As a soloist or micro business owner you may need to hire new staff as your business grows. Here are my seven tips.

Hiring staff takes an investment of time and resources, so it’s important to get it right.

No matter how small your business, make no mistake, there is still a war for talent. So to beat your competition you need to hire the right people.

Hiring people is a skill, and like any skill, it’s one that you can strengthen. 

Here are my seven hiring tips.

1. Know your hiring process

Articulate the hiring process from end to end and follow it consistently. The hiring process includes: your decision to hire, the position description, the sourcing strategy, interviewing, the decision process, and finally, the offer.

2. Complete all the necessary checks

Once you have made a decision about who to hire, don’t stop there. You should conduct reference checks with the last two previous employers and conduct background checks too, which might include: credit, police, employment history and academic. 

3. Strengthen your interview skills

Brush up on your interview skills, using both a technical and behavioural format. You should be competent in controlling the interviewee and use probing questions effectively. You also need to document the interview.

4. Measure

Measure your hiring performance, such as your ratios for: interview versus offer, offer versus acceptance and advertisement versus applications. 

Also, measure how long an employee stays with you, and whether the role lived up to their expectations.

Want more articles like this? Check out the growth section.

5. Identify the best places to find your perfect people

An example of good sources:    

• Good people know good people. If you have a small team, ask them, and pay a finder’s fee.
• Use LinkedIn, you can pay an annual fee enabling you to access every CV in the system.
• Use SEEK or another job board.

6. Use a good management tool where necessary

Depending on the volume of your hiring, it may be worth considering purchasing a recruitment management tool.  We use Jobadder and think it is fantastic.

7. An effective induction is important

Many resignations occur early either due to the role not being as described during the interview or after a poorly managed induction.  For soloists and micro business owners, it’s generally easier to keep an eye on how the early days, weeks and months are going. 

Make sure that your new employee has everything ready, like their working space, desk and IT.  Introduce them to other staff and informally check in with them to see how they’re settling in.

Hiring the right people is critical to the success of your microbusiness, so make sure to hire effectively.

Do you have staff? What are your hiring tips?