You’ve grown your business even more than you thought possible and you need to consider taking on extra help. But that’s about as far you’ve got, just considering. Why? Because let’s face it the thought of advertising, interviewing and hiring is a daunting process. This is made even harder, of course, if you are a solopreneur and don’t have much in the way of experience when it comes to the matter of Human Resources.

But it can be done and by following a logical process it is entirely possible to make a great hire without too much drama or even effort. In this article, we take a look at the steps needed to kick-start your recruitment drive.

Before anything else…

Take a deep breath and create two documents: your person specification and your job description. These two things offer you two very different criteria. With your person specification, you’ll need to think very carefully about who is going to make a great fit into your team. Are you looking for someone who will follow your instruction to the letter and has an eye for detail or are you hoping that your candidate will be able to work on their own with little in the way of guidance?

What type of person is your ideal hire? Will they be great at communicating to a range of different people, be exceptionally organised or bring something altogether different to the role? You aren’t defining the tasks they’ll do in this document, just the skills and experience they’ll need to bring with them.

In your job description this is where you’ll need to go into some detail about the exact role of the job. Be as specific as you can and pinpoint the main and secondary roles you expect your hire to take on.

Interview stage

Possibly the most daunting part of the process so be prepared and if it’s your first time interviewing consider using some tools like interview scorecards to make the process flow along more logical lines. Ask your questions clearly and precisely and for every question about experience, skill or aptitude make sure your candidate can back up their answer with a personal or professional example.

Keep an open mind, your ideal candidate on paper might be far from ideal in person. On the other hand, someone you were a little unsure of might bring with them soft skills that will complement their role and yours and bring a little added value to the position.

Make sure it’s quite clear that the hire is subject to a probation period and that after the set time, you’ll be well within your rights to let them go if it’s not working out and vice versa.

Follow these logical steps and make great hires that help take your business onwards towards a bigger and brighter future. Hire people you know will fit well into your team and share your dreams and goals when it comes to creating a thriving and profitable business.

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links