Before we talk about building a team, let’s take a walk down memory lane.
Do you remember the first time you were on a team? It could’ve been a second-grade soccer team where everyone got a trophy at the end of the year regardless of how well the team did. Or it was later in life, a twelfth-grade capstone project that required collaboration for completion. No matter when you experience your first time being on a team, there’s one truth about them: they’re everywhere. So how can something so common be consistently mismanaged? It may have more to do with what we believe about teams in the first place.
“A team is more than a collection of people. It is a process of give and take.” – Barbara Glacel
In this article, I want to share the three myths that small businesses believe when building a team, why I think these myths exist, and how to overcome them. If these resonate with you, please share them with your team and consider working with mine.
Myth 1 when building a team: The right candidate is LOOKING for your business.
Every day in America, companies post, pray, and ponder over job descriptions, hoping they’ve cooked up the right recipe for the ideal candidate to manifest in their applicant tracking system and solve all their workload and team chemistry woes.
Building a team is hard and I’ve even been there myself. Thinking that the only thing standing between our open positions and success is a fresh job description with KPIs and culture. Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Unless you are a household name like Apple or Amazon, how can we be so sure that someone even knows to look for us in the first place? Of course, we believe in our brand, mission, and team – but what do we do consistently to raise awareness about our businesses and their inner workings? Suppose you want to be found by the right candidate. In that case, you must think beyond the traditional job description and share what it’s like to work in your company. These days, 70% of job seekers are passive.
Stop believing that the right candidate is LOOKING for your business. More often than not, it would be best to source the right candidate for your business. What is sourcing? It’s when you proactively find candidates instead of posting a job and sifting through hundreds of candidates. As you make this shift when building a team, you feel empowered to make proactive decisions to land your next key hire. One potential decision you should consider making? Work with a recruiting agency that will source talent and use tools that reduce the time and cost it takes to hire for your organization.
Myth 2 when building a team: The right hire comes from the right school or company.
While so much has changed over the last decade within the recruiting industry, only some hiring managers have kept up.
There was once a time when notable schools and companies were reliable pipelines to fill cookie-cutter jobs with predictable expectations. I remember the days when building a team meant that applicants from relevant universities or companies were given an automatic second look – even if their qualifications weren’t quite there. Some would even get the benefit of the doubt when it came to salary since “they used to work at [fill in the blank], they must be good!” The problem with this way of thinking now (and quite frankly, always) is that it presents an unconscious bias against high-potential talent from non-traditional or traditional backgrounds without name recognition. Take the world of IT, for example, where the US Bureau of Labor Statistics says 25% of IT workers have no college degree. Are you willing to risk passing on game-changing talent because they don’t come from the background you envisioned they would?
Instead of believing the right hire comes from the right school or company, you should know that the right candidate can articulate their skills and how they align with what you need them to do. Interviewing is all about asking excellent questions and developing mutual trust. The next time you have an opportunity to chat with a candidate with the right experience but not the right name on their diploma, break out a few good questions where you ask them to describe their experience and what challenges they’ve faced along the way. Don’t hire based on which mascot they cheer for during March Madness; employ a team member for their ability to make an impact on your team today and tomorrow.
Myth 3 when building a team: We hire to find the right person.
One of these days, I might write a book about the parallels of marriage and building a team – but that’s a story for another time.
Right now, though, I want to address a myth we’ve been carrying for years in small business circles: there are no unicorns, ninjas, or rockstars. Instead, there are hidden gems, high-potential hires, and developmental candidates you take a chance on because you see something. Companies often want to pass on great candidates in hopes of finding “the one.” It prolongs the search process, adds extra costs, and reduces the candidate experience for everyone. You rarely find someone better qualified than the candidate you passed on because they nailed four things but were “eh” on the fifth.
