Top Business Tips for Hiring the Right Salesperson

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Top Business Tips for Hiring the Right SalespersonHiring the right people is one way to encourage long-term business success and also reduce employee turnover, saving your business time and money. Hiring the right people can seem like a highly daunting prospect for many businesses, especially for entrepreneurs looking to build a solid team for their new brand.

Ensuring you hire the right person for the job is critical, no matter whether it’s a marketing assistant, a receptionist, a customer service contact, or an accountant. One area where it’s particularly crucial nonetheless is with a salesperson. This person — or team of people — is going to be responsible for chasing leads, driving sales, and ultimately succeeding in making a profit.

With this in mind, here are some top tips to get it right.

Set Your Wants, Needs, and Expectations

With sales comes a lot of potential, which means a high number of applicants and the need to wade through a great number of applications. While interest in the position is, of course, a good thing, you need to make sure you’re not wasting valuable business hours looking through candidate resumes that simply aren’t a good fit.

Setting strict requirements of what you’re looking for before advertising and interviewing will help you to stay focused and only receive applications from those people who fit the bill. Not only will this help you to preserve business time, but it’ll also prevent you from wasting the time of candidates too.

Experience May Not Be Everything

Of course, the ideal candidate might be someone who understands the sales cycle in detail, has a lifetime of successful sales experience, and is an exceptional people person. However, if you’re setting too much store by experience, you may be missing out on a compassionate people-person who has a great rapport with customers and the potential to shine with the proper training.

All of this will depend on the time and resources you have for training up candidates with less experience, but if you do have the resources, you may want to be flexible about experience and think about people eager to develop their sales career who have great personalities (compared to someone with 30+ years sales experience whose personality may not fit your brand).

Look for People Who Understand Your Brand and Fit Your Ethos

While the ability to make sales and work hard is naturally key, you want your salesperson to be the perfect fit for your brand — both for the success of your company and to ensure that they can have a job they’re passionate about too. Sales work more easily when the brand representative truly believes in and aligns with what the company and product is all about. You could have a highly experienced and likable salesperson who simply doesn’t understand your brand’s mission, and this could be a problem over time.

If you want your potential clients to get excited about your product and invest in you, then the salesperson needs to be someone who genuinely feels that way, too.

Loopholes in Hiring: What Are You Doing Wrong?

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Hiring Loopholes|Loopholes in Hiring: What Are You Doing Wrong?It seems like you’ve decided to go through this article. Well, in that case, there’s a high probability that you’re looking for some assistance in your hiring decisions. Even if you’re an experienced recruiter, things could be looking gloomy in the recruiting area for some time, and that’s a point of concern indeed.

For instance, the problem could be that your employees aren’t meeting expectations, or you feel you’ve hired a good candidate for the wrong position! Fortunately, you’ve stumbled upon this article that will assist you in assessing your own recruiting methods and criteria.

Undoubtedly, hiring new employees is a complicated process. You have to know the law, set recruiting criteria early on, sort out an employment contract and – above all, ensure you’re recruiting the right person. You can easily err if you don’t check all the right boxes. After all, finding the wrong person is worse than finding no one at all – it means having to start over.

The trick to recruiting new employees for your business is to have a clear idea of the skills, characteristics, and experience required for that particular position. A reasonable plan to assess and attract the best of the best entrants is an essential component of effective recruitment. Unfortunately, too many businesses commit the same slipups over and over again, costing themselves money and time in the process. The best way to dodge these mistakes is to learn from them.

To make it easier on you, we’ve compiled a list of all the loopholes that exist in recruiting new employees, including a gist of how to avoid them.

Mistake #1: Not Manifesting Technology

Are you still taking a stroll down the river to wash your clothes on the rocks? Do you hang your unmentionables over shrubbery to dry? Of course not: There is a better way, and you’d only give yourself some trouble if you do not use it. The same applies to screening potential candidates. Sifting through a mountain of resumes and printing every email is a tedious process. It wastes time and energy and leads to inefficient results, such as losing track of an applicant’s information, slowing down the recruitment process.

