Hiring is expensive. Training is time-consuming. And when employees leave, your small business or nonprofit pays the price—literally. From lost productivity to QuickBooks catch-up chaos, turnover can quietly sabotage your bottom line.
Part One: Hire Smarter, Not Harder
Hiring isn’t just about filling a seat—it’s about finding the right fit. Here’s how to make your hiring process more strategic and effective:
Write Clear, Compelling Job Descriptions
Your job post is more than a list of duties—it’s an advertisement for your company. Highlight the wonderful things your organization does to attract the kind of people you truly want. Make it engaging and aligned with your values and culture.
Always Be Fishing
We continuously post three positions on Indeed—even when we don’t have openings! It may seem unconventional, but it has saved us many times and helped us attract great teammates. You never know when someone amazing is job seeking or when a current employee might leave. Having a pool of candidates ready can reduce stress and speed up hiring.
Is it a bad thing to have three great candidates for one open position? Definitely not.
Use Technology to Streamline the Process
We use BambooHR to manage resumes and filter applicants with a few key questions. The program allows us to respond to every applicant—either moving them forward or letting them know they’re not a fit. Each applicant’s record is stored, making it easy to revisit promising candidates later. Reviewing and moving resumes through the system takes just a minute.
Use Personality Surveys to Spot Hidden Gems
We use Culture Index, a 10-minute survey that helps us compare applicants to our best employees. It’s a quick way to identify potential stars who might not stand out on paper.
First Interview: Cultural Fit
Don’t ask generic questions like “Are you a constant learner?” Instead, ask, “What are you reading right now?” If ethics are important, ask, “Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t agree with what was happening? What did you do?”
These questions reveal real values and behaviors, not just rehearsed answers.
Second Interview: Test Virtual Communication Skills
Our second interview is a Teams meeting. Since we’re a virtual business, this helps us assess how well applicants interact online. It also gives us insight into their ability to follow directions, as our interview process is intentionally a bit complex.
Third Interview: Assess Skill Level
The third and final interview is reserved for applicants we’re ready to hire. It’s focused on evaluating their skill level so we can plan the right amount of training.
Stay Tuned for Part 2
Hiring and training are costly, so getting it right makes a significant difference to your bottom line. What’s your process for hiring talent? If you feel like your system needs improvement, give us a call—we’d love to help.
