Your time is valuable as a small business owner; every second counts when you’re wearing multiple hats to grow your business. As you grow, you need an all-star team to help you manage the day-to-day. Hiring the right employee, especially the first time, is an art.
Top tier employees will yield top performance results. But, many small business owners struggle with attracting and recruiting star employees. We’ve simplified the hiring process and provided actionable tips to help guide you through the process.
Deploy a Hiring Campaign to Find the Right Talent
Treat finding each new hire in the same way you would launch a marketing campaign for a new product. Use as many channels as possible to get the word out so that people know what you’re looking for. Considering the vast networks of the web and social media, it is prudent to open as many doors as possible for a potential candidate to walk through. You can post to Craigslists, run ads on social media, network at meet-ups, and/or post to job listing sites like Indeed, Monster.com, or CareerBuilder.com. For even faster results, use a syndication service like Workable.com or Recruitee.com to cast a wide net.
Add “Driven & Motivation” to the Top of Your Ideal Qualities
It may seem counterintuitive but drive and motivation should be at the top of the qualifiers list. Thing are so much easier when your employees are proactive and motivated. Enthusiastic and driven employees are contagious, producing outstanding results that trickle through the rest of your organization. Conversely, an employee with a poor attitude or poor work ethic can infect a hard-working team and leave them distracted in the work place.
Use Topgrading to Ask the Right Interview Questions Every Time
Dr. Brad Smart’s book, Topgrading, provides an end-to-end method for finding and vetting the right employees. If there is one booking on hiring to pick up, this is it! In case you don’t have time to fully read it, here are some key tips:
- Follow consistent interview steps. Your interviews should include a telephone screen, competency interview, and Topgrading Interview.
- During the Topgrading interview, be sure to get the full scope of the candidate’s history. This SlideShare outlines Dr. Smart’s comprehensive and effective process.
- Conduct extensive reference calls and ask the candidate to introduce you via email to their references. A-Players will be more than happy to get involved in the process of coordinating their reference calls for you.
Follow your Gut
No, unfortunately, we’re not talking about lunchtime.
Being the captain of your own ship, as a small business owner you ultimately know what is best to keep that ship afloat. You’ve put in the work to know the ins-and-outs of your business. During the hiring process, a prospective hire might not seem like a great fit—they’re not. Sometimes our instincts will nudge us a bit in hopes we make a favorable decision based on what we already know. Don’t be afraid to make the tough decisions.
