Business mentor: New employee must have the right stuff

Q: I am struggling to find good people to work in my business at the moment. Sometimes there doesn't seem to be much choice. What should I do?

Small business sector specialist Sarah Trotman asked Howard Chaffey, a search-based recruitment expert and director of BridgesOne, for some advice:
A: There is no getting away from the fact the selection of new employees is going to have a critical impact on your business success.

The cost of an incorrect selection is enormous, especially for a small business, in time and disruption, not to mention lost business opportunity and the potential costs of removing someone from their job.

So spending a little extra time to do a thorough job, and waiting for the right person, will pay off in the long run and save you a lot of grief with the present employment legislation.

The most important part of any business decision is to have a sound foundation from which to work. In this case, it is knowing exactly what the hiring of a new person will achieve for the business.

So take the time to be clear about their duties and responsibilities, how you wish them to act and behave and whether or not they are there to carry on as before or make some significant impact or change to the business.

Once you are clear about what you need this person to do, then carefully define the skills, qualifications, personality, style and beliefs of the person that are best going to meet your expectations for this role and achieve the fit you require for the rest of the team.

At this point it is important to prioritise your list into the "must haves" and the "preferables". Once you have clearly established your list, keep to it, despite the temptations to "forget" that a certain candidate is missing a "must have" because they are the only choice available.

Normally you can either find a temp or leased executive to cover the gap if you have to and, in the long run, it will make you and your business more successful than hiring someone who fails to meet your absolute minimum requirements.

So if at the end of the process no candidate meets your expectations, make sure you do not hire, but rather start again without compromising your standards.

If you remain unsure, then it is a good opportunity to either bring the most likely candidates back for another discussion, try interviewing in a different situation and, if possible, with someone else present who knows you and the organisation, and whose judgment you trust.

You may also seek outside assistance, either through a professional recruitment agency and/or look to some form of psychological assessment which may help to reduce the risk and provide greater clarity.