After a strong, six year run, one of my beloved employees came into my office to reveal he was looking for a new career path.

The kicker is, I didn’t panic.

Yes, I was upset to lose a beloved employee, but I respected his maturity to include me in this process. In turn, I actually helped him find a new position he was better-suited for via my business contacts. Overall, it was a smooth transition. No bridges burned, no scrambling for a new employee in a two week window, the stress was alleviated (as much as it could have been) because of the trust and respect we had for one another.

So how do we find (and keep) these beloved employees? The key is to develop a process.

The first person I hired was very scary. I dreaded the anticipated experience, but once I got over that initial hire, I recognized I’d always have more work that I could delegate to my team.

No matter what stage of your business – zero employees or 50 employees – your process should always be evolving. Check out these hints to help identify your process.

 

UTILIZE YOUR PERSONAL NETWORK. It’s great to get sources from friends, other employees, and clients, but that should only be a piece of the puzzle. As your business grows and begins to change, so should your hiring process. Your process has to get tightened with tests and objective measures along the way.

 

UNDERSTAND YOUR CAPACITY. Which is a tough one. Hiring in advance of your capacity can sink your ship temporarily, or the inverse. Get your arms around questions like: What capacity do you have? What capacity do you need? Is it seasonal? How does that influence your team and your internal processes? Be truthful about these things and evaluate your business.

 

HIRE YOUR WAY. Some entrepreneurs find it most effective to hire in a catch and release technique – hiring the best person to then let the weakest link go to make room. I have never been one to take this capitalistic approach to hiring, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense for your business. Test different methods and see what fits your business and your culture.

 

RECOGNIZE THAT GOOD PEOPLE ARE HARD TO FIND. If the right person falls in your lap, you have to jump on them. As a small business owner, you quickly realize relationships are everything. My advice - hire mind-set over skill-set, all the time.

Establishing a process is step one. Step two, is making it your own. We’ve refined our hiring process with things like probationary periods, personality testing, and team member interviews. Stay tuned for our next blog post featuring a deeper dive into the Gerber hiring process.