3 Easy Ways to Find The Right Team Member for Your Small Business
Summary:
As an entrepreneur, I know you’ve experienced the inner struggle of the head vs. heart battle in your business. Every owner goes through it and it’s part of the growth process but in this, there is always uncertainty and doubt. Whenever I work with entrepreneurs to help them grow and scale their businesses, one element that inevitably comes up is team.
Entrepreneurs understand that when it is done right, your team becomes an extension of family. It is empowering and liberating to have people who share your vision and understand the goals you are striving for. When entrepreneurs get the right team in place, they can move the needle quickly and be more successful than ever before. Working with the right team brings an extra level of enjoyment to the journey as well, making it much easier to navigate your growing business.
You want to be able to sit back and think, “Wow, these people are awesome!”
Done wrong, a team can be the realization of all our fears: a burden, a struggle, and a contentious environment. Worse yet, is watching as certain employees are allowed to not live up to their potential or bring their best to the office. This only serves to drag down the morale of hardworking and dedicated team members doing their best day in and day out. This is why it is so important to invest time and effort into making a rockstar team that can lead your business to more success.
The right team is also a game changer for you as a business owner. It provides you with an opportunity to stay in your zone of genius and be a visionary for your company while also getting out of the day-to-day muck of operations that keep things in line.
In this article, I'm going to give you three easy ways to ensure that your next hire is the right hire.
Tip One: You Need Clarity
Clarity is key, no matter how talented or experienced you think the candidate is.
The first thing you can do to find charity is create a job description. A job description isn't the be-all and end-all, but it should be good enough to give a clear understanding of what will be expected of them when they come on board.
The next thing is creating a 90-day plan. This way, you can ensure that they have all the information and resources necessary to hit the ground running.
With that being said, it is also important to remember to think of yourself as an expert user in your business.
Think of anyone else coming in as a novice. They may not get things as quickly as you think they should get it.
In fact, I want you to plan for it to be slow. Really take time through this 90-day plan and write out what it is that you think the right, best employee for whatever position you're hiring, needs to demonstrate. This way, you can ask yourself at the end of 90 days, “Should I really still be investing in this person?”
The final part of the clarity checklist is making KPIs clear for everyone. Give your team something they can measure themselves against. Something that they get a sense of pride in accomplishing. Doing good is subjective and oftentimes not enough. You want your employees to push themselves to be the BEST and not settle for good.
Tip Two: Hire the Right Candidate
The second tip is to hire the right candidate. I know what you are thinking… That seems pretty obvious, right? There’s more to it, and I will break it down for you.
When hiring the right employee for your small business, understand that you must hire for attitude, aptitude, and problem-solving ability.
Those three traits indicate success in a potential employee, even more than skill.
This is because skills can be learned, but these traits are within the person. Teaching skill is a big part of why it is important to create that 90-day training plan.
You want an employee with positivity, grit, tenacity, and resilience. We are hiring employees who want to be a part of our business and want to give their best to our business. This is the type of employee that eventually can grow into more responsibilities and take the work off your plate.
Tip Three: Know the Benefits You Offer
Tip number three is to know the benefits that you can offer your employees.
Every small business owner worries about benefits. You want to take care of your employees but only some small business owners can offer health insurance.
However, you can offer other benefits to your employees instead.
You can leverage this to find the right employee.
People seeking to work for a small business know they may not get the standard benefits.
They are seeking something different. That typically is them looking for more freedom, to be a part of something, to start on the ground floor and really get to have impact, and to have a legacy of their efforts.
Understand the benefits you do offer. Maybe this looks like a flexible schedule and higher than average freedom for the employee. Maybe you offer more vacation time or a bigger emphasis on work-life balance. Whatever your unique benefits may look like, use these to find the right employee.
Conclusion
Find your clarity and use that to create a 90-day plan for your new team member that ensures they excel and you aren’t investing time in the wrong person.
Seek out the right employee who exemplifies a positive attitude, aptitude and problem-solving skills.
Your business may not offer traditional health insurance, but what benefits do you offer? Using non-traditional benefits can appeal to the ideal employee for your team.
That was three quick tips on how you can easily hire the right person for your small business. If you are scaling and you are thinking about growth, these tips will help you hire your dream team. If you are still feeling lost in finding the right fit for your team, but you know that your business is ready to grow, let’s chat.
