BIRD WILLIAMS: You're listening to Bird Means Business Episode 72.

Hey, party people! And thank you for tuning into Bird Means Business podcast. I am your host, Bird Williams. And in this episode, we're talking all about what happens after you make a new hire because it doesn't just stop with finding great talent and sending them an offer letter. No, my friend. It is so key that you develop an onboarding process and even further that you don't leave your new hire hanging by not checking in. Remember, your team, your people. They are such a crucial component in shaping your business culture, and you really want to treat them well. You really want them to feel equipped and empowered to perform strongly in their role. So what we'll talk about today will give you some tips on how to do just that. 

Now, if you haven't yet listened to part one of this series, you want to make sure you go back to Episode 71, which is called "How to Hire" because a lot of what I'll share in this episode is based on the foundation you set in the hiring process, all of which we cover in Episode 71. So make sure you go back and listen to that one first if you haven't already. 

Now, speaking of last week's "How to Hire" episode. I shared there how I had a client book a strategy session with me to develop a specific hiring strategy for her first big hire. And when she booked the session, she emailed me and she said, "Bird, I needed to hire like yesterday." She had said, "I know I don't have time to keep putting this off. But I do keep putting it off because client work has just come first lately." We've talked a lot about what it looks like to work in your business, like doing client work. And then also working on your business and making sure that you have time blocks and time containers to make sure you're working on your business so you can grow it. So she's basically saying, I have so much client work that I haven't been focusing on what I need to do to grow my business. And I know I need to hire someone. So she really struggled with knowing that she needed to take this step, but feeling really overwhelmed with the process. 

Okay, so fast forward to our strategy session. We created a specific game plan of next steps to make her first hire. And y'all I'm about to read to you what she emailed me last week, which made me for real bust some dance moves up in here in excitement. Here's what she said when I checked in with her on how things were going after our strategy session. She says, "I have about five right now that really excite me. There are so many applications. Like so many. I haven't gone through even a fraction yet. But I'm excited to dive in. Making sure to put detailed instructions was the best call. I have 140 applicants this morning from LinkedIn, Indeed, and a social media Facebook group I'm a part of. I'd say less than half actually followed my instructions. So that will help me weed out who to take a serious look at." Yes. So if you listened to Episode 71, you know about my hiring strategy of not just requesting a resume and a cover letter in the application instructions. But actually going a bit deeper and also asking for something specific to help you weed out those who maybe just don't have good attention to detail or aren't willing to go the extra mile to submit the application as asked. I'm telling you, this will save you so much time when it comes to you getting a ton of applications in. And it just makes me so excited to see these strategies that we laid out helping my client make a huge move in her business. 

You know, I'd love for you to see a specific strategy work in your business too. So if you're listening to this in real-time, you can go to birdwilliams.com/strategy to book a private one-on-one session with yours truly. Now you just have a couple of weeks to book before I go on maternity leave. So make sure that you book by April 30. 

And regardless of when you're tuning into this episode, I have a great way for you to get started. I've created a free download. It's called, "Your Hiring Checklist". And it's going to cover the eight steps for pre-hiring and post-hiring that we've laid out in this two-part series. So it's completely free and it will help you get some momentum going as you're planning out the hiring strategy for your next team member. So you can click on the link in the show notes to download the free checklist. And, look, don't put it off. Take action now while all of this information is still so top of mind. 

Alright, let's dive into the episode. Now if you've listened to part one of this hiring series, which is Episode 71 "How to Hire", here's a quick summary of what we've discussed. So we talked about the importance of hiring. Because the reality is you can't grow your business without growing your team. So making a strategic hire will be a game-changer for your business growth. And you don't want not hiring to limit your business's potential. Just like that client mentioned. She's like, I know I need to do this, but I just have been putting it off, right? Now, we also talked about the importance of your people. So beyond the hiring process, you've got to understand how important it is to have a team who's super bought into your core values and aligned with your purpose, mission, and vision. And you want to treat your people well because they're a big part of how you build brand culture. And they're a big part of your overall marketing as well. 

