Top 5 Mistakes New Entrepreneurs Make When Hiring
It doesn’t matter what your new business enterprise is all about or how good you are at what you are doing — sooner or later, you will need to start hiring new people. Hiring people is equal parts science and art and it is something that has to be done the right way. Only by hiring the right people can an entrepreneur guarantee success for his new enterprise and the subsequent growth of his or her new company.
Today, we will be examining the most common hiring mistakes new entrepreneurs make early on.
1. They Hire Friends and Family
At face value, hiring friends and family makes sense from the standpoint of an entrepreneur. These are (for the most part) people you can trust and you do can count on them to at least a certain extent. Also, they are more likely to understand if you run into problems and cannot pay them regularly. Finally, you think that they will try harder because they know you. In reality, however, this doesn’t work. For one, you might soon find out that they are actually not taking their job seriously enough and that they are having trouble seeing you as an authority figure and their superior. It will also be very difficult to let them go if the situation calls for it.
2. They Hire In a Hurry
Another huge mistake that new entrepreneurs tend to make is that they hire people in a hurry. When you are not prepared and when you have to hire in a hurry, there is simply no time for you to make sure you are hiring the right people. You do not have the time to give all the candidates sufficient attention and you skip steps in the interview process. Moreover, you will often run through the important parts of the hiring process, such as checking up on their references, which is a must. Take your time. Do not skip the most important steps in the hiring process. Never hire in a hurry.
3. They Don’t Use Software
These days, you can take advantage of the innumerable types of HR software that will help you along in your hiring process. For one, there are websites where you can find the best candidates and various types of software that match you with the best in the trade. With a new software, the interview process is also simplified, as well as the entire onboarding process. Furthermore, employee benefits software can help you take care of all your new employee paperwork so that you can concentrate on making them feel welcome.
4. They Don’t Onboard the Right Way
Onboarding is a practice of making the new hire feel welcome in the new workplace, i.e. your company. Early days can be quite stressful in a new company and you need to do everything in your power to make your new hires hit the ground running in your organization, so to say. You should make the environment as stress-free and as welcoming as possible — from your already existing employees to paperwork. Everything needs to be in order before your new hires even come on their first day. This will let them know they are starting with a great new company and that it is a company worth working for.
5. They Overestimate the Cultural Fit
The cultural fit is a term that denotes a certain way in which a potential hire would fit within an organization. It does not have to do with the candidate’s skillset or personality characteristics. It has to do with their cultural background, their opinions, and their preferences. If used in moderation, cultural fit as a hiring factor can be used for good. However, when you as an entrepreneur start considering it the main factor, that is when you set yourself up for a disaster. In the end, it will be much more important how educated and skilled a candidate is than if they watch the same TV shows as you do. Do not let the cultural fit take over your hiring process.
The above are the most common hiring mistakes new entrepreneurs make. There are others, of course, but these are the ones you really need to keep your eyes open for.
Avoid them.
Hire smartly.
Originally published at Entrepreneur News and Startup Guide.
