8 Tips For Hiring Employees For Your Small Business

hiring process

marketing planWhatever you’re hiring for, these are some useful tips to keep in mind while you go about the hiring process.

When you start a small business, you may feel like you’re running a one-man show at first. However, when it comes time to expand your team, it’s important to be prepared to make the right choices. Whatever field you’re in and whatever position you’re hiring for, these are some useful tips to keep in mind while you go about the hiring process.

Start With Who You Know

Before you post a job anywhere or start a formal search, think through the people that you know and have worked with in the past. 60% of jobs are found not online, but through networking, and if you have a specific culture you want to keep in mind, working through your contacts can be helpful. If you use LinkedIn, that can be a good way to organize former coworkers or other people that you’ve spoken with that you think would be a good fit for your position.

What Positions Do You Need to Fill?

When you’re thinking about hiring someone, especially if it’s a new position, you’ll need to specifically think about what role of roles you’re trying to fill. Sit down and write out a list of everything that you need from your employees and from there you can work out how many people you need to hire as well as what their position title might be. Make sure that you’re creating realistic expectations for one person to do for the amount of money you’re able to pay them.

Can You Outsource?

You should think about whether you need to hire an employee in-house to do something or if you’d rather outsource the work to a business designed to help with that specific product.

For example, if you’re thinking of hiring someone to help with marketing, it may be a better idea to hire a company that will take care of everything for you instead of hiring one person to do everything for you. You get the benefit of years of experience without the cost of hiring someone with the experience to do everything on their own. Instead of worrying whether you can find a candidate that understands traditional and SEO marketing, you can hire a firm to take care of things for you. Considering the fact that 61% of marketers agree that SEO and organic traffic are their top priority, you might have a better chance of making an impact on your market if you hire an outside company. When it comes to finances, hiring an accounting or financial management service may also be a better investment than an in-house accountant.

Check Certifications

Depending on the field that your business is in, there may be certain certifications that your employees are required to have. For example, if you’re running a company that works with gas lines or natural gas appliances, there is certain advanced training required before someone is certified to work on those things. If you’re hiring someone who doesn’t have the certifications or has expired certifications, you may be required to pay out of pocket for them to do the training and go through the certification process.

Check For Passion

When you started your business, it was probably born in part out of the passion that you have for your product or service. Although you may not be able to find people who completely match your passion for your business, you should try to find an applicant who sees the bigger picture and is able to show passion for the business’ goals.

You should also make sure that you find an applicant who is a good cultural match for your business. If you have a more fast-paced, constantly changing work environment, you’ll want to find someone who can keep up. Someone who is more regimented and likes organization and routine may not be the best fit for your open position.

Take Your Time

You probably won’t find the right candidate overnight. That’s why as soon as you think you may need a new employee it’s important to start the hiring process. If you place yourself in a time crunch, you may end up hiring someone that isn’t the best fit just because you’re desperate for the position to be filled. If it’s a new position, make sure that you’re giving yourself the time to go through not only the hiring process but also the training process to get your employee up to speed. Rushing any part of the process will only lead to problems later on, so make sure that you’re being calculated and smart about the hiring decisions you’re making.

Prepare For the Interview

If you’ve ever sat through a job interview, you already have an idea of what the basic parts of an interview entail. Make sure that you come prepared with your general leadership interview questions as well as questions specific to your candidate. Try to make it clear that you read any materials they provided you with, whether that is just a resume or a cover letter as well.

Make sure to also be prepared for them to ask questions. Common questions candidates may ask will be about things like promotion paths, what their daily work life will look like, or company culture. You should be ready to answer any questions they have about your business and their possible future as a part of it.

Reject Kindly

If you know a candidate isn’t the right fit for your company, you should make sure that you are kind in your rejection. As a small business, your connections with others in your community are especially important, so you want to make sure you’re not burning any bridges. Plus you never know if they will end up being a good fit for a newly created position sometime down the line. In addition, you should make sure not to reject anyone until your first-choice candidate accepts the position.

The hiring process can be long and time-consuming, but finding the right fit for your business is a worthwhile endeavor that will help you in the future.

What hurdles have you faced in the hiring process for your small business? Let us know in the comments!

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Valerie M.

Contributor at Small Business Marketing Tools
Valerie M. is a writer from Upstate New York. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from The State University of New York at Fredonia in 2016 and is currently working at a digital marketing agency where she writes blog posts for a variety of small businesses all over the country. Valerie enjoys writing about music, animals, nature, and traveling.