The expansion of your business is both an exciting and daunting prospect. If this growth occurs too quickly or lacks direction, your business can soon find itself facing hardships. One of the best ways to keep your business growth from ballooning into chaos is to put the right people in the right positions. Of course, finding key employees during a period of growth is often easier said than done, and keeping them around is another challenge in its own right. With a steady and strategic approach, however, you can find key employees and get the most of their abilities when growing your business — here’s how.
How to Find the Right Employees
Clarify Your Business Goals and Roles
Your first order of business should be to determine what you wish to accomplish and which positions will aid in achieving these goals — these details will become your map and compass when seeking key employees. Without this map, you’ll have a hard time knowing where to look and what to do once you arrive. Clarifying your business growth goals involves re-examining your mission and vision and calibrating it for this new chapter (these changes might be minute or more ambitious). Once you’ve got a grip on your ideal direction, you can narrow your employee search, create better screening criteria, pose more focused interview questions, and more, saving you time and energy in the search and placement process.
Don’t Be Afraid to Search Outside the Box
Even if you have a strong idea of where your business is headed and how you wish to get there, business growth always includes some unknown factors. As uncomfortable as these unknowns might make you, note that the unexpected also holds the greatest potential for innovation. In other words, you might find key employees in places you wouldn’t have guessed. This isn’t to say you should just hire anyone on the spot — rather, don’t strictly limit yourself to potential candidates who fit a particular mold for the sake of easier employee management. Leave the door open for candidates with diverse ideas and unique energy. By stepping outside the box, you just might find someone who sparks further growth in your company.
Keep the Long-Term in Mind
No matter how rapidly your business grows at certain intervals, sustainable growth spans long stretches of time. Therefore, it’s imperative to seek employees who mesh with your current workplace culture and who won’t likely leave the second they get another offer. As we’ve discussed in previous blogs, onboarding the most talented employees is a double-edged sword since your competitors might try to pull them away from your organization. If you want to keep these key employees around and have them grow with your business, you must be prepared to negotiate terms and continue offering them development opportunities. It’s also worth asking candidates during the interview process if they see themselves sticking with your company for the long haul.
Consider Promoting Employees Within Your Organization
Sometimes the right person is already in your organization. Depending on how your business is growing and how quickly, it might make more sense to promote current employees rather than hire externally. One of the main reasons to invest in leadership development programs for your people is to prepare them to take on more responsibilities and enter new roles over time — this is also the essence of succession planning. Indeed, the more you invest in your employees, the easier it will become to identify key positions for succession planning and fill said roles with confidence.
Unlocking the Key to Your Business’ Growth
As your business grows, so too must its people — whether this means finding new employees or promoting current employees to fill new roles, Leadership Resources can help your business, and its people unlock their full potential.
At Leadership Resources, our purpose is to make the impossible possible through people. We aim to do so by helping individuals develop patterns of success that will decrease obstacles and maximize productivity. Contact us here to learn more about what we do and how it can help your business succeed and grow at times like these when you need it most.
