Finding the right employee is something that is probably the hardest thing to do in your business. Especially in this day and age where most businesses need tech savvy staff who actually want to work and don’t expect everything handed to them on a silver platter. Unfortunately, there seems to be an expectation if they go to university or gain higher education that they can earn top dollar in their first job without experience. But there are a few gem’s out there that want to work from the ground up, who want to see your business succeed and who want to grow with you and your business.
Some of the qualities you may look for are:
someone who is diligent and enthusiastic
who wants to work with you and work as a team
someone who has a good work ethic and
someone who fits in with the culture you have created in your business
The things you need to take into consideration when hiring are:
What do you want to offer them in terms of contract or employment?
What is the award wage or contract rate?
Can your current cash flow cover their wages until they get up to speed with your client’s or business requirements? •
What is the financial impact on your business in the short time and over the long term?
What tasks are you wanting them to do? Really define what they need to complete for your clients/customers.
Have you put in a processes and procedures manual to assist in their learning?
What software do they need to know or what are you prepared to teach them? Or do you need to get outside training?
What times and days will they be required to work?
What qualifications and experience do they need to have? •
Do you expect them to do some training first or do you need them to hit the ground running?
Could you take on a student and train them in exactly what you need them to do and how you do it?
Do they fit in with your team on a personality level? • Are they friendly and approachable for your clients/customers?
Do they take direction well and ask questions when needed?
You need to be able to answer all the above questions to set a selection criterion for your potential employee/contractor to respond to. It also gives them an idea of what is expected of them. It allows you to be 100% clear on what type of person and what skillset you are looking for and to plan for their arrival.
Sorting to resumes and interviewing
The criteria you decide on helps you sort through the mountains of resumes to distinguish which ones are relevant and which ones you can throw onto the no pile. Once you start going through the pile and have the no’s the maybes and the yes’s then you can begin the interview process.
During the interviewing stage asking them technical questions based on your expectations and even a software test to see if they truly know the software as they state on their resume or say they do.
The right employee is well worth the wait
While it may be a long process finding that one employee or contractor that helps you grow your business, works well within your business and for your business as a valuable team member it can be well worth the wait. And if you hire someone that you think is a great fit, but they are not, don’t hesitate to start the process again, early signs of issues are best dealt with swiftly because they often only get worse. Don’t get disheartened as we have all made mistakes in life and business, you just need to learn from the experience and keep moving forward until you find the right one!