5 Tips for Hiring Your First Employee

5 Tips for Hiring Your First Employee

So you started out as a solopreneur, and you successfully grew your fledgling business. Now you’ve got more work than you can handle, and you can finally afford to hire your first employee.

Congratulations! Your work is about to get easier, now that you’ll have help. But first, it’s important to set up processes and strategies to maximize your success as a new employer.

Tip 1: Know What You Need

You have proven your own ability to do whatever it takes to grow your business, be it manning the cash register, ordering inventory, or unclogging toilets. But you can’t expect your new hire to be as good at doing all things.

It’s better to find a focus. Where do you need the most help? The cash register? In the kitchen? Taking care of admin tasks? The more specific your needs, the better you can zero in on the perfect candidate who has the skillset you’re looking for.

Tip 2: Craft Your Job Description Carefully

If you’ve identified what you need in an employee, this part will be easier. Remember to keep that list of required skills to a minimum, focusing on only one area. If you run a restaurant and need a chef, you can’t expect him to also wait tables. If you’ve got too many tasks, consider hiring more than one employee.

Your job description should list the tasks this person will be responsible for, as well as any experience you’d like them to have.

Tip 3: Ask the Right Questions in the Interview

Once you’ve identified the most qualified applicants, call them in for an interview. Here, you’re not only trying to understand their experience in your industry, but also their enthusiasm to learn new things, as well as their overall personalities. Do you get a sense that you would get along with this individual? Does she seem eager to learn the ropes at your company?

Not sure what to ask in an interview? These are some of the most common interview questions, but feel free to add your own where relevant. If you don’t require a great deal of experience (especially if you’re hiring teens for food and beverage or retail), ask questions that will help you understand their overall work ethic.

Tip 4: Once You Hire, Train

Ensure the success of your new hire by thoroughly training her in the tasks you’ve given her. It’s a good idea to write out an employee handbook, since you will likely be training future employees for this same role, as well as providing them overall information about your company’s processes. Make sure to encourage questions: you want your new hire to feel fully comfortable in her new position, so make sure she knows she can come to you with questions.

Tip 5: Set Up Smart Scheduling Tools

One employee may be fairly easy to schedule, but you’ll soon have more staff, and that’s where it gets more challenging to juggle everyone’s preferred shift. That’s where ScheduleBase comes in. The smarter the tools you use to schedule your employees, the easier the process.

Good luck hiring your first employee! You’re well on your way to small business success.