If you want your business to continue to thrive, you’ll eventually need to expand but taking that plunge can seem a bit daunting. It’s crucial to keep key points at the top of your mind, in order to ensure your business success when hiring new employees.
You will have to learn to trust other people with your passion, your ‘baby’ that you’ve built from the ground up. What if this ‘new-hire’ is from a competitor’s company and just wants to get the details of your operation? If that idea freaks you out consider this when hiring, it’s all about asking the right questions.
You can find out just about anything when you ask the right questions. Ones that are carefully crafted to let you know if you can really trust a person. Others can be crafted to discover if this hire would be a good fit for you and (if applicable) your team.
Consider the following ideas, questions, and areas to focus on during the hiring process. I’m here to help you take your business to the next level by ensuring your business success when hiring.
How to Ensure Your Business Success When Hiring?
First, Some Questions To Ask Yourself…
First, Some Questions To Ask Yourself…What type of person do you want to work with? Is it more important for you to waste NO time, and hire someone who may know your industry but doesn’t know you?
Or would you rather MAKE the time to get to know someone, and develop ideas about how you’ll complement each other with your work, together?
Do you want the opportunity to essentially ‘create’ the perfect new-hire, just for you and your business…?
Try This Philosophy of, Well… NOT Business!
One of the best tips I picked up years ago when I was an Executive Recruiter, was to present the idea of hiring someone with absolutely NO experience in the area of work they’re being hired for.
I know this sounds completely counter-intuitive but solo business owners or even just really small teams, have almost always responded really well to the idea of this.
I would suggest applying a method that I eventually coined ‘Tabula Rasa’, named after the philosophical theory of the same name, which means “clean slate”. It’s a theory originally born, not in business but in epistemology (the study of knowledge), which defines it as:
“a supposed condition that empiricists attribute to the human mind before ideas have been imprinted on it by the reaction of the senses to the external world of objects.”
A new and revolutionary emphasis on ‘Tabula Rasa’ came about in the 17th century when empiricist John Locke argued for:
“the mind’s initial resemblance to “white paper, void of all characters,” with “all the materials of reason and knowledge” derived from (later) experience.” ~ John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding(1689).
Apply This Philosophy to Your Business
Of course, you should make sure they have all the necessary basic skills and any specific characteristics that would best suit your team or the job that just you are hiring for.
This is also why you should always, always make sure to do this one thing in order to ensure your business success when hiring.
You must make sure that your new-hire is prepared to make a commitment to you. A time commitment, to you and your business, for however long you need them.
Lots of people won’t be able to make that kind of commitment right away, so perhaps you could give them until the end of the probationary period?
BUT it’s important that you not forget the commitment your new-hire is even considering for you. Who knows, you may end up molding the perfect person to work with you and you’ll end up business partners.
Weigh the Ups & Downs
One immediate advantage could be that you don’t have to pay them as much at the beginning. This is pretty standard, to have a “probationary period”, which is a bonus for startups who are trying to keep their overhead down.
Of course, there are downsides in having to train your ‘Tabula Rasa’ from scratch. You’ll have to devote a significant amount of time to work with them while they learn your business, your industry, and how to work most efficiently with you.
Don’t Forget to Take Some Personal Time!
When you think of hiring and training a ‘Tabula Rasa’ it’s like an investment. And it’s an investment that, if the person does work out long term, it could be just the best! But, no matter how well you gel with each other over a work project, you’re going to have to give each other some space at some point.
Especially if it’s just the two of you or if you’re a part of a really small team, then you’re all going to need to make room for each other to breathe. You might be wise to consider setting up a break room as a place to grab a snack or just “quick five” after an intense conference call.
And what about when either of you needs a break from all of this very specific training? Remember, they still have to complete several different types of health and safety training online, throughout their probationary period.
So if you ever feel like you’re going to pull your hair out, set the new-hire up in another area (or how about the break room?) to tackle a few of those training videos.
This will definitely give you some much-needed space to take a step back and focus on yourself. Just your needs, maybe some good music, whatever… while they’re deep in learning mode.
Jessica Rose Adams
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