In a small business, it is very unlikely that your first hire will be a human resources person. The need for business owners to understand what to consider and look out for when hiring is of utmost importance.
Here are 5 important things you should think about and carefully consider when hiring for your business:
- Be clear on what role you need to fill
In the opening introduction, we stated clearly that as a small business, your first hire is very unlikely to be a human resources manager. Why? Because you don’t have other employees or human resources for them to manage, hence no need for that hire.
The same thing applies here. Before putting out a job application ad or just choosing a random job title that sounds/seems nice, properly articulate what your business needs at the moment.
For example, a food business can start having daily increased orders, but might not necessarily need a new cook. What the business might need is a procurement officer or a food production assistant. The business owner might just need someone else to run market and procurement errands to focus better on the cooking process, or a kitchen assistant to help with certain tasks in the cooking process.
Analyse your business properly and determine what you need. If there’s say a swamp on orders as an online business owner, you might not need to hire a customer success person but instead need to invest in a website that can help you process orders faster. Also, does your business need a customer support person or a social media manager? A customer support person will help you process orders via DM or website & respond to customer enquiries, but the job of a social media manager is to create effective social media content, push it out and engage the community. If at the moment you need to merge both roles in 1, be clear on what you need in the job description so that people are aware of what they’re getting involved in.
Answering this question clearly will ensure that your business makes the most of the new hire and that your employee is satisfied with their role because they know what to expect.
Another important question is determining if you need an experienced hire, or can afford to bring on a newbie/intern that you can train. Hiring for the wrong role, or hiring the wrong person in a role will leave both you and the employee feeling frustrated. Don’t hire a newbie for a job that needs a significant level of experience.
2. What can your budget carry?
A popular mistake small business owners make is hiring for full-time roles without being able to truly afford them. When hiring for your business & working with a lean budget, consider the option of contractual or part-time staff.
Following our earlier example, you might not need a procurement person for the entire 5-6 days a week that your food business operates. You might not need a full-time social media manager if all your business needs are bulk content creation that can be spaced out and uploaded over time. Not all roles, especially in your early business days need to be made full-time.
When it comes to finances and hiring, know what your budget can get you. Currently, Nigeria has a minimum wage of #30,000. This is the least that you should pay your staff. You might not be able to afford to go over this amount but don’t expect this kind of salary to get you a graduate with an MSc to join your business.
Be realistic with what your price point can attract and keep. While you shouldn’t make hires based on “this person is cheaper than the other” be realistic about what kind of talents or skillset your compensation will attract.
You also need to consider: what other perks you can offer asides from a salary, especially if it’s not a huge amount or just a livable wage. Things like paid leave days, basic health insurance, and a learning & development budget for courses are all things that attract people to apply for certain kinds of roles.
If you need good hires, have good compensation.
3. Write and share a job description
This 3rd point is of utmost importance. If your job description isn’t clear or doesn’t cover the scope of what the role entails, you’ll keep getting applications that don’t have what you need.
Once you’re clear on the role you need to get filled (e.g a delivery person), proceed to write a job description using this sample.
Wanted: In a few sentences, give a brief introduction of your business and describe the role your business wants to fill.
E.G At Gbemi’s bites, we’re particular about getting yummy and good food to hundreds of busy Lagosians. We’re looking to hire a delivery person who can join the food delivery team of Gbemi’s bites. You’ll get to contribute to our mission of providing working-class/everyday Lagosians with lunch packs that will energize them for the day.
You’ve made your business sound interesting and stand out from the generic description of other food businesses, and still covered what your business needs.
What we’re looking for/who we’re looking for: In this section, you want to highlight the most important skills you need from the person. For example, this is a hypothetical description of a delivery person.
- Someone who knows how to make good use of Google Maps
- Someone with an up-to-date driver’s license
- At least 6 months – 1 year of driving experience on bikes
- Someone who can make basic conversations in English
- Knowledge of Lagos roads is a bonus.
This carefully highlights the major needs of a delivery person. Use of google maps because you want to avoid being known as the business where the delivery person disturbs with calls because they can’t find their way around.
How to apply: In this section, share how they can apply for the role. Do they need to send in a CV? Is a call to a phone number best? Do they need to fill out a form so you can screen especially for roles in operations or business development? Should they apply by sharing a portfolio?
Decide on the method that is easiest or quickest for you to sort through. Also include an application end date so that you don’t keep getting messages after the role has been filled.
Another section to add although not compulsory is a compensation section. Here, detail what you are willing to pay or a price range, and other perks that come along with the role if any. Detailing this can help you attract good talents because they value your transparency or the amount that works for them.
It would be a bit frustrating to get to the point of a job offer and have to begin interviews all over again because employees keep rejecting based on your pay.
This will help you write a good job description. You can share this job description on job boards, via your business social media or with a recruitment agency which is not free.
4. Ask the right questions during interviews and break down day-to-day responsibilities
The next to consider when hiring as a small business is what questions to ask.
For example, if you’re hiring a procurement officer for a food business, you want to hear about their experiences or ideas on getting good deals, haggling, and market knowledge. Asking questions like their experience with leading a team (this is not a bad question) might not give you the needed insight you need to make a rounded decision about hiring them or not.
For every role you interview, think through their responsibilities and search the internet based on what you need. Figure out what questions you need to ask to get the answers your business needs.
Also, it’s important in the hiring process to break down the day-to-day of what their role entails. Is it a 9-5? Will they need to be available online for 8-10 hours daily? Is it an onsite role or hybrid or remote? Do they need to send in daily reports? What is expected of them daily? Is there a daily target? All these need to be properly explained so that you and the employee understand what is needed.
5. Decide and send an offer
Once steps 1-4 have been done, it’s time to finally make that hire. The interview and searching process can be long or short. The quality of your job description will highly affect the quality of applications and leads.
If you put out a thoughtless/generic job description, your applications are going to be generic too. That will lead to you taking even more time to sift through the throng of applications.
In the interview process, you might have multiple people that you’re considering for the role or might be undecided about. As a small business, you might not have the luxury of putting applicants through a multi-staged interview process, so you want to make your decision based on interview impressions.
Did this person seem ready to learn or come across as teachable? As a person who will handle customers, were they friendly or polite during the interview? How did they choose their words? What considerable experience does this person have? Can they bring value and new ideas to my business? Since it’s just you and maybe a handful of people in the early days, you also want to consider intuition. Can I work with this person? In this role, we will spend a lot of time together/side by side. Can they be what the business needs? Are they what the business needs? Even above how you might initially feel.
Once you’ve made a choice, you can send in an offer letter or make a call whichever method you do choose for the application process. In the letter, be sure to include an expected resumption date, address if any, times of work, pay and other compensation. This is for the offer letter.
You can attach another agreement to be signed that can include things like a stance on sharing trading/marketing secrets, resignation notice, business policy on overtime or undertime and lots more. This will differ from business to business.
If you go through all of these steps and receive a signed offer letter, then congratulations on your first hire.
We can’t wait to see you hire more people.
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