In a previous post, we mentioned that the two questions people ALWAYS ask us, and sometimes don’t hire us because of our answer, are: How much do you charge to hire an employee for me, and how long does it take? The last post talked about the “fast” employee – how to get an emergency plan in place when you need someone FAST.
Now, let’s talk about the “cheap” employee.
Clients constantly give us these comments, which I would love to just light a match to – because they are complete distractions and do such a disservice to your ability to hire a great new team member.
- Well I was paying the girl who just left X.
- Well, either that person quit or you fired them, so using their pay as a standard for this role is flawed from the get go.
- I was talking to my buddy at a conference I just attended and he pays his paralegal $11 an hour!
- Well, you don’t live where he lives, so that’s irrelevant. Plus, you don’t know what benefits and incentives your buddy has in place, or how stable that relationship is.
- I was just on a webinar that said you should never pay more than X for this position.
- Again, with pay scales fluctuating greatly from region to region, it’s difficult to apply a blanket statement about pay ranges.
- I looked at some ads in my area for similar positions, and none of them pay more than X.
- Ads are simply a representation of what people are hoping to pay someone. That doesn’t mean they’ve found a qualified applicant willing to accept that salary.
So instead of basing our salary budget on others’ experiences, which can be misleading or outdated, let’s actually approach this logically. Let’s really take a look at what the role you are hiring for will produce in your company, then base the salary offering on value produced or expected ROI.
Everything in your business either brings in money, saves money, supports new business or frees up your time. Get very, very clear on what this role is producing, saving or freeing you up to produce, then base your salary on that.
So for instance, if you are hiring a client services person whose primary role will be booking new client appointments and following up with pending clients, look at your average conversion rate of new clients. From there, figure out how much new revenue can be expected by adding this person to your team. Now, of course there are more factors involved: You have to have enough prospects for her to contact to book appointments, which means you may need to increase your marketing or advertising (and I say you “may,” but maybe not. If you don’t have someone in this role, simply having one person focus on booking appointments, making sure the prospect is properly prepared for the appointment and following up with them can shoot your conversation and revenue through the roof without any more marketing or advertising – you are simply maximizing the conversion of the prospects you already have.)
Looking for “cheap” will limit the possibilities of seeing great candidates. We encourage you to at least try this salary method and see what’s out there. Interviewing doesn’t mean you have to hire, but we usually see business owners get the “quality pay” concept once they see the difference in candidates out there. You start seeing candidates you are excited to hire and with whom you can see really growing your business.
It starts with getting CLEAR on what the role you are hiring for will produce – not a loose job description.
If you are stuck, let us help you with our Smart Hire Solution Process™, where we help you craft a job description and an ad that will produce the results you want and candidates to make it happen.
For more information about our process – which isn’t a quick fix, but it WORKS to get the right long-term hire on your team – schedule a FREE discovery call today.
Laney Lyons
