The Dos And Dont’s Of Hiring Your Next Employee

If you know it’s time to hire your next employee, you’re going to want to make sure that you hire the perfect person for the job. Letting go of the idea of perfection to some degree is important – after all, many things can be taught on the job, especially for somebody who is just right for the role in terms of cultural fit and personality.

To help you ensure you hire the perfect person for the role, follow these do’s and don’ts:

Do: Make Sure You Define Exactly What You Want

You need to know the job role like the back of your hand, so make sure you define exactly what you want. Outline everything you actually need the candidate to have. Remember that some things can be taught on the job, and in some cases it could be better if they are, as you don’t have to worry about them bringing bad habits to the role.

Make sure you outline all of the necessary information in the job description, such as hours, pay, special skills, and anything else that will help you to get the right applicants through the door.

Don’t: Write Your Advertisement In A Way It Can Be Misconstrued

Make sure you triple check your job advertisement and get others in your company to look over it, too. You don’t want your advert to be looked at as discrimination, either directly or indirectly.

Do: Set An Appropriate Salary

A person shouldn’t have to contact you to find out more about the salary. It should be clearly outlined in the job description.  Don’t risk paying under minimum wage as it could give you a bad reputation at the very least, and you’ll face legal consequences if authorities find out. For happy employees that are loyal to you, you need to make sure you’re paying them fairly. For tax purposes, you must categorize your employee appropriately by one of the following:

• Independent contractor
• Statutory employee
• Statutory non-employee
• Common-law employee

If you don’t classify your employees properly, you’ll end up getting a fine. Don’t let that happen!

Don’t: Forget To Have A Great Onboarding Process

When you’re getting your new employee ready to start their new job, you should make sure you have an on boarding process that gives them the right training and prep to start work in the best way. A great induction will give employees a better opportunity to integrate into your company culture. This will allow new employees to seamlessly integrate into your business.

Do: Make Sure You Advertise On The Right Platforms

You need to make sure the right people see your job advertisement, and this means advertising on the right platforms. This may have changed from the last time you did this, so make sure you do your research and you know where best to put it.

Don’t: Shortlist Too Many Applicants

Make sure you don’t shortlist too many applicants and make the job of hiring your next employee even harder. You should score individual applications using your person specification and job description; this will help you to create a clear framework to score applicants in a fair and equal way. Make sure you put a fair amount of applicants through to the next stage of the recruitment process.

Do: Ask If Applicants Need Adjustments

Make sure your applicant’s needs are considered before the interview. You should ask them if they will need any adjustments to be made for them to attend the interview, and make sure you ask all applicants the same questions for a fair interview process. It’s a good idea to keep records of the interview too, so you can provide feedback as well as evidence that the process was fair and not discriminatory in any way. This will protect you in the long run. Personal or domestic circumstances questions should be avoided at all costs. Your questions must be relevant to the role you are interviewing for. Asking somebody if they are having kids anytime soon could get you into trouble!

Don’t: Skip The Terms And Conditions When Offering A Job Role

Do ensure you provide a full job offer containing all relevant terms and conditions if you decide that you’ve found the person for the job. Remember that a contract of employment needs to be sent out within 8 weeks. HR recruitment specialists can help you outline the terms and conditions and ensure you don’t forget anything that could get you into trouble.

Do: Pre Employment Checks

Doing pre-employment checks to ensure that this person is who they say they are and that they can be trusted if you choose to employ them. Make sure you don’t cut corners. Get in touch with references and do what it takes to ensure you’re bringing the right person on board.

Don’t: Just Consider Skills And Experience

Make sure you consider a candidate’s cultural fit. Skill set and experience are very important, but you also need to be sure that this person’s personality type meshes well with yours and the other founding team members and employees if applicable. Many things can be taught on the job, as mentioned before, so make sure you take the personality of the person seriously, too.

Do: Reach Out to Your Network For Referrals

It probably isn’t a good idea to hire friends and family, as things can go bad and it can cause major tension in the household. However, take advantage of your network! You have employees that might just know somebody perfect for the role.

One Final Do: Go with Your Gut

There are times during the recruitment process when you might just get a good feeling about a potential candidate. First things first: don’t be tempted to make an offer without seeing more candidates. You never know what you might have missed if you make a rash decision! However, once you’re sure you’ve seen plenty, it’s time to go with your gut. Listen to your intuition and you should find the right person for the job.

Image credit: Pixabay.com

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