Rantings of a New Boss

We've all been in that situation: You need a job. What do you do first? Well, some people will say "I pull up Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor, etc. and I type in the job field that I'm looking for..."

STOP RIGHT THERE.

Now, I'm not saying being a job-seeker is easy. I didn't always have a company and during high school and college, I worked in retail and food service to have some extra spending money. Once out of college, I needed a job in my field as well. So I definitely have been in the job-seeker's spot on the other side of the desk before.

But has anyone ever thought about what goes into actually HIRING an individual? Probably not. You probably just think, "We could use another hand for this job" or "oh, it might be nice to have another staff member" or (which is what I experienced), "OH MY GOD WE ARE DYING, GET SOMEONE HERE NOW!" Well, contrary to popular belief, you don't just release a job out there and BOOM, you've got applicants the next day. Oh no, there's a LOT more that goes into hiring someone than you may think. It might be different for an independent contractor. But I'm talking about a true-blue, bonafide, W-2-health-insurance-and-benefits-getting employee.

Putting out a job description for one thing, means that you have to actually develop a job description. "Oh, that's easy." Yeah, that's what I thought too. First and foremost, you have to think about not only what the job duties entail, but who the person will report to, what the qualifications for the job should be, what are the objectives for the job, is this an entry level position or will the person remain in this job for the duration of their tenure with your company, what type of attributes personality-wise as well as skills and talent-wise you want the ideal candidate to bring to the table, etc.

What does this all mean? Well first and foremost, what do the job duties entail? It's very easy to say, "they'll be a cashier. They'll just accept payment from customers and ring them up in the POS system." Yeah, okay...but what type of POS system do you use? What goes into simple operation of the system? Are there bar codes they need to scan? When they ring up customers, do they need to do anything such as wrap the items a certain way when they package it for the customer to transport to their destination? ALL of that must be taken into consideration when developing a job description. Also, what skills does this candidate already need to possess to perform the job duties? We might think some things are second-nature, such as using a calculator. But some people may not. You want to make sure the person you hire has a concept of how to properly count money, otherwise your till will be short a LOT. Also, who will this person report to? What job duties will they have that will require assistance to another department? Also, the person they report to, you need to ensure that they get along with that person as well. Another thing to think about is, do you want this person to eventually advance into another position, or are you hiring them into a position that you want them to remain in for their tenure with your company? Also, does this person GET ALONG with you and your team? It's one thing to have a qualified, talented, skilled individual come in. But if they don't get along with anybody and nobody wants to work with them, then they're just as effective as someone who doesn't know the difference between a calculator and a kitchen timer.

Next of all, the employer must go through the process of HIRING the proper candidate. This entails calling candidates, phone-screening them (which I recommend, because the last thing you want to do is waste your time and theirs if you ask them to come in blindly and it turns out they're all wrong), asking them in for an interview and hoping they even show up. You as a job-seeker being nervous for an interview is just as common as the hiring manager being just as nervous to interview you. What if the job-seeker decides that they don't like the work environment you offer? Good candidates are hard to come by, and just as good jobs are competitive to obtain, a good candidate is also competitive to obtain. If the person is a truly qualified individual who will be a great asset to your company, it's most likely that other companies who are willing to offer higher pay, better benefits, etc. will try to scoop them up as well.

Also, hiring an employee is EXPENSIVE. How, you might ask? Well for one thing, recruitment to find the individual isn't cheap. Sometimes employers and recruiters get lucky and the perfect candidate falls into their lap. Most of the time, that's not the case. You need to let people know that you have a job opening available. How do you do this? You have to post on sites like Indeed, etc., go to job fairs and obtain listing space in the local paper (if people even do that anymore). All that is not cheap. Indeed has a tier of posting where it is free, but advanced listings require fees. Job fairs require a fee to have a booth there and listing space in the local news costs money, sometimes even per letter. Next off, once you hire the person, there's government fees and taxes you must pay as well. You first off, depending on your state, must obtain unemployment insurance. If you have to let this person go and they apply for unemployment, most likely unless they were terminated for extremely gross misconduct (oh, and you also have to be able to prove it substantially as well), they will be granted unemployment. Unemployment is TERRIBLE on the end of the employer. Basically, the ex-employee is granted a weekly (depending on the state) portion of their equivocal paycheck so it's basically that you're paying someone who doesn't even work for you. Next off, payroll. Payroll is expensive to run, as most payroll companies and processors have a processing fee. Next off, as the employee must pay income taxes such as Social Security, Medicare, FICA, etc., you as the employer must ALSO pay these as well! Really?? Yeah, I didn't know that either and I am dead-serious! I will say that here in Massachusetts, it's safe to assume a 21% taxation based on the employee's gross income. Think about how that adds up annually. Last of all, training the employee takes resources and money. Depending on your company, you are basically paying someone who cannot actually perform the full functions of the job they were hired to do, to basically learn how to do the job. Meanwhile, you are taking a loss in the labor cost overall. So there you go about just the TIP OF THE ICEBERG regarding expenses.

Next, let's talk about liability. You as the employer have actual responsibility over your employees, just as a parent has responsibility over their child. First and foremost, you have to (unless the employee is remote and you have them sign a very stringent release form), ensure that your workspace is OSHA compliant. This means that fire exits cannot be blocked, if the employee has to stand on a ladder or stool to access something that it is a stable object that won't fall or break on them. Also, boxes, supplies, etc must be stacked in such a way that you can ensure that they will not fall and hurt someone and that papers, flammable items, etc., are not in any contact with a power outlet, electric chord, heater, etc., lest it causes a fire. If any of this happens and your employee gets injured (or worse, more than one of your employees is injured) on the job, yup, then say hello to Mr. Worker's Comp. Now, worker's comp carries more stringent policies than unemployment and may be easier to fight. But do you really want to? Unless you're a seasoned legal professional with a JD and a bar admission, you're most likely going to have to hire an attorney to represent your firm. And as anyone already knows, attorneys are not cheap. Also the amount of hours you'll have to go through to prepare your case and hearings you'll have to attend will be enough to probably make you want to beg for the sweet merciful release of death. Sure, there's worker's comp insurance. But as any insurance policy, once you have to utilize the account, the premiums shoot up. And that's not something you want on your balance sheet, I'm sure.

I myself am very lucky that I have excellent staff. I currently have 2 people on my staff who both work out of their respective office locations and we are also getting ready to bring on a 3rd individual who will work with me at my office. I intend after hiring this 3rd person, to not expand my staff any further unless I absolutely ABSOLUTELY have to. And when I say ABSOLUTELY, I mean I absolutely will not even consider with a smidgen of a thought of hiring one more soul on my team unless my current staff or any other authority holds a gun to my head saying "we need someone else in your company or I'll blow your brains out." Yes, that is how much I myself dislike hiring employees and maintaining them. However, I am not saying this to scare you as a future employer or current employer, but to warn you. Now, for all we know, you might be the future Trump family and absolutely love having subordinates and employees as well as the process of hiring and maintaining them. And if that's you, then I tip my hat off. But as for me and myself, I choose to run my company and maintain the least amount of employment liability as possible.