Silverstreet mobile messaging aggregator and fast growing telecom group, recently advertised several new positions to meet the needs of our exciting expansion. I believe that great people build great companies and hiring the right people to suit the various, and often very diverse, needs of a fast growing organisation can be tricky. Mistakes are often not only costly financially but also impact on employee morale and efficiency of the rest of the team. It got me thinking about our hiring strategy and prompted me to share my three top tips on how to hire high achievers that suit your business.
1. Know what you want
Having a clear idea of the position available, the type of candidate you’re looking for and most importantly, the outcomes you’d like them to achieve, will save you a lot of time later on in the hiring process.
Decide whether you want to hire ‘top guns’ in the industry with lots of experience or people that are young and ambitious. There are pros and cons to both – but if you go for the top guns watch out for product fatigue – where the benefit they bring is short term as they can replicate past successes but not expand on them and/ or are tired of their industry/ area of expertise. I believe that top performing employees are people that are hired young and hungry, who think out the box and have fierce new ideas.
Be wary of a one-size-fits-all approach in your job description. When hiring sales people for example, you want to attract candidates that are dynamic, open minded and flexible, with the ability to gauge the situation and environment they are in with respect to their clients and prospects and understand the correct approach in each case. Be aware of these types of attributes and be sure to outline them in your job description.
2. Utilize social media and your own network
Often the best talent I’ve found has been through tapping into my own personal and professional network. Facebook and LinkedIn are two hiring tools Silverstreet utilizes regularly and they have proven to be quite successful for many companies as the posts are shared and viewed by the company’s followers and in turn by their followers. It also enables a user to directly recommend someone they know that fits the requirements of a position. Silverstreet recently posted vacancies for their offices in the Netherlands, Poland, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia and the number of candidates who showed interest from seeing our post on Facebook and LinkedIn was incredible. I highly recommend a combination of traditional and social methods when hiring.
3. Do your research but follow your gut
Once you have short-listed your top candidates it’s important to test their abilities, research the source (who recommended them and why). You need a real idea of what you can expect if the applicant is employed. The best advice that I can give is not to rush this process – do your research but also follow your gut. If there's any doubt don't do it.
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President and CEO of Silverstreet, Simon Landsheer is the driving force behind the company’s immense growth and expansion in to new markets. Simon has been instrumental in establishing Silverstreet as one of the leading SMS aggregators in the global mobile industry today.