Finding the right person for the job can be time consuming and like finding a needle in a haystack and many business owners will tell you their biggest mistake is hiring the wrong person for the job. In addition, employee turnover can be expensive as more often than not, each new employee will require an investment of time in training. With small business, it’s imperative that each person is right for their role whether it be employees or business support channels/suppliers. So where do you start and ensure you’re hiring or contracting the services of the right people? The first place to start would be to ensure you know exactly what you’re looking for. Some important things to consider would be as follows;
- the skills and competencies the candidate will require
- how the candidate will fit into your business culture
- the candidates ability to work in a team environment
- the candidates ability to function under pressure
- the candidates motivation for the role
Once you’ve established what you’re looking for you can then start to prepare the job interview questions and structure them in such a way that you’ll gain additional knowledge rather than just answers to rigid questions. Let’s face it, a candidate could put anything they like into a resume or tell you anything in an interview but when face to face will show signs of discomfort when asked a question of which they know nothing about. Look for behavioural responses to questions like;
- Tell me a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer, how did you go about it?
- How you go about planning your daily workload?
Try to keep the interview process casual and look for past employment commitment as this will ensure a better chance of employee retention. At the end of the day you don’t want to employee someone who has a history of changing career every couple of months.
If it’s a contractor you’re looking for then the same rules apply. You’ll want to be sure the contractor can provide you the services you need so try to check credentials and skills where possible. Ensure you research the suppliers ABN for legitimacy, check out their website (if they have one) and look for testimonials from their other clients. Any contractor can tell you how good they are, but it’s their clients that will tell the real story. Also ensure you are fully aware of the terms and conditions of your contractors so that there are no nasty surprises down the track. Most importantly, shop around and get written quotes from more than one contractor.
