How to Hire for Your Small Business - PART ONE

Hiring for your business is an exciting time for your business. Whether you’re bringing on your first employee or building out a team, it’s a sign your small business is growing. It’s important to ensure you’re finding the right talent, being able to bring them in and retain them, how to interview them and more.

Fortunately, we made this guide to help you. No matter where you are in your hiring process, you can use this guide to help you make the best decision for your business. We’ve broken it down into six chapters:

1.   Hear from the experts

2.   Finding great, loyal talent

3.   Make people want to work for you

4.   Interview tips

5.   Retaining top talent

6.   Choosing a payroll software

HERE FROM THE EXPERTS ON HOW TO HIRE FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Carrie Luxem is a human resources professional specializing in the restaurant industry. In 2010, she founded Restaurant HR Group where she partners with dozens of restaurateurs to take care of their greatest assets — their people. With a career that has spanned nearly 20 years, Carrie is frequently sought out for her modern, yet simple and effective advice and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Restaurant News, and Independent Restauranteur. Connect with her on social media or learn more at CarrieLuxem.com.  

Carrie Luxem, CEO and founder of Restaurant HR Group, begins her expert video series with Kabbage by discussing two important aspects of running a restaurant: management & leadership and recruiting great talent.

In her first video, Carrie breaks down the difference between a manager and a leader. While the two are linked, they focus on different things, and Carrie believes that everyone and anyone can be a leader. To learn more about how you can be a leader at your restaurant, check out her video below!

In her second video, Carrie discusses how to recruit the best talent for your restaurant. From job boards to referral programs to social media and more, you’ll learn multiple effective strategies for hiring new and loyal talent. Check out the video below to learn more!

As Carrie mentioned in the video, you can attract great talent through your brand’s storytelling. To learn more about brand storytelling and how to create an awesome brand, check out her post here.

HOW TO FIND GREAT AND LOYAL TALENTS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Your business is only as strong as its talent. Though it may be tempting to do everything yourself, you’ll eventually need great and loyal talent to take your visions and turn them into realities. Finding the right employees can be tough, but the process is worthwhile to build a strong and sustainable business. Here are five tips on how to find hard-working and loyal employees for your small business or start-up. 

1.    Network, network, network!

Networking is one of the best ways to meet new talent. Take time to speak at events, attend meetups and mingle at networking events. These are all great opportunities to communicate your vision and mission to others while meeting other talented and motivated individuals. Before attending events, make sure that you have a short pitch for your business that you can use to sell others on your idea and get them interested in being a part of your small business or start-up.

2.    Hire those who have become your fans.

The best employees are those who believe wholeheartedly in your company’s mission and vision. That’s why many entrepreneurs hire their fans – people who are already knowledgeable and passionate about the company. These types of employees are often willing to go above and beyond to achieve the brand’s goals and grow the company. Not to mention, they’re great for word-of-mouth marketing and can even help you attract more talent later.

If your fans don’t have the skills necessary to work for your start-up, consider training or finding new roles for them as passion and a positive attitude can often go a long way in helping your business succeed.

3.    Make use of apps to find great talent.

There are many apps out there that can help you find great talent for your start-up or small business. Meetup is an excellent place to find passionate locals who are interested and experienced in the type of work that your start-up does.

There are many other apps and forums that can help you connect with specific types of professionals that specialize in the type of work that you need for your start-up. Do a little research online to find some resources for groups of passionate and talented people in your industry. Then, work to become active in these groups to share your mission and vision with others who may be interested in helping you grow your business.

4.    Talk about your brand online.

Entrepreneurs can also utilize other online channels like blogs to find new talent. Blogging is not only an effective way to market your brand, but it can also help you develop thought leadership and establish your company as an expert in the industry. In your blog, you can write about your customers’ biggest challenges as well as the challenges you have faced in the industry and the lessons you’ve learned over time.

In addition to building your own brand blog, look for opportunities to guest blog on relevant sites. This helps you increase your reach and engage more individuals. Creating blog and other online content can help you attract new talent and get them interested in working with your brand.

5.    Don’t write off remote employees.

Many entrepreneurs may be wary about hiring remote employees. However, this is often one of the best ways to find great and loyal talent. When hiring remote employees, you have the pick of some of the most talented, intelligent and innovative people on the planet. Though it may not be viable to hire remote employees for every position, entrepreneurs should consider remote working arrangements for positions that are well-suited for this type of work environment.

If you’re concerned about work ethic or time management, look for employees who have worked in remote or flexible work arrangements previously. Remote employees also help reduce bills as you can use a smaller office space and provides them the benefits of saving money they’d spend on gas or public transportation.

Once you’ve found great talent for your start-up or small business, you will need to find ways to ensure that your team is happy and satisfied in their positions. One great way to keep great employees happy is by providing benefits or other perks. This could range from catered lunch to massage chairs to an espresso machine.

Many small businesses may not be able to offer the highest salaries or best medical benefits, but there are other ways that they can make up for this and retain great employees. One way to do this is by providing a flexible work environment. Whether this means allowing your employees to work from home a few days a week or providing them with unlimited vacation opportunities and sick days, flexibility in the workplace is a benefit that many larger companies are not able to offer their employees.

If you want to see your small business grow and succeed, you’ll need to shoulder some of the burden. The best way to do this is by finding strong and loyal talent. The process can be difficult, and sometimes long, but having a team that believes in your company’s values and wants to see it succeed as you do is worthwhile in the long-run.


Click to read Part Two