Top 10 Qualities to Look for When Hiring Your Next Employee

Finding the right candidates for your small business is no easy feat. While someone may appear perfect on paper, they may lack certain qualities or soft skills that are vital to making them a good fit for your business. As a business owner, you can do your part to attract top talent by writing a clear job description, offering flexibility, and having a solid employer brand and company culture. But what traits should you be looking for in potential job candidates? Here is a list of top qualities to look for when hiring your next employee:

• Adaptability

The workplace is constantly evolving. New opportunities arise, technology advances, trends emerge, and market demand changes. An adaptable employee can be a problem solver when unforeseen issues arise. Plus, he or she will be flexible enough to tackle changes head-on and respond quickly to new demands or circumstances.

• Willingness and Desire to Learn

A person who is not only open to learning and growing, but is also excited about it is a winning combination. These individuals will continually challenge themselves to acquire more knowledge and improve their skillsets. By constantly bettering themselves, they can put their sharpened skills to good use for your business.

• Integrity

Trust is built around integrity and honesty. An employee with integrity will admit to their mistakes and foster open, honest discussions with the team resulting in better collaboration. Someone with integrity is a major asset to any organization.

• Effective Communication Skills

Having a team of people who are good communicators in email, in person, and over the phone is an integral part to the success of a company. They should communicate in a clear, concise, way and be able to handle internal and external communication with ease. Someone with solid communication skills is an excellent listener, gives 100% of their attention to the speaker, doesn’t interrupt when another person is speaking, and asks questions or adds comments at the appropriate time.

• Ambition

Hire individuals with a go-getter mentality who aren’t afraid to take charge and get things done. Ambitious employees work hard towards success for themselves and the companies they work for. They’re always willing to put in the extra effort to achieve their goals.

• Creativity

A creative individual thinks outside the box and brings fresh ideas and solutions to a company. They approach projects and challenges with versatility and offer new perspectives to old ways of doing things.

• Positive Attitude

Working with people who possess a positive outlook is motivating and uplifting. Their enthusiastic attitude, drive, and optimism are infectious and will inspire others around them.

• Dependability

Although it may seem like a given, don’t discount the importance of hiring someone who is dependable. Do your research and make sure you can count on them to show up every day, get the job done, and meet required deadlines.

• Team Player

While it’s important to be a self-starter and capable of working individually, being able to work in groups is equally important. When your team works well together, your business reaps the benefits.

• Responsiveness

If you’ve ever worked with someone who was not responsive to your phone calls, texts, emails, or messages, you know how frustrating it can be waiting for a reply. Hiring someone who values responsiveness to clients and coworkers and takes timely follow-ups seriously, can be a major advantage for your company.

Final Thoughts

Finding the right new hire for your business can take time and quite a bit of effort. Look for the above-mentioned qualities in job candidates to help set your business up for long-lasting success. While finding someone that possess all of these traits may be difficult, choose the qualities that are most important to your business and continue to look for those in potential candidates.

Need to Hire Additional Employees?

Don’t let lack of funding slow down the growth of your business. At SBG Funding, getting access to the cash you need to hire new employees couldn’t be simpler. Apply today to see how we can help.

For additional resources for small business owners, click here.