When you’ve finally decided that you need to start hiring an employee (as your first time, for expansion, or for replacement), there are some important things to consider.
The number one issue is that, if you hire someone unqualified in one way or another, you will be losing your time and money.
However, there are certain steps you can take to make sure that your hiring process is streamlined, and you will maximize the chance that your hire will be the right person for the job.
Check out these 5 steps you can undertake to build a strong, unified team.
1. Check your priorities
Before you even begin the process of hiring someone new, you should determine exactly what it is that you want to see in this new person. What are his/her responsibilities, and most importantly, what type of characteristics and skills are you looking for?
In order to do this, imagine and remember your best employees that would be suitable for this job, and use them as a guide for when you are looking through CVs. This will help you identify the best candidates.
2. Request referrals
The most likely employees that will have the greatest success at your work are those that have come from referrals by people in your network. This is very true for a few reasons, as people in your network will have a greater determination to see you succeed, and therefore connect you with very good people. The second reason is that the people in your network have a deeper understanding of what your requirements are, both in terms of skills and characteristics, and will be better at determining what type of person you want.
3. Call them up
Although this isn’t a common practice for most businesses in the hiring processes, setting up screening calls to interview potential employees first will help filter out the unfit candidates.
The conversation should only take about 5 minutes, and you can usually gain certain insights. For example, you can determine how enthusiastic the candidate is for the position, how much investment he/she has made into researching it to determine seriousness, and more. You can use this as a first step, and when the face-to-face interview happens, you’ll be able to go for much deeper questions.
4. Get managers into it
Usually, business owners take charge when it comes to hiring the employees. Although this is important, it is also a good idea to involve the managers who will be directly overseeing these new employees.
These managers will often have a much deeper and more specific understanding of the requirements that will make up a perfect candidate. The other benefit is that if the employee gets hired, they will not be starting off on a new foot. Instead, it will already be a warmed relationship, which will help with the employee’s first days and the general team culture.
5. Go with your gut
This only works after you’ve done your job of checking through the employee’s three references. In those, be sure to ask specific questions related to tasks and responsibilities of the position.
After that is clarified and you still have a few qualified candidates, you should go with how the candidate fit with you and what type of impressions you had from your interviews.
If it just felt like a good fit, and your instincts push you towards one qualified candidate, go for it. If you still have doubts, you can follow up with a few more questions to confirm your gut feeling.
These are just some of the best tips out there for how to hire the perfect employee for your job. Over time, you’ll become better at recognizing the qualities that work for you and your company, and you’ll be a much more effective employer.
