Hiring Staff: Before You Start the Search

Welcome back to the second installment of a four part mini series of blog posts on hiring staff! Please check back each week for a new entry.

Before you start the search for a new employee, take the following into consideration:

Define the Job. Don't place an ad or start the search until you have developed a job description that defines what your business needs. Be specific about the job duties, the skills set that will be needed, personality attributes that would be helpful to the position, years of required experience or education, and any other information that would identity the ideal candidate. Next, determine the number of hours that will be required to perform the job duties.

Full-time, temp or outsource? Once you know the hours and set of skills that will be required, you can decide whether it makes sense to hire a full-time employee, use a temp or find an independent contractor to perform the required duties. Generally, it makes sense to hire a full-time employee if the work contributes to the core product or service of your business. If the job you are attempting to fill is secondary or not a particularly key one, you might consider hiring a temp or contracting the work to an outside firm. Outsourcing various job projects (Web site design, marketing materials, payroll services, etc.) is one way to obtain professional help without committing to a long-term partnership. If you are seeking lower-level support staff or are attempting to fill a short-term need, perhaps it would make sense to use a temp agency.

Set a Competitive Salary. If you cut corners on salary and benefits, you will short-change yourself. Your goal should be to attract and retain the best-qualified employee for the job. Small business owners can rarely afford the expense and disruption of constant employee turnover. There are a number of salary-related Web sites that can assist you in researching the annual salary range (for your geographic area), that you can expect to pay for a specific job category.

To read part one about when you should hire staff, please visit http://bbb-business-news.blogspot.com/2013/04/hiring-staff-when-to-hire-employees.html.