The Fix

Incorporating technology and specific tools in the recruitment process is a viable way to track all essential details. An applicant tracker, for instance, is a model built to help you handle everything from potential candidates to interview dates, job positions, job descriptions, and so much more. Furthermore, it casts a vast network for attracting applicants by driving traffic directly to your job openings and screens for the top candidates. So instead of schlepping home a box full of resumes to read, you’re now directly scheduling in-person and phone interviews and getting that position filled. It is not just a keen move but cost-effective and easier on your back as well.

Mistake #2: Rushing to Recruit Someone

Hiring someone without thinking twice or scrutinizing their experience/work profile can be as bad as not using technology or making the hiring process overly lengthy. Of course, there can be a sense of urgency to recruit an employee, especially if you have other staff covering the position putting additional strain on the team. But by trying to speed up the process, you may miss out on vital information, which could prove costly in the future.

The Fix

Focus on setting a realistic timeframe to send out the job offer and go through the hiring process. You can then share this with your team to get an idea of how long it will take to find the right candidate for the job.
Also, ensure that you take all the necessary time to perform relevant checks, contact references, and conduct online skill assessments. A checklist can assist you in this regard; by setting a timeline for every step, you can stay on track and ensure nothing is left out.

Mistake #3: Making decisions based on gut feelings

Human beings are biased – no arguments here. However, this becomes a problem when most of the recruitment at a company is based on gut feelings! Subjective and unthoughtful decisions are a primary problem in several organizations.

The Fix

Fortunately, with AI or Artificial Intelligence, recruiting managers can identify the right fit for the position by evaluating the applicant’s characteristics, skills, and other required criteria. AI-based solutions are designed to collect data and convert them into actionable insights. It will ensure that all the crucial decisions are based on untainted data, allowing companies to compare the skills required for a particular position with the applicants’ job profiles.

Moreover, deciding to hire someone based on gut feel can be damaging to the company. If you’re not careful, you might miss the red flags in job applicants. Performing extensive criminal background checks with candidates’ written consent through a third-party background checker is within a business’s legal right, so it’s something you should consider. Background checks can expose problematic behavior and keep bad employees from being hired at all. Since background checks are standard practice, most job seekers are aware that they may go through them.

Mistake #4: Not Including other Staff Members

Hiring managers often use the same old recruiting criteria used previously to hire the last employee. What they don’t realize is that the skills or role requirements might have changed. They often fail to mention these additional requirements in their requisition. Thus, the job offer might attract the wrong group of candidates.

This mistake usually occurs when recruiters and HR work in isolation, not consulting the team and hiring managers about the actual job preferences and duties. This makes the hiring process even more chaotic and prolonged than anticipated.

The Fix

Involve all your staff members in the recruitment process. More than 50% of the time, it is seen that hiring managers make tweaks to the job description. You can invite your staff members into your talent acquisition podium so that you can all give your two cents on the hiring process. Moreover, with open-end discussions, you can discover the right candidate for the job opening.

Mistake #5: Not Offering Enough

When it comes to hiring new employees, staying within your budget will forever remain an essential consideration. Many organizations walk a fine line between spending enough money to expand their business and staying profitable. But now more than ever, job applicants know what they are worth, and they are searching for a job that will be realistic in terms of amenities and salary. So offering less for a job that deserves more is a definite no-go.

The Fix

It is wise to look at what other organizations are paying their employees. The same websites that candidates will use to research what a position is worth can help recruiters too. You don’t necessarily have to pay more than your competitors. Still, you should play fair if you’re expecting to attract top-class talent.

Furthermore, suppose you don’t have the budget to match what your contenders are paying. In that case, you can perhaps offer other bonuses, such as an office gym, 401k matching, tuition reimbursement, etc.

