“You got the job!” Sweet words for the candidate to hear because they are now employed. Sweet words for the employer because they believe that their employment problems are over. The truth is, like any other relationship, the real work is just beginning. Both employer and employee must commit to a personal and professional development program that supports the individual’s first week of employment and their ongoing commitment to the organization.

As an employer, your staff looks to you to provide the information they need to be able to do their job. When they first join the organization they want to know what is expected of them. Many employers overlook the importance of new hire training. It all begins with a manual that provides a written document for reference because no new employee will ever remember everything you say and some employees may not retain much of the information if it is delivered orally and they are visual learners. Then you may provide classroom training as an overview of company policies, human resources procedures, and any other organizational information that is not job specific. Next, you can provide on the job training that allows the new employee to train directly with an existing employee. This type of training allows the new employee to see firsthand all aspects of the job. The downside of course, is that the new employee may adopt some of the bad work habits of the other employee if they have them.

Ongoing staff training is critical to keeping employees engaged, educated, and motivated. Not all training has to be classroom based. If fact, some training should not be conducted in a classroom setting because it isn’t the right venue. Depending on the training being offered, it might be better offered on the shop floor or the retail space. The key of course is to tailor the training to the needs of the employee in conjunction with the nature of the material being delivered.

One area of training that I have had the privilege of including in the work I do, is that of personal development. I often say that a person is hired based on their skills and abilities, but on the first day of work, the entire person shows up. It would be nice if you could isolate their skills and just those parts of the person show up for work, but people aren’t made like that. They bring their entire being to work, including their strengths, biases, filters, talents, and habits. Providing ongoing group or one on one soft skills development indicates to employees that you really do mean it when you say, “our employees are our most valued resource.”

If you would like more information about how to train and motivate your employees, please attend a free webinar. Or you can follow the discussion on our Facebook page

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If you ask a business owner what their most valuable asset is – most will tell you it’s their employees. Though this answer is cliché and overused, people really are the most important part of any business – large or small. Employees are key drivers of customer loyalty, revenue, sales and profit and without a happy workforce, your business will surely suffer.

If you notice an increase in any of the following areas it could be an indication that there is a problem with employee morale. In particular, you should watch out for an increase in:

• Absenteeism
• Employee turnover
• Customer complaints
• Employee complaints
• Theft and/or sabotage and,
• Conflicts between departments, employees and managers.

If these problems go unaddressed they will negatively impact your bottom line. You can’t afford to have a disgruntled workforce as every customer, employee and supplier can use the internet to share their bad experience with hundreds, thousands or even millions of people (remember the Dominos pizza incident?).

This is exactly the situation that Karin Lindner tries to prevent with her business. After working in the manufacturing industry for years, Karin started KARICO Solutions to bridge the gap between disgruntled employees and the managers who desperately need to keep them motivated. “There is a lot of unused brain power in North American companies and that needs to change,” she says. Karin believes that many organizations are not using their employees to their full potential and that employers need to realize that their workforce is a good source of innovation. That’s why meeting with employees is the first thing she does when assessing a problem with employee morale.

Karin works in a six step process where she meets with groups of 9-to-16 employees to complete a two hour workshop where they share their feedback with her. “Employees almost always see different issues than management,” she adds. After meeting with employees, she will meet with management and provide them with the three most important issues that are contributing to the problem. Once that is done, she will work with managers and employees to immediately improve one or two key areas. Karin believes that one of the biggest mistakes that many businesses make is trying to change too many things at once. “People get overwhelmed when they have a large list of things to improve on,” she says. Karin also believes that every relationship is a combination of give and take and that people must focus on their own behaviour before pointing the finger at someone else. “You have to be able to take responsibility for your own actions first before you can expect the environment to change,” she says.

Through her experience Karin has found that it’s usually the simple things that have the biggest impact on employee morale. For example, if employees have been complaining about a clogged sink, you should take the time and resources to fix it. Acknowledging these simple problems shows employees that you care and they really are your most valued asset.

If you’re looking for more information, stay tuned for the release of Karin’s upcoming book called, “How can we make Manufacturing Sexy – A Mindset of Passion and Purpose.” You can also attend a free webinar or follow us on Facebook for even more information on this subject.

