All successful local businesses, regardless of how big they are or what industry they’re in, have one very important thing in common — a great team.
Your team sets the stage for the kind of service you offer, how you communicate with customers and more. They’re the face of your local business, which is why it’s incredibly important that you hire the right team for your local business. Here are a few tips to get you started.
5 tips for hiring a great team for your local business
#1. Know what qualities you’re looking for
Before you start accepting applications and resumes or interviewing applicants, you need to know what you’re looking for in a candidate. Is it work ethic, the ability to work with a team or fantastic communication skills?
There may be many things that you value in a potential employee, but if you look for too many qualities at once, it can confuse what really matters. It’s better to identify your highest priority and focus your efforts on finding someone who embodies that trait.
Build your employment process on finding people who have the quality you’re looking for, including designing your interview questions around it.
#2. Fill in the gaps
We’ve all heard employers say that they wish they could clone a member of their team. While that may seem like a good idea, it’s actually for the better that cloning existing employees isn’t possible — nor should you look for people exactly like your existing team.
Successful teams are a lot like puzzles. Every piece is different, but they all fit together perfectly to create the finished product. If you try to fit the same piece into the puzzle over and over again, it won’t resemble anything like it’s supposed to.
Instead of looking for candidates that are exactly like your existing team, think about the areas your team falls flat or could be better. And, look for candidates who can fill in the gaps.
#3. Prioritize soft skills
Hard skills, like the ability to make a sale, produce a video, manage inventory or to do the bookkeeping for your business, are skills that many local businesses prioritize in potential candidates.
And, while hard skills are important, the key part of hard skills is that they are both measurable and teachable, which means that these skills can be developed in your employees over time. If you focus too much on hard skills, you can overlook a candidate’s soft skills, which are often even more important.
Soft skills include communication skills, the ability to work as a team, etc., and they are harder to pin down because they’re not measurable. But, it’s important to look for soft skills when you’re hiring because they’re also not teachable.
#4. Hire for company culture
Have you heard the phrase, “One bad apple spoils the barrel?” The same goes for your company. If you hire someone who doesn’t mesh with your company values, mission or goal, it can impact your entire team.
When hiring for your local business, it’s important to keep your company culture in mind. While it’s important that your employees have the skills and experience you need, it’s also important that they fit in with your team and culture.
To hire for culture fit, you first have to know what your culture is all about. Think about your values and goals, and look for candidates who share those same values and goals.
#5. Take your time
Hiring a great team is a lot more involved than just looking for skills or experience on a resume or application. It requires you to really learn about and get to know your candidates beyond what you can find in writing.
Chances are, if you look beyond the application or resume, you’re not going to be able to find the right person for the job overnight. And, while it may not be ideal to have an open position, it’s better (and cheaper) to find the right person the first time.
Hiring the right candidate or team can take time. But in the end, it’s well worth it.
Local businesses don’t always have the resources to offer competitive pay or benefits to attract great employees, but Small Business Benefits™ can help.
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