A business is only as good as the people who manage it. You and your employees are the
source of customer satisfaction. Products and services are wares you distribute. And,
customer service throughout the organization is the culture that contributes to both
employee and customer morale. As an employer, you want to hire and retain the employees
most qualified for the positions within your company.
Important policy standards should be in place before you begin hiring employees.
Develop a personnel policy and manual. This can be a brief document of only a few pages
for a business with few employees. The manual should include your policy for hours,
overtime, fringe benefits sick leave, annual leave, training, dress code, personnel
reviews, grievances, termination and retirement. This manual provides an overview of the
work environment from expected work times to time off and employee reviews. This manual
covers operating policies and general benefits. A job applicant should be given a copy
before a final offer of employment is granted. In addition, each company employee should
have his or her own copy of the manual, which serves as a guide for his or her conduct and
benefits.
Before you advertise a job with your local newspaper or with a personnel recruitment
firm, prepare a job description. Each position within the company, including your own,
should have a job description that outlines responsibilities and duties. Each description
should include reporting relationships, which describe who the employee’s supervisor
will be. Add to each job description a list of the position’s objectives with
specific and measurable goals. The job description provides you and the employee a clear
road map for the expectations of the position from both the standpoint of workload and
expertise required to accomplish the job.
Develop an application form. You can buy standard forms or computer software for
employment applications or create your own. Ideally, the form will be simple and should
focus on relevant employment history including names of supervisors and references you can
contact. This application should allow some space for the applicant to add a narrative
summary of his or her career accomplishments. This section gives you a chance to see what
the applicant viewed as important successes and milestones in his or her career. Interview
qualified candidates. During the interview, you want to learn as much as possible about
the person’s job skills, work ethic and personality. Ask specific questions that
require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. The more dialogue, the more
you learn about the applicant. More information will help you make an informed decision.
Check references. This can not be stressed enough. Your business is important to you
and the right employees make a positive statement about your business to customers. An
applicant who interviews well and has a sterling resume, may be the ideal fit for the job.
Call references to confirm your belief and to ascertain if pervious employers’
accounts of the person’s job responsibilities and performance match what you heard in
the interview. Also gather opinions about personality, work style and strengths from
references. Both what references say and leave unsaid can give you clues to the character
and skill of potential employees. A good question to ask a previous employer is whether or
not they would re-hire the applicant. Take this information and form your final opinions.
Hiring the right people for the right positions can mean the difference between top
performance and profitability and weak performance and operating difficulties. Choose
wisely. If you would like assistance in developing an employee manual, job descriptions or
interview questions, contact the SCORE Association (Service Corps of Retired Executives.)
More than 12,400 volunteer business counselors donate their time to provide entrepreneurs
like yourself free and confidential business counseling on management topics such as
hiring. SCORE has assisted 3.5 million entrepreneurs. Call 1 (800) 634-0245, for a
referral to the SCORE chapter nearest you.
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