@INCC started a thread here and then suggested I make my own
Hiring staff is one of the most personal things you can do in my opinion. There are plenty of people with more money and experience than I will say it's just business, and yes, if that company is running without you, it is just business. Until then it's your baby it's something we will protect and often take feedback and negative reviews and critism to heart because this is something THAT YOU are working on, so until then it sucks and hurts. It's your baby. Trusting someone to come in and work for you is very personal and is often a very frightening thing to do.
There is no book, really, I don't think that tells you how to do it, it's something all us just figure out along the way and I've made TONS of mistakes with it.
Don't get me wrong I've hired freelancers before now, or part time warehouse drones to help get orders out. I don't think it's the same as taking someone on full time.
Before Covid my idea or dream for this company was a nice big HQ building, custom-built like an old Victorian red brick factory. I had planning approved, was ready to break ground and I was going to fill my dream building with my dream workforce, starting with my number two. That all changed.
For me personally, my idea of having staff was a clone of myself. I wanted to start with a number two, someone you can train up through the very ropes of the company and your day to day and then you let them build up things for you. It doesn't work. I've tried. You get burnt. The perfect number 2 does not exisit, it's a dream.
I've hired people in real life, friends, online, total strangers everyone who you think will be a good number or two or how you even go about finding that person will fuck you over - because you are tring to emply an entrepreneur, and no true entrepreneur want's to work for you or anyone else they want to work for themselfs. They will spot your mistakes and try and compete, believe me I've had it done to me so often it's depressing.
I've struggled.
I do everything. Like many of you. I just run day to day. It wasn't till I started to have business mentoring from people with more experience than me, my thinking and goals changed. I will admit COVID helped it took away the need to have buildings it made me re-think the entire finding staff.
I decided to shift from hiring a number 2 to start building teams and departments. This way they took the pressure off me to do other things. This is when I got introduced to a skill matrix:
A skills matrix is a visual tool, typically a table or grid, that maps the skills and competencies of employees or team members. It helps organizations identify strengths and weaknesses, address skill gaps, and make more strategic decisions about talent management
I have two versions of this:
- Version 1 is for myself.
- Verion 2 is for staff.
Version 1 My own skill matrix
I use a spreadsheet exactly like above, and I rate ALL My tasks into categories. I rate them like this:
- No time at all
- Some time
- I can manage this task
- I do this job constantly
At the end of each week, I updated my chart based on the job lists and I keep multiple tabs of each working week and it tallies up at the end of the month, where my time is focused. This helps me find staff rather than a number 2 and I think it's a great start for most people. I wish I started off this way, it's not going to be for everybody but for most of you looking for staff give it a go.
If I got no time to do the job normally it's because I hate it, not just hate but fucking hate it. So I avoid it like the plague, if I'm spending all my time on a task as well (which isn't growing the business) then that's a problem also. Working for the business and working on the business are two different things. You want to always be working ON it.
If I'm spending not enough time in an area or too much time in another then if that date is still the same over 2-3 months, then I know it's time to get a new hire, part time or permanent OR I need to pass a job off internally.
For me I started with customer services, I HATE customer services. I can't just tell a paying customer to fuck off, and I have sadly, so now I got people to do that for me.
So find your own problem and hire from there.
As I said in that post most big companies like mine people will tell you to get an accountant first, yeah, chasing bills, late payment, paying suppliers is great. BUT if I can manage the task that's not where I need help. Also once you get to the point of having accountants on full roll (per employment) your business is changing anyway.
Version 2. Staff Skill Matrix
This is different as I use it to manage staff they are ranked a little bit differently. The scoring system for staff goes:
0. No experience
1. Not confident
2. Not familiar
3. Confident
4. Very Confident
I use this skill system to track what staff are doing. I mean we have all had jobs at some point in our life where you might be hired to sell burgers but then you get asked to clean the toilet, my point is you get people to chip in. BUT I've learnt theres no point asking someone to chip in a job they suck at, because they will mess it up and it will need doing again. Who wants to pay twice for something?
As you can see my table above I have a staff member with no experience with admin work, id not ask them to start using excel!
I meet with staff every 3 months and review the skills matrix see what they learnt and what can be updated.
We do this as we like to develop my team internally:
- I want my staff to learn and evolve I want them to feel like they can progress; it's cheaper to pay them a bit more and they like work than it is to hire someone new.
- If staff are unhappy it's because they are doing too much of something and they might need more help, team leaders are key to start finding this out for as some of the buggers wont tell you they are struggling, but once you have it in front of you, you can have a quiet talk. Most wont ask for help not till you start shouting because stuff isn't being done and they start crying. This avoids all this TRUST ME.
- If someone wants a pay rise you can see are they learning, are they bringing more to the table than when they started?
- If someone wants to go on a course you can track why and if they learn*
* we tie the skill matrix into staff qualifications as well so if they go on a course, learn first aid, learn to drive a forklift or whatever and they need refreshing courses, we can see that. It also means as well if your JANE DOE decides to give someone a holiday but you have an order or ask need going, can anyone else in the office do it.
It stilly things and thinking like that, that helps you later on.
The BEST thing about a matrix like this is when a new member of staff starts. Day 1 is between giving passwords and whatever else set up. We have an hour and we go through this and we ask them to be honest and we list what they can and can't do.
This is good because if someone says they can't do something but on day 1 they said they are a 4, 4, 4, 4 for most things you got to ask why. It's not like you are going off a conversation,n you got something documented day one.
So yeah, hiring staff is a super personal thing, it can be done. I try and take it slow and work on building up with departmnt thinking first, having someone come in and take a simple thing like social media off your back or doing emails can make a massive difference to you and your companies growth long term than hiring a dogs body who you struggle to find work for.
Good luck
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