How to Hire a Team from the Ground Up

The ability to build a winning team is an important skill for employers. Luckily, it’s one you can learn with a little practice. When you take pains from the beginning to locate team members who work well together, you’ll be rewarded with a happy, productive team. Positive energy and team synergy are key ingredients for a harmonious work environment. You can achieve this by following seven important hiring and onboarding strategies.

Seven steps for building an effective team

To form a group of employees that is highly successful, consider the following:

  1. Outline what roles the team will need to fulfill within your company. You’ll need a clear understanding of the team members’ duties so you can draft a list of the qualifications needed by best-fit candidates. This will help you make good choices come hiring time.
  2. Identify the type of employee who would fit best within your company culture. In addition to step 1, this is also very important in finding the right candidates for your team. An employee can have all the right qualifications, but—personality-wise—may not be a great fit for your company.
  3. Draft job descriptions. After your research from steps 1 and 2, you’ll have a good idea of what information to include. The more specific a job description you write, the more likely you’ll be to find best-fit, qualified staff.
  4. Determine the best way to search for candidates. You may wish to go it alone by using job search websites, industry job boards or social media. Another great method is working with a staffing partner. Recruiters will take care of any number of responsibilities for you, including finding, interviewing, hiring and even onboarding new workers.
  5. Get a second opinion on potential hires. Review potential hires with managers, supervisors or other staff with whom they’ll be working. This way, you’ll have a better chance of noticing anything you might have overlooked that could impact your decision to hire—or not hire—a candidate.
  6. Allow for post-hire screening time. Give new team members time after they start to get up to speed with their new position. This also gives you time to evaluate their on-the-job skills and how well they mesh with the rest of the team.
  7. If an employee isn’t working out, don’t delay your final decision. Unfortunately, poor hiring choices can happen. Employees who have negative attitudes or who lack the skills needed to do a job well can actually detract from the productivity of the rest of the team. For this reason, if you realize you’ve made a poor hiring choice, your wisest option may be swift action to let this person go.

Are you looking for a staffing partner?

Check out Contemporary Staffing Solutions. Our experienced recruiters work hard to recommend the candidates you need to accomplish your short- and long-term business goals. To learn more, contact Contemporary Staffing Solutions today!