– Deb McClelland is the Executive Director of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached email at deb@kamloopschamber.ca.
KAMLOOPS – Employee turnover – it’s an all too reoccurring experience within the world of business. Yet its commonality and almost expectedness in the annual and sometimes monthly calendar of a business, it is not often prepared for. When the time comes and an employee gives their notice, many businesses, suddenly faced with their busy season and a vacant position, scramble to hire someone, anyone, to fill the gap.
Unfortunately this often means that the new hire is not the right hire. Certainly they may have the basic level of skill needed to fulfill the position, but will they help bring the business more success? Sometimes a hiring manager gets lucky and they bring someone on board who ends up an invaluable asset to the team, but most of the time, the new hire ends up being an employee that really does not much more than fill the job vacancy gap and sometimes, rather ineffectively.
In business, we understand that lost time means lost money, but so does ineffectively used time. As business owners, you know that the right team can help you grow your company, excel within your industry and build that always-critical company brand. So why is it that all too often you end up feeling like you are swimming upstream, especially when it comes to your team?
Likely because when it comes to hiring, you are reactive rather than proactive. At the Kamloops Chamber, we’ve been there. But in the process, we have discovered two key best practices that have helped us to experience success in building our team and we want to share them with you.
1. Know who you want and who you need.
You know you have a vacancy you need to fill and of course, you want to do it as soon as possible to minimize time lost. But who is it that you want to take on that role? What skillsets and capabilities would this person have? Is there a level of schooling that they require to do the job?
Do they need to be an independent worker or self-starter? What qualities would the ideal candidate possess? Do they need to be creative? A big picture thinker? What would their character and temperament be? Do they need a sense of humour? Do they need to be calm or vivacious? What must they possess and what is trainable?
When you start to ask these questions, be specific with your answers. For example, maybe you want a team player; but what does ‘team player’ mean for you and your organization or business? What would a team player be like, how would they function within the role? Being detailed in your list will help you to clarify what is most important.
Don’t be afraid that the person you may be creating on paper looks like Superman or Superwoman; the important thing is to dream about exactly who this candidate would be and what they would be able to bring to the team.
Once you have brainstormed your list, sort the qualities and qualifications in order of importance and reference it when you begin thinking about who you may be able to hand-pick for the job or when you start your interview process after a general advertising of the position.
Even if you end up with fifty or seventy-five percent of what you have listed, you will have an employee much better suited for the role and for your business than had you hired the first person who had an adequate level of skill and managed to present themselves well in the interview.
TIP: If you are not handpicking someone for the role and are going through the application and interview process, we encourage you to employ the use of personality profiling resources (DISC, Colors etc.). These means help you truly see the candidate for who they are and not who they may be telling you they are in the interview process.
2. Involve your team.
We have found in brainstorming the ideal candidate, it is incredibly important to sit down with your team, or at least your management level staff and those working directly with the new employee to determine what this hire will look like. Every business and organization has a workplace culture, and your employees are the ones that drive it each and every day following your lead.
Asking for, and valuing your existing employee’s opinions, will only help to strengthen your culture and your team environment, making the transition of the new hire not only easier and more welcoming for them, but also for your team. Using these practices, we have found great success in building our team and organizational culture and we trust they will do the same for you. Good luck with your new hire!
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We have so many new events happening at the Kamloops Chamber: PowerPlay, Coffee Mob, Lunch Mob, our Distinguished Speaker Series and more. Make sure to check out kamloopschamber.ca/events to avoid missing out on these great opportunities!