Intro
Learning how to hire staff for a small business is essential for modern leaders. You ask why? Simply because the better way to guarantee the team’s future success is to make the correct hiring today.
There are a surprising number of successful entrepreneurs that fail to embrace this concept. Instead, they rush the hiring process and often lay the blame for their rush on a multitude of factors. On the other hand, we understand that small businesses always operate under pressure and there is always no time to recruit, hire and train a new employee.
Despite this, these shortsighted business owners pretend to be shocked when trouble comes along. What did they imagine? Well, the main idea is that no one can rush through a shaded process and hope for good results. As an example, let’s take a bread recipe: you mix an incomplete bread recipe, you do not let it rise properly, take it out of the oven 5 minutes early, and then complain that the final product is doughy and tasteless. Did you get the idea?!
Investing time in the hiring process
Investing time in the hiring process is not just about the recruitment and interview process. In addition, you need to think about the future of this position. It’s often the case that shortsighted businesses roll out a red carpet for new employees. The problem is that later, they leave them standing at the end of this carpet without a clear direction as to where they can go further.
Forget about ever posting a job that doesn’t have at least the first sketches of evolution and development. To do otherwise will either leave you with a stagnant employee or present a ridiculously frustrating dilemma for a motivated person seeking career advancement.
Studies show that 97% of employees want to learn and be able to grow in their positions. As Ryan Roslansky explains:
“More than that, opportunities to learn and develop have emerged as the most powerful driver of professional culture. Executives and managers should make it clear that continuing education is an integral part of personal career growth and can be achieved within the company. To help foster a culture of learning, encourage employees to set aside calendar time for learning each week or month – and do the same. If managers have time dedicated to learning, employees will be more likely to follow their lead. It can be stressful to juggle learning with looming deadlines or customer needs. Remind yourself and your team that investing in learning will pay off for their careers and the organisation, and provide specific guidance in employee growth plans.”
The question is, how can you draw up a hiring plan that will lead to the short- and long-term success of your new team member? Consider these 8 essential steps to figure out how to hire employees for a small business.
1. Build your strategy
First, analyse your company’s key needs. What is the most critical function that needs to be filled? The temptation to simply fill in when a vacancy appears should be resisted. With the progress and development you’re tracking, it will likely be somewhat less common in a position to be identical to the previous one.
Consider also where the new role may lead in the future. Every good applicant has already been interested in this factor, so be prepared to discuss it during interviews.
More considerations should include the labour market in your sector and area. Anyone else is hiring professionals for similar roles? What are they offering? Having the answers to these two questions can help you refine your recruitment strategy to the point where your business could stand out from the masses.
Although you may feel pressure to recruit, don’t speed up this vital step in the process. By doing more research at the beginning, you’ll achieve greater success at the end.
2. Write the description
Your research from the previous stage should have pointed out the particular skills of expertise you are looking for and the techniques you will apply to get the best applicants. Having both of these elements is vital for an effective job posting.
Did you think about the salary range for this position? If you know the numbers, it will be relevant in order to understand your budgeting efforts and prepare you to have productive conversations with applicants.
Suggested content sections of your job description include an introduction, job description, and preferred qualifications. After drafting the first version of your job description, let the relevant managers give their feedback. They might have helpful insights into ways to set better expectations and highlight the most relevant advantages.
3. Get your documents ready to go
Taking on an employee involves more than just your in-house procedures. You also have to consider administrative items such as tax documents, direct filing forms, and non-compete agreements.
Depending on the nature of your business and the country in which your business is located, the specific documents needed will vary. For those approaching the first hiring of your business, check with other business owners to get an idea of what you will need to plan. If you’ve hired staff in the past, conduct an audit of these processes to identify the necessary paperwork to get you in order.
Here’s a list of examples to get you started on your evaluation:
- Federal eligibility form (such as Form I-9 in the United States)
United States) confirming that the applicant is eligible for employment.
- Federal tax documents for determining how much money you should withhold from their wages.
- Drug testing consent forms that the employee signs so that you can perform scheduled or random drug testing (if applicable).
- A non-compete clause prevents the employee from starting or joining a competing business for a certain period of time if they should have to leave your business.
- Employee Manual outlining the code of conduct, policies, and other essential details.
- An initial contract wording for the job description
- A document acknowledging the document verifying that the employee has received and agrees to the documents you have provided.
Consider an e-signature service instead of dealing with lots of paperwork and struggling to get signatures. In addition to speeding up the initial paperwork process, e-signatures will also save data in an accessible and secure way.
4. Let the world discover your position
In the very first place, your job ad should be posted on your business website. At that point, you can post it on relevant job sites. If your ideal applicants use a particular platform, for all intents and purposes, post your job there. However, don’t get carried away, because the more you spread your job posting more widely, the more likely you are to find under-qualified candidates.
- ZipRecruiter
- Indeed
- Monster
- CareerBuilder
Keep in mind that it may be helpful to call on an external service to support you when recruiting for specialist or executive positions.
5. Screening of applications
We recommend waiting until you have received at least 20 applications before proceeding with a formal review. However, this point of reference is not always possible, as highly focused applications may not attract as much interest from applicants. Just wait until you have more options to compare.
So the first thing to do is to screen the resumes to make sure they satisfy the basic skills. Every application should fall into one of 3 categories:
- Move on to the interview
- Not a good fit for the job, but consider for future positions
- Not qualified for a role within your business.
As long as you have a high number of applicants who satisfy the requirements, filter the CVs and classify them based on the additional details you learn from their cover letters. Skills should be a must, while cultural fit and level of ambition are factors that help an applicant move to the top.
