If you’ve reached today’s article, we’re going to hand out a huge congratulations.
After all, generally speaking at least, those businesses that are thinking about recruiting tend to be performing very well. In the current climate, this is already a fantastic achievement.
However, making your first hire is still a huge step. Suddenly, it’s not just you who your business is responsible for ‘looking after’; there is someone else who is dependent.
Many small business owners revel in this situation, but it’s easy to forget some of the basics. Through today’s article, we will take a look at some key questions you should ask yourself if you are on the cusp of starting your first recruitment drive.
Do you have sustained demand for your first permanent employee?
This may seem like a pretty obvious question, but it’s worth considering nonetheless.
When making your first hire, you want to ensure that the position you are filling is sustainable in the long term.
This means looking at your business growth projections and ensuring that you have a clear idea of how much work will be coming in over the next 6 to 12 months. One of the biggest mistakes we see is businesses deciding to take someone on straight off the back of a notoriously busy period. The question is, what happens next? Will there be enough work to keep a new recruit financially viable?
With more people working on a freelance basis than ever, ask yourself if turning to someone temporarily might be a more suitable option.
Do you have a clear idea of the role you need to fill?
This is another question worth spending some time on and surprisingly flies under the radar.
Amidst the excitement of trying to get your first recruit through the door, ask yourself if you know exactly what you need them for. If you can start to draft out a list of responsibilities, you’ll soon understand if you truly need your first recruit.
Have you considered the indirect costs?
Any time you take on a new employee, there will always be some indirect costs. This might include increased office space (and the effects this might have on your insurance obligations), equipment and software, or even just the additional time it takes for a new member of staff to become fully integrated into your company.
When budgeting for your first recruitment drive, make sure you factor these in and have a clear idea of how much they will add to the overall cost.
What about the training time?
Even if you have found the perfect candidate, it’s important to remember that they won’t be able to start performing their role immediately.
There will always be a training period, which can range from a few days to a few weeks, or even longer in some cases.
Make sure that you are aware of this and have budgeted for it. You don’t want to be in a position where you have taken on a new employee, only to find that you can’t afford to train them. And when we talk about ‘afford’ in this case, we’re talking about your own time commitments.
