The Constant Entrepreneur: Advice for Running a Productive Business

Staffing

I spoke recently with the owner of a small software development company. He is needing to add staff, but was lamenting that qualified software developers were already employed, and was concerned that developers not employed were probably unemployed for a good reason.

While I am not sure that assessment is totally accurate, his comments did cause me to ponder how a business can hire the most productive employees.

One suggestion I gave my friend was to recruit directly from new college graduates. We hear constantly of the “brain drain” from North East Ohio – but if we are not recruiting the bright students, they will look elsewhere. He said “but they are not experienced”. My response was that they also had not learned habits from other companies that might have to unlearned at his. By hiring a fresh graduate, you can instill the skills, habits, and culture from your own company. Another idea is to hire interns – students who have not yet earned their degrees, and transition them to full time employees once they graduate.

But there are also habits that a small business (or any business) needs to have in effective hiring:

1. Have a strong mission statement and vision for your company that will excite a prospective employee.

2. Develop a job requirements document for each position.

3. Develop a thorough job description for each person hired.

4. Subject each prospective employee to personality and skills test to help assure that the individual can do the job and fit into the organization.

5. Develop good interviewing techniques in order to conduct effective job interviews.

6. Research prevailing wages and benefits for the type of job being offered to assure competitiveness in the market.

7. Welcome new employees and make them at home, comfortable, and productive from the day they are hired.

8. Oh, and if a mistake is made in hiring and the employee does not work out, terminate the relationship sooner rather than later. This will be best for both the company and the individual.

Recruiting and hiring good employees is not easy, but the search is worth the effort once the best employees are found.

Will Limkemann
Limkemann Business Advisors
440-871-0976
www.neobizadvisor.com
will@limkemann.net