Ryan Holmes, Hootsuite
After 7 years at a large firm, Alyssa opened an architecture practice in downtown Manhattan. Within a year, she found herself working 12 hour days and started to think seriously about hiring an assistant.
After winning a large new project, she knew it was the right time to put someone on.
Thinking it would be easy to find a good assistant, Alyssa ran an ad on Craigslist and soon found someone to fill the job.
Unfortunately, the new person did not work out. Neither did the next one, or the one after that. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say that it wasn’t pretty…In fact, it took almost 18 months and lots of wasted time, energy and many costly hiring mistakes before Alyssa found that right person.
Making good hires is crucial to the success of small businesses and professional practices because resources are often scarce and every employee must bring significant value.
Unfortunately, hiring is another task that often falls on the shoulders of the beleaguered business owner, who may not have the bandwidth, experience or know-how to make sound staffing decisions.
If this sounds familiar, please DON’T commit these common, costly hiring mistakes:
1. No job description. Before beginning any hiring process, sit down and determine exactly what you want the new staff member to do. Be specific for both of your sakes. Include job title, description, areas of responsibility, primary goals & objectives, required knowledge, skills & abilities, the work environment, as well as the education, experience and characteristics needed to be successful.
2. Hiring a “jack of all trades.” This rarely works. Determine what area you need help in and find the right person to do it. Better to hire two part timers who excel in their specific fields than trying to make a salesperson out of a bookkeeper.
3. Grabbing the first warm body that comes along. This one is closely related to both #1 & 2. Now this might seem obvious, but you won’t believe the number of small business owners who find themselves so desperate for help that they take the first person who comes along.
4. Focusing solely on skills and experience. Of course these are important, but don’t overlook the importance of whether this new person will fit into the existing culture or if they have the right personality, attitude and behaviors to perform their job well.
5. “Winging” the interview. A well crafted set of interview questions will help you determine whether this applicant should be on your short list. Ask them questions about how they would handle typical situations that come up in your field. Don’t focus only on talking with them. Show them around, have them interact with others in the company as well.
6. Failing to ask for enough references and/or not checking references sufficiently. Many SBOs feel that references are not important. Now obviously, most applicants will give you the best references they have. When you ask for more than a couple, chances are you’ll get a more accurate impression of their capabilities, character and how they are to work with. Ask industry specific questions to uncover if they’ll be the right person for the job.
7. No training or on-boarding process. Even if the person you hire has done a similar job in the past, don’t throw them to the wolves right away. Develop a simple training and on-boarding process to get them used to how you want things done and get them settled into their new position easily.
8. Overwhelming them with tasks and responsibilities. Related to #7, this costly hiring mistake often turns off a new hire before they even get their feet wet. Slow down. Resist the temptation to ask them to do everything you haven’t completed for the past 3 months at one time. Prioritize tasks and give them a chance to learn them before moving onto the next.
What’s been your experience with the hiring process? Join the conversation in the comments section below.