Conclusion

So there you have it – a list of all the plausible mistakes that are bound to sabotage and possibly derail a recruitment process. All recruiters need to consider the pointers mentioned above to ensure an effective and smooth hiring process. To err is human, of course, but you can streamline the entire process and run it smoothly with a little bit of effort and technology. Just be sure to take your time and assess the potential candidates with a sharp eye, and before you know it, you’ll have no trouble finding the best fit for the job.

Practical Ways To Promote the Health of Workers in a Manufacturing Industry

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Manufacturing Industry|Practical Ways To Promote the Health of Workers in a Manufacturing IndustryThe health and safety of workers are a top priority for any company. A healthy workforce can be more productive and less likely to call in sick, which will result in lower costs associated with recruiting and training new employees. Here are some practical strategies that you can use to promote the health of your manufacturing workforce.

Promote a Culture That Values Health

If a company does not value the health of its employees, it probably won’t make any efforts to promote it. Instead, companies can enable healthy workers by fostering a culture that respects and views good habits necessary for productivity.

Another way that companies can support employee health is to provide training opportunities that encourage exercise or schedule walking meetings instead of sitting ones. Lastly, companies can promote healthy habits by providing free or low-cost food options that are healthier, like fruits and vegetables.

Promote Safety Standards of Metals and Machinery Used

More advanced machines are safer, but new employees may not know how to use them properly. Promoting safety is through education and training programs on-site that teach people safe working habits. These pieces of training should focus on the specific hazards in each workplace, including proper storage of tools or techniques for using certain kinds of machinery.

Prioritize Annual Medicals

As some of your employees may be working on physical tasks, it is essential to stay healthy and fit. Therefore, make sure you prioritize annual medicals and any regular checkups needed for those who work in the factory or plant every day.

Whether a walk-in checkup or an occupational health program, these services should be at the forefront for your employees.
The physical and mental well-being of workers in the manufacturing industry can have a significant impact on their lives and how they perform while working. Therefore, make sure you invest enough time into having them take care of their bodies and minds, as well as the work environment.

Provide the Right Working Gear and Equipment

Manufacturing is a very demanding industry. Workers in different manufacturing sectors like the aluminum anodizing process must work long hours and often must do heavy lifting or operate dangerous electronic equipment. They also face inclement weather, poor lighting, noise levels that exceed safety standards, and working conditions that are not ergonomically correct.

Because of these factors, workers in the manufacturing industry need to have good working gear and equipment. It will help them protect their bodies, increase productivity, and prevent injuries in the workplace. Not only will this save money in healthcare costs, but it can also increase productivity by giving workers safe and comfy working conditions instead of ones where their health is compromised daily.

Lead by Example

Managers need to set an example. If you are wearing safety glasses and gloves, your team members will follow suit. Be sure that employees see you walking around the plant floor with a hard hat on. The best way to promote health in an industrial setting is by leading by example.

When workers feel their supervisor cares about them, they are more likely to work safely. In addition, they will want their coworkers and managers to be proud of them rather than chastising them for a mistake that you could have prevented with better gear or equipment.

Conclusion

A healthy workforce is a productive workforce. The primary purpose was to highlight the importance of promoting health and safety in manufacturing plants. It’s not about the workers necessarily being healthier, but rather having a workplace that doesn’t make them sick or hurt them while they are at work.

How To Find Employees for Your Franchise in The Wake of Covid-19

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Covid-19|How To Find Employees for Your Franchise in The Wake of Covid-19Beginning in early 2020, Covid-19 began having a massive effect on everything. Above all else, the demand for Covid-19 staffing went through the roof. Everyone was shaken up and no one knew what to do. How to find employees for your franchise in the wake of Covid-19 was the call.

With the advent of the coronavirus in the US, most everything changed for the worse and the demand for employees rose. People became scared and the shortage of qualified workers became overwhelming. The economy began to change and jobs, as well as entire businesses, were lost. Some people were even too afraid to come out of their houses.

As communities rallied together and families met to discuss the situation, things began to fall into place as they always do with American families. But this was something different, something not seen before in this generation. We all knew we had to do something but what?

