Hiring the right people is arguably one of the most important things you can do to support the long-term success of your enterprise. And yet so many business owners approach hiring as an afterthought. They put a half-hearted ad in the local newspaper and hope to high heaven they get lucky and don’t invest into management training. 

This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make if you want your business to succeed. 

The solution to this problem is called an Employee Acquisition Plan–and you simply must implement one to your management training if you want to reduce staff-related headaches, shrink, and waste…not to mention find real, high-quality candidates to take over your business once you decide it’s time to move on. I always like to say that hiring is a lot like fishing: the more fish on deck, the choosier you can be! Here are four simple steps to making it happen… 

1.Write a Brilliant Job Description.  

The best way to catch a lot of fish (especially the right kind of fish!) is by using the best bait possible. Most job descriptions are anemic and weak. Make yours stand out! Write your job descriptions in “what’s in it for the applicant” language; be specific about the personality characteristics and qualifications needed; include the hours and earnings potential. Here are a couple of samples I’ve used with great results –feel free to borrow it the next time you have an opening:  

Superstars only! You can earn as much as £60K if you’re a star. Don’t even call unless you’re an overachiever and can prove it. Call between 12:00 and 2:00. NUMBER.  

If you’re the personal assistant we’re looking for, you’ll be…Driven, successful, and great at selling over the phone. Persuasive, independent when needed, sociable, assertive, and convincing. Pushed, asked to achieve great results, taught about business marketing and ultimately trained to manage a team. Responsible for following up leads and selling to business owners over the phone. Answering calls from clients and prospects, getting marketing letters in the mail, keeping communication flowing in the office. Ready to sell to dozens of business owners every week. Someone who only accepts the best performance from self and others, and fired up about taking on a long-term challenge to create success in your life and business. Full-time hours, earnings potential up to £100k per annum. If you believe this is you, be ready to show us why when you call before 5 p.m. this Thursday…..on NUMBER. 

2. Generate Leads.

• When hiring, you’ve got to be proactive, which is the foundation of management training! It’s not JUST about writing a great job description. It’s about getting that description in the hands of the right people. Here are seven great ways to find quality candidates… 
• Look within your ORGANISATION first; who can be promoted? 
• Call past high-quality team members and ask them, “Is there anything I can do to get you back?” 
• Post a sign on your door/window. 
• Post an ad in local newspapers. 
• Advertise in trade magazines and publications –this is a wonderful way to get highly targeted applications. 
• Create a recruiting incentive program and announce it to their team. Give staff members a bonus if they bring in a high-quality candidate. 
• Go to networking events and remember that every conversation is a potential interview.  

The point is to recognise how important hiring is to your ORGANISATION, and to be completely engaged in the process of finding the right fit.  

3. Implement a Pre-Interview Screening Process.

Too many business owners waste unnecessary time interviewing candidates who are not truly qualified. Fortunately, you can eliminate a lot of “dead weight” quickly, just by implementing a simple screening process. There are two strategies I recommend before you get to actual, in-person interviews… 

Voice Mail Screening. 

Set up a special voice mail box for screening purposes. In your job description ad, have candidates call the number and leave a message BEFORE they even submit a CV. Listen to the responses. Ask the applicants whose messages impress you most to send a CV and to complete a psychometric profile.  

Here’s the exact scripting I recommend you use: 

Hi and thanks for calling [your company], located in [your city, town]. My name is [your name] and I’m the founder of the company.[Your company] is…Right now we’re looking for a [name of position]. The responsibilities of this position include [responsibilities]. [Your company] will provide [training, development]…The compensation package includes health insurance, life insurance, and a retirement plan.[your company] is [describe the company and what a wonderful opportunity it will be to work for you and why]. [Your name] is a highly talented, proven winner in the field of [your field]. He/she has [name some of your accomplishments] and will personally mentor the person chosen for this position.Now, please take just a couple minutes to answer the following three questions. If you want to write these questions down and call back with your answer, you can feel free to do that. What actual experience have you had…?What actual experience have you had…?What actual experience have you had…? After you’ve answered these questions, please leave your name, phone number, and address. If you fail to answer these questions, your application will not be considered. Thanks for calling [your company]! 

e-Screening.  

Instead of a phone message, in our proposed management training, ask candidates to reply via email and include some specific questions that they should answer, in addition to submitting their CVs. You’ll find that a surprising percentage of applicants won’t even follow this simple instruction –which is a fast way to weed them out. Make a shortlist of promising applicants and ask them to complete a psychometric profile. Depending on the number of applicants and the nature of the job, you might even add another layer of screening: a live phone interview before you get to the final step, an in-person interview. 

Bring Them in for a Test Drive.  

Now that you’ve narrowed the field of applicants down substantially, you’re ready to invest some quality time in them. Bring them in for a 4-8 hour on-site interview. Get a feel for their personalities. Have them complete an on-the-job task or two. Introduce them to the rest of your staff. Compare their completed psychometric profiles to the characteristics needed for the job. Create a series of interview questions that you use uniformly for all the applicants who reach this stage, and have them focus on actual past experience as opposed to theoretical future possibilities. Then make an offer to the candidate who impressed you most.

Business transformation starts at setting the goals you want to achieve. And you want them to be smart. Whether you are setting goals for your personal life, your business, or with your employees, goals that have been developed with the SMART principle have a higher probability of being achieved.  

The SMART Principle 

1. Specific

Specific goals are clearer and easier to achieve than nonspecific goals. When writing down your goal, ask yourself the five “W” questions to narrow in on what exactly you are aiming for: 

Who? Where? What? When? Why?  

For example, instead of a nonspecific goal like, “get in shape for the summer,” a specific goal would be, “go to the gym three times a week and eat twice as many vegetables.” It will help you build a very precise road map and all the bits you need to take into consideration to carry out a perfect business transformation. 

2. Measurable

If you can’t measure your goal, how will you know when you’ve achieved it? Measurable goals help you clearly see where you are, and where you want to be. You can see change happen as it happens. Measurable goals can also be broken down and managed in smaller pieces. They make it easier to create an action plan or identify the steps required to achieve your goal, and business transformation strongly depends on ticking all the boxes. You can track your progress, revise your plan and celebrate each small achievement. For example, instead of aiming to increase revenue in 2009, you can set out to increase revenue by 30% in the next 12 months, and celebrate each 10% along the way.  

3. Achievable

Goals that are achievable have a higher chance of being realised. While it is important to think big, and dream big, too often people set goals that are simply beyond their capabilities and wind up disappointed. Goals can stretch you, but they should always be feasible to maintain your motivation and commitment. For example, if you want to complete your first triathlon but you’ve never run a mile in your life, you would be setting a goal that was beyond your current capabilities. If you decided instead to train for a five mile race in six months, you would be setting an achievable goal. 8 

4. Relevant

Relevant – or realistic – goals are goals that have a logical place in your life or your overall business strategy. The goal’s action plan can be reasonably integrated into your life, with a realistic amount of effort. For example, if your goal is to train to climb to base camp at Mount Everest within one year and you’re about to launch a start-up business, you may need to question the relevance of your goal in the context of your current commitments.  

5. Timely

It is essential for every goal to be attached to a time-frame –otherwise it is merely a dream. Check in to make sure that your time-frame is realistic – not too short, or too long. This will keep you motivated and committed to your action plan, and allow you to track your progress.