Whether hiring your first employee or your hundredth, there are five basic things you should consider every time. It might be easier to install these into your company’s existing process. We realize that there are countless ways of hiring an employee, but wanted to share our top five things you should think about when hiring an employee.
1 – Background Check
As the business owner, you are responsible for knowing who is working for you. Performing a background check may not be cost effective when hiring new employees, but it can save you a lot of grief. Seeing their background will give you some idea of what this employee will be like when working for you.
2 – Verify Dates
Why should you verify employment and school dates? For starters, there is a lot of resume fraud. Any type of fraud, even if resume fraud is deemed petty, indicates character issues. If a candidate has lied on his or her resume, how can you trust them working for you? By adjusting dates on a resume, a potential employee could be hiding employment gaps or unwanted attention to reasons for termination.
3 – Check Credentials
Similarly to verifying dates, checking for credentials eliminates the possibility for fraud. You might even be able to verify dates at the same time. Simply put, it’s your job to check the credentials of a potential employee. From insurance purposes to legal reasons, ignorance is not an excuse. Who you talked to, when you called them, what emails were corresponded, and what was determined should be documented as a part of checking credentials.
4 – Driving Record
While this may be one that initially appears unnecessary, you will find out how they operate a machine, perform with no oversight, and follow guidelines. You may learn they had several speeding tickets when they were younger and have matured. Or, you may find out their license is suspended due to illegal activities, which should be a red flag.
5 – Have a Process
It’s wise to screen ALL candidates. Why? Not only is it due diligence, but you want to treat everyone fairly so that there is never a question of prejudice or stereotyping. Additionally, when running a process, you can subjectively evaluate each candidate in the same manner. If your business grows to a point where someone else is doing part or all of the hiring process, there is a proven method for them to follow.
You might think that hiring an employee is overwhelming. It is a big deal and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Hopefully, these five things will make hiring an employee easy. The IA Business Advisors team would love to talk with you more if you are thinking about hiring an employee.
