One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make: Assuming candidates are automatically excited about working for them. Learn how a stronger employer brand, clearer recruitment process, and more intentional candidate experience can help you attract and retain better staff.

In this episode of Money Secrets, Fi unpacks one of the biggest mistakes small business owners make when trying to recruit staff.

Listen to Episode 68

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Why recruiting is also a sales process. Candidates are assessing your business just as much as you’re assessing them.
How employer branding impacts recruitment. The way you show up online shapes whether great candidates want to work with you.
Why small businesses need to better communicate their unique advantages. Flexibility, proximity to decision-making, and meaningful work are often undervalued perks.
The importance of showcasing your team publicly. Highlighting employees and workplace culture builds trust and credibility with future candidates.
Why every small business should have a careers page. A dedicated page helps communicate your values, culture, and opportunities more clearly.
How to write a stronger, more compelling job ad. Great job ads focus on what the candidate gains, not just what the business expects.
Why recruitment should start with short phone calls. Quick screening calls save time, improve filtering, and create a better candidate experience.
The role onboarding plays in employee success. New team members need context, clarity, and over-communication to thrive.
Why strong brands attract stronger candidates. Businesses with clear, trusted brands often find recruitment significantly easier.
How thoughtful recruitment processes create better long-term outcomes. Better hiring decisions lead to stronger teams, smoother growth, and healthier businesses.

What we're getting wrong with recruiting (EP#68)

Introduction

We've made a lot of progress as a society in many areas, but one thing that hasn’t changed enough is our relationship with money. If we want to tip the scales in favour of marginalised people, we need to understand the secrets to making money in small business.

The more we talk about money — especially the secrets that usually stay behind closed doors or on the golf course — the more empowered we become. My mission is to get more money into the hands of good people, specifically business owners like you.

Because I believe small business can change the world. And to do that, we need to be making more money.

Acknowledgement of Country

This episode was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. I’d like to acknowledge them as the Traditional Owners and custodians of this land and water that I live, work and play on.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded. This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.

Recruitment Has Changed — And Business Owners Need to Adapt

One of the biggest shifts Fi highlights is that candidates today have more choice than ever before. While many business owners still approach hiring from the perspective of "why should I hire you?", candidates are often asking a different question:

"Why should I work for you?"

As a business owner, you're deeply invested in your business. You know the vision, the impact, the opportunities and the excitement. But candidates don't have that same context.

To them, your role is one of many they're considering.

That's why recruitment isn't just about assessing candidates. It's about marketing your business as a great place to work.

Start Talking About Your Team

If you want to attract great people, Fi recommends making it visible that you're an employer who values your team.

This might look like:

Featuring team members on social media
Sharing team wins and achievements
Talking about the roles people play in your business
Highlighting collaboration and culture

Not only does this help potential candidates understand what it's like to work with you, but it also recognises and celebrates the people already contributing to your business.

Create a Careers Page That Actually Sells the Opportunity

Many small businesses only think about recruitment when they have an open role. Fi suggests taking a longer-term approach by creating a dedicated careers page on your website.

A strong careers page should include:

The Benefits of Working With You

Many small business owners underestimate how appealing their businesses can be.

Benefits may include:

Greater flexibility
Working from home opportunities
Access to decision-making
Direct exposure to clients
Involvement in strategy
Faster professional development
Closer proximity to leadership

As Fi points out, one of the most underrated benefits of working in a small business is being close to the action. Employees often get opportunities that simply aren't available inside larger organisations.

2. A Way to Connect

Even if you're not actively recruiting, a contact form allows talented people to express interest in future opportunities. Some of the best hires come from conversations that begin long before a role exists.

Write Job Ads for Candidates, Not Yourself

Fi sees this mistake constantly.

Many job ads focus entirely on:

Responsibilities
Qualifications
Experience requirements
Expectations

While those things matter, they don't answer the candidate's biggest question:

What's in it for me?

Your job ad is an advertisement for your business.

Think carefully about:

The job title
The tone of voice
The opportunities available
What makes the role exciting
The benefits of joining your team

The goal isn't simply to list requirements. The goal is to attract the right person.

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You can learn more about Good Money Club while doors are open.

Don't Forget Your Existing Community

Before spending money on recruitment platforms, look at the community you've already built.

Your next employee could already be:

A customer
A follower
A subscriber
A member of your network

Fi encourages business owners to share job opportunities across their existing marketing channels, including:

Instagram
LinkedIn
Email newsletters
Websites
Online communities

The people who already know, like and trust your brand can often become exceptional team members.

A Better Recruitment Process

Once applications start arriving, Fi recommends creating a structured process.

Step 1: Shortlist Candidates

Review applications and narrow them down to your strongest candidates.

Step 2: Conduct Short Discovery Calls

Rather than immediately organising interviews, Fi prefers scheduling 15–20 minute phone calls.

These calls help identify:

Salary expectations
Availability
Location requirements
Potential deal-breakers
General fit

This approach saves significant time for both candidates and employers.

Step 3: Hold Interviews

After the phone calls, narrow your shortlist further and invite only the strongest candidates to interview.

Fi recommends asking similar questions across interviews to make comparisons easier and more objective.

Step 4: Make the Offer

Once you've found the right person:

Issue contracts
Confirm expectations
Begin onboarding

Simple in theory. Critical in practice.

The Most Overlooked Part of Hiring: Onboarding

According to Fi, onboarding is where many businesses accidentally set people up to struggle.

Business owners often forget how much context they hold after years of working in the business.

New employees don't have that context.

Successful onboarding means:

Explaining processes
Sharing background information
Providing documentation
Clarifying expectations
Giving people access to resources

The more context you provide, the faster new team members can become confident and effective.

The Hidden Advantage of a Strong Brand

Fi finishes with a reminder that recruitment starts long before you post a job ad.

A strong brand doesn't just help you attract customers.

It helps you attract talent.

When people already know your business, trust your reputation, and understand what you stand for, recruitment becomes dramatically easier.

Whether you're a product-based business, service provider, or social enterprise, the way you show up in the world influences the quality of candidates who want to work with you.

Final thoughts

Recruitment is no longer just about finding people. It's about creating an opportunity people genuinely want to be part of.

From showcasing your team and building a careers page to writing better job ads and creating a thoughtful recruitment process, there are countless ways to position your business as an employer of choice.

And perhaps most importantly, remember that great recruitment starts with great branding.

The stronger your reputation, the easier it becomes to attract exceptional people who want to help build what you're creating.

Outro

Thank you for listening to Money Secrets. If you loved this episode, please subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a review. Your support helps us get these conversations into the hands of more good people who deserve to thrive in business.

We’ve come so far as a society in many ways, but money is one of the areas where progress hasn’t been enough. If we want to tip the scales in favour of marginalised people, it starts with understanding the secret: money in small business.

In this podcast, Money Secrets, host Fiona (Fi) Johnston—Chartered Accountant, small business advocate, and impact enthusiast—dives into the conversations we need to have about money. The secrets that once stayed behind closed doors (or on the golf course) are finally out in the open.

Fi’s mission? To get more money into the hands of good people, like you. She believes small businesses have the power to change the world, and the key to making a bigger impact is to make—and manage—more money.

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Thank you to everyone involved for bringing this podcast together. We are excited to hear from you with any questions, feedback or suggestions for future episodes that you might have. Send a Direct Message to @peach.business

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