Hiring my first employee - Heavily overthinking it...

[kkoasdfawfqwe2]

"To hire, or not to hire, that is the question" - William Shakespeare

The very real quote above is the only thing I've had on my mind for some weeks now.


I am currently developing a software piece that will be very useful for tons of salons, clinics and the like.

This is amongst other software projects that I/we do for other clients.

I'm currently working in my office alone and have created plenty of software by using freelancers on Upwork and similar sites.

So I understand the project management and structural aspect of it.

Going forward I am in dire need of a hardworking programmer to be with me in the office, one to be the first stepping stone to make the company more of an asset and less of a "guy doing software" type of business.

The way I see it is, if a company has dedicated programmers/employees, then the company is more of an asset because there will be staff with knowledge, hired on an actual binding contract and a company culture with a shared vision and goal amongst everyone in the company.

I want to not only think bigger but DO bigger and I feel this is the next step for myself and the company in order to do bigger.

I have the cash to hire and pay salary for 6-8 months for my employee and myself. (modest salary for myself)

Usually I hire some of the more expensive programmers on Upwork, so I my costs are not super low compared to hiring a programmer, but there is a very critical difference.

The difference is that on Upwork I pay for things being DONE and never on an hourly basis.


I have, without success, been trying to answer some questions in regards to hiring.

How do I make sure he/she is efficient?

How do I make sure that he/she is good enough?

How can I make him/her understand the vision of the company?

How can I convince him/her to work as hard as me? Grant stake in the company after X months?

How do I make sure he/she wont share confidential data about clients or projects?



My experience tells me this is one of those cases where I just have to GO FOR IT, but the uncertainty keeps me in a waiting position.
The problem is, I don't know what I'm waiting for!?


I hope anyone is open to give their input and take on this, it is utmost appreciated!

Thank you and have a productive day!

 

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[enterwayproject]

"To hire, or not to hire, that is the question" - William Shakespeare

The very real quote above is the only thing I've had on my mind for some weeks now.


I am currently developing a software piece that will be very useful for tons of salons, clinics and the like.

This is amongst other software projects that I/we do for other clients.

I'm currently working in my office alone and have created plenty of software by using freelancers on Upwork and similar sites.

So I understand the project management and structural aspect of it.

Going forward I am in dire need of a hardworking programmer to be with me in the office, one to be the first stepping stone to make the company more of an asset and less of a "guy doing software" type of business.

The way I see it is, if a company has dedicated programmers/employees, then the company is more of an asset because there will be staff with knowledge, hired on an actual binding contract and a company culture with a shared vision and goal amongst everyone in the company.

I want to not only think bigger but DO bigger and I feel this is the next step for myself and the company in order to do bigger.

I have the cash to hire and pay salary for 6-8 months for my employee and myself. (modest salary for myself)

Usually I hire some of the more expensive programmers on Upwork, so I my costs are not super low compared to hiring a programmer, but there is a very critical difference.

The difference is that on Upwork I pay for things being DONE and never on an hourly basis.


I have, without success, been trying to answer some questions in regards to hiring.

How do I make sure he/she is efficient?

How do I make sure that he/she is good enough?

How can I make him/her understand the vision of the company?

How can I convince him/her to work as hard as me? Grant stake in the company after X months?

How do I make sure he/she wont share confidential data about clients or projects?



My experience tells me this is one of those cases where I just have to GO FOR IT, but the uncertainty keeps me in a waiting position.
The problem is, I don't know what I'm waiting for!?


I hope anyone is open to give their input and take on this, it is utmost appreciated!

Thank you and have a productive day!

I would recommend looking at university job boards, students are more willing to work for money as well as have knowledge, regarding the questions you asked you can type them into youtube and get thousands of free tutorials. hope I helped

 

[Kid]

It seems like you want to have perfect employee right off the bat.

It also seems that's impossible for you, due to a lack of experience as a employer.

Solution:
Hire your FIRST employee as a test - or a learning if you will.
Fire him - also for experience.
Employ another one.
Repeat until being satisfied.

 

[Jon L]

How do I make sure he/she is efficient?

break apart tasks in your project mgt system effectively. Make sure he/she knows what's required. Not just the 'what' but the 'why' and 'how' of what is required. Why is this particular thing being built this way? What overall purpose does it serve? Who will it matter to?

Then, review progress daily ... review code, see if there are questions.


How do I make sure that he/she is good enough?

Besides basic interviewing, do a trial run of a week long project. Judge performance

Provide feedback to them regularly. If you see something wrong, talk with them about it. Ask what their thought process was. Tell them how you want it done. Be open to doing things their way if their way is better.

How can I make him/her understand the vision of the company?

Talk about it. Make sure they they fit with you, culturally. (not ethnically, but work ethic, care for your clients, for each other, etc.)

