First and foremost, congratulations on getting your startup to a place where you need to take on extra members of staff! That’s a big achievement. Especially when you think that in the first year of running a business, half of all startups fail. So to get to a place where you need help running your business means that you must be doing something right.
While it’s great that you’ve made a success of your startup, taking on your first team members can be incredibly stressful. The thing is, there’s a lot more to becoming an employer than you would think. The good news is, however, that if you know what you’re doing, taking on your first employees can be somewhat straightforward and easy.
To help make the process a little less stressful, take note of the following tips and advice.
Learn how to be a good boss
Whether you’re planning on taking on a team of employees or just one team member, it’s crucial that you know how to be a good boss. The thing that a lot business owners don’t realise is that word spreads quickly about how you treat your employees. So it’s important that from the get-go, you treat anyone who you employ in the right way. After all, the last thing you want is to get a bad name for yourself as a boss. If you’re not sure what it takes to be a good employer, it could be worth reading up or taking part in online learning. Webinars can be a fantastic way to learn all the ins and outs to being the best boss possible.
Invest in the right support
As you’re only taking on your first employees, you most probably don’t have any support on hand. To make the process of recruiting a little easier, it could be worth looking into outsourcing. By using a reliable interim HR service to help make your recruitment process easier, you can reduce some of the stress that you’re under. It might be an additional cost to cover, but if you want to find the right team for your business, it can be beneficial to have professional help on hand.
Know what is and isn’t acceptable
When it comes to recruitment and the interview process, there is certain behaviour that is and isn’t acceptable. So before you start holding your interviews, it’s important to be aware of what is and isn’t acceptable. As a potential employer, it’s your job to be polite and courteous to each and every interviewee. It’s also your job to know what you can and cannot ask at an interview. For instance, any questions regarding a candidate’s religious beliefs, family life, or age are all off limits. Along with any questions about your personal life, such as whether you smoke or drink. Ask any of these questions, and you could end up in a lot of trouble. So it’s important to be aware of what is and isn’t acceptable.
There’s a lot more to taking on your first team members than meets the eye. The recruitment process can be lengthy and stressful and can be incredibly hard to navigate if you don’t know what you’re doing.
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