Back filling an existing position is usually easy.  Hopefully the person leaving the position took the time to write up a complete job description along with instructions on his or her regular tasks.  In this case you have a clear blueprint of the type of skills and experience required for the job.

The situation gets tricky when you’re filling a new position or when the last person got fired for incompetence.  In either case, you may not be quite sure what this job requires.

To write a job description, follow these three steps:

1. Start with the bottom line – what is the product you want this person to produce?  Is it sales revenue  or number of assembled products?  Define exactly what you want along with the metrics of the position.  For example, if you hire a new salesperson, you can easily work out the revenue he would have to bring in within 6 months to justify his salary.  That would be a minimum.
2. Once you have the product fully worked out, make a list of the actions he would have to perform to obtain that product.  Then describe your ideal employee for that position, even if you think that person would be out of reach for your company. At this point you should be able to easily list out the skill sets, experience and education that would be required for your ideal candidate.
3. Finally, think of the soft skills and your company culture.  What type of person would fit in well with your other employees and customers?  Get this all stated and written down.You may need to get some of your staff to weigh in on this position or at least agree with what you have written.  It’s important to take the time to work this out before you start your hiring process.

Once you have it all worked out and written down in a concise manner, you have a blueprint for the ideal employee and you can start looking for candidates that match what you need.

If you would like to avoid these kinds of pitfalls altogether, Continental excels at finding you the right person for the job, with the skills you require and the personality that fits your corporate culture. Cut your risk with new hires and call Continental.

Some markets pay higher wages than others.  Our same accounting clerk in 1990 working in New York City may have been paid $12.00/hour.  A small town may have lower wages than a large city, even if it is nearby.

It is important when setting compensation to have an accurate job description for the position and then to compare salaries of others in that position in your market.

2. Amount of responsibility of the position: It is common that wages follow responsibility.  The President of the company gets paid more than the accounting clerk.  Often a new hire is started in a position of lower responsibility, but is given the opportunity to increase his pay as his responsibilities increase.

3. Technical skills and education: Advanced technical skills will require a salary that is commensurate with the skills.  Usually an employee with more education, if relevant to the position, will command a higher salary.

4. Experience: Experience usually translates to more skills and better performance.  However, this is not always the case and you must make sure the experience is relevant to the job you are hiring for.  A good, experienced engineer may not make a good salesperson.

There is a final factor that can turn salaries upside down – anomalies in the job market.  For example, when the dot com boom was in full swing, even the weakest programmers were being offered six figure salaries.  After the dot com bust the best programmers had to take massive salary cuts just to get a job. Same employees, but different economic times make very different acceptable wages. But watch out, as these great programmers will jump ship as soon as the market heats up.

Continental routinely performs wage and salary surveys in Central Indiana and assists clients in establishing and negotiating competitive wages for new hires.  Contact us today to learn more about this service (765-778-9999).

Unfortunately Sam did not have the experience or qualifications to be an executive. Harry found himself spending most of his time coaching Sam and doing Sam’s job along with his own. Needless to say, this situation could not go on. Harry soon left to start his own company and Sam was left to flounder in his job. This story is repeated in countless companies around the world.

On the other hand, there are numerous success stories of children stepping into executive roles at their family firms (i.e. Mars Candy) and many firms rely on the work of generations of families to keep their business going.

Nepotism is defined as “favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)”. It is often looked upon as a negative because it is implied that these people got their jobs because of their connection to the employer and not because of their skill or experience.

However, in many family businesses, nepotism is the standard way of hiring and often a son or daughter is groomed for a position in the family business from a young age. Hiring family is not always a bad thing, especially if they have an ownership position or hope to inherit the business some day. The employer often gets a loyal and hard working employee with a vested interest in the business succeeding. Also, many employers know that a relative of a productive employee often has the same work ethic and will look favorably at hiring within the same family. In many cultures this is very common and the employer finds that the family will handle any employment issues with an errant relative way before the employer has to intervene.

Negative situations occur when the employee brings family conflicts into the business or has an attitude of entitlement. This and many other issues can create a bad employment situation.

Therefore there are no hard and fast rules about hiring relatives and friends. The key is to hold the relative to the same rules and standards as the rest of the employees. Ensure they are truly qualified for the job they are assigned to and help them improve their skills and knowledge so they can take on even more responsibility.