Instead of believing you recruit to find the right person, consider recruiting to find someone competent in the role that vibes with your culture and is willing to be developed. Since we’re on the topic of teams, let me speak about a sports analogy: The NBA Draft. The most successful teams in the draft aren’t the ones who waste time trying to find someone who will be an MVP right away. The most successful teams in the draft are the ones who look at their organization’s style of play, which prospects play a similar kind of basketball, and who will train and study to perform at their best over time. It’s impractical to think there’s a perfect ready-made hire out there. Why? You have a unique culture, unique management structure, and maybe a few skeletons in your operational closet.
If you think about hiring as a big-picture project, your new hire will figure out how to paint themselves in that picture with you.
Employers can’t pick which documents employees choose for Form I-9 verification. To prevent unlawful discrimination, let *workers* choose appropriate List A OR List B + List C docs. No more, no less. #GMIS19#SHRM@SHRM#immigration#everifypic.twitter.com/tM7MJwkeEF
When a small business owner offers employment to a candidate, it can be one of the best feelings in the world for both sides. But what happens if somewhere along the process, mistakes are made that can eventually come back to harm the business? Even worse, what happens if the same mistakes get repeated over time – resulting in catastrophic financial losses and disruption of the business? You might not think it’s possible in your organization but no company is immune to legal trouble when it comes to onboarding new hires. On November 4, 2019, Alberto Ruisanchez, chief, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) gave several helpful tips to stay out of trouble when making your next new hire. In his presentation, entitled “Avoiding Unlawful Immigration-Related Employment Discrimination,” Mr. Ruisanchez mentioned three key areas where employers find themselves in trouble with the law:
Hiring
Firing
Recruitment or Referral for a Fee
While each of these areas are critically important to pay attention to, I’ve found that most small businesses make mistakes with onboarding the most. Most specifically, there are mistakes made when proving the employee has the right to work in the United States. Here are a few tips to keep your business above board and your new hires happily employed for the long haul!
Be cautious of making hiring preferences based on citizenship status. According to Ruisanchez, many employers are unable to make hiring preferences for American citizens. What does this mean? If you have an open position at your company and non-American citizens apply, you cannot reject them on the basis of their citizenship status. For example, If Joe’s Plumbing and HVAC has an opening for a Senior Manager role, any eligible applicant cannot be dismissed simply because they are not American. If the US Department of Justice or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission discovers a practice of excluding qualified applicants from progressing in your hiring process, you may be subject to fines and back pay for all affected individuals.
Now, as with many things relating to the law, there are exceptions. Federal Contractors who participate in contracts that have citizenship-based hiring requirements, workers who are unauthorized to work in America, workers who require employer sponsorship, and, of course, wherever allowable by law.
In order to reduce the odds of trigger an inquiry by the USDOJ and EEOC, I recommend the following tips to stay on the right side of the law:
For roles that are open to citizens and non-citizens alike, do not ask for citizenship status the application. Only ask if the applicant is eligible to work in the United States.
Keep a record of all applicants and save paperwork + digital applications for the appropriate amount of time required by law.
Understand employee rights with completing Form I-9, and try not to be too “helpful.” When completing Form I-9, a new hire document that all employees must complete, it’s important to give each new hire a choice of which documents they use to complete the form. There are two main requirements for the Form I-9. List A documents show proof of identity and work eligibility while List B documents and List C documents combine to show proof of identity and work eligibility. You have to let the employee pick From my experience, small business owners and administrative staff might think they are being helpful by telling new applicants which I-9 documents to bring but that’s actually no-no. Here’s what I recommend instead:
Provide your new hire with the full list of List A, List B, and List C documentation. Here is the official USCIS list.
Give the employee an ample amount of time and notice to secure the documents that they know will cover both proof of identity and eligibilty to work. As the employer, you should check both to ensure neither documents have expired.
When it comes time to recertify an employee, follow the same course of action. Prescribing which documents to use may seem helpful but it can actually be discriminatory if you only accept certain documents.
For more helpful tips and a recap of the events from the 2019 SHRM Global Mobility and Immigration Summit, check out #GMIS19 on Twitter!