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This may sound like the beginning of a personal ad, but when you’re hiring someone to work for your small business it’s all about finding the right person for the job.

Finding the right person can be hard. Most small business owners will agree that hiring is one of the biggest challenges they face and yet there are so many qualified people looking for work. Even if a candidate has a stellar resume and awesome interview skills there’s still no guarantee that the person will be a good fit for the business.

“Hiring is broken,” says Ben Baldwin the Co-founder of a hiring application called ClearFit. According to Ben, the rates for employee turnover, retention and success of new hires haven’t changed much in the past thirty years. “Currently there are 6.5 million small businesses with payroll in North America who spend 60 billion dollars every year on hiring through job boards, newspapers, and recruiters. Most of these businesses don’t know how to find the best job candidates, so they spend a lot of time guessing and about half the time they get it wrong.”

Getting it wrong can be extremely expensive when you consider the amount of time and resources that are spent on recruitment, selection, and training activities. “If you’re a small business it’s basically make or break,” says Ben. Larger companies can usually eat the costs of hiring the wrong person, but for small businesses who need to get it right – the mistake can be fatal if things don’t work out.

That’s where ClearFit comes in. Ben noticed that so many businesses were having issues with the selection process that he decided to make the process easier and more effective. ClearFit is an all-in-one hiring solution that gives small businesses all the tools they need to hire the right employees. The company has partnership agreements with popular career sites like Monster, Workopolis, and Career Builder, so businesses can get candidates the same way they normally would, but ClearFit will provide a rating of how well the candidate matches the job. This is done by asking each candidate to answer questions that are based on the company’s core values and then the answers are used to develop a PDF report that compares the applicant’s motivation, personality and drive to top performers in similar roles. To narrow down the search even further, ClearFit will also provide their clients with interview questions and sample responses that will help them select the best candidate.

The company’s biggest goal for the future is to fix hiring, and they are well on their way. ClearFit has helped thousands of customers hire the right people so they can be sure that they’ve found ‘the one.’

For more information please visit www.clearfit.com . For even more information, attend one of our free small business webinars.

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If you’re a solopreneur or a small business owner, you’ll eventually reach a day where you face a task you don’t have the skills for, more work than there are hours in a day or a desire to cut back on your hours and enjoy more free time.

You have a few options: Cut back and downsize, or hire someone.

It might seem easy at that point to just whip up a job ad and post it up. You need help, so you’ll find someone to fill the position. But is hiring an employee a good idea? Can you afford to hire an employee in the first place? Will your business suffer or benefit?

Ask yourself the following five questions to see if hiring an employee is the best decision for your needs and business. With a little forethought, you’ll make a decision that fits just right.

Do You Have the Budget?
Employees cost money – more money than most people think. There are often extra expenses involved in hiring someone beyond the person’s base salary. You may have to budget for worker’s compensation payments, additional insurance coverage, extra equipment or safety renovations, payroll taxes and more.

How much will your new employee truly cost? Some employees can cost a business an additional 50% of their salary, though accountants recommend budgeting 20% of the salary you plan to pay as a safe rule of thumb.

Do You Have the Time?
Plenty of people make the mistake of assuming that hiring a skilled, experienced worker means the person can step right in and start helping immediately. The reality is that you’re the only person who knows your business inside and out, and anyone you hire is going to need training to become familiar with how you do business and how you like things done.

If you’re in your high season with no spare time, can’t block off training time from your schedule or just don’t have the energy to sit down and show someone – calmly, slowly – what they can do to best help you, be careful. You’ll need to budget about two weeks of your time to train and teach a new employee everything he or she needs to know to be able to help you and self-supervise.

Do You Have the Patience?
Patience is a virtue, but when it comes to having staff and employees, it’s not just a virtue – it’s a written-in-stone must. You’ll need a lot of initial patience to train the person you hire until he or she feel comfortable enough to work without supervision. They’re brand new to how you do things, and they’re not going to catch on right away.

You won’t be able to rush the individual or push him or her to learn faster. You may have to repeat instructions (calmly) several times and you’ll most likely have to correct a few beginner mistakes. You’ll have to demonstrate respect, kindness and understanding as well, and make this new employee feel welcome and relaxed. Be positive and encouraging, and you’ll find that you’ll get much better results.

