How to Hire the Right People for Your Business

Hiring employees is a major decision and a crucial part of expanding your company.

However, as you already undoubtedly know, it’s not a matter of just hiring anyone that comes along –employing the right workers is crucial for your success. Assembling your own dream team is a time-consuming and very involved process, but the end result is worth the time and effort that it takes.

The right workers can help you to take your company to new levels, but problem workers –can drag your company down. In fact, many entrepreneurs and executives will tell you their biggest mistake is hiring the wrong person for the job.

If you’re thinking of expanding your organization, and looking to hire some excellent people who are qualified for the job, here are a few tips for ensuring that you assemble the best team possible.

Create Detailed Job Descriptions

Writing a detailed job description is an important step in the hiring process. Hiring someone just to fill in and pick up the slack at your company is a bad idea –you’ll end up with someone who is confused as to what their actual role is, and unable to thrive in their job. Instead, create a detailed and strong job description before you advertise your vacancy. It will be easier to find a specific type of hire, and you’ll be able to screen your applicants better to ensure that you end up with someone who is fully capable of fulfilling the role.

Advertise in the Right Place

The next step in finding the right hires is to make sure you’re searching in all the right places. Where you advertise is just as important as how you advertise, and you’ll want to make sure your ad is in the right place –where it will attract the best possible candidates. For example, it will be more difficult to find great talent on Craigslist than it would be on LinkedIn, so consider sharing your job opening with your connections first. You may also want to post your vacancy on online job boards or niche career sites –places that talented applicants tend to frequent.

Ask the Right Questions

During the interview process, asking the right questions is important to get to know your candidate and see if they are a good fit for you and your company. Ask questions that will narrow down your potential applicants, allowing you to gauge their work ethic and motivation. Here are a few sample questions:

How do you prioritize your work?

• What is your greatest accomplishment to date?
• What goals have you set for yourself? Have you reached them?
• How do you handle disappointment in the workplace?

By asking these seemingly simple questions, you can get a good idea about the type of candidates that you’re interviewing, allowing you to more accurately judge whether an applicant is a good fit with your company values, your work culture, and the job description.

Asking behavioral questions –such as, ‘how do you handle stress?’ can give you some good insight into how an applicant reacts and behaves, which is important if the job requires them to deal with members of the public or involves working in a high-pressure environment. Finally, don’t forget to ask about soft skills –emotional intelligence matters, more than you might think.

Run a Background Check

Don’t neglect to run a background check when screening potential applicants. This important step is vital for getting a clear picture of the person that you’re considering hiring. You may also want to do a quick Google search to see what comes up –just remember, it’s legally risky to base any hiring decisions on a person’s social media profile.

Finally, when hiring, remember to give your applicants an equal chance. Not only will this help to keep you above reproach, and out of the reach of potentially harmful discrimination accusations, it will also help you to find the best applicant –one who closely aligns with your company’s goals, and who has the experience and skills necessary to do the job at hand.