Hiring the Right People
In your future career
Finding the right people for the job you are filling is essential for running a smooth and efficient operation. If you hire the wrong person, this can be detrimental to your business.
This person needs to be passionate about the work you are doing and align with your business’s values and goals. Does the perfect person exist? Of course not! However, if your team is patient and effective in asking good questions as well as outlining your expectations you will find someone amazing!
Create a hiring process
When a position becomes vacant, what is your team’s process to fill the empty role? It is important to create a process for your organization.
Basic To Do’s of hiring
“Winging it” when hiring a new person is not the best idea. Give yourself time to hire the best candidate by requesting employees to give at least two weeks notice before they leave. This time is great to have them wrap up their work, prepare materials for the next person, and provide your team with the necessary information to do that position until someone is hired.
When you begin hiring your new employee, outline what this process is going to look like. It is important to be patient and not rush hiring someone new. Look closely at the job you are wanting them to do and outline the qualities, experiences, and skills that are needed to do this job well.
Incorporating the entire team
Talk to those who already work on your team. Ask them to transparently tell you what they would like to see out of the person filling this role.
Getting feedback from those who are on the ground floor of your company every day is crucial to finding the right person. Your employees see the day to day possibly better than you. Hearing their needs will show them you care about their opinion.
Finding the right person
As a team, work together to figure out who the ideal person is for this role. If you could imagine the perfect person, what type of person would they be?
Outline what strengths you are looking for
Outline what weaknesses will not be a good fit
Ask your staff what qualities they need (perhaps on tasks/projects that you may not have involvement on)
List the skills that are needed to do the job well
Describe the personality that is needed for this role. Is this a job that requires excellent people skills or a job that requires self-motivation and quiet diligence?
Application process
Once the hiring process has been established, create a process for people to apply for the position. In the application, try to get as much information that you can that may weed out candidates from consideration.
People need to know the position is open. Get the word out into the community that you are hiring. On these sites you can outline the exact qualifications you are needing and the skills that the job requires.
Meeting the potential candidates in person or at least over a video call is an important step in getting to know them. But before you meet them in person here are a few things to consider:
Conduct a phone interview as the first round to save time on unnecessary in person interviews.
How many candidates will you accept and interview?
Will there be more than one round of interviews?
Will there be more than one person from your team in the interview?
Questions to ask the candidate
It is important to ask questions that will allude to how this person will fit into your team and with you as the manager.
Ask candidates their ideal work environment.
What has been their most fulfilling experience or project in their career thus far?
Have the candidate explain a difficult working relationship with a colleague or boss. What was the challenge, how did they address the issue?
Hiring your new team member
The interviews are over and it’s time to pick your new teammate. If you are stuck between a few people, get feedback from your team and hear feedback on what they saw in each person. At the end of the day, you must pick the person that would be the best asset to your company as well as someone who can get along with your full team. The goal is always to keep someone for as long as you can to reduce turnover. Remember there is no “perfect” candidate out there. Setting your bar too high may lead to unrealistic expectations. Now it’s time to go out and find the right person!