For situations where you don’t receive sufficient qualified candidates, never simply re-post the job on the same platforms. Instead, take some time to review your formulation and see how you can make your ad more relevant, engaging, and eye-catching. You also might, just for example, be using internal terminology in your ad that doesn’t correspond to the keywords applicants are looking for in job databases.
6. Interview conduct
Traditionally, this stage of the process of interviewing has involved the employer testing the applicants with tricky questions and reviewing their skills. Though there is a certain amount of space for direct questions, they should set your applicants up for success. At the end of the line, you want most of them to succeed. But if you put your new candidate under an unfair glare during the interview process, they won’t forget this bad experience even after you decide to hire them.
For both the interviewer and applicant, you can help to improve interviewing by informing them in advance. And the more time you give them to prepare, the better. You should also consider sending your questions in advance, as this will help you get the most concise and informative answers.
Based on the CV, cover letter, and any conversations you’ve had with them, think of ways to personalize the interview.
According to Alex Haimann, a recruitment expert:
“It is important to note that our process can vary. We aim to structure our interviews around the skills we’re looking for from each applicant and give them the opportunity to prove those skills. Because no 2 applicants are the same, naturally, neither are two interviews. Prior to all of our interviews, we share the questions we’ll be asking with applicants.”
Once the initial series of interviews is over, reduce the number of applicants to the most important ones. By this time, follow-up interviews should be even more personalised than previously. Below are the main things you need to confirm:
- Does this applicant have the required skills?
- Does this applicant have any examples of results or proven achievements?
- Does this applicant have a motivational drive?
- Will this applicant step up to the role?
- Does this applicant have a potential future here?
- Will this applicant enrich our culture?
Of course, during the interview process, you will not meet perfect applicants. So be on the search for someone who provides almost everything you’re looking for, as well as a few extra skills and qualities you never thought to ask for.
7. Make an offer
When a decision has been made, follow up quickly with all candidates. The ones that weren’t selected still deserve the respect of a “thank you” and a brief explanation of how you finally decided to go ahead with another candidate.
In a competitive job market, the candidate of your choice will want to be contacted immediately. Although you may not be informed about other potential offers, you never know when a suitable opportunity may arise. So fix things quickly with a generous offer adapted to their situation.
Always be ready for the applicant to negotiate your offer. How much would you be prepared to increase the salary and what extra advantages would you be willing to give if the candidate asks for them?
Now is a great time to double-check that you have everything in order for the new employee. From laptops to server access to a work email address, these details don’t take care of themselves.
8. Employee onboarding
The job is far from over once the offer has been accepted and the new colleague joins the team. Now you need to handle the onboarding. Businesses that neglect this final step not only fail to retain, but their reputation with potential industry applicants also drops quickly into the ditch.
Onboarding your new employee! Here are the key actions to be done:
Get started with an orientation: This provides an opportunity to share some information about the company and help them understand how you provide service to your customers. You can also use this time to discuss basic values and make sure the employee shares them.
Outline job responsibilities: Due to your familiarity with the business, it can be easy to assume that new employees will be able to easily assimilate into the role. But you’ll need to explicitly detail their role if you want them to be able to move forward with confidence.
Provide them with a mentor: Providing a reliable source of information and support is the best way to help an employee be successful. Be realistic – your employee will probably miss most of the orientation details and discussions about responsibilities. The same goes for many of the other important things they’ll learn in the first weeks and months. An onboarding mentor or “buddy” can provide them with real-time information and help them develop within the framework of your unique business culture.
Task them with a project
A great weakness of the hiring process is that most companies hire top talent, and then let them wait a few days before they are allowed to start contributing. Instead, your new employees should have the opportunity to learn the business while showing their courage by going through a project. The results may not always be spectacular, but the learning opportunity will be worth it.
In making that final effort, you’ll prove to your employees that you genuinely care about their satisfaction and path. It is okay for everyone to post their own office platitudes on the walls, such as “Our people are our top priority,” but only through action can this be supported.
Coming to careers, you need to be aware that the role you have just filled has a life of its own. Remember the job description you wrote at the beginning of the process. The job description is a useful tool to help you plan for the future. While aspects of it may always be relevant, plan for a major evolution to take place in the coming months and years.
The evolution of the job is a natural outcome. Except if you are a tradition-bound organisation that enjoys its own separation from modern reality, such as the Queen’s Foot Guards at Buckingham Palace, you need to keep evolving to survive. If not, you’ll find yourself standing around in a red tunic and fur hat as the competition adjusts to what tomorrow brings.
Having been attentive to applicants’ motivation and vision during the interview process will ideally lead to employees that embrace this development. They will not only agree with it, they will be empowered by it.
According to Rob Allen
“Don’t hire people who rest on their laurels. One thing is certain about e-commerce: The landscape is constantly changing. Strategies that worked 12 months ago no longer work today. And that means your success will ultimately depend on your team’s ability to adapt. That’s why many top e-commerce leaders recommend hiring people with a growth mindset. Just because someone ran a bunch of profitable Facebook ads in 2011 doesn’t mean they still will be able to today […] In other words, you can bring people who are newer to the digital landscape on your team and grow with them. But close-minded people can be really bad hires.”
It doesn’t matter if you run an e-commerce business, offer consulting services or sell personalised fashion jewelry, your strategies should be continuously evolving. And with the right employees, your team will be able to keep up.
Finally
Developing a business to be proud of… There is both an art and a science of mastering how to hire good employees. From technical details like tax documents and direct filing forms to such nuances as cultural compatibility and a desire for career growth.
One thing that is absolutely clear is that the harder you work at hiring, the less effort you have to put into dismissal. You’ll be able to recruit top performers and then keep them for extended periods of time.
Interested in more strategies for boosting your business to the next level?
Discover what is outsourcing and how it can help grow your enterprise in the following article: The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing
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