|
|
First, remember that you are dealing with human beings, with lives other than your business, with families, with problems, etc. Treat them as though they are human beings, by being human yourself.
You need to figure out what motivates your employees, and place them into the job that will make them and your business thrive.
Hiring employees can be very time consuming. It requires much patience and energy. Resist the urge to fill the job quickly. When conducting interviews, you should interview between five and 15 candidates. Begin by advertising for resumes, then look at qualifications. Throw away the ones that don't meet your qualifications. Then start calling references of the ones that are left.
When you call for references, you may only ask when the person was hired, when they left employment with that company, and if they are eligible for rehire. However, many past employers will offer you hints. Throw away the resumes that didn't get good references, then set up interviews with the rest of the applicants.
You can determine a lot about a person when they show up for the interview. Were they late? If they were, don't hire them. Were they dressed appropriately? If not, don't hire them. What was their attitude like? Did they slouch, chew gum, get too personal with you? Pay attention to these things, as it will help you weed out the candidates.
There are certain things you legally cannot ask at an interview:
DO NOT ask any of those questions, or the next thing you know, you will be getting sued for discrimination!
Things you do need to ask about are the persons past experiences, their views on their past jobs, if they are able to work overtime, nights, holidays, weekends, etc if required, their skills, etc.
After you have conducted your interviews, your stack of candidates should be narrowed down dramatically. Out of fifteen interviews, you will be lucky if you have at the most five candidates who would be acceptable for employment.
Out of the ones that made it to the final decision, you must choose. If you have five job openings, and five candidates, that works out perfectly. But usually you will only have one position available, and you must choose from those five candidates. There are several ways you can do this.
Call them in for a second interview. Ask more extensive questions about their skills, past experience etc.
Get credit reports on the candidates. They will have to sign a release for this, but they usually will...if they won't, you didn't want them anyway. A credit report on a potential employee can tell you a lot. You may also get criminal records. Call your local police department to find out what is required from you to get these records. The candidates permission will certainly be required...fingerprints may also be required.
Make a test for your candidates. Personality tests, skill tests, or any other kind of test that will help you determine their strengths and weaknesses.
After all this, you will probably know which person you want to fill the job. You should call the other candidates and tell them that you hired someone else for the job, but that you will keep them in mind if something else opens up. If they ask why they weren't hired, tell them the person you did hire was more qualified or experienced.
You should make it clear to your new employee, in writing, that he/she is on a probationary period for 90 days. This protects you in case the employee doesn't work out. You should also print up an employee handbook or manual.
The employee handbook should include information on the following topics:
Include a page with a statement that the employee has read and understands what was in the handbook. Have them sign and return that page to you. Put that page in their file for safe keeping...you may need it later.
