Growing A Small Business: Hiring The Right People

Getting new employees can be as simple as standing in front of your business and yelling “who wants a job’ and then placing the first people that show an interest in the vacant roles.

But if you want to get the right people to help grow your business, the process is different.

It starts with defining or redefining the role you want to be filled up to evaluating how well they fit into your company.

Many small business owners don’t give the hiring process the attention it deserves.

And it shows in the employees they hire.

The kind of employees you hire can make or mar your business growth – if they are the right ones, they can make it easier to operate and grow your business, providing all the support and talent it needs.

But the wrong ones would decrease the overall productivity and morale of your company.

To add to that, they add unnecessary costs to your business and impede your profitability and growth.

To avoid all the many things that could go wrong, you must give hiring a high priority in your business.

If you’re ready, let’s get started on how to get the right people to help grow your business:

1. Review The Role

When you have a new job opening in your business, the first step is not to draft a new job ad or even dig out the old one you’ve used.

Review the role of the job you’re about to fill.

Are the roles too vague? Do you need skills in areas that are not currently covered by your job description, or does it list roles or requirements that are no longer relevant?

A critical review should answer these questions and help you craft your job description and requirements better.

2. Strategic Job Ad Placement

After you must have reviewed the role, you want to be filled and crafted a job description that accurately describes the type of candidates you want.

The next step is to advertise your job on various job sites.

3. Filter Out The Unwanted Applicants

Ask anyone that has had to sieve through piles of job applications you would know how stressful a process it is.

But an important one nonetheless, which would be in vain if you let a few individuals who don’t fit into your ideal profile sneak through.

To avoid this, you can use an Application Tracking System to sieve through applications candidates automatically or manually by setting clear guidelines for the final few candidates that can proceed to the interview stage.

Sorting applications into categories from most qualified to unqualified is also a good tip to help you filter out unwanted applicants.

4. Don’t Do Traditional Interviews

Most candidates these days have trained themselves to game the traditional interview process; they have all the right answers to the usual questions and know what to say, so they seem like the right fit.

Don’t fall for that.

Make sure your interviews are a departure from the convention and put candidates in a process they can not cram through.

Here are a few tips we’ve found helpful –

1. Look beyond the CV. They can not adequately measure if a candidate is going to be right for your organization or not. Make candidates present CVs these days that were prepared to be perfect for the hiring company and cleverly conceal any negative it ought to reveal.
2. Be creative with your interview process. It mustn’t be in a conference room with questions they have already gamed, it can be a lunch interview in a more relaxed environment and relevant questions. Place your candidates in a challenging position like a job audition— get them to work for a limited period (a day to a few weeks) in the position they’re applying for and see how well they fit in.
3. Evaluate Their fit – You must evaluate how well top applications fit into your business culture. The best way to know is to ask questions that reveal the attitudes, perspectives and passion etc. Check out these 13 questions by Inc.
4. Collect Feedback – Don’t rely on your guts or human resources alone. Ask your employees for their input. This is important because it helps them to choose the candidates they can work best with and helps them feel included in the process, making them more welcoming to the new employees.

The right people are the most important assets of any business.

Successful small business owners know this, that is why they value attracting and surrounding their business with the right talent and support.

You should too if you want to grow your business.

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