your audience doesn’t know you. And having a global brand on a sales professional’s LinkedIn or resume is usually seen as a bonus.

 

Recruiting is changing—it’s good to have someone in your corner

Looking for more best hiring practices? You aren’t alone. Knowing how to hire employees who thrive at large companies isn’t as easy as it once was. Enterprise organizations have expansive HR and hiring resources, but the job market is more unpredictable than ever. 

 

Betts Recruiting can flex your big-business benefits and brand recognition. Drop us a line and start attracting leading sales talent.