For many businesses looking to grow their teams, getting the right people is essential. It can also be a challenge.
If employees are the key to your success, how do you make sure that you hire the best? How can you grow your team without putting your business at risk? and how can you grow your team and your business at the same time?
Read more: How to Attract Amazing Staff to Your Small Business
Introducing the SWAN Formula
Executive recruiter John Swan developed a hiring strategy called the SWAN Formula to serve as a yardstick, helping businesses to pick the best candidate by setting apart the best of the best from the rest.
The formula stands for Smart – Works hard – Ambitious – Nice. These are qualities that employers find common in great employees and qualities that should be evident in the job candidates you pick.
The book Now, Build a Great Business explains Swan’s formula in detail.
Every small business owner should be guided by the following:
- Successful people are Smart. They know how to use and maximise their skills and competencies for their specific job.
- People who want to Work hard go the extra mile and are generally more successful at their jobs.
- Candidates should be Ambitious and be able to demonstrate why they want a particular job. They should have a clear vision of what they want to achieve.
- Nice people are desired for their ability to fit into existing work cultures and work with others.
These are important to ensure you’re picking the right candidate. That person will have the right set of skills and be willing to work hard to achieve targets. They are ambitious, career-driven, and value collaboration and teamwork.
To grow your team and reap the benefits of employing the perfect fit for your company, here are 5 tips you can implement:
1. Establish a sound hiring process
Figure out the qualities that you want in your ideal team members before creating job descriptions for the required positions. For the most part, you’ll be searching for professionals with great experience who will work well with your existing team – use the SWAN formula as your standard.
Once you know your requirements, outline your full hiring process.
Creating an easy application process saves time for both you and your candidates, ensuring there are clear job descriptions, expectations, and salary outlines set for potential applicants.
2. Get the right people to apply
The internet has made recruiting potential workers easier with various job posting sites like Seek, Indeed, Pedestrian Jobs, and more. By using these websites to post your job requirements, you can reach a wider pool of qualified candidates and make it easy for them to apply.
Linkedin is also great for connecting with professionals in your area who could be a good fit, and there are a growing number of online recruitment tools available to help you select the best candidates for your company.
3. Help new employees fit in
For your team to function smoothly, new hires should be able to work harmoniously with existing employees and vice versa.
Culture fit is almost as important as work skills. Helping your new recruit build relationships, meet people across the business, and feel like they belong is an important part of retention.
Make sure you put in effort to incorporate your new team members in the overall team dynamic, actively introduce them to other colleagues, and consider creating something akin to a buddy system that helps employees connect in pairs to assist the new member while they become familiar with the work culture.
4. Keep your team motivated
Once you have the right people, it’s up to you to keep them. Be fair by offering wages above or within the legal minimum following the National Employment Standards set by the Government.
That said, a high salary is not the only key to loyalty. Incorporate incentives and reward systems to motivate your team, and look into additional benefits you can offer.
As with any decision, it’s always worth asking your team what they value. Some might put a premium on flexibility, while others will want professional development opportunities and a great workspace experience.
Many employees value financial and lifestyle benefits. Businesses working from any Hub location are able to offer team members:
- Access to an on-site fitness studio
- An in-house barista-run café
- A private parents’ space
- Access to hundreds of discounts on popular brands like Woolworths, Apple, and more
- Free tea and espresso coffee
- Access to networking, social, and professional development events.
5. Foster professional growth
As your business grows, your team should grow alongside, with their skills and experience reaching new levels through their day-to-day challenges and successes.
Encourage each employee to learn new skills, and help connect them to relevant seminars and other useful training in your employee development programs whenever you can.
Coworking spaces like Hub Australia also provide meeting and event spaces, day offices, dedicated desks, and custom solutions that allow you to bring your team together in a centrally-located workspace at an affordable price.
Hub Australia connects you to a network of over 7000 members, including multiple HR and recruitment companies that can work alongside you to find the right person.
