No matter how big your business gets, one of your most important assets will always be your employees. They’re the people you rely on to produce the goods and services you need to help keep that revenue coming into the business. With that in mind, here is how you can make sure you get the best employee for any job.
Search locally
You might think the best way to find the best employee for the job is to advertise the role as far and wide as possible. You might be tempted to put it on every single job website that advertises across the country or even the world. The fact is if you’re a small business, it’s highly unlikely that someone living at the other end of the country would be interested in a job that you’re advertising. As a small business, you might also want someone who has a good knowledge of a local area. If you only sell your goods or services locally, it would be a massive advantage to have someone who knows the area well.
Try and find a local recruiter to help fill any position you have. For example, Star Employment Services are a recruitment agency Wolverhampton employers entrust to find the best person for the job. As they know the area, they will know whether a candidate will be a good fit for your small business. As they are also a local business, they’ll know the importance of this quality in the day-to-day running of the business.
Ask for more than a CV
The most traditional way to judge whether someone is suitable for a role is to ask to see their CV. This gives the very basic information about a candidate, like their education, their work experience, and also the qualities they believe make them ideal for the job. Although this is good information to know about a potential employee, it doesn’t give you a real impression of the employee. For example, although the CV may have been proofread and presented well, that might be because somebody else did it for them. Instead, get them to complete a task to demonstrate they have the skills you need.
Check their references
When you’ve provisionally offered somebody a position and asked for permission to contact their reference, speaking to their former employer might seem like just a formality. Some employers may be tempted to just ask them whether they were a good employee, accept a very short answer and then hang up the phone. This is one of the best opportunities you’ll have to find out about your potential new employee. As well as asking their reference whether they were a good employee, ask them for examples of when they’ve proven their skills. If they struggle to think of occasions where the employee has demonstrated these skills, they might be exaggerating their qualities either as a favour to a friend or even worse, because they don’t want them working for their company anymore.
