Take the Assessment
Connect with Jane Out of the Box
Study results show women business owners fit into one of five categories. Take our assessment and discover which Jane you are today! Knowing could change your life and your business.
Subscribe to the See Jane Succeed newsletter
The Best of the Janes: Four Essential Steps to Hiring a Winning Team!
Posted on September 3, 2009 - Filed Under Jane Thoughts, Success Tips for Jane
Over the past two weeks, we’ve examined some of the strengths and weaknesses of each type of female entrepreneur when it is time to hire a team member. This article is all about having the best of all worlds. So whether you’re ready to hire your first part-time contractor or you’re bringing your 50th full-time employee on board, following the four steps below will ensure you hire the right people as easily as possible.
1. Make sure both YOU and your BUSINESS are ready
Being ready to hire someone means making sure you’re mentally/emotionally ready and that the business is ready, too. Following are the signs that you are mentally/emotionally ready:
- You look forward to bringing someone else on board to help grow the business
- You recognize that by delegating some of the tasks you are doing now, you will create more “goodness” for your business or your life
- You want to create opportunity for someone else while also enriching yourself
- You are ready to train others to do what you do or lead others to create a big vision
- Even if you’re nervous about hiring, it’s an excited nervous, not dread
If you don’t feel mentally/emotionally ready but you know you need to hire someone because your workload is extreme, take some quiet time to create a list of pros and cons. Talk out these pros and cons with a trusted friend, ideally an entrepreneur who’s made the hiring leap. Recognize that you can hire in a very low risk way (by hiring a contractor for very few hours to start, and even on a “trial run”). Keep examining and building on your “pros” list until you can get excited about it – excited enough to want to overcome any fear and make the leap anyway.
Following are signs that your business is ready:
- You are spending 5 hours a week or more on work that could be delegated to someone else (and yes, this could include housecleaning and grocery shopping)
- You often do tasks you don’t enjoy or that are frustrating to do (sending invoices, making your own website changes, etc.)
- You can’t keep up with demand for your products/services so you’re leaving money on the table
- You are working more hours than you want
- You have a steady, ongoing base of satisfied customers you know you could tap for referrals or growth
- You have pet projects (like creating a new product) you are dying to work on but can’t get to because there’s no time
- You’re spending less than 50% of your time doing work
If your business is ready and you want business growth and/or if you are working too many hours, don’t delay – work on getting “yourself” ready to take this important next step in your business.
2. Plan ahead
Planning ahead means anticipating the following:
- What will the new hire’s responsibilities be (writing a job description)
- How does his/her role fit within the organization (org chart and/or process map/flow)
- What skills and characteristics must he/she have (create a list)
- How should the major tasks be completed (documentation, checklists, and/or process maps make it much easier to bring someone quickly on board with a minimum of training required or mistakes made)
- Where and when he/she will work
- Who he/she will be expected to interact with, how and when
Many entrepreneurs wait until they are in a desperate pinch for help before they hire. Often, they were doing the work themselves and want to simply hand it over to someone else to do – and there is little or no documentation to consider. In the absence of thinking through the above (and ideally writing it all down!), too often entrepreneurs will hire people they “like” instead of people who are right for the job. (See step 4.)
By taking the time to document as many of the items above as possible in advance of interviewing, you will be more effective at screening and interviewing applicants and will ensure a more seamless transition when a new person joins your team.
3. Consider your own style & needs
One of the reasons you became an entrepreneur is that you wanted control of your future or your time or the way you do your work. So before hiring someone else to join your business, get clear in your own mind about what’s important to you in when, where, how, and with whom you work. What are those non-negotiables you have to have in order to thrive? Some examples of needs (and the ways they might impact your hiring decisions) are:
- You need plenty of focused quiet time for planning and implementation (ideas: hire someone to work remotely, to work only certain days of the week, or have a door with an office and teach your team to leave you alone when the door is closed)
- You like keeping a flexible schedule, working different hours every day (ideas: hire someone remote, be willing to give them a key to your space, hire self-directed/self-motivated people)
When it comes to style, you don’t want to narrow your worldview to only hiring clones of yourself. Hiring new team members can be a great way to counterbalance your personality with traits that are opposite yours. For example, if you’re the outgoing, big-picture type who likes to blue sky with your clients, consider hiring someone more structured and detail-oriented who will be glad to hold down the fort while you’re out doing calls. Sometimes, opposites do work very nicely together.
At the same time, it might be important to you to have a close match when it comes to values. If you are a person who is happier working in a personal environment, where teammates know each others’ families and/or get together socially, seek to hire people who feel similarly. Conversely, if you are an “all business type,” water-cooler chatter might seem like an unproductive waste of time and ultimately frustrate you. In the case of both personal and work styles, make a list of those things that are really important to you so they will be factored into your hiring process.
4. Balance logic and intuition in the interviewing process
Armed with the detailed plans in Step 2, you have everything you need to make a logical hire. You will have a perfect checklist of information to uncover during the interview. Does the candidate have the right skills? Does he/she have experience doing similar tasks? Is he/she ready and able to work where, when, and how you want? Does he/she embody the personal characteristics you find desirable? Using logic (including calling references and checking your facts about the candidate) will help you make sure you hire someone with all the necessary skills and experience to do the job well.
But for entrepreneurs, hiring can’t be purely clinical. Tap into your intuition too. Armed with the facts about each candidate, then consider your own style and needs. Think about the culture of your company and the long-term vision you have. Your final selection should be the qualified candidate who feels like a good “fit”. After all, your business is your baby – and you deserve to have the best possible people on your team!
Leave a Reply
©2010 Jane Out of the Box, All Rights Reserved.
