5 Things To Keep In Mind Before Hiring Your Next Team Member
As your business grows, you need to hire more people to help you achieve your business goals and steer your company in the right direction. You can’t do everything by yourself, and so, you need the right team members to help you.
Hiring a team member is a task that has to be done with extra care. You have to be sure the person you intend to hire meets all the requirements for the position; the person is experienced, the person’s vision is in line with the organization’s, and so on.
Your team members can either make or mar your startup; and so, extra care has to be taken when hiring one.
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What are those things you need to keep in mind when hiring your team members?
Here are some of them below:
Freelance or full-time employee: There are a lot of pros and cons of hiring a freelancer or a full-time employee. You need to know which of both options would work for you and your business. Hiring a freelancer is cost-effective, but there might be difficulties in the area of trying to control the time spent on work and freelancer’s activities. On the other hand, hiring a full-time employee comes with more costs and obligations, but it is easier to control the time your employee spends at work.
Have a clear job description: A clear job description is of enormous benefit to you and the potential employee. This is because both parties get to be on the same page and they both know when the potential employee is making progress or not. A clear job description will help your employee be more productive and goal-oriented. In addition, nothing stops you writing job descriptions that are away from the norm and would help your audience understand you better as well as what working in your company feels like. Software Advice reports that Jeanne-Elise M. Heydecker, Senior Vice President at recruiting firm iPlace USA, describes how her company advertised vacancies through a series of six videos with Bollywood-themed videos which told a love story about two college graduates looking for their first job. “Messaging focused on how different our firm was than other companies—salary, incentives, pay-for-performance, ethics [and] professionalism,”
Qualifications: You also have to ensure the person you intend hiring is fit for the job at hand. Can the person perform the tasks? Is he or she qualified? Does the person have the right experience, knowledge, skill set, and education in the field? Likewise, you need to ensure you confirm references to be sure about the claims of the potential employee.
Attitude and integrity: You have to ensure you hire someone who has the right attitude towards work and others. You need someone who has a positive outlook concerning things and someone who is ready to get the job done without excuses. The Founder & CEO of JetSet Times advises that passion is an essential element to look for in a candidate. In addition, you need to hire someone with integrity; someone who would do what they say they would. You need someone who would follow up their words with the right actions. Attitude and integrity matters when hiring.
Can you afford it? Whether you decide to hire a freelancer or a full-time employee, you need to ensure you can afford it. For instance, if you choose to hire a full-time employee, do you have enough more that can cover salaries, insurance, taxes, welfare, and so on? Not only should you think about what you currently have, but you should also consider your operational costs and cash flow. The Founder and CEO of Disqua, Daniel Ha, advises that “In the early, scrappy days of a startup when you have very limited time/resources, you need to strike a great balance between hiring someone for position-need versus hiring someone that’s great regardless of position. If you’re stuck with the position in mind, you may be building a team for near-term need rather than superstar people. But if you’re not practical about growing, you may never get anything done, and it’ll never really matter.”
What are those things you consider when hiring? We would love to hear from you below!
