While that expansion is a necessary part of
growing a business, hiring is often among the most dreaded tasks an
entrepreneur will face. In fact, the reluctance to develop a hiring strategy,
document best practices and criteria, and initiate a talent search is one of
the greatest limitations on the growth of a business.
This week I had the privilege of
participating in Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual Growth Conference. The
topic was Hiring for Growth. At the Mixer that followed the conference another
speaker mentioned that he was sorry he’d missed that session because he felt
that hiring was one of the weak links in his business. He asked me what I hoped
the audience took away from what I’d shared, and since he seemed to find it so
valuable I thought I’d share those three things with you as well.
1. The talent you need may be under your nose.
If you already have employees they should be
your first go-to when you decide you need to expand your team. Regardless of
what you hired them to do, or how their role might have morphed since they came
on board, chances are they have changed as the business grew. Perhaps they have
developed a talent that is exactly what you need and you just haven’t
noticed. Or maybe they’re itching to learn something new and grow into a
different role.
Moving someone who already knows your
business, fits your culture, and has a proven track record of taking on new
responsibilities into a more specialized or complex role and then hiring for the more entry level position is
probably going to be more cost-effective and less of a headache than hiring
from outside for a more advanced position.
And if you have someone chomping at the bit
to make a move, keeping them in their current position just because they’re
good at it is likely to mean you’ll be hiring for both positions eventually.
Because if they’re really talented and ambitious they will be making that move, they’ll just be making
it away from your organization.
Overlooking the talent already inside your
business is almost certain to cost you time, money and frustration.
2. Scout for talent before you need to hire.
If you’re not even thinking about your next
hire until the time comes that you need people to interview you’re compromising
the growth of your business and complicating your life unnecessarily.
Where is your next hire likely to be hanging
out right now and how can you connect with them or with people who know them?
Perhaps you need to develop relationships with specialty schools or graduate
programs. Maybe you need to connect with industry associations or join Linked
In groups that are dedicated to the type of talent or interests you’ll be
seeking.
The key is to have the intel and the
connections already in place so that when it is time to add to your team you
immediately know where to look and who to call.
3. Put the 'human' back in human resources.
The essence of business is really simple. No
matter how large or small, whether it sells products or services, or whether
it’s brick and mortar or totally online, every business can be boiled down to
one or more people who deliver a product or service valuable enough that one or
more other people will compensate them for it.
That’s it. Just people, serving other people.
If you get so focused on your product or service, or so wrapped up in the
description of skills and experience required, or so obsessed with pursing your
target market or crushing your competition that you lose sight of the humans
who make those products or services possible, or the humans who make up your
target market, or even the humans who are pouring their own heart and soul into
businesses that are similar to yours, you’re missing the whole point of
business and the deepest satisfaction and greatest thrill of being an
entrepreneur.
Written
by: Dixie Gillaspie
Credit:
entrepreneur.com
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