Guidelines for leading and staffing your small business

Let’s ask ourselves, “Why is leading and staffing your business so important in today’s competitive world?” Without an appropriate leader at the head of the business and guidelines for hiring a competent staff, the potential success of the small business will be in jeopardy. Today’s article will focus on these two important aspects of a successful small business.

What constitutes an effective small business leader?

•  A leader creates a set of values and beliefs for employees and  passionately pursues them.
•  A leader respects and supports his/her employees
•  A leader sets an example for his/her employees
•  A leader focuses on his/her employees’ efforts as they pursue challenging  goals
•  A leader provides the resources employees need to achieve their goals
•  A leader values the diversity of his/her workers
•  A leader encourages moderate risk-taking among his/her workers
•  A leader values new ideas from employees
•  A leader encourages creativity among his/her workers
•  A leader maintains a sense of humor
•  A leader behaves with integrity at all times

What are the vital tasks of an effective small business leader?

•  Hire the right employees and constantly improve their skills
•  Motivate workers to higher levels of performanc
•  Communicate the vision and the values of the business and create an  environment of trust
•  Build an organizational culture and structure that enables the company
  to  reach its potential

How do small business owners hire the right staff?

•  Conduct a job analysis which includes a practical job descriptions and
  job  specifications
•  Plan an effective interview

What constitutes a job analysis?

•  Create a job description including a written statement of the duties,  responsibilities, reporting relationships, working conditions, and
  materials  and equipment used in a job
•  Create a job specification including a written statement of the  qualifications and characteristics required for a job, stated in such
  terms as education, skills, and experiences

What should be included in an effective interview?

•  Develop a series of core questions
•  Ask open-ended questions rather than those calling for “yes or no”  answers
•  Create hypothetical situations candidates would encounter on the job
  and  ask how they would handle them
•  Probe for specific examples in the candidate’s work history which  demonstrate the necessary traits and characteristics
•  Ask candidates to describe a recent success and a recent failure and
  how  they dealt with them
•  Give an employment test that measures what is required for the job

How to successfully give a performance appraisal?

•  Link the employee’s performance to the job description
•  Establish meaningful, job-related, observable, measurable, and fair  performance criteria
•  Prepare for the appraisal by outlining the key points you want to cover  with the employee
•  Invite the employee to provide an evaluation of his/her own job  performance based on the criteria
•  Always be specific
•  Keep a record of the employee’s positive and negative critical incidents
•  Discuss the employee’s strengths and weaknesses
•  Incorporate the employee’s goals into the appraisal

Keep the evaluation constructive