If you’re looking to unlock the gates of success for you and your company, you better hire the best employees.
I’ll take it a step further.
[tweet_box design=”default” url=”http://jef.tips/j13htbe16″ float=”none”]Show me your employees, and I’ll predict your business future.[/tweet_box]
The best employees are everything and the only thing for your success.
Am I saying that you, my Rockstar entrepreneur, are not enough for your business success?
Yes.
Take it from me. I was the kid straight out of school who started his EdTech with no money, experience, or team.
I was everything from the Janitor to the CEO of the company.
And while I made some progress, my success took off when I learned how to hire the best employees.
My 9-figure exit is a direct result of having the best employees in the industry.
Easier said than done.
Along the way, I failed too many times to count and wasted more money than I care to remember.
There was the employee who told my customers they were paying too much!
In the early days of my EdTech, my only two employees demanded I double their pay or ‘else.’ I took the or ‘else’ option and showed them the door. I canceled the first vacation I booked in three years and went back to being everything from the Janitor to CEO.
I loved my EdTech but knew there had to be a better way.
What changed my destiny (and fortune)?
I mastered how to hire the best employees.
How can you?
Keep reading.
Revealed: Where To Find The Best Employees
If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur. – Red Adair
Your best employees are in the places you least expect.
[tweet_box design=”default” url=”http://jef.tips/j13htbe16″ float=”none”]Do what everyone does, and you get what everyone gets.[/tweet_box]
Where should you look?
Some of my best employees have come from a simple Craig’s list ad. Yes, even senior executives.
Bright and innovative people, it turns out, like Craig’s list.
Your existing employees have friends that are like them and will thrive in your company.
Yes, birds of a feather do flock together.
And best of all, your employees self-police friends they bring into the workplace.
But wait, there’s more.
There are two other sources for finding the best employees.
Ask customers for people who impress them from companies they deal with. Talk about a treasure chest of talent who know your customer and have proven themselves.
But whatever you do, don’t hire an employee away from your customer. This is a great way to lose your customer.
Last, but not least, are your interactions.
Every day you deal with hundreds of people. When you find someone who impresses you to the moon and back, offer them a job.
Some of my best employees have come from interactions outside of my business.
Don’t let pedigree or experience fool you for a moment.
[tweet_dis url=”http://jef.tips/j13htbe16″]Talent trumps skills. All day. Every day. Hire the talent.[/tweet_dis]
Know What You Want So You Know Who You Want
If you don’t know what you want, you will probably never get it – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Before you find and hire the best employees, you need to know what you want to you know who you want.
Your future employees are evaluating you as much as you’re evaluating them.
The workplace is no longer local. You’re up against global competition.
As the saying goes, you don’t get a second chance to make a great first impression.
How do you make a great first impression?
Figure out these three things ahead of time:
- What you and your company are all about
- Results you want from the position
- The behavior you’re looking for that works within your culture
Know what you and your company are all about is the starting point.
In other words, why were you and your company put on this planet?
Next up, get specific with the results you want for the position.
Suppose you’re hiring for a manager of your help desk.
Take your job description and toss it.
Instead, let’s talk metrics. As an example, your looking for:
- Phones answered within 30 seconds or less
- Questions from emails or the web answered within 15 minutes
- Call abandonment rates less than 1%
- 80% of the technical support team are A players
- Help desk employees stay in position 48 months, or more
- Create an environment of trust and fairness
The best employees thrive when they know what’s expected of them. As important, you now have a tool to measure success week-over-week.
There are no surprises when an employee receives a promotion, or instead, leaves.
Now that you know what you want, you’re ready to find and hire the best employees in three easy steps.
What are these three steps?
Keep reading.
Find The Best Employees By NOT Dancing The Dance
Tradition is a guide and not a jailer – W. Somerset Maugham
Looking to find the best employees to take you and your company to the next level?
Great!
Avoid the expected and welcome the unexpected.
Applicants are well trained and expecting you do the expected.
Questions like “what are your weaknesses?” or “can you sell me this pencil?” are all too common.
Expect well rehearsed and canned answers.
You’ll find the best employees by not dancing the dance.
What do you do to find the best employees?
Your three things for stellar results are:
- Dial for success
- Collect stories
- Check references
Let’s dive into each.
How To Dial For Success When Finding The Best Employees
Emails get reactions. Phone calls start conversations – Simon Sinek
When looking for the best employees, save time and effort with a ten to fifteen-minute call.
Why a call and not a meeting?
Simple.
Your time.
People expect a meeting to last at least a half hour, if not more. Anything less is offensive.
Enter the phone call.
People expect a phone call to be short.
Your goal is to remove, as fast as possible, candidates who aren’t a fit.
What do you talk about on the phone when trying to find the best employees?
Ask about professional goals. Learn what worked in the last job, and what didn’t. Do you hear passion on the other end of the phone, or not?
If candidates can wave their magic wands, what does the next job look like? Better yet, how did candidates leave previous positions?
How someone left a job is how they’ll leave you and your company.
Interviewer beware!
Once you have your group of people who have potential, it’s time to meet them.
When Finding The Best Employees Learn The Story Behind The Story
My life is my message. Mahatma Gandhi
When it comes to finding the best employees, think of yourself as a detective.
Find the story behind the story for the people you interview.
Look at a person’s professional experience from the first job to the present day and ask:
- Tell me about your responsibilities
- What did you achieve?
- Name some high points and low points
- What do you look for in coworkers?
- Talk about what your boss would say about you
- Why did you leave?
The more details, the better.
Do this for every position listed.
Why?
People leave jobs because of personality, not skills.
When you know a person’s life story, you can compare it to the scorecard for the position.
Often, people walk away learning new things about themselves.
Everyone has patterns.
