To build a business it takes a team.  In fact, it’s more important than most small business owners think!

Ask any investor or lender and 9 times out of 10 they’ll tell you the most important factor that they evaluate is the TEAM.  Why?  Because if they’re giving you money they want to know that money is not at risk.  And, the one of the #1 reasons that most companies go under is mismanagement.

That being said, how do you get the right people to help you grow your business?  Just like most things you just need to apply a simple formula:

  • Understand the important business intangibles
  • Create a high-performance environment
  • Hire to fit the company culture

Understanding the Important Business Intangibles

A business is like any other group of people, it has its own personality.  Many of the things that make up that personality are not tangible things.  It’s the things you value and believe as an organization.

Most times a small business take on the value and beliefs of the owner.  These intangibles are always there, but it’s important to get them documented in a way that everyone understand what is expected!  If you can’t write it down, it’s nearly impossible to communicate it.  If it doesn’t get communicated then it’s a crap shoot if it ever gets done!

While this is not as easy as it sounds.  There are plenty of consultants out there that can assist in this process.  Getting it out of the owner’s head and documented in the critical first step in the process.

Creating a High-Performance Environment

I won’t spend too much time on this one as it was the topic of the previous post titled 4 Characteristics for Creating High Performance Organizations.  In it I outlined what is necessary to allow an organization to perform at a higher level.  Follow the tips there and you’ll have your organization on the way to having the framework necessary to perform at the level you want.

Hiring to Fit the Company Culture

If you’ve done the first 2 steps this one becomes much easier.  The business intangibles form the foundation of what is your company culture.  Then by creating the operating framework within which these things will monitored you just need to hire people that fit the mold!  So how do you do that?

First, make sure there are innocuous questions within your interviews that let you understand how candidates feel about your company values and beliefs.  You many even want to create roleplaying scenarios that allow you to see firsthand how they will react in a situation.  This will give you a better idea of what to expect.

Also, I recommend behavioral evaluation testing as part of the process. DE, Inc. has used Profiles Internationals ProfileXT tool in the past.  This tool helps you identify those slick interview takers that can sell you in an interview, but that might not have the right traits to fit in your culture or role.  This may not be necessary in every hire.  But, in critical hires it is well worth a few hundred dollars to make sure you’re getting the right person on the bus!

Remember hiring the right people is critical.  It takes a little longer, but the right people can make the difference between success and failure.

If you need assistance with this feel free contact me.  While DE, Inc. is not a recruiting firm, we have helped many companies determine what they needed to provide to a recruiting company or to their HR department to begin hire more of the right people for growth of their business.