As a CEO, president or business owner, there was a specific day when you decided you were going into business. You can probably remember that decisive moment well. Maybe it was something you planned. Maybe it was something you received education for. Maybe you just saw the opportunity and grabbed it. Regardless of how the decision came about, it’s probably a day you’ve never looked back and regretted. You committed to be in business for yourself. To show others what you can do by operating a business. Many business decisions have been made along the way but one of the most important decisions is hiring employees who will be on your team.
Over the years, your business has evolved. What you started out thinking and what you started out doing may not be what the reality is for your business today. That’s because you were paying attention to the business.
A successful business requires many different elements to work cohesively together. As I often say to CEOs, presidents and business owners:
- Practical ideas and creative solutions to make your business flow.
One of the most critical components to having your business flow is hiring employees as your business continues to prosper and grow. Your business may have started with just one person – YOU. But now, it would be impossible to manage everything the business requires. More annual business revenue and more customers means more employees to provide the necessary services to keep business flowing in.
As a CEO, president or business owner, one of the most important actions you can take for the business is: Hire the right people.
Hiring employees includes:
- Taking time to determine what you really need in the business. What gap does this employee fill?
- Defining your company culture. What personality types work best?
- Determining skill sets for each job.
- Understanding the process of interviewing and hiring people in your industry/city/state.
- Knowing how to decide on what the best fit will be when interviewing job candidates.
What you don’t want to do is to just wing it – which many businesspeople do. That only results in time, money wasted and potentially the wrong hire which will only impede success and create more stress at your company.
4 Questions CEOs, Presidents, Business Owners Need To Ask Themselves When Hiring Employees
Here are 4 essential questions CEOs, presidents and business owners need to ask themselves when hiring employees:
1.) What is a potential employee’s attitude? – Always hire for attitude. Someone can have the perfect resume but what is their attitude? Without the right attitude the resume is near worthless to you and your company. The wrong attitude can cost your business money and reputation if hired. Look for someone who wants the job for more than just the money. Someone who will truly be motivated to come to work each day, is willing to learn and contribute to the company in a meaningful, professional way. Observe a job candidate’s attitude through every step of the interview process. Remember: You can allow for learning a new job when you recognize potential in someone but only if the attitude is right.
2.) Is the job candidate a potential fit? – This is an important question that you must always ask yourself during the hiring process. You need to consider if and how someone will fit in with the company culture you have created over the years. The worst thing that can happen to someone is to not feel comfortable with the environment in which they work, for whatever reason. Have you ever gone to a social gathering and felt like it wasn’t the place for you? Now apply that to the workplace and a job that someone must go to every day. Hiring employees is important to your business. But it is also important to each individual that works for you no matter what the job position. Make everyone feel worthwhile and part of something.
3.) Does the potential new employee have the right skill set? – Ask yourself during the interview process: Does this job candidate have the specific skills necessary for the position being interviewed for? For example, if someone is going to be in customer service, then being a people person is vitally important. If the job is in manufacturing, the individual must understand how to operate specific equipment. Even if someone has worked in a particular department, how skilled or proficient are they?
Keep in mind why you hire people to work at your company. It’s the same reason as to why you are in business. The answer is: To make a profit. If you don’t make a profit, then the company won’t exist.
Your motivation as to why you are in business can be anything including making the world a better place (which every business should do however you define that). But the goal of a business is to make a profit. Otherwise, all those other reasons won’t matter because you won’t be able to accomplish them. When interviewing a person for a job you must think about how this individual is going to help your company be successful and profitable. Every employee is a profit center towards the company’s bottom line. That’s why it’s essential an employee have the right attitude, be the right fit and have the right skills.
4.) Why are you in business? – This article started to touch upon this question in the above paragraphs but it deserves more consideration. It is the number one question over the many years of advising CEOs, presidents and business owners that I ask. Along with: What do you really want from your business? Which is another question to seriously think through as a CEO, president or business owner.
The Company Goal Is Always A Successful Hire
Every person at your company, including the person who answers the phone, who cleans the office, who is in the shipping department, the production or manufacturing area, the accounting department, on the sales and marketing team, etc. are all employed to help you move forward and the company to move forward in a positive way. Each employee needs to fit into their position within the company. It is their piece of the business that they represent on your behalf for the company. That’s important!
Everything each employee does is driven to make a profit. That’s why it’s important you know exactly why you are in business and can fully translate that to everyone, so they understand what their work purpose is. It is what will help to accomplish your company’s mission with the products and services offered.
Remember: It is your company. As the CEO, president or business owner, you are the one who takes the biggest risk every day. Ultimately, it all falls on your shoulders for what happens. Both the good, the bad… and everything in between.
Any employee who is not going to do their job, be part of the team and work with a good attitude doesn’t belong in your company. You need people who like to come to work every day.
If you are hiring employees who don’t fit the above description, it may be time to give them the opportunity of a lifetime to find another job more suitable. Of course, do everything possible including coaching an employee before taking this step as it is costly for everyone involved. But a greater cost to the company is hiring someone who isn’t the right employee for your company and its goals. That’s why it is important for YOU to know:
- Why you are in business
- What you really want from your business
- Who your ideal customer is
- Who your ideal employee is.
As the CEO, president or business owner, you and only you are responsible to everyone that works for you and being able to meet payroll, provide annual raises and create a great place to work.
Remember: It’s not just about you. It not just about making a business profit and having a wonderful life. You are also making a business profitable so you can help the people who work for you have a better life and contribute to a better quality of life in the community.
To your success! And the success of all your employees!
Business expert and strategist, Howard Lewinter, guides – focuses – advises CEOs, presidents and business owners throughout the United States across a wide range of industries, to MORE success – MORE profit – less stress. Business people trust Howard’s vast business knowledge, practical advice, intuitive insight and objective perspective to solve business problems and issues. Get MORE from your business! Talk business with Howard: 888-738-1855.
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