There are few decisions as important as hiring employees when running a small business. Hiring the right person can take your business to new heights. On the contrary, it doesn’t take long for the business to go in the ditch if a wrong person comes onboard. After all, all businesses, large and small, are largely dependent on their employees to keep them going. The owner or the manager alone cannot take care of everything.
Attrition remains a big problem for all small businesses. It is not surprising to find replacement of the entire workforce within a year. Many small business owners feel as if they are in the constant hiring mode – advertising, interviewing and onboarding employees. How can you expect to do rigorous job when you are always in the hiring mode? However, taking right steps early on and spending extra effort in finding and retaining good employees can pay off in reduced attrition rate, taking care of the nipping the problem from the bud. In an earlier post, I discussed 5 things small business owners must do when hiring. Here we will look at the corollary. What are the traps small business owners should avoid to ensure they don’t end up with bad apples in their employee crew?
- Do not hire close friends or relatives to work for your business. On surface hiring a friend or a relative sounds like an ideal solution. What could be better than having your best and trusted ally to work with you? However, this situation creates a many other problems as explained in this post. It is best to avoid this for the best of your business as well as personal relationship and friendship.
- Do not hire someone based solely on skills. Attitude and other personal qualities play much bigger role in determining whether the employee will sink or swim your business. My advice is to hire an employee for attitude and train for skills.
- Do not rely on your opinion alone when hiring. It could be biased based on a number of factors, including personal preference, past history and so on. You must ask your existing employees for feedback and opinion. In fact, you should involve them throughout the hiring process. After all, they are the ones who will be training and working with the new employee after he is hired.
- Do not hesitate to pay more if you find the right candidate. It is very difficult to find good employees and even more challenging to retain them. As I explained in earlier post a great employee is 10X as valuable as good one. A great employee is worth every penny you can afford to pay. Look into giving performance based bonus that will keep them engaged in your business.
- Finally, do not wait to hire when you absolutely must. You will not be able to do justice to the hiring process as a result of time pressure. You should always be in the lookout for good candidates. If you find one bring him onboard even if you already have sufficient employees. As I explained earlier, you are likely to lose an employee on a short notice as a result of high attrition in small business anyway.
What is you experience with hiring? Anything else small business owners should avoid when it comes to hiring?
