Are you in the middle of boosting your business? Then you’re going to need to bring in the right talent for your small company. And yes, that’s going to be a little challenging! Hiring is one thing, but knowing what kind of team you need for company results is another. Which is why you need to plan out your hiring process well ahead of time, and be flexible in the areas of skills and knowledge you really need.
Although, having a reliable team on hand doesn’t happen straight away, even when you’re hiring the best of the best. You need to curate a good environment for them to work in, and make sure you’ve set your expectations just right. And that’s what this post is here to help you with.
Define Who Your Company Is
If you know who your company is, you know what your values are, and how these align with your overall mission. And when you know these essential details, you can hire with them in mind. This’ll help you to find the right people to plug the right gaps – how? Because now you know what to ask in the interview.
And the interview is your secret power here. It’s not a place to waste time with questions that don’t relate to your company; it’s a situation where you get to see someone’s true mettle. After all, you can pinpoint the right details to ask about, which will allow you to look for similar values in the person across the desk from you.
Value Initiative
Initiative is one of the best qualities a person can bring to the table. Knowing how to tackle a challenge, not needing your guidance every step of the way, and relying on their own experience means they’re someone you can trust when the stakes are high. That’s the best kind of reliability you can ask for in the modern day and age.
A little bit of initiative will put all of their other skills to better use as well. Not only can they expertly perform at their own job, but they may even be able to offer support to fellow members of staff. And while that might not be a specific part of the job, it will build better bonds between your team as a whole. A person who can see that is absolutely invaluable to you.
Create a Culture of Trust
A culture of trust can be hard to establish in the working world. You can hear all kinds of stories about workers being taken for granted, and that can make you extra cautious about your behavior as the boss. You want to be just as important as they are in the grand scheme of things, and you can get the ball rolling by being honest about that.
It’s simple – if you can talk, so can they! Being open and honest at work can be hard when you’re not sure what leg you stand on, but being setting an example and being the first to get the discussion going will really work here. Your employees will trust you, will trust where they work, and will feel secure and valuable in their job. And that’s where you can really mine for productivity!
Invest in the Right Training
Training your employees should be the norm in business, especially in small businesses! It can cost a lot of money, yes, but that’s why it’s such an effective investment. You really get what you pay for here. After all, even when you hire right and have good talent under your belt, you can’t be sure your team members will immediately take to their role. So invest in training, especially sales training and customer service training above all else.
These are the two core elements of your company that’ll help boost your brand’s reputation and bring more customers your way. And when you need a reliable team that can fill skill gaps wherever they go, running a course for these areas is one of the most effective ways to strengthen the chain.
Reward Work as Often as Possible
Doing good work can often go unnoticed. Employees can feel overworked and undervalued as a result. You don’t want that when you’re trying to build a team you can rely on. You want every single person on your payroll to know their worth, and to be sure they’re not in a ‘dead end’ situation.
So try to reward work as often as possible. Employee of the month schemes, awards at the end of the year, regular company wide recognition (and even pay rises), or simply giving them long-lasting gifts like a classic Swiss-made watch, will all go the distance here. They take a bit of investment on your part, but it’ll pay off in the end. Remember, if the business is doing well, it’s because your team has worked hard, and they should be able to reap the rewards of that like you do.
Remember, Interview Tricks are Unreliable Themselves
Just another little thing for you to remember to finish off! When you’re interviewing someone, don’t try to catch them out. Similarly, don’t come up with outlandish and wild questions thinking they’ll give you an insight into someone’s personality. And most of all, don’t think you can read their body language like a book.
All of these things are unreliable. The only thing you can really rely on is offering a good question and getting a good answer back. What someone says to you, in response to questions on their experience, their values, and what skills they can offer, will be far more telling than anything left unsaid. And if you want your future employees to trust you, that bond needs to start in the interview room.
Building a reliable team means being a reliable leader yourself. Take your time hiring, set boundaries, and make sure you’ve invested in good training for everyone. And you don’t need to pose ‘creative’ questions in the interview either! Invest in your employees and they’ll invest in you too!