Hiring the right people to join your team is one of the toughest challenges business owners may face. Not only do you want to find someone who believes in your mission, but you also need someone who fits into your company culture and has the necessary skills to succeed.
There are many considerations business leaders should take into account when hiring someone new, including previous success rates, enthusiasm and clarity on the role. To ensure you're bringing on the right team members, follow these seven steps outlined by Young Entrepreneur Council business leaders.
Members pictured from left to right.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Be Clear About Expectations And Values
The first step on the list for hiring the right person is to be really clear on the expectations of the role and the values of the person you want to hire. When you're clear on the outcome of the role, you can think about the attributes, experience and mindset of the person you want in the role. After that, you'll want to make sure that the person you hire lines up with the values that you and the organization have. Even if someone has the skills, if their values aren't aligned, then you run the risk of a bad hire. Values plus skills equals success in hiring! - Ryann Dowdy, Be in the Room
2. Create A Hypothetical Organization Chart
You should evaluate where there are gaps in your company, and whether or not you can afford to hire for these gaps right away, by creating a hypothetical organization chart. Many small businesses won't be able to hire individual people to fill each role from day one. But if you clearly understand what tasks and responsibilities you're trying to hire for, you can at least design a "future organizational chart" that you can fill in with new hires over time. With an "ideal world" organization chart, you can also estimate how much it will cost to hire this dream team. This also helps you prioritize which hires you need to focus on first. For example, you might find that hiring a marketer or salesperson first can recoup costs faster, and then you might hire other roles next. - Nathalie Lussier, AccessAlly
3. Ask Personalized Interview Questions
Find out more about the candidates you're interested in hiring. Ask them questions about their past experience, their goals for the future and what they're looking for in a company. The next step is to make sure that your company can provide them with what they want. Once you've done this, ask them to fill out an online application and ask for references. - Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
4. Consider How The Candidate Fits Into The Company Culture
My first step in hiring the right person for the team is determining what I'm looking for in a candidate for the company culture. This is important because it helps me to form a clear job description and identify the specific skill sets and qualities essential for the role. Also, it's the crucial cog in the wheel which moves the next part of qualifying candidates. Once I know what I am looking for, the next step will be to develop a scoring system that measures candidates against these criteria. This can be done by ranking each criterion on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the highest score, then assigning points to each rating. For example, if communication is rated as nine out of 10, then the candidate would receive nine points for those skills. - Tonika Bruce, Lead Nicely, Inc.
5. Define The Team's Overall Mission And Goals
Though often overlooked, defining the team's overall mission and goals is an important step. Take time to clearly articulate what your team is trying to accomplish and why. Then, identify the specific needs and gaps in your team by assessing your team's current strengths and weaknesses. Find the areas where you need additional support or expertise in order to be successful in working toward the bigger picture. This will 1. help you identify the specific skills and qualities that the person you hire will need in order to be successful in their role and support the team's overall objectives, and 2. allow you to communicate this effectively to candidates during the hiring process, which can help to attract the right people and ensure that they are motivated and engaged in their work. - Lauren Marsicano, Marsicano + Leyva PLLC
6. Know What You're Looking For
One step to hiring the right people for your team is knowing what you are looking for. You should have a clear understanding of the skills and characteristics that make a potential candidate an ideal fit for your team. So, start by creating a list of capabilities that you seek in a potential candidate. These requirements can change based on the role you're recruiting for. You might want to create multiple profiles based on the available vacancies. Doing this would make it easier for you to find and onboard someone who has the right skills and is an ideal fit for your company's culture. - Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
7. Identify The Top Four Duties Of The Role
Identify the top four things this person is responsible for and the metrics or KPIs they need to meet for those responsibilities. Employees are happy at a job when they have autonomy, they get paid fairly, they like the people they work with or for and there is room for growth either personally or professionally in the workplace. For autonomy, and so they aren’t micromanaged, the employee needs to know what their top four responsibilities are and what will measure their success. It's easy to pull employees in different directions because entrepreneurs are often visionaries and have new ideas that can distract an employee from their duties. Having a clear expectation makes it easier for an employee to stay on track if asked to do more than what they were hired or paid for. - Givelle Lamano, Lamano Law Office
