Hiring the right employee is impossible if you don’t know what qualities you’re looking for. However, this doesn’t stop an employer from quickly filling a position due to short-staffing. If you hire the wrong employee, it won’t be long before you need to replace them.
What’s worse is that you could severely damage your workplace environment and the morale of your employees. This doesn’t have to happen if you take the time to learn what to watch out for.
In this article, we discuss how to hire the right employee for your workplace. We present 5 questions to ask yourself before filling a position. Continue reading to find out how to hire an employee that will add value to your company.
1. Do They Have the Right Skills?
One of the first things to look for when you hire a new employee is whether or not their skill set matches the needs of the position. This goes beyond making sure they can physically perform the job. You want to focus on whether they can perform the job well.
Even more, you want to find out if they can grow the position with their skill level. If they can’t, they at least need to be trainable and have a lot of potential for success. Keep in mind, potential can mean more than skill in the right individual.
2. Will They Love What They Do?
While it’s important to find an employee that can make the employer happy, it’s also important to learn if the employer can make the employee happy. This means trying to find out if they will love what they do within your company.
Some people are incredibly skilled at a certain job or task. However, some of these people may not enjoy the job. They may even outright hate it.
This is a big red flag to watch out for. You don’t want to hire someone who may become a toxic employee. This can severely damage your workplace morale and negatively influence other great employees.
Skill is important, after all, you want the best people working for you. However, don’t sacrifice workplace morale for skill. This could cause your best employees to leave.
3. Can They Work With a Team and Alone?
The best employees are those that can be flexible. You want someone who can work with your team, but who can also feel confident working alone. These abilities sometimes identify the best leaders in the workplace.
If you’ve already hired an employee, you still want to keep a close eye on their interactions as part of a team. Focus on their ability to contribute, their emotional intelligence, and conflict resolution skills. Ask yourself if they fit into the existing workplace culture you’ve worked so hard to build.
4. Can You Count on Them?
An important part of the hiring process is finding someone you can rely on. If you can’t trust someone to be where they need to be, especially during the interview process, then you can’t trust them with important tasks and deadlines.
Try to feel out their sense of responsibility when it comes to their work. Do they take ownership of their mistakes and try to rectify them? Do they have a dedication to not only get things done but to do them well?
A reliable employee is great for your business and also serves as an example to your other employees. Someone who is responsible and dependable is more likely to help foster a positive work environment, which increases productivity in the workplace.
5. Will They Stay With You?
Finding the best employee doesn’t mean anything unless you can retain them. That’s why it’s important to feel out if a candidate offers longevity to the workplace. Part of this is learning if the employee has a sense of dedication and loyalty to their employer.
However, you also need to consider if your company is a good company to work for. Most employees who leave their job do so because of a negative work environment such as interpersonal conflict with coworkers or their employer.
This makes it especially important to make sure you’re a company worth working for. The best employer fosters passion, ambition, and innovation in their employees. They challenge them without overworking them and they help build them up, both of which are key in retaining employees long-term.
Found the Right One? Hire Them
If you answered ‘yes’ to all of the above questions, then the only thing left to do is make them an offer. Finding an employee is difficult, especially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding the right employee is even harder, so making a strong, enticing offer is essential.
Once they’ve accepted your offer, focus on getting them off to a strong start. This means using onboarding software from WorkBright and taking the time to get them properly oriented into the workplace.
Don’t underestimate the importance of good onboarding. It’s tempting to put them to work right away, especially since they have all the skills and qualities you wanted in an employee. However, you want your new employee to feel welcomed into their new position, this is an essential part of finding and retaining the best employees.
Hire the Right Employees by Knowing What to Look For
Hiring any employee, let alone the right employee is a challenge as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s more important than ever to hire someone that meets the needs of the workplace. It’s also important to hire someone whose needs are met by you as their employer.
By taking the time to answer the above questions, you’ll be able to find someone that not only does a good job, but also motivates others to do a good job. Even more, you will find someone who will stay with your company in the long term.
For more tips and recommendations to utilize in your business, check out our business articles.
