What to think about as you plan you first hire
If you are an early stage startup company or a small to medium sized business, the temptation to prioritize speed over quality can be quite strong, especially when you see your growing workload, decreased productivity, which can quickly turn into decrease in revenue. At the same time, I have never seen a hasty decision result in long-term success. To save you some time, I came up with a simple flowchart to diagnose whether you are ready for a full-time permanent hire.
If you are more of a list person, below are the three major questions I would advice all hiring managers to ask themselves:
1.) Are you willing to spend time to get to know the candidate?
2.) Are you willing to spend time to on board this person?
3.) Are you KPIs realistic? Do you care about the success of this person?
What happens if you cannot give a definite “yes” or “no” to any of the above questions? You are probably not ready to hire right this moment. If that is the case, you should go on Upwork for temporary help. If the project is more strategic and you need someone with more experience, hire a consultant for your project(s). It is not worth the time and money to hire someone when you are not ready. You are not only hurting the new hire, you are also damaging your company’s future employer branding.