Do You Have the Right Attitude?
Employees new and old need the proper resources to do their job well, perform at their peak and feel happy about making sure customers are satisfied. Hired help is there to help you improve and grow your business, after all.

So what are the resources your new employee needs? Motivation, encouragement and engagement, and those are three resource you provide. Through these three crucial resources, your employee feels pride in his or her work and takes ownership, which means that at the end of the day, the job is well done.

Remember that an employee can be your best business asset. Through that person’s assistance, you can grow, expand and improve your business immensely, which helps you reach your goals of success – and get through the crunch.

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High season for your business is on its way, which means it’s time to start thinking about hiring extra workers and seasonal help. Before you post your “help wanted” ad, check out these top ten hiring tips for seasonal workers to help make sure you get the best person for the job.

Know your ideal employee – Create a profile of your ideal employee. Imagine this person. What attitude does he have? What type of personality is she? What qualities does this person have, and what skills come easily to him or her? Match applicants with your vision of your ideal employee, and you’ll have a winner.

Be Fair – This point is short but worth stressing: No, family and friends don’t automatically move to the head of the line. Your obligation is to your business first, and that business needs the right person – even if it isn’t your niece. Your niece can apply, but be clear that she’ll have to go through the hiring process like everyone else so that you feel you’ve been fair, and that you’ll hire the best person for the job.

Be specific with your ad – Now it’s time to write your job ad, but be careful. Most job ads read like a boring grocery list of requirements, and they’re vague. That means you’ll receive a vast amount of not-quite-what-you-were-looking-for applications. Give information about the job duties and tasks, and try to describe the work to be done, as specifically as possible.

Check it off – Now that you have your ideal employee profile and specifics about tasks and duties, you have enough information to create a cheat-sheet checklist. When it’s time to look at applications, keep that checklist handy. Each time an applicant matches an item on your checklist, mark it. Eliminate applicants with fewer check marks, and call applicants that have the most ticked off.

Ask smart questions – Interviews tend to be standard, and hopeful prospects rehearse the “right” answers. Switch your interview up a bit and prepare a good list of questions that are specific to the position you need to fill. Ask questions like, “A customer is angry that he received the wrong order. What would you do to calm him down?” Interviewees won’t be able to give perfect responses – but you can get a good sense of whether they’d handle the situation well or poorly, which tells you if they might be the right fit or not.

Test for innovation – Some companies have begun to realize the value of an innovative, creative individual who has the confidence to offer suggestions for improvements. In the interview, try asking the person what one thing they’d change about your business. This shows you how well they’ve researched your business, and also whether they have the confidence you need.

Think about sticking around – Many businesses hire new employees in the summer, but in the fall realize that they’d like to keep that person on a part time basis, or they’d like to have that person come back during other holidays and for the next high season. It’s cheaper to retain versus retrain, so try to see which applicants might have longer-term availability potential.

Yes, call. – The most common mistake businesses make is to forget to ask for references, or they ignore the list of references the applicants provided. Pick up the phone and contact past employers. Talk to them and ask if they’d recommend this individual. Also ask if they’d work with them again – you’d be surprised how many people give glowing recommendations but admit they wouldn’t hire the individual a second time!

It’s well worth the effort to spend time making sure you write a good job ad, interview with creativity and hire the best person for the job. You’ll find yourself ready to face high season – with staff you know you can trust!

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New from BizLaunch…advice from our book!
Be one of the first to enjoy a taste of our soon-to-be-released book co-authored by BizLaunch co-founders Andrew Patricio and Roger Pierce. It’s called, Thriving Solo: How to Build Your Successful Business.

Here’s a preview on hiring….
People strategy

People are complicated. Compared to managing people, almost all other aspects of a business might be described as straight forward. Planning how you will manage your human resources is an important step before you hire anyone. Knowing exactly how many people you will require is just the beginning.

Before developing the actual strategy to describe in your business plan, you should know:
• What skills and abilities you will need.
• What type of culture you want in the workplace.
• The level of formality which you wish to uphold.
• How your people will help your business to grow.