These patterns define people. Know your patterns, and you can change your destiny.
On many occasions, I’ve spent over four hours learning the story behind the story.
The time spent is a drop in the bucket when you think of the time, and money wasted on the wrong hire.
Have two to four of your team members meet candidates who show promise. The meetings should be with one team member at a time and last between thirty minutes to an hour.
The purpose of the meetings is for your team to look for a fit with the scorecard and the candidate. Let your team confirm if they see the fit you see.
Suppose a person impressed you and the team, exceeds the scorecard and is a culture fit.
Now what?
Keep reading.
Take A Pass On Job References, And You Take A Pass On Your Future
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit – Will Durant
You’d be right if you said the interviewing process takes time and is tiring.
But this is not a reason to skip reference checks.
When it comes to finding the best employees, reference checks give you the certainty to hire, or not.
The key to reference checks is both in what you ask and who you speak to.
When possible, speak to people who aren’t on the list of references. Easier said than done, but worth the effort.
I’ve had success in asking the following questions to references:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate performance?
- What caused you to give the rating? (for the question above)
- How did you work with the person?
- When you worked with the person, what did the person do great and what could be better?
- If you could hire or work with the person again, would you?
Don’t listen to what’s said. Instead, listen for what’s not said or how it’s said.
Look for inconsistencies.
And at the same time, look for consistencies.
References are a great way to find out if your candidate is the real deal, or not.
Beware of reference checks who are too careful in how they word things. This is usually a sign that a person wants to tell you something negative but is afraid to for legal reasons.
Look to reference checks as your last chance to prove why you should, or shouldn’t hire somebody.
And when in doubt, take a pass.
After all, only outstanding talent will do when hiring the best employees.
Create A Job Offer Like Your Company’s Future Depends On It. Because It Does
People are not your most important asset. The right people are. – Jim Collins
From the janitor to the CEO, everyone counts.
You may have created the world’s best scorecard and found the best candidates. You know the story behind the story, and you even called every reference.
Good on you.
But none of this counts if your job offer isn’t accepted.
True A players have choices, are you’re likely one of many choices.
How do you win the day?
Create and present a job offer like your company’s future depends on it. Because it does.
The great news is you have the edge from two things you’ve already done.
You’ve put down in a sentence why you and your company are on planet earth.
You know the story behind the story about your future employee.
It’s now time to tune into WII.FM to create the job offer of offers.
What’s WII.FM, you ask?
It stands for “What’s In It For Me?”
Figure out what moves the needle for your future hire and build your offer around this.
Money, time, and benefits are a great starting point. Great creative.
And let’s not forget the “F’ word. You know, the fun factor.
Show your future employee why your company is the best choice and the only choice. Tell your story of why your company is the place to be for goals realized and destinies fulfilled.
If you’ve done your job right, and I know you have, you’ve found the A-Player of A-Players.
And it’s your A-Players that will help you create a market disruption so you can dominate and win.
Have your company rally around the A player to ensure a comfort level and fit. Finding and hiring the best employees is the best investment you’ll ever make.
Bonus: Create And Maintain A Virtual Bench Of A-Players
The choices we make determine our future – Catherine Pulsifer
The quest to find and hire the best employees can be the most challenging and rewarding thing you’ll ever do.
And if you’ve done your job right, chances are you’ll have more A-Players than you can hire.
There will also be times where an A-Player takes another opportunity.
Either way, make the commitment to stay in touch with A-Players.
Why have a virtual bench?
There’s nothing worse than getting blindsided when an A-Player quits. Yes, it happens to even the best companies.
You never know when you’ll get a book of business today that needs more talent than you have tomorrow.
Regardless of the reason, cultivate and grow business relationships with A-Players.
Having a virtual bench of A-Players allows you to fill an existing or new position. Fast.
How can you do this?
Invite your virtual bench to company invites and ensure they receive company newsletters.
Make a point to have lunch with people on the virtual bench.
Maintaining your virtual bench is easier said than done.
You’ll need time, effort, and planning.
But know this, and know this well.
The time and money invested is a rounding error compared to the return-on-investment.
Both your future and your company’s future depends on having the best employees.
Your virtual bench is one way to ensure your ranks have A-Player who can and will make the difference.
And you can take that to the bank.
Conclusion
Do you want to take your company to the next level, unlock sweet success, and dominate?
You better have the best employees on your team.
How do you find and hire the best employees?
Let’s leave theory for textbooks and the classroom.
When I started my EdTech right out of school, I had no money, experience, or team.
My EdTech went from ‘zero’ to ‘hero’ once I figured out how to find and hire the best employees.
And the proof?
My 9-figure exit.
When your company runs without you, you have a company culture that wins the day.
In the early days, most of the things I tried failed. I spent countless hours and money to figure out what worked.
I learned that conventional wisdom isn’t so wise.
The great news is that my heavy lifting and failures are for your benefit and prosperity.
I’ve shared eight proven strategies to help you find and hire the best employees.
What can you do and where do you start?
Start with the first strategy and stay with it until you master it. Once you’ve mastered the strategy move on to the next one.
Stay with it until you’ve mastered all eight strategies.
You already have everything you need, right now, within you.
So what are you waiting for?
Here’s to you and your success!
Your Biggest Raving Fan,
Jeffrey Feldberg
Today, Feldberg's passion is helping you extract your deep wealth. The 90-day Deep Wealth Mastery program helps create a solid foundation for three areas: increasing profits to enterprise value and optimizing post-exit life. Deep Wealth Mastery offers strategies and insights drawn from Feldberg's rich experience. The strategies from the trenches get results. Jeffrey's vision is to increase the social fabric of society one entrepreneur at a time.
Learn more through https://iapdw.com/prosper
