As a small business owner, you may have created your company from the ground up on your own. You’re likely to be highly independent and ready to take on a heavy workload in order for your business to succeed and thrive. But at the end of the day, as you start to make a name for yourself, start taking orders and begin to consider expanding, you’re going to have to bring in some helping hands to keep things ticking over and push forward to greater success.
It’s impossible for one person to run a big business alone. Staff can lift a weight from your shoulders, offer their individual expertise, come together as a team to overcome problems and provide some great ideas for your company’s progression.
Of course, taking on staff for the first time can be a little intimidating. It’s a big responsibility and you want to make sure you get it right. But don’t stress. The following information should help you to better understand the process and get it underway seamlessly.
Types of Staff
The first thing to establish is that there are a number of different types of staff out there. You might engage with one group, you might use individuals from multiple groups to meet different business needs. Here are the three main types of workers you’re likely to find yourself taking on or working with.
Employees
Let’s start with the most common type of staff that businesses tend to have – employees. Put simply, an employee is a person who you take on on a pretty permanent basis. They will likely only work for your company and they will work for your company on a consistent and regular basis. When you hire an employee, you will provide them with contracted hours, contracted pay, and they will work for you in return.
These individuals may work full time or part-time. In return for their loyalty and consistency, you will have to provide them with basic benefits. This could include things like annual leave, sick leave, parental leave and compassionate or bereavement leave. Of course, when you’re taking on individuals who are going to be fully associated with your brand and who you’re committing to paying, it’s absolutely essential that you take the recruitment process seriously. Not only do you need to make sure that they can complete the work they’ve claimed they can, but you will need to make sure that they’re individuals who will fit in with your team.
Contractors
Contractors are individuals who you will bring in to complete short-term work. They are not permanent workers, they are not employed by you; they simply work for you for an agreed period of time. They will generally supply the materials and labour required to complete a job (rather than you providing materials and equipment). While they may act like an employee for the duration of their contract, they will leave once their work is complete and they have been paid.
Freelancers
Freelancers are perfect for literal one-off jobs and projects. They will complete a task at hand for a set fee, invoice and then go on to their next client. They’re great for completing tasks such as building a website, creating a company logo, writing a blog post or other tasks.
The Recruitment Process
Once you know who you’re looking for, it’s time to start the recruitment process. The main aim of this process is to secure you with a worker who fits your requirements, fits in well with any existing team members and can complete the work you require of them to a good standard. This, of course, can be pretty complex. But the following steps should help to make it a little easier.
Using a Recruitment Agency
The easiest and most straightforward means of recruiting is to hand the work over to the specialists and professionals. These individuals know what they’re doing when it comes to matching the right person to the right job. When you first meet with your recruitment agent, they’ll discuss your needs and preferences with you. Have an idea of what you want from the employee and the consultant will make notes.
Going forward, things should be pretty slick and streamlined. The consultant will come forward with potential candidates who should meet what you’re looking for! When choosing an agency, look into their areas of specialism. Some recruit specifically for different sectors. For example, if you’re looking for a truck driver for transporting your business’ stock from one place to another, you could use a Truck Driver Recruiting Agency.
Using Recruitment Software
Another means of simplifying the process is to use recruitment software. This can be niche and specially adapted to recruiting individuals specific to your sector. For example, to run with the previous example, you can invest in software that specialises in recruiting truck drivers.
Advertise on Job Sites
People looking for work tend to browse listings on job sites to discover open opportunities. Advertise your role here. Add a full job description, as long as required qualifications or experience and preferred traits, such as confidence, reliability, good timekeeping and other beneficial tendencies.
Conducting Interviews
Of course, once you’ve sourced candidates using any of the methods above, it’s time to interview them. Not every writes up their own CV and some will include false information. Interviews give you an opportunity to weed out who’s legitimate in their competencies and claims. It also gives you an insight into different candidates’ character, giving you a chance to see whether they’ll fit in well with your team. Hopefully, by the end of the interviewing process, you’ll have a good idea of which candidate you’d like to take on!
This is a lot to take in. But it’s important that you familiarise yourself with the above information and the steps you’ll need to follow to secure the employee you’re looking for! This may be new territory, but you can get it right the first time around!
