Hiring a new team member is one of the most important decisions you will make and hiring the wrong person could cost your company £££’s. Increase your chances of making your next hire a great match for your small business, by following these hiring tips.
1. Write A Great Job Description
Or at the very least an outline of what the job entail and the type of person that you are looking for. How can you know if you’ve found what you’re looking for in a candidate, if you haven’t clearly defined it? A job description doesn’t need to be a 3 page document and don’t fall into the mistake of making your job description too prescriptive as this will only make your search harder in the long run. Write about what skills the successful candidate will need, will they need a degree or qualification? What type of experience should they be able to demonstrate? Write down the main duties and the skills needed, just doing this will clarify your own thinking.
2. Look At Your Internal Talent
The quickest way to create a demotivated workforce is to not promote from within. Before you look externally you should advertise the role to your current employees to see if there is anybody internally who is interested in applying.
3. Do Your Benchmarking
Your entire recruitment experience will be a frustrating exercise if you are wildly out of the range on pay as you simply won’t attract the right candidates. An easy way to check you’re in the right salary range when advertising is to check out salary surveys online (some of the larger agencies publish data for free) and to look advertised positions on job boards to get a gauge of what other companies are paying.
4. Be Specific With Your Marketing
When you are keen to attract the best mix of candidates it can be tempting to advertise anywhere and everywhere but quantity doesn’t mean quality. Advertising without direction encourages passive job seekers to apply on a whim, making more work for you and giving you a slimmer chance of finding your ideal candidate. Work out who you are trying to attract and base your advertising around that.
5. Don’t Be Afraid To Use Social Media When Recruiting
In today’s world you can find out a lot about a candidate but checking their social media presence and you shouldn’t be afraid to do this. After all you wouldn’t want to discover, belatedly, that your shiny new hire makes snide remarks about customers on Twitter? (Remember that your customers read social media, too!)
6. Don’t Wing The Interview Process
Make sure you have a structure in place when it comes to interviewing. Is there any testing involved? Will you give a tour? Who will do the interviewing and in what order? Will you have second interviews? Prepare by re-reviewing the candidate’s resume just before starting the interview. Jot down interview questions so you don’t forget something important. Having a candidate arrive for interview when you are not fully prepared will only lead to added stress and give the impression that as a business you are unorganised. Petrina Alexander’s excellent post ‘The 10 Interview Questions You Need To Be Asking’ will definitely help you here.
7. Break The Mould!
How often have you interviewed a candidate and thought ‘that person reminds me of me!’? This, the experts say, is not the right person for your company. You may call yourself your harshest critic, but when he or she is right across from you, you’re more likely to be a little biased. Check out Jamie Trentham’s article ‘Is Cognitive Bias Making You Hire The Wrong Guy?’ for more on this.
8. Don’t Always Trust Your First Impressions
Some potential employees may seem perfect on paper or during the interview, only to turn out to be a complete disaster later on. Employers frequently view candidates in terms of whether or not they like them, as opposed to matching their strengths with the responsibilities of the position. Of course you will never know for sure how a new employee will perform once hired but you can mitigate the risk of a bad hire by not factoring first impressions into your decision and going with your gut feel. Try a different approach: If you like someone off the bat, look for reasons they aren’t right for the job. If you dislike someone, look for reasons why they are right for the job. It will help to give you a more rounded view.
9. Don’t’ Forget To Sell The Advantages Of Being A Small Business
Sometimes it may feel like you can’t compete with larger employers but that’s not the case. Softer benefits like flexible hours or a friendly environment can make a difference to candidates so make sure that you emphasize every advantage of your business
10. But Whatever You Do Don’t Sugarcoat The Job
Yes you should ‘sell’ your company but don’t exaggerate or be frugal with the truth when discussing the roles and its challenges.For example if you are a company that doesn’t have lots of policies and procedures then don’t say that you do. Some people aren’t comfortable in an unstructured environment and longer term it will just mean that you’re not the right fit for one another.
11. Involve Your Employees
The final hiring decision is yours, but you’d be wise to consider input from key team members. Others may spot things you missed. Besides, existing employees may resist a new hire they feel was forced on them with no input.
12. “Slow To Hire, Quick To Fire” Is A Great Mentality To Have
As your company grows, there are always going to be holes that you need to fill. Whatever you do don’t rush to hire out of a feeling of desperation. In the long run it’s better to go with temporary help or limp along short-handed until you are confident you’ve found the right person. One of the worst mistakes you can make is to pick someone who may not be the best quality or cultural match because you’re desperate to fill the void.
13. Don’t Ignore Your Previous Hiring Mistakes
We’ve all made them. So, the last employee didn’t work out, they won’t be the first and they certainly won’t be the last but what they do offer you is the opportunity to figure out what went wrong before hiring again. Was the last person not up to the job? Does the next person you hire need to have more experience? Or was the problem that they couldn’t get along with the rest of the team? If so, you might want to emphasise the need to be team player when you next recruit. Whatever happened, don’t be afraid to identify it and avoid repeating the same hiring mistakes next time around.
14. Ask For Referrals From Employees
Get the team engaged in the company’s future from the get-go. Employees who refer a new hire feel invested in that person’s success. That said don’t always assume that they will be the perfect candidate. It may be tempting to hire family members and friends, especially in a small start-up setting, but, a close relationship with a person doesn’t automatically qualify them as a good employee. You still need to hold a structured interview process to make sure they are the right fit for you.
15. Make Sure You Induct New Employees Properly
You’ve already spent valuable time and money searching for the right candidate. Don’t ruin all that hard work by not preparing for your new employees first days in the business. Take the time to induct them properly. Introduce him or her around and don’t overwhelm them with paperwork the first day. Recruiting doesn’t end with the offer being made and accepted, it’s vital to plan your new starter’s initial journey so take the time to make sure that you get it right. First impressions are important after all. Fleur Winter wrote a great piece on this ‘Your New Starter Checklist: How To Ensure Newbies Are Set Up For Success’.
P.S. Every day is school day so they say… If you fancy some tips on how to hone your leadership skills do go ahead download our free eBook: Leadership 101: The Ultimate Guide to Being an Inspirational Leader.
Photo Credit: ‘Odd one out’ by Kevin Pack
