I once went to a conference about business, marketing, etc.. and the speaker said that there are two groups of people in business today. The first group is in business to fit their lifestyle and the second group is to build their business. I thought that was interesting and it goes me thinking about how companies in the Upper Valley go about finding and hiring employees. Here are some tips from your Upper Valley Payroll Company on how to find and hire great employees.
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first and foremost. If you are the founder of your company, whether you are a one man show or a couple people in your company, the founder can’t grow the business alone! Some founders have tried valiantly, but have failed because they didn’t have good people beside them to help them grow. As an entrepreneur, you can invent and even commercialize your idea. The reality is you can’t be the CEO, CFO, CMO and the work all in one! You need great employees. But in today’s economy, hiring good people that want to work and have the skills that you need is more critical than ever.
Business owners can’t afford to lose time, money and resources from a bad hiring choice. According to a Forbes article by David K. Williams hiring a bad employee can cost you $25-50,000. This is the cost of advertising, finding, interviewing, engaging and training that employee. Only to find out that they are not a good fit and you had to fire them. Another factor that you have to consider is that the average American employee is only 75% efficient when on the job according to pewsocialtrends.com.
- Make sure they are competent. This is one of the first and most important factors to consider. Do they have the necessary skills, education, and experience to complete the tasks for the job at hand?
- Make sure they are capable. Will this person complete the tasks that you have given them? What about the harder tasks that take critical thinking skills? Are they willing to learn in this job and be open to creative and new ways to function?
- Are they compatible? Just because they are competent and capable doesn’t always mean that they are compatible with your team. Can this person get along with you and your employees? Do they have excellent interpersonal skills to interact with customers? Are they willing to adapt and be compatible or are they standoffish and difficult?
- What is their commitment? When hiring an employee, you need to find out if they are in it for the long haul. Is this a career or just a part time job for them? If your candidate is serious about working for you, you’ll see that in the length of time she or he has spent at prior jobs.