When looking for the right talent, America's small business leaders face an ever-present challenge...selecting and hiring individuals who are aligned with the organization's vision, mission and goals and will be a good fit for the job and the organization. Eighty-three percent of small business owners are passionate about the business they started and know that having the best people on their team is critical.
Small businesses are major contributors to the strength of the American economy. There are an estimated 27 million-plus small businesses operating in the U.S. and more than half of Americans either own or work for one. With the stubbornly high unemployment rate, it can be puzzling why businesses are struggling to find employees.
One of the problems is small businesses must compete with larger organizations for the best employees. For small businesses to succeed, it's essential to have employees with innovative leadership skills that go beyond the basic job description. These skills include:
- Ability to communicate effectively
- Resourcefulness
- Initiative
- Creativity
- Integrity
Along with leadership skills, employees need passion. So when it comes to talent recruitment and selection, unemployment isn't the problem; it's finding qualified individuals who are not only skilled for the specific position, but also possess the essential leadership, go-getter attitude to be successful.
So, how can small business owners find and select these top-of-the-line employees? It is crucial that you work with the finest recruitment team or independent recruiter you can find and incorporate pre-hire assessments and skills tests into your selection process.
As someone who has worked in the human asset management discipline for over twenty years, I was amazed and heartened by the surge in value I was able to provide to my clients when I incorporated the best valid and reliable assessment solutions I could find into my work with organizations. These instruments measure the most important dimensions of human beings so that clients have an increased ability to:
- Make better hiring decisions
- Reduce employee turnover
- Accelerate onboarding
- Target developmental needs
- Align talent with business needs
- Improve Manager communication
- Reduce workplace conflict
- Reduce theft and absenteeism
- Improve sales performance
- Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty
After using this methodology successfully for many years, I can say with confidence that working with the best recruiters and using high-quality employment assessments, based on measuring skills, capacity, attitudes and behaviors, can help ensure you hire the right person for the right job, every time.
