Introduction

Finding A Players can be quite a challenge.  Employees can differ from one another as much as night differs from day.  Two employees might have the exact same educational and experience level and yet their performance and ability to fit in with your company will be much different. 

This is because everyone does not have the same level of work ethics and personality also plays a huge role in their ability to adapt to your business vibe. 

In this handy guide we will give you tips on how to hire A Players.  Our guide focuses on finding these awesome employees who will make running the business a lot easier and also allow you to create a positive work-friendly environment that benefits everyone’s morale. 

The Pre-Hire Phase

As an employer, you are looking for creative ways to grow your business to the point where you will need to hire more people. Not only will you need to hire more employees, you will also need to work with various external entities such as suppliers, clients and associates as your contact list expands. Handling everything by yourself can be quite tough.  And that is where your most trusted employees with their professionalism and can-do come into play. Those with the right skills can take more workload off your shoulders so you can stay flexible. Here are a few ways to get prospective candidates to work for you. 

Post on job boards: These days, online job boards have become a reliable resource for anyone looking for work. Places like Indeed, Monster, and even local job boards are visited frequently by job seekers. If you are posting a job opening, it’s important to give the description of what it entails. Include skill and educational requirements as well. And yes, it’s always good to target those with experience (but at least give a chance to those who may not have it to apply as well).

(If you’ve already been to a job board and can’t find your ideal product manager, that’s when we recommend that people come to us) 

Job Fair Recruitment: One of the best places for an employer to find the right people are at job fairs. You can do these yourself or have some of the higher level management members do the recruiting for you. This is your chance to meet face to face with those who might be more of a good fit for your business and the work environment. And it gives you a chance to use your instincts and get a good read of the person on how they act, if they can be trusted in “crunch time” situations, and so on. 

Consider Referrals: There may be a time where someone in your business will be able to refer a job seeker to you. In that case, you’ll need to make sure they go through the proper application process. By the time you get the application (and the confirmation about the referral), it will be up to you to honor that referral and give that person a chance to be looked at and possibly interviewed. 

Find A Specialist Headhunter: It’s best to think of a headhunter as an investment instead of a cost. Making a mis-hire is the most expensive mistake that your company can make. The right product management recruiter can prevent you from losing time and money. Reach out to us if you’re tired of wasting your time, money, and company with the wrong hire.

Hiring Phase

Now that you have a pool of interested applicants, it’s time to whittle them down to a certain number. This is where you’ll be playing a process of elimination. And it can come down to a good amount of factors. Here are some things that you as an employer may potentially disqualify a particular applicant:

Lack of experience: The experience requirement may be subjective depending on the employer. However, you may be stringent about it. But it all depends on how bad you want the role filled. If you are indeed willing to train the right person and they have less than the required experience, you can do so.

Lack of problem-solving skills: There will be times when an employee will be faced with problems that are not as complex as they should be. You will be able to put this to the test during the employee interview process. Be creative and ask questions about a certain problem scenario.  

Not possessing a positive attitude: An employer knows a thing or two about a positive, professional attitude. And you might pick that up in an instant during the interview process. If the prospect doesn’t feel enthused or excited, that is a red flag and a good indicator to move on to the next applicant. 

But here’s what you need to look for in order to hire A Players for your team:

Decent competence in certain skills: Let’s face it, you are not going to find someone who is the grand master of Microsoft Excel. But you can find someone who is decent enough to know the basic ins and outs. Competence is important because you can trust that person to get the job done properly rather than an employee who has no idea what they are doing. 

Have a positive, can-do attitude: This is key. If an employee has a positive attitude it will eventually spread throughout the entire team. The happier the employees are, the higher their willingness to work will be. And that morale building environment does start with you as well. 

Find out what kind of value they can provide: While you might find an applicant that talks about themselves constantly about how they can do this or that, it’s important to challenge them with this question: “What kind of value do you believe you will bring to [your business]?” The answers may vary, but you can use your better judgement on how well an applicant can ask that question.

Final Thoughts

As an employee, it’s always important to find reliable employees who are willing to show up on time and be ready to work with a positive mental attitude. The hiring process may be tough at first (as will finding the right people). But over time, you will be able to figure out what consists of a good employee so they will be easy to work with (and they will be happy to work for you in the process). There is nothing more effective than employees who put their fellow co-workers and you over themselves every time.