If you are a small business you might find your company has grown to a level where you need an extra pair of hands. It can be difficult to find the right staff and the idea of interviewing can be daunting, not only that your time is likely to be limited with business tasks making recruitment difficult.
If you invest time in finding the right staff, you will save time in the future. If you are successful in hiring motivated, hard working individuals, your business will thrive. They key is to outline what you are looking for, what job role you have available, and have an understanding of how you hope the business will develop in time and how the employee can develop with the business itself.
Set out a clear a job role…
Be clear and honest about the job role so you attract the right applicants. Make sure you identify exactly what the new employee will be responsible for, and how the role will develop for them to progress within the company over time.
This means you should outline clear roles for individuals within the company so each staff member has their own tasks and objectives and it also signifies that there will be a future for the new staff member to progress their skills and develop their career.
If an individual has no way in which to grow or develop within a company, it is unlikely they will stay loyal to you and they might move on to find this development elsewhere after a short period of time. This means you risk losing someone you have invested time and money in training, and someone who could be a valuable team member.
Set out expected behaviours…
Another key part of hiring staff is to identify what you expect in the individual. Does the individual have to be trustworthy if dealing with valuable stock? Or self motivated if they are likely to be left to handle their own workload? Do you expect your staff member to be able to work well under pressure if you have regular deadlines and require someone who will keep calm under pressure?
Identify this and clearly state this in your job specification so applicants know what is expected of them.
Probation periods
Set out a probation period for your new staff member, this will cover you and them if either of you are unsure of the new arrangement.
Sometimes when a new staff member joins a company, the job role wasn’t as expected and they may feel the job isn’t suited to them after all. It could also be the case that you feel your new staff member isn’t as hard working or qualified as expected. A probation period gives you both the opportunity to sit down and discuss any problems, or you may decide to part ways all together when you reach the end of this probationary period.
Work experience…
Some companies choose to offer work experience placements or internships which have the capacity to lead to full time employment. This method can be good as you can identify if you have a good rapport with your staff member and if their skills and attitude match what you are seeking. However most people can’t afford to work for free so you risk closing yourself off to a wider range of potential employees, and you might not end up with the best selection.