Kristen 0:00
Have you ever hired someone who looked great on paper but didn’t fit in once they got started working with you? You are definitely not alone if that’s the case. And it’s one of the big reasons that people hold off on hiring because they’re afraid that they will hire the wrong person.
Kristen 0:16
So today, we are going to talk about why finding the right person for your business is so important, and why it goes beyond just checking off boxes on a set of skills that they know how to do. We are talking today about the importance of personality when it comes to hiring, how to make sure you find someone who is the right fit, and why starting with some short term projects can save you a lot of headaches down the road.
Kristen 0:44
Are you a digital product or course creator selling on platforms like Teachers Pay Teachers, Etsy or your own website? Ready to grow your business, but not into the kind of constant hustle that leads straight to burnout? Then you’re in the right place. Welcome to The Savvy Seller. I’m Kristen Doyle, and I’m here to give you no fluff tools and strategies that move the needle for your business without burning you out in the process. Things like SEO, no stress marketing, email list building, automations and so much more. Let’s get started y’all.
Kristen 1:24
So let’s start with a truth that I have definitely learned the hard way. Personality is often far more important than a specific skill set. Sure you need people who know what they’re doing and for certain jobs, we’ll talk about them in a minute. Skill set really is important because you need an expert, but if you are hiring that person to fit into your business and to work with them long term, what is sometimes more important is finding someone who takes initiative, who has common sense, and, above all else, who has integrity. These are qualities you just cannot teach to people.
Kristen 2:07
See, while it’s important to hire someone who knows the platforms that you use and who will be able to answer certain customer service questions and things like that, hiring someone who just checks all of those boxes in terms of skills, but then they lack that drive, or the problem solving abilities to reach out and solve problems on their own will cause you to end up spending more time managing that person than you should. Which will frustrate you and will essentially negate the work that they’re able to do for you, because it’s requiring so much of your time and effort to manage them.
Kristen 2:45
On the flip side, when you hire someone who’s a go getter, someone who’s eager to learn, someone who takes ownership of their work, everything changes. You can teach them the specifics of the job. You can teach them how you like to answer certain customer questions. You can teach them how to handle certain problems that pop up, but you can’t teach them how to care. And that’s huge. It makes such a big difference.
Kristen 3:12
I can give you examples on both sides of this. I have had a person that I hired in the past who honestly checked all the boxes on skill set. They had worked in similar positions before. They knew all the platforms that I used. They had the experience that I thought I needed for the role I was hiring them for. However, I ended up having to let this person go. And to be honest, ending contracts or firing people is my least favorite part of working with a team, so it’s really hard for me to do that. But I had to let this person go because they lacked integrity.
Kristen 3:51
I was being billed for time that I could tell they weren’t putting in. They did not take the initiative to go out and try to solve problems themselves, so I was having to answer lots and lots of questions, and it essentially felt like I was doing the work, and they were just sending the email to the customer, and that was not really helping. And so eventually, like I said, I had to end that contract, and that relationship just did not work out in terms of the way that we were working together and what I was having to do to manage that person.
Kristen 4:25
On the flip side, I’ve also hired someone who didn’t have a ton of experience in the exact role I needed, but they had the right attitude. They were curious, they asked all the right questions. They were excited to dive in. They were go getters, who would go out and look for answers and come up with new ideas before reaching out to me. And within just a couple of weeks, this person was exceeding my expectations, because they were learning quickly. They were taking initiative, and like I said, they were bringing new ideas to the table to make things even better on my team. That is the kind of person that you want on your team. Someone who is invested in the work that they are doing, and also someone who is invested in your business and helping it to grow.
Kristen 5:14
Now there are definitely times when you need to prioritize skill set over personality. If you’re hiring for something that requires an expert and it is way outside your area of expertise, maybe you are hiring someone to do some web development or design, or someone for legal advice, those sorts of things, you need someone who knows their stuff. In those cases, you are looking for an expert. But even then, don’t completely ignore personality. You want someone who’s going to fit in with your team, someone who is going to have the integrity that you expect from people, and someone who really fits with the culture that you’re trying to set up in your business.
Kristen 5:57
For me, one of the things I knew I needed to hire an expert for was Facebook ads. I’ve taken some courses. I understand the basics, and I do think that’s really important. But I just really don’t get all of the nuances to Facebook ads. So I was looking for someone who was an expert in Facebook ads and someone who’s an expert in the specific type of ads that I wanted to run. But in addition to that, I also looked for someone who’s easy to communicate with, someone who cares about growing my business, someone who understood where I want to go in business. Because even when it comes to hiring an outside expert for something that you are not good at, it’s still not just about getting the job done. It’s about getting that job done in a way that lines up with how you do business and with where you’re trying to go in your business.
Kristen 6:51
So if you are hiring someone for a long term type of project, someone who you want to really come in and be part of your team, I am thinking of people who would do some projects like product creation for you, or a photographer who is going to work with you over time. Maybe a customer service person, or even just a right hand assistant. When you find that person that you feel like is going to be a great fit, you can’t ever be 100% sure until you start working together. So this is where a test project or a trial period comes in really handy.
Kristen 7:29
Starting with a single project is a really great way to gage both their skill set and their personality and whether it fits in with what you are looking for. It’s a low risk way to see how they work, how they communicate, how they handle feedback, how they address problems, all of those sorts of things, so that you can decide if you want to go into a long term working relationship.
