5 Things to Do Before Hiring Employees

If you’re a budding entrepreneur and you dream of being your own boss, launching a startup might be your dream job. With the potential to spend your time doing something you genuinely enjoy and turning a profit in the process, starting a business can certainly be a fun career path. But what happens when your business grows, and customer demand begins to exceed your capabilities?

As your commercial success increases, you’ll need to expand your operations to serve a thriving customer base and, for many organizations, this means hiring staff. While this might sound straightforward enough, transitioning from a one-person business to an employer can be difficult. To help simplify the process, take a look at these five things to do before hiring employees:

1. Identify the Skills You Need

If you’re running a business alone, you’re probably used to doing a variety of different jobs. From marketing and bookkeeping to sales and IT troubleshooting, small business owners tend to have a varied and extensive skillset! When your business grows, it’s important to identify the skills you need in your team, however. If you’re a talented salesperson but you struggle with financial management, for example, you may want to hire someone who can balance out the team and excel in areas that don’t come naturally to you.

As a business owner, you’ll do whatever needs to be done but remember that employees have the right to stick to their job description. This means you’ll want to think carefully about what each role entails before you begin advertising or recruiting people.

2. Use the Gig Economy

Before you hire permanent staff, you may want to consider using the gig economy to access the additional support you need. Millions of professionals are supplementing their income by taking on freelance projects, which makes it easy for businesses to commission a talented team without actually recruiting employees. In addition to this, you can use B2B service providers to undertake a number of roles within your business, either on a short or long-term basis.

While there can be disadvantages associated with relying solely on the gig economy, it can be a viable way to test how much in-house support you may need in the future. Furthermore, growing businesses can minimize costs and avoid the bureaucracy that comes with recruitment by working with freelancers and independent contractors.

3. Get Legal Advice

Recruiting staff might seem like a natural part of growing your business but becoming an employer isn’t always straightforward. There are endless employment laws that you’ll need to consider before you create an in-house team, which is why it’s vital to get bespoke legal advice. With guidance from respected employment lawyers at Baird Quinn, for example, you can find out what your obligations are as an employer and how to protect your liability. Additionally, qualified employment lawyers can draft contracts that are fair to both your business and your new staff.

4. Research the Market

If you want to hire the best team, you’ll need to analyze the employment market and determine how to attract rising stars to your company. As well as identifying the average salary for relevant positions in your industry, you may want to discover what other opportunities professionals in your sector are interested in.

Some companies attract employees by offering career progression and promotion routes, for example, while the chance to buy shares in the organization can be another viable way to make your business a top employee. While you don’t necessarily have to offer a salary that’s above average to secure the best team, you do need to ensure that you’re offering opportunities that provide future employees with the opportunities they are looking for.

5. Create a Workplace Culture

Your workplace culture will have a significant impact on staff morale, employee retention rates and company performance, so it’s essential to create a positive and collaborative atmosphere. When it comes to developing a harmonious and productive workplace, you won’t want to leave things to chance so take steps to establish a positive environment before you begin the recruitment process.

You may want to consider how you’ll motivate your staff, for example, or how you’ll reward them for their hard work. Similarly, providing employees with the right support and incentivizing them with non-monetary compensation can be a good place to start if you want to create an efficient and productive workplace culture.

Are You Ready to Hire an In-House Team?

If you’ve done your due diligence and determined what type of staff you need to hire, then you’re ready to move forward with your plans to grow your business. From advertising for employees to building a talent pipeline, there are a variety of ways you can find people to join your company and, by planning ahead and using the right resources, you can streamline the recruitment process and maximize your success.