I read Jonathan Moules’ article - Hiring in the right kind of outgoing personality - in the FT (July 4/July 5) with both interest and empathy. (I would attach a link but this particular article is not available on www.ft.com!) The individuals he interviewed highlighted exactly the hiring challenges the entrepreneurs we meet are dealing with. These included:
- Filling key positions in functions founders feel ill-equipped to manage
- The importance of personality/fit/chemistry in a small team
- How to vet candidates thoroughly
- Lack of training in how to hire
The issues were echoed by the participants at our seminar – Making killer hires for your small business – on 29th June. Many entrepreneurs don’t like hiring, because they don’t feel 100% competent and they may have been burned. The hiring process is also very labour intensive for teams where all available resources are focused on building the business.
The Eat Your Cake team is convinced that small businesses can make great hires every time. In our experience it comes down to two things:
- Being very clear about the role you are filling and the person you are looking for
- Sharpening your interviewing skills
We counsel small businesses to follow a simple step-by-step process which we have seen works really well. This entails strictly screening CVs and only interviewing candidates who have most of what you are looking for.
The insights offered by coach David Glassman in the article were spot on. You need to hire for the future, bringing on board people who can take your business to its next level of growth and beyond. You must also cultivate self-awareness and use objective and consistent processes to assess potential candidates and involve your whole team.
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