The toughest job is finding the right person

 

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman is an independent consultant with her company, Fort Smith-based Msaada Group. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.

[Entrepreneur]: “Has anyone seen Jane yet? She is supposed to meet with our new client in 5 minutes, why hasn’t she called to let me know she’s running late?”

[Jane via text message 20 minutes earlier]: “Sorry JD, alarm failed. Am late, b there in 30.”

[Entrepreneur]:“Dang, she texted me again. I told her text messages are not a reliable form of communication with me. If she just called, I could have gotten her files and prepared to meet the client. Now the client is here, and I’m not sure what Jane has discussed with them prior to today. I trusted Jane to show me she is ready to grow with this company, now I’ll be happy to retain the client after this meeting.”

[Jane via text message 2]: “Car acting up, goin’ to take in 4 service. B there asap.”

[Entrepreneur]: “This is the last straw…”

Ask any entrepreneur what their two greatest problems are, and you’ll find that staffing the business is equal to or greater than financing the business. The chasms between passionate owner to boss/manager and that of hired employees grow wider as generational differences expand. The seemingly whimsical and entitlement-minded younger generations find conflict with older generational values in most business environments today.

This generation difference became evident to a business that has been struggling with finding and retaining good talent. The business recently let a good employee “go” due to missing 13 out of the last 18 days of work. The missed work was due to an illness that mysteriously could not be accounted for with a doctor’s note. Additionally, communication differences (employee likes to text, employer prefers phone calls), created animosity within the relationship.

Knowing the volumes of employee horror stories that entrepreneurs could amass, what does a business owner do to prevent (as much as possible) many of the common human resource problems that occur? Given the legal boundaries that businesses must follow in hiring and employing individuals, the first defense for entrepreneurs comes in the interview process.

While most interviews are about breaking the ice and reviewing a candidate’s previous experience, this is also a great time to test the character, decision making and knowledge areas of the job candidate regardless of the type of job at hand. Since neither the job seeker nor their references are going to give you a clear window to their background, start your interviews by asking more than yes or no answered questions.

Situational questions are critical to learning more than what is on a resume. In situational interviews, ask key questions that relate to your industry and the open position such as; “Describe how you manage disgruntled customers.” Ask questions about situations they were faced within their jobs, how did the person resolve the problems and what were the outcomes (i.e. did they save the company money, resources, etc.). Also, schedule the interviews with other key employees present with you, as people will see and hear differently than you. This can give you greater insight to the candidate in front of you.

Next, if you have a job opening where you can test the candidate’s skills, do not hesitate to give the applicant a test. If it’s an accounting, editing, designing, programming or marketing position, you can find a test or design your own that will gauge basic to more advanced skills. The test allows the business owner to see if the applicable skills match the person’s credentials. Also, ask the job candidate to supply samples of their work where applicable.

Now that the situational interview along with the interview test have uncovered the decision making ability and skills of the candidate, it is time to look at the character of the person. This is the subjective area that gets the best of every hiring manager at one time or another. Key tools to help gauge the true personality of the person (and determine if that is a good fit for the company) include all your social media outlets. Check Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and so forth for your candidate. See what they are like outside the office. Employers also have the right to do background checks on candidates and random drug tests. While there are fees for these, for many employers the background/drug check is important to obtain.

Once you believe you found the right employee to hire, start the employee on a probationary period (usually 90 days) with clear objectives and metrics to measure their performance. Also, provide the employee with a detailed employee manual that outlines the company’s policies and expectations for that employee.

Lastly, spend a little extra time with the employee during the probationary period to quickly assess how that person is performing while providing them feedback. A little extra time up front can provide the building blocks to creating an outstanding employee.

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Stockman can be reached at [email protected]