If your company is big enough to have employees, you have to be smart enough to hire the right staff. It can be said that your business is only as good as the employees with whom you surround yourself. There is a lot of truth in that statement.

Even more prevalent is that having the right staff can keep a business owner’s stress level to a minimum.  Face it, if you are at a point in your business that you need staff it is because you are overwhelmed and in need of some assistance. If you hire people who don’t help alleviate that burden then you have compounded the situation.

I don’t know of a business owner that, at some point in time, hasn’t been ready to pull their hair out because of the drama or the mistakes that come from their staff. Imagine what that does to your decision-making skills? It is a know fact that poor business decisions are more often made when the business owner is experiencing a high level of stress.

I am a strong component of hiring people who compliment each other. Staff that can fill in weak spots left by other staff or by the business owner only work to make the unit stronger. Don’t be afraid to hire people who have a different skill set than you do, or who  are better at a task than you are.  Being able to see the weaknesses in oneself and allow others to fill those areas is what we call good business.

Another side of hiring a staff is weeding through the drama-laden instigators that simply exist to stir the pot amongst employees.  This can never lead to a good work environment. Look to hire people who are strong in their field, understand a sense of urgency (because there are times when it’s needed), are self starters and can ask for guidance when needed.

Keep in mind, there are three types of people:

1) Idea and creators – people who have great ideas and can put them in motion.

2) Runners – People who run with the idea, pay attention to implementation and carry through and

3) Closers – People who tie everything together with crisp corners and a pretty bow.  

If you have all Type 1’s on staff then you will never get anything finished and if you have all Type 3’s you will never get ideas off the ground. People can be good at 2 of the 3 categories, but never all three.

Once you know what you’re looking for and the people you hire know you are not asking them to be all three, your company will start humming like a well oiled machine.