Making the Best Small Business Hire

Small business owners account for about 88% of the jobs available in the US market. This is significant. Corporate America acknowledges that a bad hire will cost a company 250% of the first year salary of a new recruit. For companies whose annual revenue is in the millions, making a bad hire can be a set back, but for a small business owner it can mean success or failure.

The most common mistakes made in a small business hire are:

1. Small business owner makes a hire without help. (They make decisions for hire in a vacuum.)
• They don't have the skill of interviewing and making assessments.
• They don't have the skill to design roles.
2. Small business owners don't set the relationship up effectively from the time of interview and if the employee does not live up to expectations do not cut a bad hire loose soon enough.

Small business owners have one of the toughest and loneliest jobs around. They do not have the resources or expertise to do everything that needs to be done efficiently. They have to be good in so many areas but can't be an expert in more than one or two. Acknowledging this and setting up practices that support the business in which they are not expert can set the business on the path to success.

The good news is mistakes can be avoided without much additional cost. Here are basic steps a business owner or manager can take to mitigate bad hire traps and to set up good hiring and managing practices for the future.

Get some help!

• with the interviewing process: A few hours of professional help (specializing in small business hiring) can go a long way.
• with orienting the new hire: Set up the new employee to perform in return for his or her compensation, and keep his sense of entitlement from sprouting and growing over time.
• with evaluating: Be able to identify the early indications that a change needs to be made and be ready to make the moves necessary to do that.

Revaluate your goals and plans for the future. (If you don't have goals and plans, make some.)

• Examine how your new hire can fit into projections. How can the employee's role maximize your work as the business owner and what return can you get for the investment?
• Evaluate the operating structure of your business. Can you leverage your new employee to help your business grow to the next level?

In many of the business health check ups I do, the pain of making a bad hire is plainly evident. Many business owners believe that this is a part of doing business. Having a vision for your company and acknowledging that you need help to make effective hiring choices will go a long way in preventing hiring mistakes and will help you make the best use of new hires.

Miche Suboski

Blaming the Economy