Growth is an essential and important part of a small business. You want your company to thrive and succeed and in order to do that, you eventually will have to start thinking about hiring. Hiring someone new is a big step for a small business but can be the nudge you need to expand even further in other aspects of your company.
However, there’s a lot for a small business owner to think about when hiring someone new. Not only do you have to weigh the usual pros and cons of hiring someone (salary cost, how they will get along with other employees, etc.), but also a significant hidden time cost that you as the owner must put into this process. You need to be prepared for your productivity to take a hit, especially if you’re wearing all the hats at your company.
Before moving forward, here are some things to consider:
Be honest with yourself. What work are you going to have the person do? Will you really be comfortable giving them that work when they walk through the door? How will you keep them focused and make sure that they don’t handle a little bit of everything and end up turning into your assistant?
Advertise accordingly. Where should you put the job post? What should your job post look like?
Manage your time. As the resumes come in, you need to set up phone screens and formal interviews in order to identify clear deal breakers.
Think about salary. How much will you pay them? What is competitive? And if you can’t be competitive, what are you willing to sacrifice on experience?
Don’t forget benefits. In general, employees are entitled to medical and retirement benefits similar to the ones that you currently have. Are those benefits competitive as well?
Motivating your employees is critical. Do you need to come up with an incentive program?
Once they join the company, they need to be acclimated. How will you train the employee? How long will that take?
For a small business, hiring someone new takes more time than you might originally anticipate. There’s no huge HR department to take on the process of advertising, screening applications, interviewing applicants, negotiating salary and benefits, and finalizing a contract. And there’s additional work to do once the employee arrives including training, overseeing, and motivating your new hire.
The biggest cost would be hiring a candidate and failing to train them or give them the culture they need to be happy. So be ready to fully immerse yourself in the hiring process!