Okay, so in Episode 71, which is part one, we covered the first four steps. Step one was defining the role. Step two was creating the job description. Step three was getting the word out. And step four was actually interviewing. So the next step is to decide on a candidate and send them an offer. So in this episode, which is part two, here's what we'll cover: step five, that actual moment - hiring moment, or the offer; step six, the onboarding and training process; step seven, engaging and checking in regularly and conducting performance reviews. And step eight, we'll get into the not-so-fun stuff, like transitioning and firing and what an exit interview could look like. So you're gonna want to make sure that you grab your pen and paper. Or if you're like me, and you take digital notes too, that works. Get whatever you need to take notes because just like with part one, this episode will be pretty meaty. And you may even need to pause it at times, or even listen to the episode a second time after you've maybe downloaded that free hiring checklist, so that you can take notes right there in the checklist, as well. So I just want you to do whatever you need to do to equip yourself to really develop a hiring strategy you feel confident about. Alright?

So let's jump into step number five. This is the hiring moment. Okay, so you've interviewed a number of employees. You've identified the person that you want to hire, and you're going to send them an offer. So this offer email will simply communicate that you'd like to offer them the position. And you're going to also include the contract, which we're going to talk about in more detail in a second. And you also just want to ask them to let you know if they want to move forward. And you could actually create a template for this. Y'all know I love templates. So you can create an offer letter email template that you just save so that every time this happens, you're not having to recreate it from scratch. 

In part one, we talked about being super crystal clear in both the job description and in the interview, so that applicants know exactly what they're signing up for when they're taking on this role in your company. So that's important for this moment, as well, so that the applicant can make an informed decision. When you're sending them this offer letter, the only thing you're giving them as a contract, which has all the information you've discussed. But they should know all the ins and outs about the job and their role before this moment. Okay? They should already know their employment status, whether they're going to be an independent contractor or an intern, or an employee. They're going to already know what their compensation is, and what their role will look like so that they're just no surprises, okay. 

But just in case, they do sign on, they say yes, I want to accept your offer. And then during the onboarding process, they realize, you know, this isn't a good fit. It's important that you've had good communication with your second or your third or your fourth choices, okay? So of those applicants that you don't choose, but you really like. Instead of just turning them down and sending them an email saying, we're not going to move forward. Instead, let them know that you're going to keep their resume on file and reach out if there are future opportunities. Because like I said, this will be helpful if the person you initially chose ends up not working out. And you really need to replace someone very quickly. And it will also be helpful if your business quickly grows and you want to hire a second or a third person into that role. You can start by going back to that pool and checking in with those that you've already vetted and not having to go through that entire process again. Going back to that client with the review I shared she actually said yeah, I'm thinking that I'm gonna have to hire a second person in this position. So she was really glad that I gave her that piece of advice as well. 

Now along the lines of things potentially not working out. Okay, so I always like to communicate a 30 to 90 day, what I call, “dating period”. And this is a dating period for new hires. Okay, so what you communicate up front in the interview is that during this 30 to 90 day “dating period”, either of you can step away if this is not a good fit. And I really like to communicate that it is two-sided, meaning not only can I, the employer say, hey, this isn't working out. But they can too. So this goes back to the importance of your people and how crucial it is that they're aligned with the business's values and mission. Because you don't want to hire someone who just wants a paycheck or who isn't really motivated and excited to work hard and bring tremendous value. So if they find that the role isn't what they expected, you don't want them just sticking around. You want them to feel that they can say, hey, this isn't working too. And another benefit of this “dating period” idea is that it reminds a new hire, like, hey, you're being evaluated. And that while sure there is a learning curve, I expect you to put your best foot forward. And I think it's really good to kind of have that communicated upfront. 

So having this “dating period” can really make it feel more free to really explore what it's like to work with them. And then they can do the same for what it's like to work in your business and with your team specifically. Because the reality is, it's hard to kind of measure a lot of that until they're actually on the team, right? There's only so much you can do in an interview process. 

Now I want to point out that some states like Texas, are what is called employment at will states meaning that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship without giving either notice or a reason, except, of course, in a legal reason, like discrimination. But even though you can legally terminate an employee or leave a company at will, in these states, I still like communicating this 30 to 90 day “dating period” for the reasons I mentioned above. And again, I always want to make it very two-sided. It's not me saying that I can fire you at any time and just saying that. It's saying, you know, you too, if you don't feel like this is a good fit, I want you to be able to know that, you know, it's all good. And we'll go our separate ways amicably. 

