Hire The Right Employee
To hire the right employee, a small business owner must go in to the hiring process with a clear definition of who they are looking for and a plan in place to find the best fit. Finding the best fit is the most important part of hiring successfully. In most scenarios, the right fit is dramatically different from the most qualified candidate. Here are five ways to find the best candidate for the position you need to hire and save money on the hiring process for your small business.
Know What You’re Looking for Going in
Having a plan for who you are looking for and how you are going to attempt to find them is crucial to the hire the right employee. You cannot just sit back and hire from the resumes you get. There has to be some thought into how you are going to get people to apply who are from groups of people that have a high likelihood of contributing positively to your organization.
Phone Screen Everyone to Hire The Right Employee
It is important to screen everyone via phone prior to a formal interview. This can save an enormous amount of time on the front end by eliminating people who simply are not going to be a fit or are not interested in your organization. They may not be interested because of the distance they will have to travel or the rate of pay for the position. No matter what the reason for the candidate to not choose your organization, it is an easy way to root out candidates who do not fit with a short phone call as opposed to tying up an hour or more of a managers day to a formal interview.
Ask About The Candidate’s 5 Year Goals
It is important to ask about the future plans of your candidates because it will give you an idea of what they are thinking about for themselves and what they might do to make themselves better employees for your organization. Living in a technological age means that successful employees have to adopt the concept that they must be lifetime learners. Asking about a candidates five year plan will give you insight in to how those employees might learn. It might tell you about whether the employees will take it upon themselves to learn or if they expect you to train them on everything that might help them in their role. The answer to this question may tell you the hiring manager if the candidate is a self starter or if they are simply coming to work to collect a pay check. Many candidates will embellish their plans, but their response will give you an idea of who they are and how they plan to operate within your organization.
Take Your Time to Hire The Right Employee
Never rush into making a decision about who to hire. Leaving a job post up for a minimum of two weeks is a good idea (A longer time period is even better). You never know who may apply at the last moment. It is equally important to not call the candidates you have interviewed until the candidate you have chosen is on the job for a certain period of time. Many organizations use one week on the job. Some organizations think this is too long of a time period. two full days on the job is usually a good time period to let a person be on the job before you tell the other candidates you have hired someone else. It is important to wait for this time period to elapse because the candidate chosen may not like the job or the organization after their first day on the job.
Go With Your Gut to Hire The Right Employee
Take your time and do everything within your control to make the most informed decision when you are attempting to hire the right employee. In the technological age that we live in today, it is easy to rely on artificial intelligence to tell you who the best employee may or may not be. It is important to use as much data as can be to make your decision, but it is also important to use human interaction to help you make your decision. In many situations, hiring the right fit is more important to hire the most qualified candidate. Do not be afraid to trust your gut when you are trying to hire the right employee.