Hiring For The First Time – Don’t Make These Common Mistakes

Hiring for the first time can be incredibly intimidating. You might feel you’ve got a lot to prove as a business manager! After all, when an interviewee walks in, are you sure you’re the one to prove they’re worthy of the job? And when you’ve brought someone on board and you want them to do their best, will you give them tools and resources necessary for the work? 

It’s easy to make a mistake here, and when you’re unaware of just how many small businesses don’t know how to hire, you’re likely to fall into the same trap. To help you avoid the pitfall, let’s go through some of the most common down below.

Hiring Based on One Meeting

One interview alone is usually not enough to get a good impression of a potential hire. When you only meet them once before bringing them on board, it’s going to be hard to really see the potential and the skill involved in what they do. 

It’s why a lot of businesses are now interviewing, doing follow ups, and then running testing scenarios to see how a prospective employee would perform. You should aim to do the same, especially if you’re torn between two or three people. 

Not Being Sure What You’re Looking For

If you’re not even sure what you’re hiring for, why are you hiring? You need someone else in the office, of course, but what will they be doing while they’re there? You need to define this, for your own peace of mind as much as for the contract you’ll need to draw up! 

Failing to Schedule Properly

If you don’t know how to fill out a schedule, familiarize yourself with the process right now. Otherwise you’ll be constantly letting people out too early, keeping them too late, and you’ll never quite know how to fill out a timesheet for work. You may be under or overpaying your employees as a result, and both of these things are bad! 

The more people on the floor, the more of a labor issue you’ll end up with, and the less efficient your whole company will be. Learn to write a proper schedule, with rotating shifts that are flexible for work and life needs, and you’ll eliminate this mistake before it becomes one. 

Forcing Hirees Straight into the Workplace

Yes, you’ve hired someone to do a job for you. But if you force them straight into their role without a transition period, they’re going to struggle to acclimate. So give them some time, roughly a couple of weeks to a month, where their role is limited and their workload is lower than it usually would be. 

If you don’t do this, a new hire can flounder and burn without even meaning to. But with this small interceding element, they might even become more motivated to get into the office and do their best work for you. 

If you’re hiring for the first time, don’t forget tips like these! 

Hiring For The First Time – Don’t Make These Common Mistakes