Now, everything you've communicated throughout the entire process, this is in your job description, through the interview, and on and on all of this that's binding needs to be in a contract. So that goes for whether it's an internship, an independent contractor, or an employment agreement. You might be asking, "Do I need my lawyer to actually draw up the paperwork? Or can I do this myself?" I get that question a lot. So my advice would be to absolutely have a lawyer draft this contract for you. Because they're going to ensure that you're covered on all bases, all the laws that you need to consider for your specific state and the specific employment relationship, right? I cannot express the importance of having your lawyer draft contracts like these. So typically, let's say once they've drafted the first independent contractor agreement, for example. You can usually use that same one as a template for future independent contractors who have similar roles. But again, you're going to want to check with your attorney on that. I'm just giving that example because it doesn't mean that every single time you have a new contractor, you're going to need a new agreement drafted up. You can generally use that template. But I do want to say this. All of that being said about how important it is to have a lawyer draft these contracts for you, I want you to consider this. Okay. Having an attorney draft these agreements is most ideal. Buying a template from an attorney that you trust and who also works in your industry is better than you doing a Google search for a random independent contractor agreement template. Also, doing a Google search for a random template is better than drafting the agreement yourself. Also, drafting the agreement yourself is better than not having any agreement at all. So I'm saying that to just really paint the picture. There are some people who are just not going to get an attorney to draft their contracts. So there are other options. They’re not safe options or not options that I would suggest. But I want you to see that kind of stair-step of considerations there. 

Another consideration is that the person that you hire may have their own contract. So let's say you hire a social media manager who has their own business and they work as an independent contractor. So they have their own independent contractor agreement that their lawyer drafted. I would suggest either asking your attorney to review their agreement, which might take less time than your attorney having to draft an agreement from scratch. Or you can ask the social media manager to use an agreement that your attorney has drafted and potentially merge some of the language from their agreement into yours. If you do this, I would make sure that you pass along any new language to your attorney for review just to be safe. You might also be asking, Is there any kind of tax impact or consideration for payroll. A few things. First, the expense for any employment type - intern, employee, contractor. Either expense will be a deductible business expense. Now if you're hiring an intern or a contractor, you may not need a payroll processing service since taxes won't need to be taken out of those checks and all of that. It's a lot more simple. 

Now, if you're hiring an employee, you'll want to make sure that you do hire a payroll processor so that you don't mess up taking those taxes out. It can get tricky, and you again want to focus on your core competencies in the business. And it's probably not processing your own payroll. So we initially used ADP for our gym business. But whenever we hired our CPA, Alby, who I've talked a lot about on the podcast. We save so much money having him do our payroll instead of ADP. And I've also heard some really great things about a payroll processor called Gusto. But I haven't used them personally. So the first thing I would do is really to kind of decide how this should all work is talk to your CPA. That's a member of your money team. That's one of the first things you need to do when you really establish your business, is get your money team together, which is your attorney and your CPA. And ask them how best to manage the payroll processing in your business. I want you to know, I go into detail about all things bookkeeping, payroll, and taxes in another two-part series that I did last year, which is actually Episodes 24 and 25. So I'll link those episodes in the show notes so that you can dive into all of that goodness as well. 

All right. Moving on to step number six, onboarding and training. Okay, so this is a very important step in this whole process because you don't want to do all of this work to get a stellar new hire in, only to neglect them, right? This will look different based on the role you're hiring for. If you're like me, a content creator, and you're outsourcing something like podcast editing, for example. You won't need to train your podcast editor on how to edit your podcast. They are a true independent contractor. They know how to do that already. That's why you're hiring them, right? However, you will need to potentially develop a system for sending and receiving the audio, and so on and so forth. But alternatively, if you run a production company, and you're hiring editors as employees, you'll likely need to train them on how you like to edit, specifically, and your specific processes. So that's an example of how you can look at, there's one role, one task. But it can be an independent contractor format or an employee format. 

Either way, you want a new teammate to be equipped and empowered in their role. So the following tips I share will be more geared toward an employee relationship that involves more in-depth onboarding and training but also applies to many independent contractor situations as well. Okay, so first, remember that all of what you're training them to do is easier for you to do because you've been doing it. So you may do it faster than they do initially. They will have questions. They will make mistakes. So there needs to be some level of grace for that initial period. But you'll also need to really reiterate high standards and expectations, right? You're setting a bar. You're setting a standard in this initial phase as well. 

