Hiring the right employees
As a business owner or founder, your vision for your company affects everything. It's part of your job to find and hire employees who will share that vision and take your business forward.
Whether you're hiring a permanent staff member or trying to find someone to do short-term contract work for you, it pays to get the right person.
Plan your hiring strategy
This should be part of the business plan. Think about where you expect your business to be at various stages over the next year, and how many employees you’ll need in order to get there.
- Prioritise what you or your team actually need
- Make lists of the tasks you want each new employee to take on
- Hire people with complementary skills
- Think about operational versus ideas, people and sales skills versus creative ability
- Be clear about what you can afford
- Look into market rates and offer a suitably competitive salary within your budget
- Decide if you want a part-time or full-time employee
Small businesses have to budget carefully. Balance the cost of employing them with the increased revenue they should bring to your business.
Consider your culture
Your company has a culture: a way of approaching business, a way of thinking and operating that’s unique. This affects the way your business operates and the way it’s seen by customers. You, as business owner or founder, have a big influence on your company’s culture, but so do the people you hire.
Questions to ask when you interview candidates
Draw up a range of questions about each candidate’s career and skills. Include some open-ended questions so the candidates have the opportunity to talk about themselves and their goals. For example:
Above all, use your instincts
- As a business owner you sometimes have to go with what feels right, because that feeling is the reasoning of your unconscious mind.
- The right person will almost certainly feel right to you, as well as ticking all the boxes for experience, qualifications, skills and personality. If you have doubts about someone’s suitability to the role you’re offering, it’s probably best not to hire them.
- Once you’ve hired the right people you can start to build them into a working team that will function efficiently and take your business forward.
