Finding the Right Person for Your Job

Finding the right person for your job isn’t easy.  If it were we’d all be happy and businesses would be humming along contentedly without any conflict whatsoever because we’d all be living in the fantasy world as illustrated in the satirical movie, “The Stepford Wives”.

So, we need to be honest here and figure out what you can realistically do to ensure you find the right person.

What I am going to suggest may sound to some of you like it’s too much work – but my years of experience have taught me that doing the work up front will save you ten-fold as you begin to move forward and people are indeed doing what it is you hired them to do.

Things you need to think about:

• Define the job that you really need to fill?
• What are the primary duties and what is the order of importance of those duties?
• What skills does this person need to have and to what level?  (For example, if you need someone to do accounts receivable and payable – will the candidate be able to use Excel – or do they need to have experience with a particular software package to do the work efficiently?)
• Who will this person report to?
• What is the culture of your company (if new, think about your vision and who would fit that)
• How will you pre-screen the potential candidates?
• If there are specific skills required, are you prepared to test for those skills and are the tests you’re going to use validated and legally defensible?
• Do have standardized interview questions that will adequately provide what you need to know?
• If you’ve decided who you want to offer a position to, have you constructed an offer letter?  And if so, have you covered what you need to cover to clearly define the relationship?
• Do you know how you will bring this person into the organization, in terms of who will provide him or her with the orientation and on-boarding?
• Do you know how you will evaluate this person and how often?

As I said, it may seem like a lot of work; but like anything else in life, if you prepare a solid foundation, you can feel more comfortable about the stability of the structure.

The most successful businesses are those that have repeatable processes and systems in place.  I encourage you to think about your systems and processes with people management.  Take the time to do your homework and planning up front and when your business starts to grow, you can relax in knowing you have the right people in place to keep things moving forward.  Anything worth having is worth working for – and I truly believe finding the right fit is well worth it in the long run.

Related to Finding the Right Person for Your Job:

• Hiring Employees – Seven Winning Strategies
• The Importance of Corporate Culture and Fit to Employee Success
• What you need to know about creating a letter of offer