So I've also gotten the question, "How long should the onboarding training period be?" Okay, so this is going to depend on a lot of factors. First, what you're training them on, and how much previous experience they may already have. Another thing that will determine the length of an onboarding or training period is going to be how organized you are in your business. Because having solid operational procedures will save you so big in the long run. Y'all have heard me say it a million times. Your systems will save you. So the more organized and prepared you are, the quicker and more seamless this training process will be. 

Now, I want you to lean into what I'm about to say. Listen to what I'm about to say. It's important. When you start this process, and when you make your first big hire, you won't know what you don't know. And that's okay. What you're going to do, is you're going to take these tips I'm giving you in this two-part series, and you're going to put your best foot forward. And major key, you're going to improve it over time. Every time you have a new hire come on, you're going to make the system better. You're going to figure out where there were hiccups or bottlenecks, or things that were just not clear, and you're going to tweak your processes. So don't be too hard on yourself on making it perfect. I don't want you to get overwhelmed with all of this information and try to do things perfectly. Do the best you can and improve it over time. 

Now you do want to communicate a timeline for the training period, just so that expectations are clear. Like hey, I expect for this to take three weeks or three months, whatever that looks like in your business. Okay? Now, before you start the onboarding process, you want to have a few things lined up. First, you want to have a list of what they need to be trained on. And I mean, you want to have this internally. Like you want to know, what exactly do I need to train them on? What is it that they need to know in order to do their job well? Now, this step will be much easier if you were really thorough with step one, which is defining the role. We laid all of that out in part one, which is in Episode 71. So if you need a refresher, you can go back and check that out. But to the extent that you were thorough there, it's going to make this step a lot easier. And remember, this list will be continually developed and improved over time. So give yourself grace with your first hire as you're really figuring all of this out. 

The next thing you'll want to have lined up is a list of what they're going to need access to. And you want to make sure that you are prepared to grant them access. So for example, when I hired my digital marketing assistant, she needed access to all of my social media platforms, my email service provider, my podcast host, my website, you know, on and on. So a great tool to use to give access to someone is called LastPass. So it allows you to not have to give away your password and instead give them access to whatever site they need to access to through that platform, LastPass. So I'll make sure that I link it in the show notes for you to check out in case that's something that could be helpful to you. 

And here's a pro tip, okay, lean in. Keep a list of everything that your employee has access to in their team folder, so that you can quickly grab it if they suddenly leave the business, and you need to remove their access. So inside their team folder, you'll have just a Google Doc, or however you want to organize it and it just says, here's what so and so has access to so that it's easily accessible. 

Now, there are a few ways to onboard or train your team member. First, you want to start with a welcome email. Now, this can also be a template. Y'all know, again, I love templates, right. And these templates are going to really be helpful when you make future hires. So that's why I'm pointing it out. And you're going to send the welcome email after the new hire has signed the contract or agreement. It's going to include details like any login credentials, or any access needed, your expectations around their training, like the dates, and so on, and so forth. Also any links to SOPs which are standard operating procedures, which we'll talk about in just a second. Or even information about your kickoff meeting. So typically, you're onboarding someone, you'll have a kickoff meeting. So you're gonna put all of that information inside your welcome email. Now you can conduct training in a few ways. And you'll likely use some mix of all of these. First, it's an in-person training, like they're there at your physical location if you have one. Another idea is a virtual training, maybe through Zoom, for example. Another idea is just through email communication with links. So making sure they have like a welcome email or kickoff email with all the different links that they're going to need, maybe access to, or information or guides, and so on, and so forth. Another form of training is your team handbook. So this is a document that you create that has background on your company, on your team, on your mission, vision, purpose. Whatever you want to put in there. We give all of our employees at my gym business. It's called The League. It was my first business that I launched back in 2013. In that business, we give a team handbook to all of our new employees. So that's another form of training. 

