The first step to a new hire is to recruit applicants, and one great way to do that is from within your own staff.  Your current employees are already familiar with the company, and employee morale is improved by knowing there is room for growth and good performance is rewarded.

Employees should be encouraged to apply for new positions, or to recommend acquaintances they know who would bring needed skills to your workforce.  An internal search can be conducted prior to, or alongside, other recruiting efforts.

Those outside efforts can include advertising in industry publications, word-of-mouth in the industry, job posting websites, traditional print media, and employment agencies.  Depending on your business and the position, there may be professional association websites and university career centers that are excellent places to post the opening.

A superior workforce requires planning. Whether you are hiring your first employee, or one among many, there are steps you should take before you even place an ad for a new employee. First, of course, is to clearly determine the actual need for the new or replacement hire. Consider if there is another way to accomplish the work: review improving processes, redistribution of workload, or eliminating redundant or out of date procedures. Once the decision is made that a new hire is required, involve current staff who are familiar with the work involved in planning and developing the list of key requirements and other desired traits for the ideal new employee to fill the job. From there, rewrite or develop a job description and pay range. Make a final decision that the pay range is within current budget for hiring at this time.