Besides it being painful, the hiring process for MSPs is time-consuming — but for the right reasons. To avoid burnout on your end, it’s imperative your hiring manager finds the perfect fit the first time around. If your hiring manager can’t, you could end up in a never-ending hiring cycle — which will almost always cost you money in the long term.
Don’t just get a “butt in the seat”
Make every hire matter, especially when you’re an SMB. Think about it: Your teams are working in close quarters. You don’t have the luxury of hiring the wrong person. One wrong move could change the entire dynamic of your team — and your business. That’s why it’s so critical for MSPs to understand the significance of a thorough hiring process.
Don’t be discouraged. Besides being a full-time job, hiring is a long process — and it’s a continual one, so don’t end your search as soon as you think you’ve found the right person (because if you end up being blindsided later on down the road, you’re not going to want to start from scratch). Spotting The Golden Resume takes time and effort (your hiring manager will more than likely comb through thousands of responses). Don’t allow other stressors to pressure you into making a decision you’re eventually going to regret.
A bad hire costs you more than just money
Let’s start with the money. Just how much could hiring the wrong person cost your business? Well, the average cost of one bad hire is nearly $15,000, according to a CareerBuilder report, which surveyed full-time hiring managers and human resource professionals, and full-time workers across industries and company sizes in the U.S. private sector. Could your entire business afford to take a $15,000 hit? I didn’t think so.
How else could bad hires negatively impact your business? What about unhappy workers? A report released by global staffing firm Robert Half revealed the following: Of financial executives surveyed, an overwhelming majority (95 percent) said making a bad hire at least somewhat affects the morale of the team. Think about what poor morale could do to the team operating your business. Negativity would spread like wildfire at a business of your size. That’s why your hiring manager should spend as much time as possible on finding the right candidate for the role — instead of taking the easy way out.
The easy route isn’t always the best route
I get it. There’s a gap in your business, and you need to fill it (and ideally you’d like to fill it immediately) — but you owe it to yourself, your hiring manager and your company to do your due diligence ahead of time. There isn’t a way to shortcut the hiring process. There’s no Band-Aid solution. You’d end up paying more by taking the “easy way out.”
What’s the most important aspect of spotting the right candidate? Patience. Once you find the killer resume you’ve been looking for to fill a position, you’ll want to hire immediately, but I’m urging you fight the impulse. Finding a great employee takes time. You are in business to serve your clients, and you need every member of your team to share the same vision, so wait until you find somebody who shares your vision.
Finding the right person for the role you’re seeking to fill takes time, so don’t rush to fill it with a bad hire. Trying to shortcut the process by not hiring the ideal person for the role will leave you with additional costs down the road. Work with your hiring manager to craft the right job description and define a hiring process to avoid making a bad hire.