How can I convince him/her to work as hard as me? Grant stake in the company after X months?

You can't. There will always be a gulf between the employee and employer. That's just the way it is. What you can do is set clear expectations.

How do I make sure he/she wont share confidential data about clients or projects?

Hire someone with impeccable integrity. Then, talk about how important confidential information is to clients and to the company.

 

[Ismail941]

I recall Gary V said in one of this video:

Guy: Hey Gary, You talk about Self-Awareness a lot. How Can I figure it out in 20 minutes job interview?
Gary V: Learn to Fire Fast

 

[Sadik]

When I was hired for my first (and Only!) full time job there was a 1 month "probation period". This meant that I was under evaluation and not "permanent". IF an employee under probation didn't perform satisfactory they could be fired after one month. Not sure how it works in your country, but this was a good in between way.

 

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[ZCP]

breathe. calm. breathe.

now go read the Emyth Revisted

then hire for attitude and train for greatness

 

[Abrodos]

How do I make sure he/she wont share confidential data about clients or projects?

A Non-Disclosure agreement. Basically a contract where the employee agrees to face legal prosecution for all possible business' losses due to him sharing any confidential information.
It's common in the videogame/film industry, you should be able to find plenty of templates.

 

[kkoasdfawfqwe2]

Thank you everyone for your inputs and takes on the situation!

It seems like you want to have perfect employee right off the bat.

It also seems that's impossible for you, due to a lack of experience as a employer.

Solution:
Hire your FIRST employee as a test - or a learning if you will.
Fire him - also for experience.
Employ another one.
Repeat until being satisfied.

Its also my conclusion that my aim is that I would want to hire the perfect employee, but also have myself be the perfect employer right off the bat.

Fortunately we have a good system for hiring & firing fast in my country, so I appreciate your advice, thank you!

How do I make sure he/she is efficient?

break apart tasks in your project mgt system effectively. Make sure he/she knows what's required. Not just the 'what' but the 'why' and 'how' of what is required. Why is this particular thing being built this way? What overall purpose does it serve? Who will it matter to?

Then, review progress daily ... review code, see if there are questions.


How do I make sure that he/she is good enough?

Besides basic interviewing, do a trial run of a week long project. Judge performance

Provide feedback to them regularly. If you see something wrong, talk with them about it. Ask what their thought process was. Tell them how you want it done. Be open to doing things their way if their way is better.

How can I make him/her understand the vision of the company?

Talk about it. Make sure they they fit with you, culturally. (not ethnically, but work ethic, care for your clients, for each other, etc.)

How can I convince him/her to work as hard as me? Grant stake in the company after X months?

You can't. There will always be a gulf between the employee and employer. That's just the way it is. What you can do is set clear expectations.

How do I make sure he/she wont share confidential data about clients or projects?

Hire someone with impeccable integrity. Then, talk about how important confidential information is to clients and to the company.

I see what you mean, you definitely raise some good points.

Amongst here the one with explaining the why's and how's.

Essentially, Why do we do anything? How do we do it?

I appreciate this point, I have some thinking to do but this straightens my path a bit already.

Also you mention asking the employee questions about how or why he did things the way he did.

This is excellent and also something I more or less missed completely.
How will I know whats going on in his/her mind if I don't ask?

Sounds like simple logic but I missed it anyhow, so thanks again!

When I was hired for my first (and Only!) full time job there was a 1 month "probation period". This meant that I was under evaluation and not "permanent". IF an employee under probation didn't perform satisfactory they could be fired after one month. Not sure how it works in your country, but this was a good in between way.

Yeah this is also the way I was hired back some years ago. Difference was that it was a 3 month probation/trial period! So it is indeed a legal and actual respected way of hiring people in my country, so this is something I will have for sure.

breathe. calm. breathe.

now go read the Emyth Revisted

then hire for attitude and train for greatness

Thanks ZCP, I just bought Emyth Revisited, will be reading the book in the next week/two weeks and keep you all updated on my take aways from the book here.

Much appreciated!

A Non-Disclosure agreement. Basically a contract where the employee agrees to face legal prosecution for all possible business' losses due to him sharing any confidential information.
It's common in the videogame/film industry, you should be able to find plenty of templates.

I talked with my lawyer about this and he tells me it is also very normal practice in any tech company here due to the sensitivity of certain information.

Of course he has an interest saying this as he is a lawyer and can make money from making a contract, but from what I can read online it is quite the norm.


----


Thanks once again everyone for taking the time to give your inputs, it all means a lot and I will show with time how it changed my business!

 

[Never1]

I had some resources I developed for hiring, when I ran my last business. It all came about by reading the Emyth Revisited (and M. Gerber's other works). I hired a lot of shit employees, because I was an undeveloped shitty employer. You will be, too. It takes time to get that part right.

