What is the most important thing in YOUR BUSINESS?

IT'S PEOPLE, PEOPLE AND PEOPLE!

A great team is one of the best assets a company can invest in. I can't stress enough about the importance of people to a business. More often or not companies crash and burn because of people issues rather than because of failure of technology, lack of financing or anything else.

Attracting, retaining and motivating good people should be at the top of your "to do" list. You need to get good people now, you have to plan ahead to get the good people you will need.

This leads us to the importance of a recruitment system - the way we find or "recruit" team members is very important, as only excellent people can enhance the running, systems, fun and profit centres of the business.

There are several different ways to go about recruiting, so whatever way you decide, your system should be designed to be flexible enough to work over and over again and to take the stress and hassle out of employing great team members.


Do you need to recruit a new team member?

Recruiting a new team member can be a risky investment both financially and because there is always a possibility that the new recruit may not end up being the right person for the job. There are things that can be done however to minimise this risk.

Firstly, think long and hard about whether you really need a new team member right now. When the need for a new team member arises, it is important that the decision is discussed and approved BEFORE any part of the recruitment process begins. Firstly you need to consider the reasons why you are thinking of recruiting.

Is a current team member leaving?

If a team member is leaving it is often a good time to take a fresh look at the organisational structure and think about all the options. What exact position is needed, are there current team members who have the skills and desire to take on the role. If so, how could you restructure the roles within the business?

Are you short staffed or has there been an increase in workload?

A good way to identify this is to look at the KPI results of the department in comparison to increased workload so that an informed decision can be made.

What are the financial implications of hiring someone (both short and long term)?

How much training will they require and who will manage this process?

How long until they are expected to be performing at full capacity?

So you've weighed up the options and decided that you are going to go ahead and recruit?

If you do decide on hiring the position required, you need to have determined the remuneration structure and when the new recruit will be required to start. If the position is a new one (one that you don't already have a Job Description for) a new Job Description will need to be created before the recruitment process begins.

What is important to you when hiring a new employee?

Team fit

If your team currently works well together, when looking to hire new people, it's important to consider the culture of your team. Think about the kinds of people who perform well together and separately in your business, how people treat each other and what is rewarded. Each of these issues will help you to determine who will be a good fit for the team. A good way of doing this is by having your team's input during the recruitment process. This will also help to get team buy in right from the start.

Attitude

While there's no doubt skills and experience are important, managers often make mistakes hiring relying solely on an applicant's CV. Their hiring decision is often determined by someone's skills and experience. Skills can be taught, experience can be gained, and qualifications can be obtained. But a manager can't teach someone to have the right attitude.

There are four key qualities you can look for when recruiting people with a great attitude;

• Motivated: Prospective employees with this strength are easy to motivate and are often able to motivate themselves as well as others.
• Natural: Employees need to be genuine, warm and friendly. They need to be able to get along with a diverse group of people.
• Optimistic: Every manager has had an employee that's been opposed to everything, been against change, and was generally pessimistic in nature.
• Proactive: The best people in any business are those that go the extra mile for their employer, their customers, their peers and for themselves. And it's always people with an excellent attitude who do this.

Skills and Experience

Skills and Experience are always of importance and value; however the degree required can vary from industry. Some skills can be taught on the job, while others need to come equipped with solid experience to ensure the job is done properly. Think about how much training they will be given before they are expected to be confident. This will impact the level that a successful candidate will require. It is always sensible to look for transferable skills and experience too, especially if there is room for movement within the position and/or the company in the future.