As the pieces fell together:

Healthcare employment agencies were the hardest hit because they place more people in jobs than any other bureau. Staffing agencies do their work based on the industries they are working with. Everyone was looking at Covid-19 staffing. One area that struggled most was the healthcare industry and especially in hospitals. Many hospitals laid workers off adding to the exploding unemployment numbers.

How to attract employees in the middle of a pandemic:

  • Beef Up Your Job Descriptions: with increased applicants, key on quality over quantity. Creating a robust and highly descriptive job summary is the key
  • Skills Appraisals are more important than ever: to reduce unfairness when screening applicants and to find the best-qualified individuals, set up a system of skills testing
  • Find talent by utilizing a work scout or recruiter: with the Covid-19 situation, find qualified applicants and inform them about your company and then provide adequate job descriptions and information and do it by creating an additional post.
  • Key on help to obtain qualified applicants: sites like Monster and Indeed can connect you to large audiences
  • Offer Coronavirus temporary staffing: when you find a qualified applicant, a temporary position often works into a permanent one

Show a caring and loving attitude: we all know that love and gentle caring can often do more than words

Refit and Restructure:

The most effective way of attracting employees in the wake of Coronavirus is to offer remote work. You will need to change things and make some adjustments but it can easily be done. Offer bonuses or increase salaries, and perhaps even provide a computer or let them use the one they were on in the office.

Employers must now think outside the box

  • What is the workload
  • How many employees do we need
  • Where will we find them.

The answer to all of those questions and more can be found in technology. It was there the entire time. As it turns out, many of these remote jobs were better than the daily commute to the office and more productive for all involved.
Sometimes life provides the questions and the answers.

Show your prospects the benefits of working from home:

Even before the global pandemic, lots of folks were choosing to work from home. With the advent of new technologies such as Zoom, Skype, Facetime, Slack, and Google Hangouts, this was easy. It was no longer just an option but the chosen way for employers to obtain staff and for employees to stay home but still produce a living for their families and their loved ones.

Help all your staff in the setup process:

You value your staff and you must let them know it. Make the time to interview all potential work-from-home candidates and learn what they have at home and what they need. Offer to get them set up in any way possible. I wouldn’t think that offering them a stationary bicycle would be out of the question. Staff working from home could much more easily find the time to work out when their office and their home is the same place.

How offering remote jobs helps your franchise:

Companies that offer remote work programs can vastly improve employee productivity, reduce turnover, and actually lower costs. Telecommuting workers with highly complex jobs who do not need a lot of personal teamwork often perform better than their office-based correspondents.

Also, look on the bright side. If another natural or manmade disaster ever comes along, a distributed workforce is in a better position to keep operations running, even if some of the group goes offline. So as it turns out, there just may be good in everything because working from home is actually a very good plan

Tips to Create A Global Recruitment Strategy for Your Business

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Global Recruitment Strategy|Tips to Create A Global Recruitment Strategy for Your BusinessBack in the day, there was no concept of telecommuting. However, in today’s world of technological advancements, the idea of having physical workplaces has become outdated. With the passage of time and enhancements in the technology sector, employees get a lot of leverage because they can work anywhere that may not be their workplace if they are not compromising on quality, efficiency, and punctuality. Thanks to breakthroughs in virtual technology, businesses have benefitted as well. Companies have taken full advantage of these breakthroughs, from hosting meetings online to keeping track of their employees’ progress through digital portals.

In addition, companies that operate on a global level, especially multinationals and transnationals, have turned to better, more effective ways of hiring. As remote work is exceedingly conventional now, companies have started to hire human resources from all around the globe. Previously, organizations would have the best applicants come down to their head office to conduct the interviews. But in recent times, that has changed. Instead of having applicants come over from different regions of the world, businesses now hire virtually.

Though it may seem like an excellent solution to the time-taking traditional hiring method, recruitment on a global level also requires strategic planning. Here are some tips to assist you in creating a ground plan for international recruitment.

