Steps You Should Always Take Before You Hire An Employee

Taking on a new employee is always a big decision. It doesn’t matter how inconsequential the position might seem to the bigger picture. The right employee could take a section of your business to a whole new level. The wrong one? Well, that’s another story. This is why you must always take the appropriate steps when hiring a new employee.

Throw Them In The Deep End

Either during the interview or at a different time, you should be testing how they would respond to a challenge from that particular position. You can do this by asking them a specific, direct question. Or, you can put them in that role for a brief period. Ask them to complete a task that they normally would have to on an average day in the office. If they succeed, you’ll know they can handle the challenges of the position. If they fail, you can keep searching.

Check References

A clever cheat employees are currently using is putting available on requests for references. This is because a lot of career advisers have told candidates that employers rarely ever follow up referencing. Therefore, if there’s a bad reference, they’ll never know. If you do want to get a reference, you will also need to go through the candidate and then they can choose which reference they give you. Don’t forget to follow up on this inquiry. Otherwise, you might hire an employee with a bad record of employment without realizing it.

Check For A Criminal Record

Before you hire an employee, you should always complete a criminal record check. In fact, you should do this for anyone that reaches the interview stage. That way, you can make sure that there are not any problems that could cause an issue for your business. Remember, you can not directly ask whether a candidate has been convicted of a crime during an interview. That’s why you always need to rely on DBS checks.

Confer With HR

Make sure you are conferring with HR when you recruit a candidate. Check that they have no issues with you hiring. They may know more about that candidate than you. In fact, it’s likely that they put the candidate forward to the interview stage in the first place. During the recruitment process, they may have discovered an issue that you were unaware of. After you have hired them, it will be too late.

Look For A USP

As already stated, the right candidate could be a massive win for your business. That’s why you need to always be on the look out for a USP. This is a unique selling point and something that separates that candidate from the back. It could be anything from a separate but relevant second degree to another language. It might be a distinct experience that they have or contacts within the industry. Hiring a client who already has contacts within the industry is always going to be an advantage. Their contacts quickly become yours, and you will have a great chance to expand your business.