How to Hire Your A Team as an Online Business
"A Teams are made up of people I like to describe as your Business Soldiers, they add to your bottom line in sales, brand preservation..."
A growing online Business requires an A team. Not only to grow your Business but to also sustain your brand standards amidst growth and success.
Having a team of efficient, passionate employees can make all the difference in scaling your business and improving your processes. For many entrepreneurs in the Digital space, hiring is one of the key challenges we can’t just outsource away, a bad hire is too costly and it takes so much time to reverse the damage done. So how do you hire the right people and what makes an “A-Team”?
There are a few factors you must keep in mind to make sure your hiring process is designed to help you hire the right people. We'll go into detail soon but first let’s talk about what makes an “A-Team”.
A Teams are made up of people I like to describe as your Business Soldiers, they add to your bottom line in sales, brand preservation and are efficient enough to drive your mission, manage and inspire others. An A team member is typically experienced or passionate enough to take ownership in areas of your business where they are assigned responsibilities and are committed to working with others to achieve in your overall business goals. In summary, they are believers who are skilled in “showing workings”, if that makes sense.
My first hire became an A team member, in fact, she is currently our Head of People a whopping four years after. At the time, I prioritized soft skills over experience because it was important that my first hire was a version of me or how I wanted to present myself within the Business. At the time, my key challenge was managing customer relations online and processing orders so I looked out for soft skills such as; Listening, People management, ability to follow instructions but also improvise where needed. She was all that plus really interested in how online businesses operate, and that combo will always be a recipe for success.
My general advice when hiring for key roles for your online business is to prioritize soft skills, passion and interest plus the ability to self-manage.
Common challenges entrepreneurs face when trying to hire for online businesses, physical or remote workers.
When it comes to hiring for an online businesses, entrepreneurs often face common challenges like; identifying the right candidates, managing a remote/physical team, maintaining company culture etc.
At the outset, it's important for an employer to ask these fundamental questions: “Who do I need to hire?” or “What are the functions for the role I am looking to fill?”. These questions help the employer identify and understand the business needs, the employee expectations as well as their roles, and responsibilities.
Crafting a job description is a crucial step in hiring. This document describes the ideal candidate and tells both the employer and potential hire what to expect. Before writing down the job requirements, it's important to look at the current team's strengths and weaknesses. This helps identify where the team needs help and what skills are needed in a new hire.
But how do you make a job description that stands out? It's not just about listing qualifications and duties. Entrepreneurs need to think about how the new person's job will impact the business every day and what responsibilities potential A team members will be excited to contribute towards. Thinking about the new person's contributions can also show how they'll help the team and make everyone's work easier.
What kind of employee working style suits your business the most? Full time, Part time, Hybrid, fully remote?
You need to consider what the best employee work style would be for your business;
Nature of the Role: Consider whether the job primarily involves cognitive tasks or manual labour. Roles centered around computer-based tasks are generally more conducive to remote work, while those requiring physical presence, such as construction or childcare, may not be suitable for remote arrangements.
Location Dependency: Assess whether the tasks require on-site presence or can be performed remotely. Certain professions, such as healthcare or hospitality, necessitate face-to-face interaction and are inherently location-dependent.
Skill Portability: Evaluate whether the skills required for the job are transferable and can be performed irrespective of location. Remote work offers access to a global talent pool and potential cost savings, particularly for roles with easily transferable skills.
Initial Investment: Consider the initial setup costs associated with remote work, including providing equipment and addressing legal and tax implications, especially when hiring employees from different jurisdictions.
Management Approach: Reflect on your management style and willingness to delegate and trust remote employees. Remote work requires a level of autonomy and trust, and managers comfortable with empowering their teams and leveraging technology for oversight are better suited for remote work arrangements.
While the job description makes clear the specific responsibilities of the candidate/ employee, there are other general qualities employers seek out in candidates to promote an easier working relationship and contribute to maintaining the company culture.
Some of which are;
Essential Skills: Write down the must-have skills that are crucial for getting the job done right. For example, if you're hiring a programmer, list out all the programming languages and technologies they need to be ace at.
Preferred Skills: Note any extra skills that would be a bonus but aren't totally necessary. Like, if you're looking for a back-end programmer, having some front-end development knowledge could be helpful but not a deal-breaker.
Desirable Qualities: Think about all the qualities you'd love to see in your new team member. Focus on the ones that are super important for the role's success and also in line with your company's culture and values.
Cultural Fit: Consider what kind of person would blend well with your team and company culture. This includes things like personality traits, background, hobbies, and anything else that'll help them mesh seamlessly with your crew. Remember, finding the right fit can make all the difference!
Some general questions I ask during an interview and key signals I look out for in answers.
Tell me about yourself (I’m looking for self-awareness)
What would you do if I asked you to do something you don’t know how to do (Ability to deal with unknowns)
How will you measure success in your new job role? (Results-orientation)
Tell me about a time that you messed up. How did you fix it? (Accountability)
Tell me about a time that you successfully led a project. How did you do it? What were the challenges? ( Ownership)
If you needed feedback from a remote team member right away but they weren’t responsive, what would your next step be? (Initiative)
How do you normally give feedback to a co-worker about something they did or didn’t do? ( Tact)
What do you think the challenges of working remotely are, and how would you handle them? (Self Management)
If you needed feedback from a remote team member right away but they weren’t responsive, what would your next step be? (Initiative)
Do you have any questions for me? (Genuine interest)
Conclusion
Hiring is an imperfect process, you’re going to do it wrong at some point. You’ll hire some people who won’t fit in, who will quit, or who you’ll have to fire. And that’s okay. But never let your fear of hiring “the wrong person” stop you from hiring at all.
If you read this to the end then you have learnt something valuable, If you are not already a part of the Instagram Collective then you are missing short form content that is equipping other Ecom Brands to grow their business and scale to International Markets.
Follow @thecomcollective on Instagram.
This is a Bi Monthly Newsletter that teaches Business Growth for Online Brands, See you every other Tuesday!