Find the Best Employees – SmallBusinessy

“Of the ~7 Billion people on this planet, there’s got to be someone that is better at your job or specific tasks than you are.”

There is a physical limit to the amount of work you can do. There are only 24 hours in every day. There is a lot of work that you could delegate such as answering the phone and routine clerical tasks. Hiring someone to do those and other tasks could free up time for you to be more productive.

The advantages of Hiring:

Grow your Business – Hiring an employee helps you better focus on crucial tasks.
A better Worklife – Reduce isolation, collaborate and spend more time on the work you enjoy
Help the Economy – If 1% of the 21 million US businesses with no employees added a single employee, they’d create 200,000 new jobs!

By hiring someone, you can not only add the capacity to get more done, you also have someone who can watch the business if you have travel. Brining in someone new can also add a whole new and, perhaps important, skill set to your business.

It’s time to hire if you:

Need employees on day one of your business
Turn away work because you’re over-booked
Can’t find time to send invoices
Can’t get out from under your paperwork
Lack time to pursue new product ideas and/or new clients
Need someone with specialized skills critical to your business
Want to grow a business you can sell eventually

Be careful in how you categorize the people who work for you. The IRS is paying close attention to this issue.

Here are some general guidelines for classifying your employees:

W-2 Employee

Employees can be full or part time. Here are some distinguishing features:

You withhold taxes from their earnings and at the end of the year file a W2 with the government.
Performs duties dictated or controlled by others
Provided training for work to be accomplished
Works for one employer
Is on the company’s payroll and receives a W-2 form at tax time. Employer withholds federal and state taxes, Social security and Medicare
Is typically offered benefits such as paid sick leave, vacation, health insurance, 401k and other retirement plans

Contractor

You can also hire someone as a contractor. They still work for you, but you do not withhold taxes and you file a 1099 with the IRS. Your accountant is one example of a contractor.

Provides their own tools and sets own hours
Invoices for work completed
Works for multiple companies
Pays own taxes to IRS and state. Receives 1099-misc at tax time.
Not entitled to company benefits

*Be careful in how you categorize the people who work for you. The IRS is paying close attention to this issue.

Hiring

The Steps to Hire an Employee

1) Asses your needs. Figure out the number of people you need. Will they be full or part-time? Can you use a contractor? Take the time here to write up a job description.

2) Look for a suitable candidate. You can look on job boards, through social media and at local college campuses. Networking with people you know is the old fashioned method, but it really works well.

3) Interview the candidates that you have selected who are also interested in working for you.

4) Select the one you want to hire and extend them an offer.

5) Prepare for their first day at work. Have a place for them to work and a plan for getting them into the flow of the job.

Experience isn’t everything

Job seekers are keen to explore new occupations

Across all 23 occupation categories, only 43.5% of the job seekers looked for a position in their own occupation category, demonstrating that the majority of currently employed job seekers are keen to explore new occupations. Overall, 81.5% searched in an occupation category other than their current occupation.

So you look for that raw talent, as everyone will need training.

Wondering if you can afford an employee? Get a better sense with this Worksheet

Where to Look for an Employee

The first place that you will look for an employee is at online job boards. These boards are the most popular and efficient place to look for potential new hires. They have lots of categories of candidates to choose from and a large selection of people and skill sets. You should check out Craigslist and Monster.com. Other, larger job boards will cost you a lot more than these.

Craigslist charges $25 for one job posting in one category. Indeed charges from $0.25 to $1.50 per click on your ad, so keep a watch that your costs on Indeed to not get out of control

Craigslist has a bit of a reputation. So be sure not to include your phone number. They will supply an anonymous email address.

Places to look for part-time and freelance help include oDesk, Elance and Snagajob.

Colleges and universities are a great place to look for entry-level help and to find interns. Interns often develop into full-time employees. Check out Campus2careers. It is a great place to start. The drawback to college students is that they may not be looking to stick around for the long term

Social media is another excellent place to look for new hires. Linkedin and Facebook both have specialized applications and site locations that will let you post help wanted signs and browse for people with the skill sets in which you have an interest.

Networking is the old fashioned way to look for an employee. It is still in use because it works really well. Put out the word that you are looking to hire someone. Talk to friends, family and colleagues. They will recommend people that they know and are unlikely to give you the name of someone who won’t fit in.

Be careful about hiring friends and relatives though. A bad fit in the workplace could put a strain on the relationship.

Interviews work both ways, as the interviewee should be interviewing you too. It’s got to be a fit for both. No need to be uptight, be casual.

Interviewing Tips:

Prepare your questions ahead of time – spend some time on this and decide what you really want to know about someone.

Be consistent in your interviewing process

Listen more than you talk – Let people talk and go on…you’ll learn a lot more than the question you asked. People are less defensive when they aren’t responding to a question.

Give them a problem to solve – use an actual, or recent problem

Get a good sense of longevity – while no business relationships last forever, it does take time and money to train people. You need to make sure your investment pays back.

Have multiple meetings, calls or interviews – Sometimes it takes that to loosen up and get a proper assessment. Most people don’t decide to marry after the first date, same goes for work relationships.

Know what you can’t ask – Some questions are illegal. You can’t ask whether a candidate is planning on having a child, or their marital status, religion, or age. But it’s perfectly legal to ask about hobbies, interests, and long-term goals.

Intelligator.com is one of the leading background service providers. Conduct

Background Checks
Criminal Records
Court Records
Reverse Phone Lookup
Marriage/Divorce
And more

Once you find a great employee, it’s important to nourish the relationship and retain them, especially after you’ve invested in training.

5 Ways to Keep Employees:

Trust – Delegate and give them responsibility and authority. Show them your standards and get out of the way and let them work
Provide an opportunity to grow – Most people want to learn new skills and get more responsibility over time.
Communicate – keep in sync by daily check ins, short meetings and outings. It’s inefficient to work in a vacuum.
Recognize and reward – People thrive when they feel appreciated. Fortunately there are plenty of ways to appreciate someone, other than money. Event tickets, lunch a day off are all ways of positive reinforcement.