With these parameters in mind, consider the following when writing about your people strategy.
• Your current organizational structure
• The organizational structure you would like in two to five years
• What people you will need to hire to get there and when
• Where you’ll find those people and the skills you’ll seek
• How you will train, motivate, compensate and keep great people

Develop an operations manual for your business with policies and procedures. In your manual include guidelines for your employees. The more systems and procedures you develop the better. You can’t build an effective business without systems.

Keep posted on more excerpts from our new book by following the blog.
Release date TBD

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Guest post by Ben Baldwin, co-founder of Clearfit.com.

The answer may be simpler than one would expect: humans don’t like doing things that they are not great at, especially if there are grave consequences when executed poorly.

Hiring can make or break any business. This is especially true with small and medium-sized businesses. In general, most people are not very good at hiring employees. In fact, according to my friend, hiring expert Charles Handler, Ph.D.: on average, 45% of new hires leave in the first 6 months and 15% of new hires are fired within the first year. The harm that hiring mistakes can do to your business is much worse: wasted time, reduced morale, lost clients … I could go on. In fact, employee turnover costs range from 1/2 to 5 times an employee’s annual wages.*

How did hiring, as we know it, become so broken? Many experts believe it’s because hiring has become more of an administrative task than a strategic or managerial priority; a painful task that’s frequently delegated to an administrator, or a recruiter. Business leaders must become more invested in hiring, so they can avoid spending far more of their time and resources managing and firing. Here are some helpful tactics:

1. Focus On What’s Important
Only you know what it is you are looking for, so make sure to prepare before you start hiring. One key thing to note is that it’s just as crucial to understand what isn’t important, as what is. Avoid becoming romanced by qualifications that are not relevant to getting the job done. Make sure you also have a good understanding of what sort of personality you’re seeking, because, as the old saying goes: you can train skills, but you can’t train fit.

2. Hiring Is Sales
Often, the best candidates are not looking for a job, so they must be sold on your opportunity. From HubSpot Paul English, founder and CTO of Kayak, the most popular travel search site on the web: “When someone mentions the name of a person that they’ve worked with that they think is exceptional, a little clock starts ticking in my head. From when the clock starts, I give myself seven days to track them down, back channel, get them in for two series of interviews that are intense and focused, and make an offer and have them accept it.”

3. Become Good At Asking Questions and Reading Responses
Typically, even when employers do a good job of getting the right candidates to the table, they don’t prepare adequately for the interview. The interview is critical for avoiding a bad hire and ensuring you’ve got the right person. You can forget about trying to “fix” unfit employees after you hire them, because this is either impossible or a huge waste of time, no matter how strong a manager you are.

I’ve learned a great way to get some really honest responses is through difficult questions such as: “Who was your last boss? What will they tell me about your strengths and weaknesses when I call them this afternoon?” Another tactic is meeting with your candidate in a social setting (go for a drink with others, if you can) where they are more likely to be themselves.
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*Charles A. Handler, Ph.D. (2009) Using Technology to Support Informed Decision Making Within the Hiring Process.

About the Author:
Ben Baldwin is the co-founder of ClearFit.com, a hiring software firm that offers patented HR tools to make hiring employees easy for small businesses. To reach Ben, you can email him at ben@clearfit.co

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1. Skills shortage to leave Ontarians jobless by 2021: report
2. Canada adds record number of jobs in April
3. Canadian small businesses show confidence boost from April 2009
4. BDC increases help to entrepreneurs in reaching new markets
5. Harper government launches major job creating construction projects
6. Franchise Business Financing – Canadian solutions
7. Corporations in B.C. don’t need HST tax help
8. Small Businesses Show Continued Growth in Hiring for March

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Big business does it all the time to take the work pressure off their companies and you can too.

Small business owners must know how to multi-task. If you have ever worked in a large corporation where there was a person for every job, you might be unpleasantly surprised at how many responsibilities you must juggle when running your own small business. In any given hour, you might be pitching an idea to a potential investor, completing your own tax return, running to the bank to deposit a cheque, fixing your computer and taking out the trash.

