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Your business will benefit enormously from having a diverse workforce that reflects your customer base. This will help you to identify with them and, ultimately, sell to them effectively.
However, it does mean you shouldn't just choose people who are like you. Neither should you recruit only intellectuals or visionaries or salespeople - this will make for a very bland workforce! You need a good mix of employees who share the values of the business but who also bring a spark to the business when put together.
The interview
For the interview itself, experts say to avoid gimmicks like the 'good cop, bad cop' act, because that will not get the best out of your candidate, which is ideally what you want.
It is well worth having a structured approach to evaluating your candidates, as it will help you to avoid making a decision on your first impression, which may be wrong.
A structured interview means that you should have a list of questions, so that every candidate is assessed on the same areas, but you can also ask additional questions that are specific to the individual.
Also, consider having a second interviewer, someone with whom you can have a healthy debate about the candidates.
The interview itself should help to determine the person's understanding and knowledge of the job, company and product, any technical skills that may be required, and any specialist knowledge. It will also help you to determine their 'soft skills', such as team working, planning, organising, influencing, persuading or selling. The most accurate predictor of future performance is to find out about their past behaviour in certain situations, for example, when they were under pressure.
Saying that, the interview should be relaxed, around a small table, not over a desk, and you should try to put the candidate at ease to get the best out of them. Be polite and courteous, because they are also deciding whether you will be a good employer for them!
Happy workforce
For small businesses, offering your employees a gym membership or good pension scheme may be out of the question. But there are many things you can do to ensure your workforce stays motivated and happy. For example, socialising and team building is valuable, and it is worth encouraging people to meet in a non-work environment that does not involve talking business. It is also a good idea to mark occasions like births, birthdays and weddings with informal office events.
Another worthwhile exercise is to regularly update the staff on how the business is doing, so that they can feel involved. Formally recognise good work and have good employee review processes that allow employees to discuss their goals and performance, and express any concerns.
Conflict resolution
In a small business environment, it is essential to catch staff conflicts as early as possible.
In dealing with them, remember to be even-handed, and not to take sides or get involved emotionally. Allow the individuals to express themselves and feel they have been acknowledged.
There are two main ways to deal with conflict: confrontation, where you face the conflict head-on, and diffusion, which involves getting alongside the parties while trying indirect methods to resolve the conflict.
If you opt for the head-on approach, allow a third party to sit in on any discussions, get agreement on the problem from all sides, suggest possible solutions, and try to go for a win-win outcome where everyone is happy.
Remember, though, that conflict is not inherently bad and, if you resolve it well, it can strengthen the business.
Related information:
What business structure is best for you? - should you be a sole trader, 'ltd', 'plc' or a partnership? We explain the different options.
What you need to know about tax - we set out the basics when it comes to paying tax on your business' profits or self-employed earnings.
Getting your name out there - you don't need to have a big TV advertising campaign to get your business noticed - there's some much cheaper tactics that can be really effective.
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