Photo (CC) by Innovative Impact Media, on Flickr
Help? I am swamped.
So get an ad in the paper and get some employees, right?
Sorry, this isn’t the time. When you are overwhelmed is not the time you want to hire someone for several reasons.
First and foremost, you will rush the process. Steps will be skipped such as reference checking.
Second, you will speed up the process and maybe not get your advertisement into all of the right places or allow the position to remain open long enough to let candidates discover the opening, check out the possibility and get their paperwork in.
Also, you won’t have time to get your network in action to find and encouragement applicants.
Fourth, you are more likely to take someone who “sort of” meets the job duties instead of finding the best person for the job.
Finally, you probably won’t know exactly what you want the new person to do. And when you do have the person on board, you won’t have time to adequately train and mentor him or her.
So when is the right time to hire and how should an owner go about the process?
Determining the right time is tricky. The scenario outlined above certainly indicates reasons why you should not wait too long.
But as cash flow problems is one of the most common issues for small businesses, hiring someone too early will just increase the likelihood of it happening. You want to hire someone when that person will make money for the business. This can occur through increased production or sales most likely.
Also, as you consider hiring, you want to have all of the tasks the new person will perform part of the same skill set. Hiring a person to do what are really parts of two separate positions requiring two separate sets of skills doesn’t work. First, you have the problem of finding people with such unique backgrounds. Then there is the problem of getting the right balance in the work. The job mix in often controlled by what the person prefers to do versus what actually needs doing.
The need to hire can fill you with dread, higher costs, need for additional time spent managing, cash flow issues, hiring the wrong person, etc.
Don’t let the fears and unknowns stop you. It’s a great time. Your company is growing. Understand the issues, include it in your planning, and make it happen.
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Glenn Muske is an independent expert on rural small business, working as GM Consulting – Your partner in achieving small business success. He provides consulting, and writes articles for county extension agents and newspapers across North Dakota. Previously, he was the Rural and Agribusiness Enterprise Development Specialist at the North Dakota State University Extension Service – Center for Community Vitality.