Kristen 7:56
Here’s why I usually approach it during the application process, I will sometimes give a very small project for people to do. This shows you, first of all, that they are serious about applying for the position that you have available, and that they are willing to take some initiative.
Kristen 8:14
Now, you want to be really careful not to take advantage of people. When I do this, I give them a test project that I am not actually going to use. In fact, I kind of reuse the same test project over and over because I don’t want to take advantage. What I don’t want to do is ask someone to, for example, create a product for me as a test project, and then I go off and sell that and they maybe didn’t get paid or didn’t agree for me to sell it. You don’t want to do something like that. But outline just a simple, easy little project for them to do. I like to have people give me an outline for something rather than doing the actual work. So it’s almost more of a how would you approach this, and then pay attention to what they do and how they approach that work.
Kristen 9:03
In fact, one person that I have hired in her initial application, she did not do something that I asked for. I like to be very specific in applications, so if I say, please create whatever and upload a PDF here, I won’t lock down that field to only PDFs. I’ll allow them to upload anything. So if you upload a Word doc or a JPEG image or something like that, instead of a PDF, I know that you didn’t read and follow the directions, and that’s important to me.
Kristen 9:36
Well, this person did not upload a PDF. In fact, this person gave me the link to a Google Doc, and as I was looking through the application, that was the one thing that stood out to me, like an oh, they didn’t follow the instructions. But I opened the Google Doc, and it was so well laid out with headings and easy navigation and all sorts of things, not to mention the content that was in there, had really impressed me. So as I’m looking through this, I was already feeling like I really wanted to make an exception for this person.
Kristen 10:11
Well, it turns out, as soon as they submitted their application, they noticed their error and resubmitted the application with the PDF within about two or three minutes, so I could tell it was just long enough to download that Google Doc as a PDF and then send it in on another application. So that, to me, showed me that this person, first of all, the Google doc was impressive and I loved it, but secondly, it showed me that this person catches their mistakes and they immediately fix them. This is something I wanted to see in someone that I was hiring. So I actually did end up hiring this person, and she is still working for me now, and I have absolutely loved working with her. She’s been a great hire.
Kristen 10:51
Sometimes it is okay to make an exception, especially when the person shows you a reason to do so like that. Even once you’ve hired them, though, I like to start with something small. Outline a clear, concise project that has a defined deadline, it has a relatively small amount of deliverables, and then pay very close attention to how they approach the work. Are they asking smart questions? Are they proactive about solving problems before they ask you questions. Do they meet their deadlines? Are there lots of errors in the work that you have to then correct and go back to them with? This gives you a good, real world sense of how they’ll perform on bigger projects and over longer term working relationships. And it’s so much easier to evaluate that in actual work than it is in just another interview on Zoom or in a bunch of back and forth emails.
Kristen 11:49
If the test project goes well, then you can go ahead and start with a longer term contract. Whether it’s month to month or something longer than that. The key here is that it’s way easier to transition into the longer term relationship if things go smoothly and if it doesn’t, then you can end that contract without all the stress or the hard feelings that can sometimes come with breaking off that longer term contract.
Kristen 12:17
So you found the right person. They’re fitting in well on your team, things are going smoothly. What comes next? Well, finding that person really is just the start. It is also important for you to foster a good work relationship and support them as they get used to this role, as they learn how to work within your team. This benefits them, but it also benefits your entire business. So make sure that you’re setting up regular check ins to see how your team members are doing. Offer them feedback. Make sure they have what they need to succeed. This is a good way for you to keep tabs on their progress and address any issues that pop up early on.
Kristen 12:58
A good hire, whether they are a full fledged employee or an independent contractor working long term with your team is an investment. And like any investment, you need to protect it. You need to nurture it, and you need to help it grow. You might do these check-ins as a daily or a weekly check-in in a messaging tool like Slack, or you might schedule some short Zoom calls that happen on regular intervals.
Kristen 13:23
I’ve done both. In fact, I currently do both with different members of my team based on what works for our different schedules and the projects that they are working on. It’s certainly not a one size fits all kind of situation. Just make sure you’re finding ways to check in and help support those people as they are working on projects.
Kristen 13:42
All right, let’s recap what we’ve covered today. We talked about why personality is often more important than skill set, especially when you are hiring for more generic roles rather than specific roles that need expertise. We did talk about when to prioritize hiring experts sometimes over personality. How you use a test project to evaluate someone you want to hire. And the benefits of starting with a short term project or contract before moving into a longer term work relationship. And then finally, we talked about the importance of fostering that long term relationship once you’ve moved into that point and keeping regular check ins with your team.
Kristen 14:24
So if you are thinking about making your next hire or your first hire, take a step back and think about what is really important for your business for the thing that you need to hire for. Is it the skills they bring to the table, or is it some certain personality traits that will help them thrive on your team? And remember, start small with a test project or short term contract to make the process a whole lot smoother.
Kristen 14:48
Thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope it gave you some food for thought on your hiring practices. Whether you’re looking to hire an employee or a contractor. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow the show and leave a review on your podcast app. And if you’ve got any questions or stories about hiring the right or wrong person, I would love to hear them. Reach out to me on Instagram @Kristendoyle.co and don’t forget to tune in next week for the next episode in our hiring series. I’ll talk to you then you.