See: 3 Keys to Hiring Relatives for more information on hiring relatives

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Now, it’s not fair to assume that all family hiring will end badly, because there are some family/business relationships that do work. However, all too often the business relationship ends and the family relationship suffers.

Some larger companies have actually gone as far as to have specific rules against nepotism (hiring relatives). Rules such as relatives cannot work in the same department or one relative cannot supervise the other. But these rules can often be difficult to employ especially in a small business.

Typically I advise against hiring relatives all together, but if you feel you must hire from within your family, here are three keys for making the relationship a success.

1. Give a full job description: Before you begin the hiring process it is very important to outline the specific tasks and responsibilities of the position. Be sure to include an organizational chart so the applicant can see exactly where he/she fits in the company. This description will be very useful whether you hire a relative or not, but if you are interviewing a relative the description and organization chart will go a long way in showing the relative exactly where they stand in the company and what is expected.
2. Make sure they are the best fit: It can be very tempting to show a relative favoritism and just offer them the open job. This can be a very big mistake in the long run. It is best to have all potential hires go through the same hiring process. Have them fill out an application, bring a resume and do all the screening and testing you would normally do. This will prevent the wrong person from being put in the wrong position and can help you avoid an awkward firing later.
3. Explain what is expected: Be sure to have an employee manual that clearly outlines all rules and expectations of the employee. Review the manual with the relative and set up all work hours, vacation and attendance requirements. Laying out these expectations in the beginning will prevent any misunderstandings and/or hard feelings later.

   For example: If your Brother decides that he is going to take a few extra days on his vacation, he needs to understand that he may not have a job when he returns. Work needs to get done and your business can’t wait for him to get back from the beach.

Everyone has friends and relatives that can potentially contribute to the success of your business, but this is a business relationship and should be treated as such. If you do this from the beginning, it will go a long way in preserving both your business and personal relationships.

Often, we hold back some salary during the probationary phase with a promise of an automatic raise after the probationary period is over. From long experience with employees, I can unequivocally say that if you are not totally delighted to give the employee the raise, you need to terminate them. There is no gray area here. Either they performed admirably or they didn’t. If they didn’t perform well during the first 90 days, THEY WILL NEVER GET ANY BETTER.

This rule is often a tough one to follow and with good reason. You have invested time and maybe even money to interview, recruit and hire this person. Also, you can’t help but to be personally invested in their success. You made the decision to hire them, you want them to succeed and not to mention that does it not reflect well on the hiring manager to have a bad hire.

But you have to put all this behind you and remember, if an employee doesn’t shine when they know they are being watched, they certainly won’t do any better when they feel more secure in their job. A bad attitude creeping into play early will only get worse.

So go back to the drawing board, and try again. Remember, this employee could be with you for years. Don’t get stuck with a bad hire. Take the time to find the best!

There are a number of good tests on the market to evaluate your hires.  Tests are one tool that allow you to probe deeper into the candidate’s personality and skills and really know what you are “buying” when you hire.

One of our favorite tests is an IQ test.  We have found that fitting the IQ with the position is important.  A medium IQ indicates a person that will learn well and follow directions.  A higher IQ indicates a person that can take the next step and innovate with situations and data.  A stellar IQ shows a person that will not only innovate with existing data, but will create new data and whole new ideas.  Successful entrepreneurs are often at genius IQ levels.

If you put a high IQ person in a routine, repetitive job, they will soon get bored and leave.  Or they will totally revamp your system and improve it.  Then, once they have mastered that challenge, it is important for you to ensure they have more challenges or you will lose them.

Another test we like is a personality test we routinely have our candidates take.  This test shows the inner workings of the personality.  For example, I once hired an accounting person based on the test.  The evaluation indicated that this person loved a routine, would never leave unless forced and would show up to work on time every day.  And you know, that’s exactly what happened!  It also indicated that this person would not rock the boat or make changes unless forced.  And that was both the good news and the bad news.  As my company grew, this person was unable to grow with it.  She stayed in the company, but in a position with much less responsibility and more routine.  The personality test clued me into what to expect and it was spot on!

