Chapter Seven Snippet
HIRING AND SUBCONTRACTING
Here are ten highly effective steps to help startups hire right.
Map Out Hiring Requirements
Proper planning before hiring or searching for a candidate is essential, especially for a startup business. You should determine your organization’s mission, short-term goals, current employees, roles, and responsibilities. Then, the immediate needs of your organization should be tackled; the talent gaps. As mentioned earlier, every employee is essential. The role of every potential employee should be explained in detail. Will they be a full-time or a temporary source like a Freelancer? If hiring an employee doesn’t bring the company closer to its goal, you should cross it off.
- Decide on a Budget
Hiring takes up money. Whether you plan on advertising through job boards, recruitment agencies, Referral programs, or an in-house recruiter, a fee is attached to each. I will advise using an electronic budget tracking tool to record all hiring-related expenses. It is usually just an estimate, but it goes a long way, especially for a startup business. - Gaining Referrals
As a startup business owner, Finance must be a nail-biting issue. Many small business owners often resort to hiring the candidate with the cheapest rate to cut down on hiring expenditures. Please, do not do that, as such an attitude will only do more harm than good. Instead, try the following methods: Use Referrals. Referrals can be found on job boards, Agencies, In house recruiters, or sourcing platforms like GitHub and social media.
Networking with other startup founders can also prove a reliable source. Set up a meeting with a few of them. Be polite. Listen to their problems, then communicate your needs. When hiring, focus more on attitude than skills. The right mindset comes with the ability to learn — an asset every company, including yours, needs. - The Job Listing
When crafting the job listing, clearly define the duties and obligations of the prospective employee. Ensure the listing gives an idea of your company’s brand, vision, goals, and potential. This will attract potential candidates. Mapping out an equity plan on benefits and compensation will also attract clients. - Screening Process
Once all the hiring plans are made, the screening happens next. As a startup owner with very few employees, you will do well to select just a few of the many applicants for the screening stage. Screening can also happen over a phone or video call. To test efficiency, you may choose to prepare an on-the-job task. Either way, take your time with the screening process. Be very careful. Maintain an unbiased mind.
For interviews, consider preparing your questions ahead of them to avoid vague questions and avoid wasting time. Composing and writing down your questions will help sharpen your thinking and clarify your goals/objectives. - Technological Assistant
There are a lot of recruiting tools that can help you, as a business owner, meet your hiring needs. Ensure you read reviews and ratings before signing up with an application or software. There are also other software for managing employee information, schedule, and payment. - Hire
Once the best applicant has been chosen, hiring is the next step. It would be best if you started by granting a detailed company orientation. Inform the employee to be of their duties and responsibilities. If there is a direct supervisor or team members, let the employee meet them as soon as possible, as this will help hasten the team-building process. Already, you must have drawn up a written contract. This will be the right time to sign that document.
You need to grant the new employee a proper first impression of the company as it will help them familiarize themselves with the new environment. The next business problem we will be covering is SUBCONTRACTORS. Subcontractors are companies or people hired by a contractor for a specific purpose. Most subcontractors are freelancers, hence different from regular employees. Due to their flexible nature, startup owners would use a subcontractor instead of bringing an employee under a full contract.
But it would help if you exercise caution when hiring, as one legitimate complaint from a subcontractor can spell doom for your business.
