Devoted to women of color in business

Before you begin your search for the perfect employee, here are some things you’ll need to consider that will make your company and the job opportunity more attractive to “A plus” candidates.

• Be clear about your vision. Are you able to explain exactly how you plan on actualizing your company goals? If you are vague about your company objectives (i.e. “Well we plan to make a lot of money in the next year”) a good candidate sees this as a red flag and will seek opportunities elsewhere.

• Be involved. Consider your management style and realize that an aloof approach does not work in a small business. Have a written plan in place for how you will manage, train and develop the new employee before you hire. You should then be able to clearly communicate this to the prospective employee.

• Be Accountable. Often times an owner of a small business wants to blame the new hire for the perceived failure of his/her business. This is most often the case in the area of sales where the business owner performs a two day training and tells the new sales person to “just sell”. If you have a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell” (meaning if the new employee doesn’t ask for guidance you won’t give it), you set the new employee and your company up for failure.

• Be Precise. In the example of hiring a sales professional, do you have (written down) an account of what activities and in what frequency certain actions need to be taken for success? Mediocre employees are attracted to “let’s just wing it” and “hands off” organizations because then they can’t be held accountable.

Remember that good employees will want to be held accountable. While they don’t need or want micro-managing they absolutely appreciate organizations with structure.

To borrow from a tried and true saying, ultimately you are the captain of your ship. So it is up to you to clearly communicate to your crew your companies destination. They will be more equipped and eager to help you get where you need to be!

Tara Dishmon is President of  Direct Sourcing Solutions , Inc. An executive search firms that helps companies find top talent in the Fiance, Marketing, and Sales arena.