How in the Hell do you find Good Help?

Small Biz Book – Post #4

In case you were wondering…yes, I am still trying to maintain the whole curse word in the title, Jen Sincero, vibe.

I have shared two of my firmly held beliefs concerning small business success: you must be willing to delegate to others and if the others happen to be friends or family, remember to cover your tail. Moving forward, the question now becomes how to find good help outside of the F crew.

My smart, business-minded niece who often makes guest appearances in my posts pointed out a few avenues for finding remote help. Once again, I appreciate the way her mind works because when I think of hiring employees, my thoughts go straight to the ones that have to be present to get the job done (inside the box, non millennial thinking, so to say). I have applied to the first website on the list below as a freelancer, answered a thorough amount of questions, and have been contacted maybe twice. Therefore, I believe it’s safe to say that there is a whole heap of qualified individuals in the pool of talent on the site. Although I have no experience hiring with the following companies, since my niece was able to create a customer support team in Venezuela to help with an Airbnb in Colorado, I trust her recommendations:

• upwork.com
• fiverr.com
• weworkremotely.com
• remoteok.io

The company that I work for at the time of this writing uses a handful of staffing agencies to recruit employees. If there is an abundance of money over time, this is a decent option. The cost is rather steep (over $7 on top of an hourly wage is common) but with good communication about what is desired in an employee, the agency saves time by narrowing down the pool of candidates. They also take care of hiring paperwork and background checks. Based on the revolving door at my workplace, though, it’s safe to say that job descriptions aren’t fully known or explained by the agencies. In other words, better matches can be made when the ones choosing the employees are the individuals who will be working alongside them.

If there is more time than money, creating a specific set of questions for prospective employees will be important. While obscure interview questions can be humorous, in reality, they don’t determine job knowledge or an ability to be trained. (Can you tell I have been on the receiving end of those questions?) The basic inquiry comes down to what exactly should be known about this person who will make the company money in exchange for time and talent. It’s important to note here that keeping an open mind about a candidate’s strengths could lead to a great fit in an area different than what was previously considered.

Any owner is rightfully responsible for hiring key staff members that report directly to the top. After that initial base crew is established, I suggest handing over the interview process to those that will be working with the new employees. Not only is this a practice in delegating, but allowing current employees a voice about who they will be working in tandem is a sign of respect. When I was a teacher, I found it very surprising that only once in 15 years was the grade level team, of which I would be a member, invited to my interview. Even now, my current teamie, with whom I share a job title, responsibilities, and a desk, was not given an opportunity to communicate with me before I was hired. Trusting the opinion of the current staff should come easily if a sufficient job of hiring has been done thus far. Having more than one person question applicants will allow for multiple insights about the individual and how he or she will fit into the team.

Because I have dealt with the time-consuming stack of paperwork that is required for onboarding, a trial run when inviting new people to the crew is an efficient practice. The current Internal Revenue Service guideline states that if a company pays a contractor under $600 in a year, it does not have to file 1099 paperwork. While following the special rules that deciphers contractors from employees, get a social security number at the get-go and set an audition period that will keep pay under $600. At the end of that time, an actual sit-down conversation (remember those?) is the most clear cut way of determining if this will be a good fit for both parties. If so, now is the time for all of those W-4s and I-9s, etc.

And, finally, although it reminds me of the classic question of which came first, the chicken or the egg, the most successful way to attract qualified candidates is to treat the current ones well and with respect. Word of mouth is as big a deal in human resources as it is in sales. When employees speak of how much they like the atmosphere of their work environment, others take notice. Additionally, social media is an absolute gateway to attract potential employees. If a company looks reputable in cyber-land, it will be more likely to attract admirable help.

Having said all of that, I do apologize for my stint into seriousness with this post and promise to get back to my normal, sarcastic tone with the next What Not to Do. Since I report what I observe, it may take a few posts to bring the following point to completion as it relates to how to retain employees. Telling an employee, “You are full of shit!” and strangling your sole office staff member are stories surely to come up.