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Hiring and Keeping Employees
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Employees are a firm's major resource. Hiring the right people - and
training them well -- can often mean the difference between scratching out
the barest of livelihoods and steady business growth.
by Ramon Ray
Contributing Author
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It's
really easy for the large Fortune 500 businesses to hire and
fire thousands. With there massive personnel departments that
are bigger than the largest city in Papua New Guinea, reference
checking interns that could easily staff a large McDonalds and
slick, online systems (that you installed!!) to process zillions
of resumes from faceless degree holders. But what about you and
your small business?
(article continued below ...)
In the technology sector it's even harder to keep staff- every
time you hire someone, they jump ship to someone else for a
higher salary, more
benefits, or better options.
Let's say that for the past 10 years you, your long time
business partners
and MAYBE even some other staff have loyally serviced clients.
You trust
each other and work together like guys serving hot dogs on 1st
Avenue in NY City. And your clients love you.
But you begin to realize that in order to grow, in order to
expand and be
more profitable you're going to have to hire additional staff.
As you panic and start thinking, "...what if I hire a crack
addict who steals my client's flower pots and tries to sell them
to me...?", "...or hire a young punk who says he can
easily integrate legacy databases to the WEB - only to find that
he can only erase legacy databases and the backups!!!"
"...Or what if the 27 year old girl with degrees oozing out
of her Channel pumps....can't read?..."
Rest easy, it doesn't have to be that hard if you carefully read
the advice
I got from Kelly Newberg, Human Resources Director at Avert (a provider of Internet pre-employment
screening) and Stephen Parker, Central Region Vice President at
Blessing/White (Blessing/White is a management consulting firm
specializing in organizational development that aligns corporate
with individual employee values.)
Kelly, explained to me that the best way to find staff is your
personal
community and professional relationships. How do you think
Vernon Jordan
(President Clinton's friend) is so well connected? His Rolodex
is brimming
with contacts from every major industry in America! If you want
to ensure
you can find staff then maintain great relationships with your
local community of friends, associates, colleagues, competitors,
and etc. Even in
this age of dot.com this and dot.com that, word of mouth is
powerful and
more credible than a "bcc'd" email!
Avert keeps it's ear to the ground by sponsoring events,
attending job fairs when relevant to Avert's hiring needs and
keeping close ties with Universities
Make sure your WEB site posts your hiring needs and also
encourage your
staff to be on the look out for great talent. I'll say it again,
"ENCOURAGE
YOUR STAFF TO BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR GREAT TALENT." More
often than not, your trusted staff are NOT going to refer some
imbecilic nut to work for you. Your staff know exactly how your
company operates, and what you expect in an ideal hire so let
them be your prime recruiting force.
Many companies offer their employees referral bonuses when staff
members
recruit successful new hires. You may think it a waste of money
to give $50, $1000, or more dollars to staff for bringing in a
new hire. But guess what? If YOUR staff brings in a new hire,
there's a greater chance that the new person is better, overall,
for your business than someone brought in otherwise. Your staff
know your business.
What about the Internet? If you want most of your hires to be
local staff, and are not willing to foot the moving bill for new
staff in non-management positions, the Internet may not be the
best place for you. However, for
finding senior executives, that you would be more willing to
move to your business, the Internet can be a great and cost
effective tool.
Once you've found this person, how can you be sure the person is
for you?
Well Kelly recommends that you perform a standard set of checks
(criminal,
resume references, professional certification (as applicable to
the job) and etc) for all new hires. This way you won't be
accused of any particular bias towards an individual. When
asking questions, performing checks and etc keep in mind that
you AND the person you are hiring have certain rights. Whatever
you do, do it with the thought in mind "....if I had to
tell this to a judge....".
In working towards keeping that great new staff member, it's
very important
to find out why they are there. If they are there for only a pay
check - there's really nothing you can do to keep them from
leaving if another company offers them a larger salary. However,
if they are there for more creative freedom - you now know what
makes them tick. Maybe they are looking for a job that offers
them more time with their family. Be flexible and accommodate
them, and you'll have happy, long lasting employees.
Stephen of BlessingWhite educated me about "Vbiz" or
"Value Business" -
more on this later though. He started off by explaining to me
that many companies focus so much on hiring their employees but
spend little effort
on keeping them. Your attitude in hiring should be "hire
for attitude, train for skill".
I was reading a recent issue of Fast Company magazine, that
interviewed the director of personnel for Dell Computer
Corporation. The director said that
at times Dell will hire an executive even if they don't have a
position for the person. Why? Dell is hiring a person, an
experience, an attitude NOT a
degree or resume.
Now to "vbiz" or "value business".
Stephen Parker of BlessingWhite said it's crucial, that before a
business starts hiring anyone - the business must first have a
clear understanding of "who we are" and "what are
our values". Once these two questions are clearly answered,
the small business owner can then go about finding people
to fit the positions in this defined company. If your company is
about quick sales, with less emphasis on accuracy, then you can
find people accordingly. However, if your business is more
concerned with accuracy, and time is not so important then find
people to fit this type of business.
On the flip side, Stephen said it's important to understand that
your customers want a solution, not a product. Therefore often
times it may be
more important for you to consider the PERSON you're hiring and
not so much their skill sets (Note: of course there are certain
benchmarks and
standards you'll want for employees in any given job position,
but all things being equal - hire the person, not the skill set)
Many entrepreneurs and small business owners already know the
kind of
business they want or have. It's just that when hiring, this
process needs
to be put on paper.
Fellow consultants and small business technologists - in this
coming year,
we can't do "business as usual" But it's time to take
a step away from the
technology we strive to provide our clients, and wok instead on
re-engineering our small businesses.
About the
Author:
Ramon Ray is small
business technology analyst and consultant. Visit him at his Web
site, SmallBiz Technology at http://www.smallbiztechnology.com,
the oasis of small business technology. He can be reached at mailto:ramon@smallbiztechnology.com
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