Mitigate risks with fixed-term contracts

Regardless of where an organization’s headquarters may be, the HR department must be fully conversant with international labor laws. In addition, companies need to be mindful of the taxation policies, benefits, and regulations. Usually offered when an employee may be temporarily unavailable or when a project requires an addition to its task force, a fixed-term contract allows companies to outsource personnel for a specific and pre-informed period. The timespan of these contracts varies from country to country, and so do the perks.

Having a clear-cut understanding, which states every single detail, can help employers avoid future risks. For example, newly hired or outsourced employees may want to go against or quit the company. They will try their level best to get everything they can to compensate themselves. Having concrete proof of all agreements can save you an arm and a leg when letting such employees go.

Outsource a third party

Another common practice of organizations in today’s world is contracting a third party to run and look after a handful of business operations. These external service providers can perform tasks or take over whole operations for an organization, helping the management take some weight off their chest. Commonly, these third parties look after customer care, information technology, etc. The main reason for having other companies look over these tasks is to reduce internal costs, improve efficiency, and bring out the best of the departments.

Inspire the world’s best talent to join

Competition in the commerce industry has always been high. Be it job hunting or recruitment, to be the best, you must beat the best. Inclusivity and acceptance of all races, gender, and ethnicities can attract aspiring employees from every corner of the world. Employer branding plays a huge role in securing and acquiring the best candidates the world has to offer. To build an employer brand, companies form talent acquisition teams. Alongside creating task forces, companies also improve their digital presence and recruit social media influencers to become their ambassadors.

The most viable method of doing this is to create a local presence through your marketing team. Marketing teams can collaborate with local influencers and other marketing teams to develop locally appropriate and socially conscious campaigns. Moreover, targeted advertisements through social media can further attract potential employees.

Lastly, ensure your campaigns are mobile-friendly to attract people of all age groups. Through word of mouth, you can increase the chances of people knowing about you and your entity.

Giving candidates a consistent experience

Providing applicants with an experience of a lifetime can do you free marketing. Having tech-savvy mobile applications and an easy-to-use browser interface can have a favorable effect. Aspiring applicants from around the world would want to get done with recruitment formalities as soon as possible. These may include forms and surveys. Most importantly, the job description should be pertinent and to the point. A monotonous job description failing to entice applicants will never get a good response. Along with that, a strong follow-up and posting reviews of past applicant experiences can motivate ambitious applicants to apply for the job.

Universal compliance is inevitable

Every country in the world has different rules and regulations when it comes to its workforce. However, most of them have almost the same requirements. Minimum wage, working hours, job security, medical benefits, income tax, and leave policies are the most common details that every candidate inquires about organizations under consideration.

Offer letters should be meticulously crafted to include relevant terms and conditions. All the intricate details mentioned above should be thoroughly discussed and jotted down. Compliance should be of utmost importance because unless businesses comply, their vacant positions will go to waste. Being aware of the regulatory requirements can smoothen the hiring process. Despite being a daunting task, adhering to statutory requirements can make the whole process easier.

Try blending in

Get your existing workforce to derive an experience that attracts customers through content that matches their cultural heritage. Localization can give them a sense of being accepted and recognized. Organizations can benefit significantly by providing aspirants with an interface/experience that puts them in their comfort zone. Organizations are bound to have an increase in applicants if they can captivate and mesmerize the audience.

Communicating with interviewees in their native language and greeting them according to their religious or cultural background can instantly win them over. As a result, in the long run, your business is also likely to operate in the native language in the respective country, attracting both customers and further aspiring employees. Speaking their language, discussing their country’s social issues or current affairs can help them indulge better in the conversation.

Conclusion

All in all, global recruitment has its pros and cons. International recruitment can take its toll on your company’s position, from not costing it an arm and a leg to having an incredibly arduous process. However, in a COVID-19-struck world, global recruitment is set to become the norm, which is why adapting to this form of recruitment and having a solid plan is bound to do right by you. The tips mentioned above will most definitely help you hire the best of the best in their respective positions from around the world.