7
BUSINESS CORNER
tips to hire
smart for
your small
business
E
ver heard the expression
“One bad apple spoils the
barrel?” In business, this
is especially true because
hiring the wrong person can
negatively affect everyone working
around them, as well as potentially
harming the reputation of your
company.
Turnover is incredibly expensive
and can have a ripple effect
throughout an organization. Hiring
new employees involves the cost
of advertising, possibly an agency
or recruiter, plus the time and
energy spent searching, selecting,
onboarding and training new hires.
For these reasons, any business
-- especially a smaller one -- wants
to hire the right person, every time.
Here are tips to help you make a
smart hire.
1. Use the latest technology to
streamline your hiring efforts. If
you are hiring several new people,
or anticipate growth, talent
acquisition software, such as an
applicant tracking system, can
help you not only find the right
applicants, but efficiently evaluate
and track applications throughout
the screening and interviewing
process. Dell implemented software
called Interview Stream. This digital
interviewing tool has cut the time
managers and other team members
have to spend interviewing
candidates that are not a good job
or culture fit by 50 percent. Tools
like Interview Stream are affordable
ways you can digitally screen
candidates before putting them
through a live interview.
2. Add artificial intelligence (AI)
to your talent acquisition toolbox.
AI is quickly becoming a useful tool
for talent acquisition as it reduces
unconscious bias in the recruiting
process. AI tools can assess a
large amount of data and screen
candidates without the biases we
tend to have. AI can also examine
inherent bias in the language of
job postings, plus evaluate other
postings to see what attracts more
applicants.
3. Include more people in the
process. It is vital to gather input
from your team, especially others
who understand the position and
how that person will work cross-
functionally with others. It’s also
useful for the applicant to meet a
number of employees with different
perspectives in the business to be
sure they’ll be a good fit. What
doesn’t seem like a red flag to one
person may be obvious to someone
else.
4. Do your due diligence. Many
employers don’t follow through
on reference checks which could
reveal a lot about potential
new hires. Call the applicant’s
previous supervisors, even
beyond the references provided
by the candidate. Ask about
the applicant’s strengths and
weaknesses as those answers can
be critical in making your hiring
18 SL-YOU | It’s All About Business
www.slyoumag.com | September-October 2019