Episodes on Employees/Hiring

"How do I get my employees engaged in the selling process?" is a frequent question asked by business owners working with The Entrepreneur Circle. Today's episode talks about this issue and what can be done about it. Consider this: Was your employee hired to sell? Or did they get hired to perform another role? However, everyone in the company should be part of business development. - Educate the team on how to be great at customer service. - Teach them how to talk about the business - Teach them how to recommend and share - Teach them how to spot opportunity - Teach them how to talk about it - Teach them how to gather info and pass it on to sales Find out more about The Entrepreneur Circle, and other small business solutions http://mentalcompass.com

We can't tell you how may times we have heard statements like "If it wasn’t for customers, vendors, and employees, being in business would be so easy." "I feel like I am surrounded by idiots, How can I get less idiots around me?" From coaching clients at The Entrepreneur Circle. We can all feel a level of frustration from time to time with the way things are going in our businesses. However, if you are continuously feeling this way, it's time to look at why. Below are some of the potential reasons why this may be the case. - You are probably the problem (this is always hard and confronting to admit) - Stress induces this feeling - Lack of clear roles and responsibilities for yourself and your employees - Lack of training - Your communication style - Maybe there are some people in your organization that shouldn’t be there - Whatever the reason, it’s your responsibility to fix. You don't have to be a victim. Find out more about The Entrepreneur Circle, and other small business solutions http://mentalcompass.com

It’s always our goal, whether it’s with our clients, with this show, or any other content we put out, to provide you with useful, practical stuff you can apply right away to improve your business. Today is no different. We’re going to discuss with you a question we’ve gotten a million times. Should I hire a friend or family member? Identifying the right candidate to hire is a frequent topic brought up in coaching sessions and roundtable meetings by clients of The Entrepreneur Circle. It’s an uncomfortable topic, and business owners usually just want to get it done in the shortest most painless way available. Initially, it may seem like a good idea to hire someone you know. In this video we will share some of the pitfalls to making such a decision. Things to pay attention to: - We tend to put a lot of trust in friends/family. Maybe more than we should - We probably don’t vet friends/family the way we should. We may be tempted to shortcut our process. - We may let them slide more, at least for a while. Harder to express concerns, or correct behaviors - Reluctant to fire - We often fail to set clear expectations and stick to them - Puts the relationship at risk Find out more about The Entrepreneur Circle, and other small business solutions http://mentalcompass.com

A big fear business owners have when interviewing is that a candidate will show up shiny for an interview and prepared to answer questions. Clients of The Entrepreneur Circle often talk about how to best interview job candidates in their coaching sessions and roundtable groups. They have been burned in the past by a candidate who shows up, knows how to answer the questions, but at the end of the day is a bad fit for the job. Today we want to continue with the subject of finding, vetting, and hiring key staff. In the last episode, we talked a lot about finding and vetting them. Today we are going to talk more about what to do with them once you’ve decided they’re a good fit for an interview. We find it’s best to Interrupt their pattern of what to expect so you can get an idea of their overall personality. Pattern interrupt techniques - Take them to lunch to see how they interact in that environment with you, wait staff, ordering, eating - If they are going to be working with someone on a team, have that person sit in on the interview - Go out to their car. See if it’s messy or clean. See how they take care of things - Walk while you ask them questions…inside or outside - If certain skills are required, have them demonstrate their knowledge – give them a project or have them do a presentation. - Have them come in for a shadow day - References – Ask them to give you a specific reference to someone who can testify to their work performance - Look at their resume to see if you know anyone from places the candidate has worked in the past. Call them and ask about the individual Find out more about The Entrepreneur Circle, and other small business solutions http://mentalcompass.com

This video is longer than most. We wanted to make sure you got the information you came for. The topic that seems to stress business owners out more than any other is the thought of making a hire. They not only dread the whole process, but they usually feel unqualified to do it, or don’t have the time to spend on this task. I hear many business owners say, “I’m getting better, 50% of my hires are good”. Below are some tips to help increase the odds of making better hiring decisions. This video covers the initial part of finding a good employee. The initial vetting process. Don’t waste your time bringing folks in for an interview if they haven’t passed an initial sniff test. - Create a Job description – be very clear on what you want this person to do. - Qualifications – Identify the skills you need this person to possess. If a college degree is necessary, then make it a qualification. If not, you could be missing out on some good candidates. - Make every step with an applicant is the vetting process o Ask them to apply in a specific way – email, cover letter, etc o When contacted, how do they answer the phone? o How long do they take to call back? o What’s their email address? You can tell a lot about someone’s by how their email looks - What’s their voicemail message? Once again, this is a bird’s eye view into the person you are about to consider for the job. - Do they follow instructions for meeting time? o Do they answer the phone when you call? o Did they plan accordingly for the call? Or are they driving, in a loud chaotic area, etc.? - Have they visited your website? Do they know who you are when you contact them? Or do they say, “what job is this?” - If they are currently in a job, are they taking calls during work time? Do they say things like, “I’ll be at work, but I can take the call.” - During the interview a candidate will say the things that sound good, paying attention to all the details that lead up to a call or face to face interview will really tell you who the person is. We will cover tips for interviewing in future videos. For more episodes, or to take our business assessment go to mentalcompass.com

Less Conflict and more productivity is a frequent topic brought up in coaching sessions and roundtable meetings by clients of The Entrepreneur Circle. It's so frustrating for business owners who are just trying to grow their business. In this episode, we're going to share an example of how effective communication can improve a business relationship and how poor communication can tear them apart. You're going to hear about one of our clients who almost fired a key employee because their communications always ended in conflict. You'll also learn that when you can take the time to understand how you're communicating and how it's being interpreted, you can dramatically improve relationships and increase productivity. Before you blame it all on your employees, ask yourself... Am I being too aggressive? Am I being too passive? Am I clearly stating what I want? Am I contradictory? Exercise to test your communication style http://mentalcompass.com/wp-content/u... Find out more about The Entrepreneur Circle, and other small business solutions http://mentalcompass.com