Hiring and induction of employees for your small business: what is possible and what is impossible when attracting valuable specialists (part 2)

Original author: Steph Crowder
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In the last part, we started a conversation about what you need and can do by hiring a new team member in a small company. In the continuation of the article, we will touch upon a few other important points that should not be forgotten. and also highlight several things that should not be allowed in the hiring process and the introduction of a new employee in the post.

So, what else needs to be done:

Consider the second (and third) opinion

Even if you have a single-actor theater and it seems to you that you are simply hiring a virtual assistant who will rake your letters, this decision can affect your business for better or worse side.

When your business is small - the stakes are high, and since you are limited to your one and only point of view, it would be nice to have someone you trust so that he can talk with your candidates.

If you already have a reliable team, make sure everyone speaks to your candidate so that everyone can approve of him. If you are an individual entrepreneur, provide this to a close friend or colleague, and arrange a conversation to get another opinion.

Entrepreneur: Before hiring a new employee, ask the views of a friend or fellow entrepreneur.

Make a plan for your employee for 30, 60, 90 days with a few key milestones

This stage may look threatening or seem like a waste of time, but it is not. All you have to do is come up with a few milestones that your employee or contractor must achieve in a certain amount of time.

If he can complete the stage earlier, this will indicate that your new employee understands that this is success, and this is extremely important when working with designers and developers. If everyone agrees together, what tasks can be performed at which points, the chances of misunderstanding in the team are reduced to a minimum.

Build a management system for your team

The Fizzle team uses an internal set of tools, processes, and guidelines to ensure that the entire team is looking in the right direction.

For a beginner, your control system can act as a cheat sheet or express course, summarizing how to work with you correctly. It is incredibly useful to see all the important events, core values ​​and a description of the main tools used by the team that hired you, gathered in one place.

Put your new employee at the “adult table”

So, you managed to hire a highly effective employee who brings new experience and potential to your sandbox. Congratulations!
Do not forget that if your new team member is part of an existing small team, he may feel as if he was seated at the children's table at Thanksgiving dinner.

Putting your new employee at the “adult table” means letting him feel that his opinion is important to you and that he is an important member of your team. If you are intentionally looking for opportunities to show your employee that his point of view matters, the chances that he will quickly join the team take off at a cosmic speed.

The guys from Fizzle did a lot in this area when I got into their team. Despite the fact that it was not difficult (and even natural) for them to keep me slightly at a distance while I was passing the trial period, I had a feeling that they had given me the keys to the control panel from the very beginning. Such a noticeable level of trust and intentions confirmed my suspicion that she had made the right decision by joining their ranks.

Stay open for feedback and leave room for growth as an organization.

Remember with what enthusiasm you took a fresh point of view when you hired a person? What seemed amazing at the interview can take a new turn if your new employee realizes that your business is ineffective.

Do not be afraid to get out of your carapace and listen to your newcomers, not forgetting what they say from the point of view of a valuable outsider.

What you should not do:


Do not ignore the interview (and yes, it should be personal).

Even if it is a short-term work on one project, you need to work on a communication style to make sure that you can rely on a new employee.

Simply put, there are too many places to hide in a portfolio or resume, and nothing can replace live communication.
If you hire a remote employee, invite him to a skype video interview, and then you can use your body language and pretend to be a live interview.

Do not try to use boring and meaningless interview questions.

If you ask candidates what kind of tree they would like to be, if you had a choice, it is unlikely to show you whether they are able to become a new star in your team. Instead, confront them with real life situations that they will encounter in their work and watch how they react to them.

For example, when I was interviewing at Fizzle, I showed how I would respond to standard emails and user complaints to demonstrate my ability to treat our members with care.

Examining how your candidate will respond situationally is much more important than magical questions designed to weed out people.
“How many sculptures will fit on the school bus?” Is not a good question for an interview, and other hiring tips for entrepreneurs.

Do not give in to the influence of the first impression

Although you should not underestimate how important it is to choose a person that matches the spirit of your small team, your interview may turn into a contest "with whom I would like to have a beer" if you treat him inattentively.

Instead, be skeptical of your own opinion and convince yourself that you need to find the person you like the most. Force yourself not to deviate from the key qualities that you determined for yourself earlier, and to check whether your candidate passes with a bang (and, of course, whether it is possible to drink beer with him).

Do not make concessions

When you urgently need to find someone, because you are drowning in the mountains of letters, it may seem to you that the best employee is a quickly hired employee.

If someone meets your standards by 75%, perhaps this person will be able to learn everything else - or so it seems to you. If this were true, it would make life easier, but in real life, if you round off the abilities of an employee, virtual assistant, designer or developer, hoping that they are “good enough”, this can become a serious mistake for you.

Sometimes the person you need to work does not appear immediately, and if you wait a bit and continue the search, you will definitely find what you need.

Do not forget about praise and difficult moments

Since you did an excellent job interviewing you, your chances of getting a new team member or contractor are greatly increased, which you are delighted with.

You feel delighted, and this is wonderful, but do not forget to share your opinion. Plus, since no one is perfect (yes, even Beyoncé), sooner or later you will have the opportunity to change direction.

Do not hope that your new employee “probably knows that he is doing fine” - because, probably, he does not know, and you must be honest with him.

Do not neglect trifles

Since you have worked in this business for many months or years, you quickly acclimatize to the ups and downs of your company. Despite the fact that you are accustomed to go with the flow, your new employee so far is only forming his first impression.

The first days are the time when valuable specialists decide whether they did the right thing when they came to you, so do not neglect things that seem insignificant, for example, set up a new email address in time. This may seem like a small omission to you, and it may seem to your new employee that you are not in control of the situation.

Do not forget that this is an important matter.

Although it will seem to you that for your new team the first few weeks and months will go “as usual”, it is quite easy to overlook the fact that this is a very important thing for a beginner.

It is normal and even expected that a new employee will sometimes feel as if he was thrown out in the middle of the jungle, even if your team is magnificent (as in my case).

Regardless of whether you hire a team member for a full day or a person for one project, the whole process will combine delight and fear. However, a little strategic planning and more understanding - and you can attract candidates and make your new employee rejoice that he has become a member of your team.

Hiring your first and subsequent employee as an entrepreneur is an important business. Make sure you understand it.


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