Your small business is growing and you have decided it’s time to hire. Congratulations! Taking the hiring leap is a big and amazing decision! But are you stuck not knowing the next step?
Perhaps you have slapped together an advertisement on Indeed, or maybe you’ve even hired your best friend’s son to help during the busy seasons (read our blog on nepotism, by the way), but you are not getting the quality candidates that you were hoping for. Or, perhaps your scared that you may mis-judge someone’s character and wind up with a big problem?
If this sounds like you, you are probably committing at least one of the recruiting faux pas below.
Spoiler Alert! We can help you navigate around these recruitment pitfalls with our Essential Hiring Toolbox!
1. Having a poorly written job posting
We have all seen the poorly written job postings that list the bare bone information about the role and that’s it. If you fall into this camp, then you are not setting yourself up for success. Your job posting should not only outline the expected responsibilities that the incumbent will perform, but it is also how you market yourself as an employer and convey why people will like working with you.
Draw in the right candidates to apply to your job by including the following in a job posting:
- An overview of your company and an employer value proposition statement
- Position summary
- List of main responsibilities
- List of key qualifications
- Work conditions and expectations (be upfront and include the good and the bad!)
2. Not knowing all the costs of hiring an employee
Does your labour budget simply include an employee’s base salary? Think again! There are many additional payroll costs that you will need to take into consideration including:
- Employment Insurance
- CPP
- Vacation Pay
- Statutory Holiday Pay
- Emergency Day Pay
- WSIB
- RRSP Matching (optional)
- Employee Benefits (optional)
- Employee Bonus (optional)
- Other employee perks (optional)
Consider that the costs could easily be up to an additional 15% on top of the employee’s base salary.
3. Hiring on a “gut” feeling
Many people overly rely on their “gut” when hiring. It is important to be objective, avoid your bias and recognize the halo effect (when you are hiring someone like you) so that you can select the right person based on skills, ability and fit with your team. Avoid this pitfall by doing the following:
- Developing a tailored interview guide that asks questions to help you understand the candidate’s skills and experiences. Start by using some of our favourite questions.
- Conduct second round interviews with your top candidates and your other team members or business partners to assess fit with the team and get a second opinion about the candidates.
- Have your top candidates complete a practical exercise that assesses their ability to perform a routine function of the job (and make sure that they can actually do what they say you can do).
4. Skipping the offer letter
A well written offer letter is one of the single most important documents that you need to protect your business. If there is no employment contract in place your business may be open to legal risks and costs. There are many components of an offer letter including employment conditions and termination clauses. The creation of this document is a task best left to the experts. Contact us if you need support in this area.
5. Dropping the ball on onboarding
Is there a worse way to kick off the employment relationship then plunking your new hire down in front of an unprepared workstation while you run around and try to print off some paperwork for them to complete?
Onboarding is an extension of the recruitment process. When done correctly, it ensures that you have provided the new employee with the information they need before they start, that you have the required paperwork completed to facilitate the employment relationship and that you can get them up to speed on their new responsibilities faster. A good onboarding experience helps solidify your new hire’s resolve that they made a great choice in choosing to work for your business …and ensures they come back for day number two!
A Practical Solution to your Hiring Woes
Rather than spending your evenings googling “employer EI premiums”, you can get all the information you need to recruit effectively along with customized expert support with our Essential Hiring Toolbox.