Assembling Your Team

How to Find the Right Team Members

Employees are your backbone. It takes effort and money to recruit and hire good employees, and maintaining them requires a consistent and ongoing effort.

A good employee costs as much to hire as they do to train - the key is that once trained and nurtured the employee makes you money.

You wouldn’t go 10,000 miles without maintaining your car, and you can’t go without maintaining your employees.

Sources that are available as resources; Department of Labors, Newspaper ads, Government Transition Programs, Lumber Yards, Sub-Contractors, Friends, Family, etc.

Set Clear Expectations, Responsibilities, and an Authority Level for all Position

• Let the employee know what is expected of him.
• The more clear the expectations, the less likelihood of future confusion about the parameters of the job.
• The best time to do this is before you even advertise for the position.
• Why do you want to hire someone?
• What do you want this person to do?
• How will you know if they are doing the job well?
• The more specific you can be about your expectations about the position, first with yourself, and then with the employee, the better they will be set up to succeed.
• Vague job expectations lead to confusion, misunderstanding and frustration – for you and the employee.

What to pay

Paying good and competitive wages is not the whole key to hiring and retaining, however, it is crucial. Employees like to feel that they represent a valuable investment for the company, they often view their hourly wage or salary as a direct indicator of their worth to the company.

• To ensure that wages are fair, check with other companies in your area.
• Call ads in the Sunday paper and inquire what they are paying.
• Once you have the average wages and salaries for competitive positions in your area pay your employees a bit more, don’t go over board. This has a two-fold effect!
• One, your employees feel good and produce more and don’t look for another position.

Offer Good Benefits

Paid vacation and holidays is a good place to start. Another basic benefit your employees will appreciate is an extensive health care plan. Other perks that can be added to your package and help your employees feel appreciated include a 401-K retirement plan with some matching, bonus plan.

• PTO (personal time off).
• Benefits cost, but if you don’t offer them someone else will.
• Networking with suppliers

Communication

• Unify the Team
• Employees want to be part of something.
• Communicate what your company stands for.
• Why are you in business?
• What sets you apart from the competition?
• The more your team understands about the core values of the organization, the better they will represent you.