Hiring your first set of employees is crucial for your business especially for service based businesses. They will be the front liners of your business and will either help it break or make.
I always say, a bad hire will cost you so much.
I’ve experienced my fair share of bad hires and learned so much from it. Oh and lost so much too. But such is life of a business owner here in the Philippines and the kind of industry I am in.
See, I hire mostly those that are from the lower income families, non College or even HS graduates- I’m lucky if they’re HS grads at all. I do all the trainings and honing until they’re ready to work (all paid for, by the way.)
So here are some tips you can follow to help you get the best employees:
1. Depending on the position you are hiring for, post your job ads in Filipino/ Tagalog so they would understand more.
If you are hiring for an office assistant that requires English proficiency, of course you would not want this but if it’s a crew or attendant that Filipino language is mostly used, then it’s best to have the job ad and description written in Filipino as well.
2. Ask for their Facebook account
And yep, stalk them. You can basically gauge their interests, hobbies and previous situation through their Facebook posts and shares. This is very vital for me. No, I don’t judge at all but I use the information I gather through their Facebook (and Facebook friends) to ask them specific questions during interview.
3. Call those reference numbers and people
I always research on their previous employer if they have and verify if the applicant indeed worked for them. And if the previous employer is willing, I ask why the applicant had to leave. This is very important for you as well so you have an idea what has happened in the past job.
Those reference numbers and people they place should be contacted as well to confirm and verify that they do know the applicant and vouch for their good behaviour.
4. Ask for Barangay Clearance
I prefer Barangay Clearance more than NBI Clearance because I should know where to find the person should I need to and the Barangay is the best place to do that. And this verifies that the address stated in their information is correct.
5. Ask for Barangay Medical Clearance or Negative Covid Test Result
Because of Covid, you want to be sure that the applicant is healthy and Covid free.
6. What could go wrong?
Always ask this question when assessing the applicant. What could be possible reasons why an applicant when hired, won’t be able to perform well? Potential family problems? Potential financial problems (vale all the time)? Possible reasons for tardiness and absences? (home is too far away from workplace)?
And ultimately, are you willing to accept these potential problems?
7. Is he or she worth it?
Base on all the information you gathered, is the applicant worth it? Remember a bad hire is costly, are you willing to invest on this person and take the risk?
When you have all of these, it’s easy for you to decide to either proceed with employing the person on or not.
Good luck!