In this internet era, finding job listings is pretty straightforward. However, it is arguably harder than ever to stand out in a crowd of experienced applicants. However, if you have excellent skills and you know how to draw attention to them on your resume, your chances of being noticed by a recruiter are pretty good. Also, if you are an employer looking for talent, wouldn’t you like to know what skills are in demand today and needed for tomorrow?
After analyzing various reports and profiles, I have identified the top five skills that helped get candidates hired last year. Take a look:
Cloud and Distributed Computing
With the rise of cloud computing-based applications like Adobe Creative Cloud, Google Cloud, and Google Drive, the need for skilled and capable professionals is increasing. Companies are eager to spend more money on employees with cloud computing skills because of the high demand for remote software storage. As a result of high demand, professionals with these skills can easily command high salaries. In 2018, the average salary packages offered to Platform Engineer and Cloud Architect was about $107,185/year and $142,141/year.
Data analyzing, data organization, and business analyzing are among the few areas that need analytical reasoning skills. As companies collect data more than ever before, they are starving for professionals who can make smart decisions based on it.
Whether you are preparing business analysis or working on increasing engagement with data analytics, the capability to comprehend and present numerical data proves to be in high demand. Know that, in 2018, salary packages offered to Data Analysts and Business Analysts were about $65,000 and $70,000 per year.
The age of artificial intelligence is here to stay. Therefore, this high-demand skill comes as no surprise. From generating personalized ads to tracking digital footprints to develop self-driving cars, AI is becoming a part of our daily.
Artificial Intelligence is expected to offer 2.3M opportunities by the year 2020. Just search on Indeed; vacancies in the field of artificial intelligence have doubled over the last three years and are expected to rise in the upcoming years. AI is the future, and employers seem to have caught on to this trend.
Even though advances in technology have shifted the focus away from human interaction, people management remains number four on the top skills list! Technology is appreciated, but so are people, and the results of a combined effort you drive as a team are valued much higher compared to results-driven by one individual.
In the business, building successful relationships with employees and management is essential. Therefore, companies who want to build great workplace culture and improve the employee experience hunt for people with great people management skills. The people who are masters in this area are best suited for leadership positions in any organization.
With the increase in competition in the business field, the need for marketing skills is also increasing. Companies make every effort to stand out amongst competitors, and so must employees on an individual basis. As a result, the demand for people with excellent sales and marketing skills is growing.
When it comes to the salaries of the marketer, it usually varies with the capabilities and results produced. Where some marketers got vast salaries, others got even double of them. However, with the ability to earn commission and bonuses, the salary growth possibilities in this field are limitless.
While these may be the top five workforce skills in the US job market today, one constant thing is change. If your company requires updated job descriptions or general HR consulting support, contact us right away.
To stay on top of Jumpstart:HR, LLC’s view of all things Human Resources, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter today.
It can be expensive to fail at hiring a new employee in a small business or startup. In this video, Joey Price, of Jumpstart:HR, LLC gives you everything you need to know about low quality of hire and how to improve candidate experience and your employee onboarding results.
The following post is originally shared on the website of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Jumpstart:HR CEO Joey Price lends his comments to the global conversation surrounding the #metoo movement and addressing sexual harassment at work.
“#MeToo is not only a movement about sexual harassment. As Rebecca Traister put it in The Cut, it’s a reckoning for the way we work, and a call to change the power dynamics leading to sexual abuse. We talk with people who dedicate, in different ways, their professional lives to understanding toxic work environments and how to dismantle them. Erica Clemmons is the Georgia State Director for 9 to 5; Marie Mitchell is a professor of management at the University of Georgia’s business school; and Joey Price is the CEO of Jumpstart:HR, a human resources consulting firm based in Baltimore.” – Source
If your business needs to re-evaluate it’s sexual harassment policy in 2018, contact us now.
Listen to the latest episode of our weekly Small Business HR podcast.
![[Podcast] After #MeToo: Changing The Way We Work](https://i0.wp.com/jumpstart-hr.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/pexels-photo-416405-scaled.jpeg?resize=1080%2C675&ssl=1)