Introduction

Small business hiring in 2024 might feel like walking through a maze blindfolded. 

But not only is this not impossible, it's life-changing.

Over the last 10 years, I've made all the mistakes in the book when hiring new team members. 

I wrote this blog post so you don't have to make those same mistakes. 

I won't beat around the bush. These are simple actionable insights you could use to transform your team into a lean mean profit generating machine.

In this article, I'll share the key things you need to do to hire great team members, the dos and don'ts around hiring, the mistakes I've made along the way, and how to avoid them.

Ready?

Let's dive in. 

My painful journey around hiring

When I started Productive Insights back in 2013 I knew nothing about hiring as a small business owner. 

I'd managed teams in my previous roles back in the corporate world but I'd never actually recruited as a business owner. 

Turns out, when you're hiring for your own business there's a lot more at stake. One bad team member can make or break your business. 

Especially in the early stages. 

I started off by hiring people based on their written applications in response to job ads. 

Big mistake! 

Some of them didn't have the skills they said they had. Some did have the skills but had a very poor attitude and consistently missed deadlines.

Some even didn't show up for work on day one!

Over the years, I learned a few tricks that have helped me find the best possible candidates for my business. 

I wrote this blog post so you don't make the same mistakes I did.

It might saves you years of heartache.

My hard earned lessons from hiring

1. Always be in hiring mode
2. Don't hire the first applicant
3. Get clear on the skills needed
4. Test them with a trial project first
5. Understand hiring needs effort
6. And retention is even more effort
7. Confirm they're a good fit culturally
8. Create a clear job ad (use easter egg*)
9. Screen for detail-orientation (via easter egg*)

1. Always be in hiring mode

Finding the right team members isn't a one and done affair. It took me years to learn this simple lesson. 

Being on the lookout for great quality team members who are a good fit for your business is essential if you want to build a great team over the long term. 

This doesn't mean you go out on a hiring frenzy and you hire new person every day.

What it does mean is, you keep an eye out for people who are likely to be a great fit and build relationships with them for future hires.

The key is to keep building relationships and connections with great candidates. 

Follow their careers watch what they achieve and how often they get promoted within the same company. 

Neil Patel shared some good ideas with this in my last conversation with him.

2. Don't hire the first applicant

I've made this mistake more than once. You'd think I'd have learned this the first time but it took me ages to learn this lesson. 

If you follow my advice in point 1 — always be on the lookout for great candidates — you're less likely to be in a huge rush to hire someone when you need the help and you're less likely to hire the first person that walks through the door or applies for your job online. 

You need to interview effectively and check for the right personal attributes — not just hire for skills. 

More on this later. 

3. Get clear on the skills needed (but go beyond this)

Getting a person onboard with the right skills is essential but not enough. 

You need to hire people who have the right attitude. Hire people who are entrepreneurial and resourceful. 

I've lost count of the number of candidates I've hired that were a great fit for the role in terms of skills but were unwilling or unable to do anything outside their job description.

For a small business owner, this is a nightmare. 

Don't make the same mistake I did. 

Hire people who have a great can-do attitude. People who have are genuinely curious and are willing to solve problems at a root cause level rather than just put band aids on problems.

Pro tip: Write a great job description that automatically filters out the tyre kickers (I'll be sharing more about this later)

4. Test for skills and attitude on a project basis 

Once I make a commitment to someone by bringing them into my team, I do my best to offer them a great working environment. 

But a great working environment is a product of a strong culture which is built by every single team member (more on culture later). 

By hiring someone on a project basis, you get the opportunity to watch them work with you and your team in real time.

Almost anyone can perform well over an hour long interview, but actually performing well over a period of weeks or months on a project gives you a real picture of what they're like to work with. 

Hiring people on a project basis (or for a few weeks on a probationary basis) is one of the best moves I've made over the last 10 years as an employer. 

5. Understand hiring needs effort

Ever heard the phrase "Sweat more in practice, bleed less in battle"

That's very true when it comes to hiring. 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to not put in effort to get the right team member in place for each and every role. 

This includes hiring people who are keen to learn, and aren't afraid of stepping outside their comfort zone (and their area of expertise)

For years, I glossed over the idea that hiring required effort. What this meant was I ended up putting in running my business. 

I made several poor hiring decisions.

The result? 

My business was a dumpster fire. People with the right skills who didn't want to do the work needed to get the job done. They only wanted to 'stay in their lane' and do the work they were hired to do.

Newsflash: if you work in a small business, it's all hands on deck. Working only on your specialty is reserved for large organisations.

For example, if you hire someone as a full-time video editor, they might need to occasionally do some graphic design. Or manage a project in Clickup. 

Sure, you wouldn't ask them to write code, but a good team member wouldn't balk at the idea of learning it. 

And that's the point. 

Hire people who are open minded and willing to learn. If you hire people who aren't open minded it'll come back to bite you (even if they're very skilled at their job).

Note: The above only applies to people who are full-time employees in the business. Freelancers and contractors (by definition) aren't going to do anything outside their job description which is acceptable. 

6. Understand that retention takes even more effort than hiring well

Once you've got the hiring process right and you've done the work to bring the best people into the team, the next step is to retain them.

Talent prefers to work with talent. This means you need to provide a good working environment for these team members you've recruited.

They need to feel challenged but not overwhelmed. It's a fine balance. 

You also need to ensure th...