The pace of business is accelerating. There are many reasons for this rapid growth. For one thing, people can access more information at a faster rate. Talented people can launch a start-up without spending years acquiring a university education. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did not finish college before they launched their respective businesses.
For another thing, competition is fierce. Previously, you needed a considerable amount of capital to start a business. Now, it’s possible to start one on a shoestring, leveraging the power of the Internet. It’s now easy to market and sell products around the clock, all over the world. Additionally, setting up your own computer infrastructure was expensive. Now, you can run a small business on the cloud and use SaaS to access the best software at an affordable rate.
People power
On the surface, it may appear that the winning edge depends on systems and technology. It’s tempting to believe that the best management system and technology are all you need.
But it’s the people, not the technology and systems alone, that allow a company to prosper. Smart technology in the wrong hands will only result in expensive mistakes. Brilliant management systems will only fall flat. Yet, with the right people on board, everything works well.
While you can automate many processes, you still need the right people on board.
Employees are the minds, hearts, and souls of a good company. They orchestrate the efficiency of the machines that they operate. They add substance to mission statements. And they are the driving force behind innovation, marketing, and the production of excellence. Employees breathe life into good processes, and, without them, systems fall apart.
The cost of a bad employee
Another way of looking at this issue is to consider things from the opposite perspective. What is the price a company has to pay for hiring bad employees? Bad employees are expensive in many ways:
- Their defiant attitude affects their colleagues, resulting in lower productivity in a department;
- Their apathy drives down sales;
- Their negligence costs money to fix, especially if it results in an accident;
- Their lack of effort is a bottleneck in your production process;
- Their poor customer service creates bad worth of mouth.
According to Wharton management professor Sigal Barsade, who has studied the effects of emotional contagion in the workplace for twenty years, a business “could unknowingly be affected by a particular negative group member…who causes the entire group to feel apprehensive, angry, or dejected, leading to possible morale and cohesion problems, unrealistic cautiousness, or the tendency to disregard creative ideas.”
Unfortunately, by the time employers identify them, these employees have already wreaked havoc. Morale has collapsed. The team has lost its passion and enthusiasm. Employees now mock leaders and managers behind their backs. And the company has lost large sums of money in various ways.
You can avert all this grief by hiring the right people in the first place.
How to hire the right people
If hiring good employees makes good business sense, then how do you find the right people?
Here are 3 tips to help you make the right decisions.
1. Get good at the hiring process.
There’s more to it than putting out ads, reading resumes, and interviewing people.
Resumes are easy to beef up by hiring an expert resume writer. And interviews are easy to pass with a little rehearsal. If you use traditional questions, expect pat answers.
You should learn how to do it well. If you don’t have the time, patience, or people to do it well, then outsource the process to a staffing agency. They have considerable experience with the process of finding the right people.
2. Hire people with the right attitude.
Sometimes, it’s not what a person knows that matters but the person’s character. Knowledge, skills, education, and experience should not be the only criteria. While important, of course, you should also look for invaluable soft skills.
How well do you think a candidate will get along with others?
Does a candidate have a proactive attitude?
Do they have any latent leadership qualities that you could nurture?
Will they stick around after they learn the business or leave for greener pastures?
3. Stick to your values.
Once you have defined your values, only hire people who respect those values. Find people who will fit into your company culture.
Missing the obvious
The idea of hiring great employees to build an outstanding brand is often missed. It’s such an elementary idea that it hides in plain sight.
If you look around the various companies in your industry, you will notice many who treat their employees like cogs in a machine. They somehow believe their systems and machines can compensate for the rapid turnover. In contrast, companies like Google treat their employees well. They have achieved world domination in an industry that hires the smartest people in the world.
What can you do to become a leader in your particular niche?
Find the right people. Treat them well. And lead the field with a great vision.