Have you spent time and effort recruiting and training a staff member for your small business only to find that you made the wrong choice? This process costs time and money, and it results in another round of interviews to find the right person for the job.
Don’t make another costly error. With some upfront planning, you can ensure good results from the recruitment process. Keep reading to find out how to hire staff for your small business.
How to Hire Staff For Small Business – What Not To Do
Before diving into what you should do when hiring employees, it’s important you first know what not to do. There are several ways to deter great candidates from taking open positions or even staying in the position once you hire them. Here are some examples:
- Not having a clear and consistent hiring process may cause many candidates to withdraw their applications or take on another offer.
- Not knowing what you’re looking for from an ideal candidate may cause you to hire the wrong person for the job, resulting in them leaving soon after they start.
- Not letting candidates know when they don’t get the job shows a lack of respect for the time they put into the process, and you minimize the chances that they’ll respond to you if you decide to offer them the job later.
- Being unprepared on your new hire’s first day shows a lack of organization on your part and a lack of respect for your new employees. If they’re lost, confused, and don’t have the guidance of where to go or what to do in their first few days, they won’t last.
What to Do: Be Prepared
As mentioned, one thing that quickly deters new hires is disorganization from the employer. If they don’t feel that their onboarding is a priority, it can sometimes end in new staff leaving their role in as little as three days.
The most important element for hiring new staff for a small business is to prepare for your new employee’s first day. Gather all of the materials they need in advance, including:
- Desk/workspace
- Email address
- Training materials
Even if you are not training them yourself, clear time to spend with your employee during the first week to check in and make sure that they’re settling in well. Also, ask your current employees how they feel about the new addition to ensure that they’re the right fit.
The best way to prepare for your new staff’s first day is to have a comprehensive plan from the minute you start the hiring process.
Steps to Hiring Staff for Small Business
If you’re still wondering how to hire staff for small business needs, we’ve got you covered. Follow these steps to bring in the best new employees.
1. Before Posting the Ad
Most job hiring processes for small businesses begin with posting an ad. An ad is how candidates first find out about the job, and it could be their first impression of the company, so your job posting must be clear, concise, and contain all of the relevant information they need.
Make sure you know the qualifications and experience necessary for the role you’re looking to fill, and highlight these points in your job posting to ensure you get the most qualified candidates. Current employees can help you with this part of the process and provide additional insights into the role. For full transparency, it’s a good idea to give a brief overview of your company, as well as a description of what the hiring process will look like.
2. The Selection Process
The next step is the selection process. Once you receive some resumes, take a close look at the potential candidates to determine who you think is fit to advance to the interviewing process. This step is very important. You don’t want to choose an unqualified candidate, but you also don’t want to overlook any candidates whose experience doesn’t perfectly match the job but who will bring other qualities that would be great for your company culture.
Once you’ve chosen your candidates, schedule the first interviews promptly. You’re most likely not the only one they’re interviewing with, so it’s important to get the process started as soon as possible. You should have a structure to the interview and know what you’ll ask your candidates. Check out our interview guide checklist to make sure that you cover all your bases.
3. Choosing the Right Candidate
The final and most important step for hiring small business staff is choosing the right candidate. As with the other steps, your current employees can help you with this one as well. Get them involved with the interview process by scheduling an interview for the candidates with at least one member of your team. Take their feedback into consideration when making your final choice. After all, your team will be the ones working with this individual!
After a couple of rounds of interviews, you should have an idea of which qualified candidate is best suited for the job. Once you make them a job offer and they accept, be prepared to make a great impression on their first day.
Extra Help
Although we’ve mapped out the hiring process and provided resources, it requires a lot of work, and the irony is that is usually when you’re at your busiest that you need to hire someone new! If you find that you’re too busy to focus on the process of recruiting someone right now or you’ve made too many hiring mistakes in the past, we’re here to help. Find out how HR on Hand can help you hire the best new members for your team.
