HIRING and RETAINING TEAM MEMBERS

Too often small business owners experience growth in their business and realize to accommodate the growth they need additional staff.  More times than not the first staff person to be hired is a financial person or a sales person.  The owner realizes that doing the bookkeeping is requiring too much of his/her time and they don't like that kind of detail work anyway.  Or, the owner is finding that he/she is spending too much time in the field and not in the office/plant being sure things are done his/her way.

They run an ad in the local paper listing the technical skills required for the position and they are all directly related to doing the work.  Once two or three "qualified" candidates appear on the horizon the owner brings them in for an interview.  After one interview a decision is made to select one that appears to be "the best fit" for the job.  

Once this person arrives "on the scene" to start work, he/she is shown to their new desk, the files associated with the position, a computer, a telephone, and a welcome statement: I'm sure glad you are here to take over this job that I don't like doing. 

What is wrong with this picture?  First, owner has not considered other alternatives such as outsourcing the financial function or hiring commission only sales people so you only pay for new business this person delivers.  Secondly, defining the roles that exist in the current business even though one person may be fulfilling multiple responsibilities.  Thirdly, prioritizing the true business needs and benefits that can be fulfilled by hiring an additional team member.  Do you hire a mission critical person before a quality of life person.  Do you hire a executive leadership level person before a business impact person.  These are critical decisions that need to be made before you determine for what position you are going to hire. 

With that hiring level decision made and the responsibilities are defined it is now time to define the criteria by which you are going to hire this person.  There are many ways to proceed from this point but experience has shown me to advertise for the technical qualifications and business experience the position requires and then interview based upon the identified emotional intelligence requirements the company and the job requires.  Some of the emotional intelligence factors you might consider include but are not limited to self control, leadership, self-confidence, team work, interpersonal skills, handling stress, etc. When you interview, you focus your questioning on those emotional intelligence factors that are critical to the success of your business now and as you grow into the future.  Interview questions should be based upon identifying past performance examples because they are the best predictor of future behavior.

Lastly, before you make the job offer regardless of the position or the size of your business do some background checking.  It will save you headaches and improve the opportunity for a hiring success.