Dec 01, 2021

10 Tips for Hiring the Best Employee

Hiring the right employee is critical to your business and it can make or break your brand. Putting in the time and effort to finding the right candidate, you are essentially improving your chances of hiring the best performers and avoiding making mistakes that could affect your profits.

Wading through thousands of resumes to find the one perfect employee is no one’s idea of fun! Today we’ll be talking about importance of hiring the best employee for your business, the things to consider when hiring, and we’ll also give you some of the best tips to hire the right employee.

1.Hire for adaptability

While hiring, you want someone who can adapt to changes especially in today’s world where we’re being subjected to constant changes in the workplace. Is your potential hire able to offer you examples on how they were able to grow and evolve to changes in their previous/current workplaces? If yes, then you’re one step closer to finding the right fit for your company.

2. Hire people who ask great questions

Most people come prepared to an interview having done some amount of prior research on the role and the company. During the interview it’s important to note whether they hear you when you talk about your business goals and the work that you’re doing. The best way to gauge this is to see what kind of follow up questions they ask. Great interview questions help you understand if the employee would be able to diagnose a market problem and respond to it in a thoughtful manner.

3. Hire people who are curious

When someone asks great questions and is curious to know more about the business, it shows that they’re truly invested in being a part of the company. Curiosity in an individual is also a sign of high productivity and out-of-the-box thinking.

4. Hire kind people

Empathy is often an underrated and overlooked factor when it comes to hiring the right candidate. Successful leaders are those who lead with empathy, so look out for signs that show you if the potential hire displays signs of wanting to establish genuine connections. You can gauge this by asking questions related to how they manage conflict and how they may have taken initiative to help a colleague in their time of need.

5. Hire team players

Some businesses tolerate “brilliant jerks” who are amazing at their job but lack the more important “team player” aspect. In today’s virtual work environment, it has become even more important to hire someone who can work collaboratively and has the interpersonal skills to add value to the team.

6. Hire people who are not afraid to own their mistakes

Most of us grew up with the belief that owning up to mistakes is a sign of weakness or an indicator that you lack the ability to do something. People who are curious to learn more are able to learn from their mistakes and grow from them. You can gauge this by asking questions about the mistakes that the potential employee had made and to take you through how they handled it and what they learned from it.

7. Hire continuous learners

Learning never stops! Hire people who are voracious learners, because these are the people who will add the most value to your team. Great candidates are those who are eager to learn more, and they will also have learnings that they pursue on their own.

8. Hire passionate people

Ask questions that dig into their passion for the job, for learning and development and most of all, what are they passionate about outside of work? Their answers will help you determine if they are the right fit for your company.

9. Hire for diversity

How diverse is your workplace? Instead of making this an item to check off your list, truly invest in hiring for diversity and you will notice a remarkable change in the way your workforce adds value to the organization. A diverse workforce fosters creativity and will enable you to reach new markets and offer you fresh perspectives on how you operate your business.

10. Hire those who advocate for your business

Every employee represents the business when they’re out in the world, so make sure that you hire someone who will be a goodwill ambassador for your business. The passion that an enthusiastic employee brings to the table will also rub off on the rest of the workforce.

The importance of hiring the best employee:

Ask yourself what a potential employees lifecycle would look like before you hire them. Don’t assume that their skills on paper will match what they are capable of achieving and on the flip side, don’t assume that the person with the right skillsets might be the right person for the job. A great way to gauge the right fit would be to prepare your interview questions beforehand that will help you gather more information about the employee’s critical thinking or personality. For example, are they problem solvers? Do they shy away from delegation? Do they work well with others? These are all questions that will help you understand if a candidate is the right fit for your company.

And remember that an interview is not just one-sided, where you ask all the questions to the potential hire. The best hiring managers understand that an interview is successful when they give the candidate an opportunity to interview them. Give them time to ask you questions so that they get a good feel of the work culture and the environment. This will achieve two things –

1. It will help them decide if they want to work for you

2. It will help you decide if you both are aligned in your goals

Make sure that your job descriptions are detailed and transparent. Don’t expect an employee to know everything about the role when you have only provided a one-liner description of the role. Make sure you communicate clearly what job requirements are during the interview process so that there are no last-minute surprises.

Be crystal clear about your expectations and be open to hearing what the candidate has to say about their own expectations. When it comes to hiring, the bottom line is to be informed, and to always trust your instincts.