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A Checklist for Staffing Up
Written by: Heather VillaArticle Overview: A Checklist for Staffing Up - When you are looking to hire staff, you need to hire the right staff quickly, otherwise you'll be burdened with wasted time and expense. In this article, you'll read about a checklist of 4 qualities you need to ensure that every new-hire posses if they are going to help you grow your business. Three of them won't come as a surprise, and will serve a good reminder, while the fourth might be a quality you never considered to be necessary. Make sure that you review every resume and perform every interview with these 4 qualities in mind.
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A Checklist for Staffing Up
A Checklist for Staffing Up
When you are considering the possibility of hiring staff – whether that staff includes a virtual assistant, an onsite assistant, freelance consultant, or an entire office of staff – you want to make the right decision as quickly as possible and get the role filled. After all, every passing day without a person in the empty role will cost you money and time! Print and use this article as a checklist to review resumes and to make sure that you cover these points during your interview.
Experience
This should be one of the main considerations when looking at a potential candidate. You need to determine how much experience he or she has working at the tasks you want them to do. It doesn't mean that they must have performed the exact role, but they should at least have experience in the tasks you need done. For example, a branch manager who is applying for the job of marketing manager might still be well qualified, just because they did marketing while a branch manager. Insist on and check references. Be sure that the experience listed matches what you are seeking.
Integrity
This trait is particularly important if your employee will be dealing with confidential information. Again, reference checks are invaluable and a background check should be considered when client confidentiality is important. Integrity can be a difficult quality to measure so you might have to rely on instinct a little.
Professionalism
This is always important in the business world. If your employee will be dealing with clients via the phone or email, it is imperative that they are able to conduct themselves in a professional manner. How do they conduct themselves on the phone? Do they have a pleasant speaking voice and use proper grammar? A thorough interview as well as a writing assessment can help you make this determination. And seriously consider doing this same assessment for all employees, not just front-office employees, because these people might answer phones in a pinch or they may end up becoming managers when your business grows further.
Initiative
This is huge, but it's often missed. In my opinion, it's the second-most-important quality after integrity. A person with initiative may not always do a perfect job, but they're also not going to sit around and wait. They will be assertive, proactive, and a self-starter. Watch for candidates who seem to think “outside the box” and resist hiring employees who seem to be timid and who need a lot of guidance. You don't want to spend your time micro-managing people or cleaning up after their messes! You will want to ask how they handle obstacles or difficulties in completing a task and how they manage their time when working from home.
These qualities are imperative in every staff member you hire, whether virtual assistant, freelancer, or employee. Use this article as a "checklist" to ensure that they possess these qualities before you hire them.
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Article Tags: background check, business world, client confidentiality, confidential information, exact role, instinct, integrity, job, marketing manager, money, professional manner, professionalism, proper grammar, reference checks, resumes, right decision, time print, virtual assistant
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About the Author: Heather Villa RSS for Heather's articles - Visit Heather's website  Click here to visit Heather's website   Incorporating Outsource Staff into the Routine of your Office Which Company Structure is Right for You Get More Done with OnCall Help Trying To Go it Alone Why It Is Less Productive To Work Alone Where Entrepreneurs Should Invest their Money First |
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Hi!
- Hi everyone!
I'm Laura from Platinum Staffing Solutions. Like the saying goes, "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear", I guess I'm ready! I'm looking forward to reading and posting/ meeting like minded entrepreneurs, this a first for me. I'm usually reading, studying or attending workshops locally, it's time to step up the game.
I own PlatinumStaffingSolutions.ca, as I've mentioned, I started my own company over two years ago to be able to do what I know how to do with the integrity that lacked where I was previously working. It's a *people* centered agency that keeps the best interests of both the professional and the hiring company in mind. It's a tough industry, especially right now, any leads or referrals would be appreciated.
Business-wise I'm very big into Napoleon Hill, Wallace Wattles, W. Clement Stone, Genevieve Berhendt, Florence Shinn - all of the late/greats; I'm wary of the modern writers but still like to read what applies to keep learning or see different perspectives; no one theory of success applies to every business out there.
Hopefully you'll drop me a line and see ya' on the boards!
Why a project fails?
- The top 10 factors that have driven failed projects are:
1. Project sponsors are often not committed to the objective. They have a lack of understanding of the project and are not actively involved in the project strategy and direction.
2. Some projects do not meet the strategic vision of the company. If business needs are not clearly defined, it will result in a project that does not add value to the bottom line or enhance business processes.
3. Projects are started for the wrong reasons. Some are initiated purely to implement new technology without regard for whether the technology is supportive of the business needs. The converse of this is a project that does not support existing technology, resulting in major scope creep and resultant expenditure.
4. Staffing is a reason for failure, eg not enough dedicated staff (project managers and project team members) allocated to projects. Project team members lack experience and do not have the required qualifications. Line-staff believe that they will be able to manage projects but are only 40% available to do so. Focus in this regard is not on the delivery of the project, but on the comfort zone of the project manager and his own time management.
5. Incomplete project scope. No clear definition of the project's benefits and the deliverables that will produce them.
6. A project plan that is non-existent, out of date, incomplete or poorly constructed and just not enough time and effort spent on project planning.
7. Project value management is not put into practice to evaluate baseline cost agreed during baseline transfer against actual costs spent at any given time. Project costs and financial do not form an integral part the project during execution.
8. Insufficient funding, and incorrect budgeting is still a major reason for projects not delivering their goals and objectives within the quality framework that was required, because projects always need to deliver yesterday within X budget.
9. No formal project management methodologies and best practices aligned to the company's specific needs are used to assist project performance. Companies do not want to invest in best of breed methodologies that will benefit the bottom line over a period, with projects delivered within budget. Companies do not recognise the value of using a methodology to support and enable them to record their own best practice project results for future reference, and to build a knowledge base within the company.
10. Not all project are going through a formal signed off process using a proper post mortem process to determine lessons learned and to build their own reference model for future use. A certificate signed off between sponsors and other third-parties will demonstrate project success but even that is quite seldom.
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