Let’s face it, as a leader, you are constantly being forced into uncomfortable situations. It’s something that SPEARity CEO, Darren Fisher, has been talking about a lot this year on the blog.
One of those situations that leaders are faced with from time to time is hiring employees. While it might be part of the job, it doesn’t mean it’s comfortable.
Hiring is a challenge
There are a lot of challenges that come with hiring new employees, whether it’s your first hire or your hundredth. There’s a good chance that at some point throughout growing your business you wished you could just clone yourself.
But since that’s really not possible, you need to learn how to rely on others as you grow your business and develop your team.
It’s uncomfortable to bring someone new into your organization. You want to find someone that fits with the rest of the team, understands your brand values, and has the ability to get the job done. And, you have to figure out how to find that person from reading a resume and a short conversation or two.
It’s uncomfortable but necessary.
When it’s time to take action
If you know that it’s time to hire, don’t delay. It isn’t going to get any more comfortable the longer you wait. Instead, things will grow more uncomfortable as you and your team, if you have one, struggle to keep up on all the tasks that you need to do.
If you’re ready to face the uncomfortable and start the hiring process here are a few tips:
Know what you want and have a clear description
A few weeks ago in a post about hiring freelancers to help grow your business, I mentioned the importance of being clear about your expectations before hiring. That’s all the truer when you’re hiring an employee.
Before you let the world know that you’re hiring, get super clear on what the position will look like. Think about things like:
- What tasks will the employee be responsible for
- Who will they need to work with
- What equipment do they need in order to accomplish it
- Do you have the systems in place
- What skills would help them in succeeding on the job
Follow the rules
I’m not going to provide you with all the legal, HR, and tax advice here because that’s not my area of expertise. But I am going to tell you that you need to make sure you’re following the rules.
Talk to the experts that you need to and make sure that you have your business set up correctly and go through the right processes before you make that first hire.
Remember to balance personality with skills
Years ago my husband and I owned a commercial cleaning and landscaping company. We quickly learned that personality and attitude were more important than hiring someone with the right skills.
Don’t get me wrong, skill is important. Every company wants employees that will do a good job. That’s how businesses succeed. And, you need to make sure they have the basic skills needed to do the job you’re hiring for. But, you can train people to complete the tasks the way you want them to.
However, you cannot choose their attitude for them.
Hire someone with a bad mindset and a poor attitude and you’re going to have your work cut out for you. We had employees that did good work but sucked the joy out of the job for everyone else. We also had employees that needed additional training but had the most positive attitudes. The latter were more enjoyable to work with, were willing to take correction, and were more reliable.
Personality is important. As your team grows, one bad apple really can spoil the bunch.
Trust your instincts
When it all comes down to it, you need to trust your instincts. If someone knows all the right things to say and looks great on paper, but you just don’t feel good about hiring them… don’t.
Hiring employees can do amazing things for helping your business grow. However, the process can be downright uncomfortable. But just because something is uncomfortable doesn’t mean it should be avoided. As Darren said before in his article, Uncomfortable Changes, “Change is uncomfortable, but stagnation is uncomfortable too.”
Don’t delay in your hiring process just because it’s outside of your comfort zone. This is where growth happens.
If you’re ready to embrace the uncomfortable to grow your business and yourself as a leader, Let’s talk! We are SPEARity, a local Milwaukee leadership coaching firm that specializes in business coaching, executive coaching, and leadership development training.
