In this weeks CEO blog, we are going to look at two tips on how to hire the best people for your team.
To work faster and be better organized, the tool of the week let you make lists and cross each task when they are done.
Improving your hiring process
Since I started working (long before founding EZYcount) I was always amazed how difficult hiring processes are. The two biggest flaws I witnessed are :
- Not knowing which person you need in your organization.
- Being rude to a point that an applicant will never apply again at your company.
1) Not knowing what you need before the interview
Let's be clear, it is very rare to see hiring manager being trained to know how to hire correctly.
The first biggest flaw I see is to focus on the wrong requirements for the new hire. I could go on and on about what could go wrong, but let's look at how we do it at EZYcount and why I believe this is correct.
We take down all the possible requirements such as softs skills, technical skills, etc... to three important points for the open position. This is a very difficult exercise but it obliges us to focus on what really matters.
For example, if you apply for a position in our support team, the three points will be:
- Able to communicate professionally (writing and oral) in French, English, and German (or at least two of them).
- Being a true teammate and working effectively with the current support team.
- Knowing EZYcount, it's mission and vision and embracing it fully.
We do believe that if you have these three qualities/skills, you will be a true asset in the team and will thrive within EZYcount.
I saw that by focusing on only three points, we do have better hires being more performant and staying longer at EZYcount.
2) Being rude to a point that an applicant will never apply again to your company.
When someone does apply for a job this, the applicant invested a lot of time and energy to apply.
The minimum as hiring manager/company is to treat them respectfully and answer them in a proper and direct manner.
By not answering or by answering extremely short email without stating that you fully analyzed their application and actually thank the applicant for its application, it can be seen as rude by the applicant. It won't be long before this is known on the market. Also, the way you treat your an applicant shows how you will treat her/him if they become an employee.
Do not forget that the hiring process is a two-way road, you try to decide if the applicant is the right person/fit for your organization but the applicant is also deciding if she/he wants to put her/his energy, time and life in your company.
I do know that I am not always acting this way but I try my best to do so. If I've hurt the feeling of a former applicant at EZYcount. I do apologize for it.
The tool 🔨 of the week: Trello to work faster with a to-do list.
Trello is a free online tool which allows you to create a to-do list and cross them as you finish each task.
My recommendation to be efficient is to create a board with the following list:
- Urgent: To be done today or tomorrow
- To-Do: Tasks to do in the future but are not urgent yet
- Important: Tasks that are very important but are not urgent yet - I try to keep this list as short as possible - max 15 items.
- Done: Put here the tasks that you finish
By creating the board, the lists and filling them up, you free your mind. You keep your focus on the current task to be done. By finishing a task and pushing it to the "Done" list, you create a positive feedback loop for your brain motivating it to cross more tasks.
Try Trello here: https://trello.com
Hope this week CEO blog is helping you be better at what you do.
Have a productive week!
Vivien, CEO EZYcount
