Hiring for your business

Every business can be as successful as the business owner envisions, if it has the right talent.Talent Acquisition plays an important role in every business, as having a team of star employees will help your business build a brand, stand out amongst others and invariably grow.

Hiring the right people should not be treated with laxity as employees are the most valuable assets to any growing business. Talent acquisition goes beyond just advertising for a role, this is because any individual you bring into your business can make or mar it positively and negatively.

In my years of hiring, I have come across hired candidates that were just not in line with my organization’s goals, or whose personality, values and beliefs did not fit the culture of the organization. This of course affected the delivery of service to clients.

The cycle of firing and hiring is quite tedious and expensive, therefore, it is paramount that business owners take special care when hiring for their organizations. I have come up with tips to guide you as you make hiring decisions this year.

First, be clear on your vision and mission

Every business owner must have a clear vision for his or her business, and also have a roadmap plan on how they intend to achieve that vision. Without this, it will be difficult to then ascertain the kind of people you need to support and work with you on that journey.

A great employee is one who shares and understands the vision of its employer, and strives to bring that vision to light by taking mental ownership of the business.

As such, the absence of a vision and a mission by the entrepreneur will lead to wrong hiring choices which may eventually affect the business.

Second, have a set of values that influence your organisation culture

In line with fulfilling the vision of a business, an entrepreneur must have a set of values that will govern how the business is run and how the employees will be expected to behave in delivery of their job functions.

These values will influence how employees think and carry on work activities as regards the business and eventually distinguish and set the business apart from other businesses thereby creating a culture within the organisation.

Once you have established the values, belief and culture that govern your organisation, the hiring process becomes more insightful, as interviews will border around ascertaining similar shared values, character traits and personality types that will be in line with what has been set for the business.

Properly plan for manpower

Manpower planning is extremely important to any growing business. Most often than not, business owners hire staff based on an assumption of their needs and few months down the line they notice that they hired employees for roles that were not needed at the time.

Therefore, it is paramount that every business owner reflects on their vision and then determines the right number of people, right kind of people, at the right time, doing the right things for which they are suited for, towards the achievement of goals of the organisation.

Have a job description per role

Every business owner must take out time to write down a clear concise job description for all positions within the organization.

This will help in making uniformed decisions when hiring and also aid the interview sessions as conversation will be in line with the required responsibilities to be carried out on the job.

A detailed job description also helps to clarify the different roles within the organization to avoid duplication of duties, thus over-hiring.

A detailed job description also helps the recruitment officer hire right, as assumptions will not be made on their personal opinion of the job role

Advertise 

Saving cost is extremely important to every business owner, as such, most business owners rely on recommendations and friends referrals to hire for their businesses. However, this has proven to sometimes be unfruitful, as most business owners end up hiring based on sentiments. I recommend that you advertise your vacancies through various platforms to enable you have a vast number of potential candidates to select from and make a uniformed decision.

Interview with intent

While interviewing a candidate, ensure to do so with the intention of gauging competence, attitude and culture alignment. Ask specific questions in line with the exact role being hired for and make use of the behavioural interview technique.

This will enable you measure the capacity, competence and thought process of your intending employee.

Originally published in Guardian Newspaper Nigeria