When is it the right time to bring on a part time or full time person in your business? Are you ready to move past happen stance or inconsistent support? Have you considered what to consider as you interview each candidate?
- Does the person bring energy into the room upon arrival? Not everyone has to be a cheerleader personality, but positive regard and the desire to engage is an important indicator of how a person presents himself or herself for opportunity.
- Do you know the questions to affirm their skill level and experience? As owners we may not be accountants or other specialty skilled people, but it is important to know what your requirements are for success. Too often resumes may be vague. Ask questions about specific skills, experiences and protocols for your prospective employee.
- Have you done your own due diligence to evaluate the candidate before and after the interview? Too often a friend’s recommendation, a person you trust’s approval may not be enough to affirm the skill sets you are hiring for are present in the person. There is a huge difference between being a great person and being a proficient person at the skill you’re hiring a person to do!
- Are you aware of the budget and time you require the tasks you have aligned for the new hire? Not everyone can work in a fast or slow paced environment or is happy with a repetitive skill set. Being able to communicate your expectations clearly on job requirements more fully supports your prospect’s and your own clarity of the role being hired.
- Are you open to role growth? As new employees or contractors come into your business, are you open to hearing what skills, ideas, and experiences they may be interested in bringing into your business? So often a new hire may have additional skill proficiencies you were not even aware of. Ask the candidates for their best skills, what they enjoy doing, and if there are other skills not related to this interview that they feel they are strong and capable of bringing to the team.
- Be willing to consider juggling more than one role when new roles are being created. So often strategy comes into play when an excellent candidate brings new life to a team. It’s a great time to re-evaluate and interview already hired team members on what they enjoy doing and what tasks they would like to see diminished in their requirements. More than once, we’ve had a change for the better when a team member recognized that they would increase revenues if they were freed up to do what they are truly gifted at doing, while allowing for a less expensive hire to do the gut work that suited them more happily.
- Evaluate, examine, and encourage responsiveness. Strong teams communicate, evaluate, and encourage the best in each other with recognition that new processes may need to be re-aligned a few times to create the best flow. Respect for individual members and team support is important, and taking time to check in with new hires and older team member individuals is a sure way to encourage the best from your team.
Small business success is dependent upon the right people doing the identified roles that support the revenues, repeats, and referrals to your business happening.
What roles are you considering to expand in 2013? How will you identify the processes, proficiencies and personnel to fill your needs?
Somewhere between Mary Poppins, Nanny McPhee and the Queen Mother, Sweetie Berry is a hybrid strategist for authors, speakers, and small business leaders. She handles the messy parts of brilliance. Sweetie is the owner of She’s So There, a boutique development resource for speakers, authors, and start up businesses.
This article is from the SmallBizLady special blog series: 31 Ways to Boost Your Small Business in 2013. #Boost2013
Week One Posts of 31 Ways to BOOST Your Small Business in 2013 Week Two Posts of 31 Ways to BOOST Your Small Business in 2013 Week Three Posts of 31 Ways to BOOST Your Small Business in 2013
One of the best things a small business can do is use a psychometric assessment to find out as much as possible about the candidate. This is especially true for small businesses as the owners don’t have the interviewing experience that a full time HR person has and a quality assessment can alert you to potential problems that you wouldn’t otherwise find.