Another way of training is through your SOPs. So these are your standard operating procedures. And y'all, SOPs are so crucial to the operational success of your brand. The purpose of an SOP is to give detailed instructions on how to carry out a task so that any team member can do the task correctly every single time. So you can communicate SOPs in written form, like in a Google Doc, for example. Or through pre-recorded video tutorials, through like a screengrab software like Loom, which is going to show them exactly how to use like, for example, a tech platform in your business. They can actually see it. Your teammate can watch the screen recorded video to see exactly what they need to do to complete a given task. So I can't stress the importance of SOPs enough. And we don't have time to go into detail here. But I do go in-depth in my online course. It's called Prove It Plan, which is all about developing a strategic business plan. So I'll make sure that I link Prove It Plan in the show notes if you want to learn more. 

A final idea I'll give here for conducting the onboarding and training process is through your weekly team meetings. So here is where you can address any issues or concerns. So it's not like you're just giving them a bunch of documents and video tutorials and links and saying, okay, you've got this, right? The idea is like I said, you're going to use some mix of all of these different ideas I gave you. But in your weekly team meetings, maybe it's every Monday morning at 10 AM. You can also check in with them and continue to conduct that training process. 

Which leads me to step number seven, engaging, checking in, and performance reviews. Alright, so even after the initial training period, we cannot leave our people hanging. At no point are we gonna leave our people hanging. So depending on the size of your business, you'll want to conduct weekly, monthly, quarterly team meetings, based on your needs. And you might think quarterly team meetings? That doesn't seem like it's often enough. Again, it's gonna depend on your team and your team dynamic, really. As you know, I have multiple businesses, and this looks different in all of my businesses. In some, where the team is smaller and the business is newer, and where I work more directly with a team member, we will have a standing meeting every single week. Then in other businesses that are more like a well-oiled machine with a bigger team, the entire team only meets quarterly. And I don't know about you, but I'm not one of those people who are like here for meeting just to meet. So we only meet when we need to. And we have other ways of communicating and engaging with our team throughout the quarter. And a larger business where the whole team meets less often perhaps, it's even more important to have one on one check-ins with your team. Now, this is where you may meet up one-on-one for coffee, whether that's in person or even virtually to assess not only how things are going for them in terms of the organization and their role, which is important. But also expressing care for their personal life and the direction they're headed in life, right? Because I want to know, are you not just meeting business goals, but also your personal goals too. So take this into consideration as you conduct their quarterly or annual performance review. 

Now another way to engage or check in with your team regularly is having an annual retreat or a getaway or a team-building experience, which can be so much fun. Or you can even have an annual total immersion weekend with maybe certain team members, which I talk all about in Episode 41. So this is a weekend where it's less of a retreat and much more of a, hey, there's like an area in our business that we really need to fix and work on. And let's dive into it. So I'll provide a direct link to that episode in the show notes so that you can learn more. But I'm telling you, a total immersion weekend, whether you do it solo if it's just you in the business and you're a solopreneur, or with a team member. It is going to be so, so good for your business. 
All right. Now moving on to our final step number eight, transitioning, firing, and exit interviews. Okay, so like I said, it's not so fun to talk about this, but it's so important. So what are some considerations for when a team member transitions away from the business, whether that's amicably or if they need to be fired? First, I'll say regardless of the reason for transition, you want to conduct an exit interview. So this is where you ask questions like, what's the reason for the transition? Do you feel like you were equipped to perform well in your role? What did you like most? And what did you like least about your role? Do you have any suggestions for how we could have been better managers? What could be improved with your role or in the business in general? So the idea is to really create a space where the employee can express any frustrations or issues. And the employer can gain really helpful insight on ways to improve. 

Now something to note here. Some of these questions that I'm reading from the exit interview are questions I also ask when I do the one-on-one check-ins with my team. I ask questions like, how can I be a better manager? So you don't have to wait to ask questions like that in the exit interview. You can be asking them all along the route so that they can never really say that you didn't give them an opportunity to voice concerns or anything like that. 

When it comes to this transition, you also want to remember to retrieve assets or remove any access. So examples of assets would be keys, like to the building, or maybe any equipment or gear that the business owns. And when it comes to access, remember, I gave you that pro tip of keeping all the sites that they have access to in a document in their team folder. Well, this is where that comes in handy. Because you can in this moment, go straight to that document and quickly know exactly where you need to remove their access. Now, the timing of when you actually do this will of course depend on the nature of the situation. Have they given a two weeks notice? Or do they still have work that they need to complete? Or they're going to need access? Or is the situation super tense or escalated and access needs to be removed immediately? 

