At one point or another, every owner of a growing small business must at least weigh the pros and cons of hiring a member to add to their team. If they determine that a new team member will be worth the cost, the next evaluation is of the “who” regarding the hiring.
With the world becoming more reliant on technology, and many businesses taking advantage of the cost savings that come with utilizing a remote workplace, finding candidates and hiring is a bit different than it used to be, but most of the principles are the same.
Some would argue it’s easier now, too, as there are artificial intelligence programs that can do a fair amount of vetting, but others argue that finding a perfect candidate is harder without actually being able to meet everyone face to face. Regardless, the endgame is to find quality talent who will add value to your team, and here is a look at 4 things you should consider when hiring a new person.
Diversity
Not only is there more of a moral and societal obligation to consider diversity when hiring than there was 10 years ago, but there’s also a financial incentive. A business that displays commitments to staffing a diverse team, performs better compared to less-diverse competitors.
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace allow for a wider range of ideas to be shared, stemming from a wider range of life experiences. It also is more appealing to potential and current employees, and increased employee retention is always in parallel with increases in productivity. Training can take a long time!
Having a diverse leadership team also is important, as big picture ideas benefit just as much as lower-level decisions when coming from a diverse group of thinkers. Also, having a leadership team that is less diverse than the entry-level team doesn’t paint a good picture for those prospective employees.
Benefit Package
One thing small businesses can offer that large corporations generally can’t is a lot of flexibility surrounding benefits. In order to get a great candidate in today’s business climate, you really need to be able to offer them something.
When hiring a new candidate, be sure to have many different benefits packages you can offer them. This will help you avoid situations where you think you’ve found your person just to have them respectfully decline.
This, of course, should also be weighed when deciding whether you can offer a good package, in the same sense that you shouldn’t go out to eat if you can’t afford to tip.
Take Advantage of Tech
There are commercials on TV all the time for companies like Indeed and Monster where people can go to find jobs. Well someone has to post those jobs, and using these services is generally affordable if you’re dedicated to making a fairly quick hire.
There are also many programs you can utilize that use artificial intelligence to vet large quantities of applications. These things can search for specific words in cover letters and prioritize those options, and other things of the like that will speed up the process.
Prepare a Great Interview
Any interview can let you know the kind of interactions you can expect to have with a potential employee, but if you really want to set people apart from others, plan your questions accordingly.
Come up with a few that, if answered correctly, will launch a candidate into one of the top spots, and you should also have a few make-or-break questions that you can create based on types of individuals with whom you haven’t worked well in the past.
Re-Evaluate
Once you’ve completed your hire, you should treat that move like any other with your business and evaluate it so you can improve your process. Look back on how you interviewed, how you posted jobs, how efficient the vetting process was, and so on. Using these tactics and having a dedication to improving your own processes will help you hire quality talent while minimizing the time and resources it takes to hire.