One of my customers told me he expects only 75% of his new hires to perform satisfactorily.  I pointed out that he fails to test them.  Our percentages with testing are closer to 95% success rate.  A few hours of testing makes a huge difference in your success!!

A few years back I was looking to hire someone to create a new division for our company. The person needed a rather eclectic background that was hard to find. I interviewed a candidate and it became clear after two interviews that she was not the person for the job. I went back to the drawing board and found another candidate that looked great on paper. He had the skills experience I needed.

He came in to interview and I hired him on the spot.

Now my rule of thumb is to interview any key hire at least 3 times, with various people sitting in on the interview. It is also good to take the person to lunch before you hire them!
The next Monday he started working and to welcome him, I took him to lunch with another one of my staff members. The lunch proved to be awkward. He revealed a few things about himself that made me realize this was not his dream job and he was taking a big step down to come to work for us. It was also outside of his comfort zone as he was being asked to do sales and he was primarily a marketing guy – quite proficient in creating marketing plans. But talking to people he didn’t know sort of scared him.

I was worried I had acted too quickly and made a mistake. Sure enough, 6 months later he took a job for much more money in his field of marketing. In the entire 6 months he had not made any sales and actually had no real good contacts to turn over. He left mid a big project, which caused a great deal of stress for the rest of my staff.

What I learned here is that my second interview – the lunch – revealed the true character of the candidate. It was just too bad it happened after I had hired him. Now my rule of thumb is to interview any key hire at least 3 times, with various people sitting in on the interview. It is also good to take the person to lunch before you hire them!

Companies have varing policies on hiring an employee with a criminal background. But no one likes to be surprised in this area. Besides revealing past criminal activity, DUI’s and other alcohol related offenses can expose potential alcoholism.

Anyone who decides to hire a person with a criminal record should do so knowingly and with the approval of any other interested party, such as their Human Resources Department. Certainly it is laudable to give a person a second chance. Just make sure that everyone who has responsibility for the possible consequences of this action has agreed to it.

Background checks, like drug testing, are priced depending on the depth of data required. They can be as simple as a State criminal check, which costs about $15 or as complex as a full FBI Security Clearance. The minimum is the State test. If the person has lived in more than one state, you may want to check each of these.

Besides the obvious threat of theft and harm to co-workers, there is also the real threat of arson. Just a few months ago a business down the street from us burned to the ground. It did not take the police long to locate the perpetrator, an employee with a drug problem and criminal past. He was looking for money to buy drugs and decided to hide his tracks with a fire. No one says criminals are smart!

2. Not drug screening

I once hired a personable young man as a CAD designer. One day our customer asked to have him relocate to their site, once he passed a drug test. That’s when we learned that he was secretly a heroin addict! To say we were shocked is an understatement!! This young man had keys to our building for months.

If you think it can’t happen to you, think again.

The website www.drugfreeworkplace.com states that:

• Over 20 million Americans use Marijuana;
• An estimated 6 million Americans use Cocaine;
• An estimated half a million Americans use Heroin;
• An estimated 13 million Americans are alcoholics;
• Almost 1/3 of Americans between ages 20 and 40 have used an illicit drug once in the past year
• Almost 1/2 of Americans Entering the work Force have used an illicit drug once in the past year

Many of these drug users are prominent citizens in our communities. They are business owners, doctors, civic leaders, parents and neighbors.

Consider the profile of a regular cocaine user:

• Well educated [average of 14 years of education]
• Employed [77%] and well-paid [37% earn over 25K]
• 56% engage in illegal activity other than drug possession to support the habit
• 2/3 of drug abusers are employed !!
• Of these, 3/4 are full time

There are a number of different types of drug testing. The price is commensurate with the depth of testing. The easiest and most cost effective test is a saliva test. Next comes a urine test, which is usually performed in a medical office. The most comprehensive test is a hair test, which tests for about 6 months of drug use and cannot be easily masked.

Since alcohol does not stay in one’s system for long, it is difficult to test for. However, most alcoholics eventually get DUI’s or commit other offences, which show up in their criminal background check.

We recommend that your company formulate a drug policy and consistently test new hires per your policy. Doing so will protect you from the carelessness and criminality that often accompanies drug users.

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