Now when it comes to needing to fire a teammate, here are some considerations. First, have you ever heard of the phrase hire slow, fire quick? When you start to notice that you made a bad hire, let me tell you. Don't wait a long time to let them go. I have made this mistake. Of course, there is a certain level of grace that you should give. But when you feel like, in your gut, this person isn't going to work out. Don't just keep them on because it seems easier than going through the whole hiring process all over again. I promise you, this will come to bite you in the butt in the long run. I actually give an example of how this happened in one of my businesses in Episode 4, which has that exact title "Hire Slow, Fire Quick". I give you reasons for both. It's a really quick episode, and I'll make sure to link it in the show notes. 

So you might be wondering, what are some of those early signs of a bad hire? Okay, here are just a few: not meshing well with other team members, or having really consistent attendance issues like always running late, or even just not really feeling present in the moment, you know, having a bad attitude, not really being cooperative or proactive in their job. Maybe they just don't really seem happy, which again, is why it's important to have those regular one-on-one check-ins to kind of really explore what's going on in their life outside of your business. And, you know, one of the biggest signs for me has been when other team members have come to the management, me and Terry, and they respectfully say, hey, we have a really cool team dynamic, but this one person just doesn't seem to really fit. That's usually a sign to me that like, okay, it's not just me thinking this. It's more of an issue. And I want to really stress this. Like I said, there should definitely be a certain level of grace. If you start to see these signs that I mentioned, depending on the situation, consider diving deeper. Does this person have something going on in their personal life that's making it hard for them to show up well at work? I mean, is there something that you as a leader can improve to help them perform better? Do they need more training? Or do they need to feel more taken care of? This is key. As a CEO, you want to start by asking yourself how you can improve, because a lot flows from the top down. So always put that mirror up and ask yourself, what am I doing? What could I do better as a leader? Okay? 

Another tip, when you start seeing these signs is to send what I call an incident report. This is just a simple email, maybe you have a three-strikes rule with these and you send them to a team member who is consistently underperforming. So having this email documentation of an incident report will also be helpful in a tense firing situation that could involve legality. So it could be nice to have paper trail to say, hey, look, we had to let you go because you had this consistent behavior, which is evidenced by these emails on these dates. 

Now, lastly. To the best of your ability, you want to terminate the employee, either in person or over Zoom. I say over Zoom, of course, because we're in the middle of a pandemic-ish right now. But also because a lot of businesses are virtual, too. But you want to try to see their face. You want to, if you can, avoid doing it over the phone, or certainly over text or email. I know it's super awkward, but it's overall better to do it either in person or over Zoom. 

Whoo, y'all, we have covered a lot in this two-part series. So I hope you now feel like, you know what, I've got this when it comes to making your next hire because I want you to feel that way. I want you to feel confident as you move forward in your business. And not just with hiring someone but running a whole team in general. Now, please hear me when I say none of this will feel perfect. None of this will feel perfect when you start. You're going to do the best you can and you're going to make tweaks to the process with each new hire. 

So let's run through the steps one more time for your note taking. Step one is defining the role. Step two is creating the job description. Step three is getting the word out about the position. Step four is interviewing. Step five is the actual hiring moment or the offer. Step six is onboarding and training. Step seven is checking in regularly and conducting performance reviews. Step eight is transitioning and firing. Now, I know this can feel like a lot, but I've got you covered with a free checklist, which covers all eight steps from part one and part two of this hiring series. So go to the link in the show notes. You can just scroll right down to the episode description wherever you're tuning in to download "Your Hiring Checklist". It's a free download. And you can get started with the process of making your next hire. Look, I want you to win big. I am rooting for you. I am cheering you on in this department because I know that it's going to really be a huge game-changer in your brand. 

As always, thank you so much for tuning into Bird Means Business podcast. Make sure you're subscribed on Apple Podcasts. And please leave me a review if any of this content has been helpful to you. It would mean so much. Also, make sure you follow Bird Means Business podcast on Spotify. Make sure you tell every entrepreneur you know about this episode so that they can develop a post-hiring strategy too. 

Talk to y'all next week.