A crucial aspect of entrepreneurial success is working with talented and driven people who are dedicated to your vision. When it’s time for hiring, you need to have a good idea about the skills your business needs to thrive. You should also have a clear image of the type of atmosphere you want to foster in the workplace.
With a cohesive team you can fully trust behind you, you can accomplish your business goals faster and easier. How to gauge compatibility when choosing people to work with? Here are a few tips and tricks to help you with the recruitment process.
Clearly Define the Roles
To find the right employees for your small business, define the skills and responsibilities required from candidates. This will make the recruitment process more efficient. When the roles are clearly defined, it’s easier to match a job description with a resume.
What skills are mandatory in your business operations? What skills would be valuable but are not essential? What are the responsibilities associated with each job position you want to fill? Find a detailed answer for each of these questions.
Select Employees with Diverse Personality Traits
If your goal is to form a cohesive team able to tackle any challenge through collaboration, hire people with different sets of qualities, skills and abilities. A team works efficiently when members complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Regardless of education and professional background, each person brings something unique to the workplace. For example, the ESTP Personality Type is a problem solver able to motivate people, while the ENTJ is a decisive strategist with a strong analytical mind. To create an efficient team, you need both. Complementary personality traits can thus dictate the strength of your team.
Review Applications Meticulously
The natural strategy when reviewing resumes and cover letters is to check whether an application meets a specific list of desired qualifications, skills and characteristics. To tell whether a candidate will make a great addition to your team, review each application carefully and pay attention to details.
You can map out your priorities before looking at applications. If you have value teamwork, check whether the candidate has experience with collaborative projects. If long-term stability is a priority for your team, check how often the candidate changed jobs in the past. All these details can give you insights into a candidate’s compatibility with your long-term business goals.
Don’t Underestimate Soft Skills
Although expertise, industry knowledge and specialized skills are crucial for success in the workplace, don’t neglect soft skills when evaluating a job candidate. The most valuable soft skills that your employees should possess are adaptability, flexibility, confidence, effective communication, punctuality, persistence and time management.
Employees with a diverse range of soft skills can motivate and push each other to work more efficiently. An employee able to handle stress well can relieve tension in the workplace. A good communicator can solve a conflict between team members. For every difficult situation that can arise in the workplace, there must be someone in the team who can take charge.
Be Straightforward in the Interview
The interview is the key stage of the recruitment process. To hire skilful, loyal and driven employees, you should be transparent during the interview and outline all your expectations regarding the job position. This will help you separate candidates who truly want your job from those who want any job and just applied randomly.
Being straightforward and presenting your business in factual, realistic terms is the only way to attract employees that value honesty and transparency. These qualities are important in cultivating strong relationships in the workplace. Prepare a set of interview questions that will help you get a good idea about a candidate’s motivation and career goals.
Be Strategic About Your Compromises
As a small business owner, you might not have the financial power to hire top specialists in your field for every job position you have available. But this does not mean you cannot form a strong, stable and productive team with skilled employees.
For example, if you cannot afford to pay experts with a high level of experience, hire instead people who can demonstrate a strong willingness to learn and to accept feedback. With proper training and guidance, they will adapt to your expectations quickly and easy.
The right employees bring harmony and high morale in the workplace. They embrace the manager’s vision and put all their energy and skills into manifesting that vision. Don’t rush the recruitment process. A wrong choice can be costly in the long-term.
