Navigating Hiring Hurdles: Insights for Leaders of Small Teams (Part 2)

Finding and hiring great people to join your team can be difficult. Often, it is a process that causes anxiety and dread for the leaders who need to execute it effectively within their organizations. Coupled with the fact that many small teams and businesses don’t have dedicated HR professionals, hiring can quickly become a real headache.

In Part 1 of Navigating Hiring Hurdles: Insights for Leaders of Small Teams, we covered the first three hurdles that can trip leaders up and make the hiring process cumbersome for both teams and candidates. 

• Hurdle #1: Being Competitive in this Job Market
• Hurdle #2: Finding Top Talent
• Hurdle #3: Creating a Great Candidate Experience

If you missed the article, I recommend you check it out for a comprehensive look at being competitive in the market, finding top talent, and creating a great candidate experience. 

Now, let’s dive into the remaining four hurdles and explore strategies to overcome them.

Hurdle #4: Running an Effective Interview Process

A disorganized or ineffective interview process can frustrate both your team and candidates. Common issues include:

❌ Generic job postings

❌ Long applications

❌ Lengthy wait times between interview rounds

❌ Unprepared interviewers

❌ Interview sessions that leave candidates with more questions than answers

❌ Lack of communication regarding the status of the application

❌ Unclear next steps in the hiring process

An effective interview process is structured, fair, and consistent. It helps you assess candidates' skills and their potential fit for your team while keeping them engaged throughout the process. As one of my clients noted, formalizing their hiring process instilled confidence and assurance that they would attract candidates excited about joining their team and supporting their mission.

As you are both designing and running your interview process:

• Standardize your interview questions: Develop a consistent set of questions for each role. This ensures fairness and simplifies candidate comparison.
• Mix types of interview questions: Use behavioral, technical, and situational questions to gain a comprehensive understanding of each candidate’s abilities and how they align with your organizational values.
• Involve your team: Include potential coworkers in interviews to provide exposure to team dynamics, support in assessing how candidates align with the organization’s mission, values, and culture, and incorporate different perspectives into the process.
• Document thoroughly: Keep detailed notes on each interview to refer back to when making final decisions. Ensure you have objective, pre-determined criteria that you evaluate each candidate against and that each member of the interview team provides their feedback in a timely manner.

Hurdle #5: Making an Offer Your Top Candidate Can’t Refuse

Reaching the final stage of hiring only to have your top candidate decline your offer can be disheartening. With top talent in high demand, it’s crucial to craft an offer that stands out. And this crafting doesn’t start when you are preparing the job offer. A basic outline of what will be offered should be intentionally thought out and defined during the planning stages of your hiring process. Then, it can be refined and finalized when preparing the official employment offer.

Some components of an irresistible offer include:

✅ Transparent Compensation: Clearly communicate pay expectations from the start. When making the offer, present your best possible compensation, keeping in mind any room for negotiation. Consider sign-on bonuses or additional perks, especially if you have little flexibility when increasing the base pay.

✅ Total Rewards: Highlight the full compensation package, including benefits, PTO, and other perks. Show how your offer provides value beyond the base salary.

✅ Workplace Culture: Emphasize aspects of your positive work environment and organizational culture. Highlight aspects that make your company a great place to work and grow one’s career.

✅ Flexible Work Arrangements: If applicable, outline options for remote work or flexible schedules.

Training and Development: Showcase opportunities for growth and professional development within your organization.

Hurdle #6: Prepping for Onboarding

Once the offer is accepted, the focus shifts to onboarding. A well-prepared onboarding process ensures your new hire’s successful integration and sets them up for long-term success. A few steps that can make an onboarding process seamless and successful include:

👍🏾 Prepare new hire paperwork: Have all necessary documents and contracts ready for the new employee by their first day. Many HRIS and payroll systems have an employee self-service component, which can ensure the new hire can review and complete their in-processing paperwork online before starting. Then, all that’s needed on day 1 is answering outstanding questions and ensuring all paperwork is complete.

👍🏾 Develop an onboarding schedule: Create a detailed schedule for their first day, first week, and the first 90 days. This helps the new hire (and members of your team that are involved in onboarding) understand what to expect and how to get acclimated.

👍🏾 Prep your team: Inform your team about the new hire and their role. Encourage a welcoming environment and plan ways for people to get to know the new teammate while helping them feel welcomed and supported.

👍🏾 Set up tech and resources: Ensure that all necessary technology, systems, and resources are in place and ready for use on day 1.

👍🏾 Send a welcome gift: Consider sending a welcome package to make the new hire feel appreciated from the start. 

👍🏾Create a training plan: Develop a plan to help the new hire understand their role, meet their team, and get familiar with your organization’s processes.

Need more ideas on how to onboard successfully? Check out this article that I wrote for B2B Reviews, 19 Virtual Onboarding Ideas for 2024 that can be applied/adapted to virtual, in-person or hybrid organizations.

By addressing these hiring hurdles with thoughtful strategies, you can turn the hiring process into a powerful tool for building a strong and dynamic team. Remember, effective hiring is not just about filling a position; it’s about finding the right fit for your team and setting them up for success.

Ready to tackle your hiring hurdles with confidence? Check out Part 1 of this series for more insights and strategies to streamline your hiring process. Here’s to building a great team and achieving your organizational goals!

#Hiring #SmallBusiness #Leadership #HR #TalentAcquisition #Onboarding #EmployeeSuccess