I’ve been helping small businesses to flourish since 2010 by providing practical strategies around customer service, finances and systems, sales and marketing and people. Putting these in place enables business owners to take back control of the business and often leads to an increase in revenue and profit. But when it comes to growing their team by taking on new people there are three mistakes that I see repeatedly:
The panic hire – generally comes about for one of two reasons. Either the business owner is overwhelmed by too much work and snatches at what they see as an easy and quick solution of someone who is available or ‘the best of the bunch’. Or, they become aware that someone at the school gate/that they used to work with/is a friend of a friend – delete as appropriate – is looking for work and hire them without looking at other candidates or properly considering whether they’re right for the job.
What job? – the business owner decides they need help and charges ahead with taking someone on without giving proper thought to the tasks and responsibilities they want covered, what the job will look like on a day to day basis or how the new person will be trained and managed.
I like you, you’re in – it’s great if your candidate supports the same football team as you or watches the same programmes but it’s really not necessary. Much better if your candidate has complementary skills to you and any other members of the team and if they are energised by the tasks and activities you need them to undertake.
But all is not lost, I’ve helped many small businesses to grow their teams and these are my top tips for recruiting the right person every time:
- Identify the role – clearly pinpoint the tasks and responsibilities that will be included in the new role so you can work out the skills required to do the job.
- Craft the advert – it is important to do this with a view to attracting the best candidates not just any candidate.
- Telephone interview – this stage is vital for getting a first assessment of the candidates. It’s important to follow a script so you can get the same information from everyone and compare responses.
- Psychometric testing – not always applicable but there are two types – ability and personality. Ability will indicate how quickly someone will hit the ground running and personality will show whether the role is one they’re likely to enjoy.
- Face to face interview –a competency based interview will test the candidates in the areas that the role requires
- Follow up – always follow up on references even if you think you’ve found your ideal candidate
Evolve and Grow can help small business owners with any or all aspects of recruitment including sourcing quality applicants, psychometric profiling of candidates, providing scripts for telephone interviews and devising and conducting competency based interviews.