What you should outsource
Some entrepreneurs love the variety that multi-tasking brings to their day, while others hate the distraction. If you’re the latter, bring order to self-employed chaos by outsourcing these functions:

• Bookkeeping. You should be out selling, not entering invoices and receipts into a software program. Get someone else to do it.
• Cleaning. Whether you’re working from home or leasing a small commercial space, spend a few bucks on a weekly cleaning service.
• Website design. Unless website design is your business, never try to build your own. It will create a first impression of your business and should be designed by a professional.
• Personal errands. Waiting at home all afternoon for cable installation will chew up valuable sales time or billable hours. Hire a personal concierge to sit there for you.
• Writing. Yes. Writing. If you manage a blog or contribute to someone else’s, you can outsource articles and blog posts to freelance writers. This will most definitely save you time and money.

When deciding to outsource, consider necessity, opportunity cost and cash flow. Does the job absolutely have to be done? If not, drop it. If yes, will it cost you more in lost opportunity to do it yourself than it would cost to pay someone. For example, if you bill out at $50 an hour and you would pay someone $10 an hour for the job, it would be false economy to do the task yourself if you could make money as they work. If, however, there is absolutely no cash to pay a person, you may, like so many entrepreneurs, find the time by burning the midnight oil and working weekends.

Cost effective outsourcing options
You can outsource to companies that specialize in the tasks you want done or you can find independent contractors or freelancers to do the work for you. Typically, the former is a bit more expensive as companies have overhead to deal with while independent contractors do not.

Finding your outsourcing partner is easy
There are certainly the traditional means to find contractors such as the yellow pages but, with the Internet and networking, there are more possibilities. You can start your Internet search by using Google or choose one of many classified websites such as Craig’s List. You will find all kinds of services there – businesses and independent contractors. And don’t’ forget your network of friends, families, your banker, accountant, lawyer… Send them off an email saying what you need. You may just find an outsourcing partner that works with you for years.

How have you outsourced, or plan to outsource, to save you time and money?

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This month we are focusing on hiring for your small business. This is the first guest post of the series. By Ben Baldwin.

Have you ever hired a new employee who didn’t turn out to be what you expected? Hiring mistakes can be avoided! Here’s how:

Step 1: Be clear about whom you’re looking for:
* What are the outcomes I need from them in the first year? Second year?
* Do I need a leader – or someone who is good at following instructions?
* Will this person be interacting with customers?
* Will they mostly work in a team or autonomously?
* Do I need someone innovative and creative, or someone who is organized?

Step 2: Establish deal breakers for skills and experience:
What are must-haves? If you find a person who is a good fit for a job, most skills can be learned. You won’t know if a person with ten years experience is any better than one with five until they start doing the job, so be careful to judge candidates based on these criteria.

Step 3: Customize your interview template for each candidate:
Focus on the candidate’s behaviors/experiences that you are uncertain about and need more information before you make you decision. If every interview is the same, you’re not maximizing your time and may be missing something important.

Ask your candidate to walk you through specific examples of their past behavior, instead of asking simple questions like “What are your greatest strength/weakness?” Dig deep! Get them to paint you a picture of what they’re like at work.

Step 4: Use an employee assessment and have others in your company interview the candidates too.
In hiring and selection, there’s a term for quick judgment, called the “halo effect.” It refers to the impression someone leaves when they first meet that person: if that person has something in common with them, they’re attractive, they can pronounce their name, they like them, etc. The problem with this snap judgment is that it can accidentally anchor an interviewer’s opinion about an interviewee – often inaccurately. This is why some leading companies, like GlaxoSmithKline, are using validated employee assessments in hiring sales employees. The twist is that they perform these hiring assessments BEFORE interviewing any candidates … even before they review applicants’ resumes (resumes are also inherently biased).

Another simple and effective HR tool is to have others at your company interview candidates, to provide their perspectives. This way; you acquire others’ involvement, opinions, perspectives, as well as their support within the organization, if you do hire the person.

Step 5: Check references yourself:
You could discover a lot during reference checks. It’s important that you not only ask for references, but also specify whom you want to speak with – before they offer – or you’ll simply be provided with a list of their friends. Another great approach to reference checking (a la Top Grading) is asking candidates to arrange personal reference calls, and ask them interview questions fronted like: “What would your boss say are your greatest achievements …” instead of just asking them for their own interpretation.

About the Author:
Ben Baldwin is the co-founder of ClearFit.com, a hiring software firm that offers patented HR tools to make hiring employees easy for small businesses. To reach Ben, you can email him at ben@clearfit.com.

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