Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing
Tips and Tricks for Hiring
Think about the last time you went out to dinner and had a wonderful time. What made it so great? Certainly the food and decor added to the experience, but chances are it was the wait staff that made it special. So, what makes the difference between good wait staff and, well, the other kind?
The answer is simple: good wait staff has the knowledge, skills, and attitude for success in their role. Though this may sound simplistic, small business owners need to be aware that each role requires specific job holder attributes to be successful. One useful approach to making good hiring decisions is to remember that the job candidates that will excel are those with a positive attitude, knowledge of the job content, and the skills to implement that knowledge.
This leads us to an important maxim: hiring the best employees is essential for business success. Using our restaurant example, let’s look at how small business owners’ can make the best hiring choices.
First, when hiring to fill a position you must be very clear about the profile of the person you are looking for. If you are our restaurant owner, for example, you can break down the wait staff position into (1) the required knowledge (e.g. the menu, wine list, and any specials), (2) the skills (e.g. the agility to carry multiple dishes without dropping them), (3) and finally a great attitude (e.g. someone who can handle the stress of long hours and dealing with customers, while keeping a smile on their face).
Now that we have created the profile of the best possible restaurant server, the next step is to write the profile down! This is your “measuring stick” to assess candidates and during the interviewing process. Create an interview question list based on the job profile. If multiple people are interviewing candidates, split the questions up among the interviewers. Ask them to take notes on the candidates’ responses to each question and to provide you with the feedback.
Remember, the interview is your opportunity to gather key information to make an important hiring decision. Be aware of the following principal: past behavior predicts future behavior. This principle helps to frame your questions to a candidate. When asking questions during the interview try and keep the candidate focused on what they have done in the past – don’t accept comments such as “I would do…”. Most people know what they should do – the key question to ask is what did they do in a particular situation in the past and what was the outcome? By using this technique, you can dig deeper into the candidate’s actual knowledge, skills, and attitude and make a more accurate assessment about their competence for the job.
One final note – be personable with each candidate but try and avoid wasting valuable interview time with questions that are not relevant to the job requirements. Keep the questions simple, penetrating, and directly related to the job requirements. This not only provides you with the best possible data to assess the candidate’s suitability for the position, it also helps you to avoid the legal pit falls associated with asking questions of a personal nature such as potential discrimination challenges by the candidate.
The correct hiring decision is one of the most important business decisions you can make. In the end, great businesses are built with great people, and great people don’t happen by accident – they are hired by business owners who know what they want and have the skills to recognize it when they see it.
Bio:
Dr. Nash is an Industrial/Organizational psychologist and management consultant specializing in organizational development, employee development, and human capital management. He has held senior management positions with global corporations in Human Resources, and has worked as a consultant for clients in Europe, Africa, and
Posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 2:51 pm and is filed under Employee Relations, Leadership, Small Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
