Management |Small business
Hiring 101 By Lydia Truesdale
If you’ve ever fretted about the hiring process, you’re not alone. Finding the candidate that will best thrive in the role, as well as affirm with company culture, is not a task to be underestimated. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to smooth the hiring process. Before you even advertise the position, the Ministry of Business suggests you take the time to consider the following: • Which type of employee you should get, e.g., permanent or casual • What kind of skills your business needs to expand or diversify • How many hours a week it would take to do the required tasks • How much responsibility you’re willing to delegate
• Whether you are willing to train someone to get them up to speed, or you need someone who can hit the ground running • The candidate’s likely salary expectations • What resources you will need in place, e.g., wages, insurance, tax levies, computers etc. Considering these points gives you a clear idea of the position, and this is a helpful foundation when considering the resumes before you and who to hire.
Reviewing resumes Here’s where things get complicated. Traditionally the most preferable candidates are scholarly or well-educated, have shown drive and focus through commitment to extra-curricular interests or activities, and have proven themselves working in both group and independent scenarios. Undoubtedly this is a reliable set of skills, and by picking someone with this arsenal you’re likely to get an employee who will do the job well. However many companies today are breaking traditions in many a way, and the mold of what a potentially ideal candidate looks like is just one of them.
In her Ted Talk, ‘Why the best hire might not have the perfect resume’, human resources executive Regina Hartley makes a convincing case for why you should hire the “scrapper”. With a 25year long career in human resources, Regina has arguably seen it all and she believes it is the candidates who have shone in the face of adversity who are the best hire. When considering the qualified candidates, “Choose the underestimated contender, whose secret weapons are passion and purpose,” she says. Regina speaks of two distinct categories of candidate: A and B. Candidate A, the ‘silver spoon’, is the person who clearly had advantages and were destined for success, and Candidate B, the ‘scrapper’, the one who had to fight against tremendous odds to get to the same point. A resume certainly tells a story, and while a series of odd jobs may indicate a lack of focus, commitment, and unpredictability, it could also signal “a committed struggle against obstacles. At the very least they deserve an interview.” And she has a point – those who have faced adversity and reached the same point are likely better prepared to deal with the tough
times than those whose whole life has been engineered for success. Whichever approach you choose, the resume should be studied thoroughly. Researching a potential candidate is perhaps the most important thing you can do during the hiring process.
The interview Interviewing - it’s not easy to learn what you need to know about someone from such an encounter. While there’s many questions you should ask, Forbes contributor Louis Efron says the key to hiring the right person lies in finding their purpose, and this comes through asking “Why?”. Asking “why?” will determine whether what the candidate is driven by aligns with the beliefs and vision your company needs to drive it forward. If the two are naturally aligned, you’re likely to get more from your employee, be it understanding, productivity, satisfaction or loyalty. Companies today don’t feel confined to following established molds and this is a good thing. It inspires innovation, it commands new ideas and ideologies, and it's the best catalyst for greatness. It can only be good, then, if the same philosophy is applied to the process that determines who makes up your company.
Crunching your own numbers
The pros and cons of DIYing your small business accounts Every small business person has this dilemma: Do the books yourself, or contract a professional bookkeeper? Lisa Martin from bookkeeping firm, GoFi8ure, examines the pros and cons of the DIY approach versus the professional contractor approach.
Pros Pro: It’s cheaper. You don’t have to pay anyone. You do it yourself - often at night or on the weekends, but hey… at least it’s cheaper. Pro: You can lodge and file the numbers and the paperwork any which way you want ‘em. Where they make sense to you and where (hopefully) you can find ‘em again (and hopefully understand ‘em).
you were supposed to do it. All of which gets the IRD interested in you and that can cost you plenty, both in terms of hard cash and your stress levels.
Pro: You’re the boss. You need to know what’s going on. You need to be in control of every facet of the business (despite the fact you’re not quite sure what those complex new tax rules mean and how they affect you, but you’ll wing it. How bad can it be?).
Con: It takes time you’d probably rather spend fishing or golfing, or doing anything other than entering and filing receipts and calculating GST. How much is your time worth? What’s your mental health worth?
Cons Con: If you’re like most small business people, doing the books is probably not your best skill set. Otherwise you’d be an accountant, right? So it’s likely you will probably: a) put off doing the books, b) make a mistake in the books c) fail to file all the necessary paperwork with the proper authorities, and, d) mess up the management of your business’ finances.
Con: You are not growing your business. Because you’re head down over the books, you are not out there doing the business, marketing the business and making money. You’re in here with your calculator and a complicated Excel spreadsheet that’s probably driving you mad!
Con: You risk a call from the IRD. Because you are not an expert and because managing your business’ financial affairs requires an expert, you could well end up falling foul of the IRD because you got things wrong, or didn’t do what you were supposed to do, when
CHANGE YOUR JOB CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
Con: You are not managing your money and using it as wisely as you could do. Again, you’re not an expert at that – otherwise you’d be a banker, right? But professional, contract bookkeepers are experts at it and they can
both save you money and make you money by advising you how to manage your company’s money. Con: You’re probably causing yourself stress and sleepless nights. Yes, you’re saving money by DIYing it, but you’re probably giving yourself a headache you don’t need.
The bottom line So, the bottom line, as we bookkeepers like to say, is; yes, you could DIY your company’s financial management, but why would you if you are serious about growing your business and making money? Smart business people know when and where to invest to grow their business. The question is: Are you a smart business person, or do you believe you can DIY every job - and end up potentially doing none of them well?
PROUD
To be a finalist ONCE AGAIN in the last NetGuide Best Employment site category!
0800 486 329 | 2 IVAN JAMIESON PLACE, CHCH AIRPORT, CHCH 8053, NZ.
www.aucklandtoday.net.nz January/February 2017 | 13