It took me several years of hiring, firing, very high turnover rates, and continuous refinement of my hiring process. In the end, I had literally 0% employee turnover in the last 2 years I was in business.

The process was refined enough that I could find the right people, with a high degree of confidence, without being overbearing in the interviews. Once my process identified the right fit for the position and company, as a whole, I was able to manage without micro-managing AND without abdicating my own responsibilities.

Setting clear expectations, defining the position's key results areas with expected outcomes, and outlining the scope of responsibilities for that position (all in writing) are key.

Ultimately, we had to close up shop in the end due to many factors, but my crew were 100% committed right up until the last day. I miss those people, but I did help them find other work and provided excellent references. I bumped into someone at a corporate function I was at that actually hired one of the women who worked for me, and said my reference was key in hiring her. She was a great young employee, super motivated and I was very happy she got hired in a good paying position at a larger company.

Don't overthink your first hire. Beyond technical skills and desire to grow with your company, you need to find someone that seems relaxed, open-minded, personable, confident, and is conscientious and focused on getting work done. The interview process should be designed to find/highlight these traits, in a natural way.

You're not looking for a friend. Keep your eyes/ears open and be on the lookout for chatterbox bullshitter "bros" that act/talk more like they're business partners than your employee. Those types often come across as very likeable, especially during the interview stages. The interviews themselves can feel more like they are great conversations over coffee, and you lose focus on the position needing to be filled. Because you end up "clicking" with them, like old friends, you throw caution to the wind, and hire them just because you enjoyed the chat. You might even get to the point where you ignore red flags on their resume/job history etc... Do this at your peril.

That book will help get you started, for sure. Let me know if there's anything specific you need help with.

 

[kkoasdfawfqwe2]

I had some resources I developed for hiring, when I ran my last business. It all came about by reading the Emyth Revisited (and M. Gerber's other works). I hired a lot of shit employees, because I was an undeveloped shitty employer. You will be, too. It takes time to get that part right.

It took me several years of hiring, firing, very high turnover rates, and continuous refinement of my hiring process. In the end, I had literally 0% employee turnover in the last 2 years I was in business.

The process was refined enough that I could find the right people, with a high degree of confidence, without being overbearing in the interviews. Once my process identified the right fit for the position and company, as a whole, I was able to manage without micro-managing AND without abdicating my own responsibilities.

Setting clear expectations, defining the position's key results areas with expected outcomes, and outlining the scope of responsibilities for that position (all in writing) are key.

Ultimately, we had to close up shop in the end due to many factors, but my crew were 100% committed right up until the last day. I miss those people, but I did help them find other work and provided excellent references. I bumped into someone at a corporate function I was at that actually hired one of the women who worked for me, and said my reference was key in hiring her. She was a great young employee, super motivated and I was very happy she got hired in a good paying position at a larger company.

Don't overthink your first hire. Beyond technical skills and desire to grow with your company, you need to find someone that seems relaxed, open-minded, personable, confident, and is conscientious and focused on getting work done. The interview process should be designed to find/highlight these traits, in a natural way.

You're not looking for a friend. Keep your eyes/ears open and be on the lookout for chatterbox bullshitter "bros" that act/talk more like they're business partners than your employee. Those types often come across as very likeable, especially during the interview stages. The interviews themselves can feel more like they are great conversations over coffee, and you lose focus on the position needing to be filled. Because you end up "clicking" with them, like old friends, you throw caution to the wind, and hire them just because you enjoyed the chat. You might even get to the point where you ignore red flags on their resume/job history etc... Do this at your peril.

That book will help get you started, for sure. Let me know if there's anything specific you need help with.

I am sorry it didn't work out in the end with your company, but hopefully it has/will come in handy in many other aspects of your life. At least it is already helpful here as you are sharing your experience with not just me, but many other fastlaners too. So thank you for that.

I understand and accept that I might not be the best of the best employers when its my first employee, but I'd like to start out as good as I can.

Fortunately for me I have a very strong bullshit filter (thx FL forum amongst others), so a person talking out his a$$ I spot from a million miles away.

Though it doesn't make it any less relevant! And especially for a tech-heavy job its easier to bullshit someone who is not as into-it as you are, so I understand its very important.

Appreciate the fact that you will be available for specific help that might be needed.

---

I decided to put a job post on our job platform here in my country.

From here I will schedule job interviews with interesting candidates if I get them.

I'm also going to call the technical university we have here close to my office and ask if we can figure out something.

 

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[Jon L]

Thank you everyone for your inputs and takes on the situation!



Its also my conclusion that my aim is that I would want to hire the perfect employee, but also have myself be the perfect employer right off the bat.

Fortunately we have a good system for hiring & firing fast in my country, so I appreciate your advice, thank you!



I see what you mean, you definitely raise some good points.

Amongst here the one with explaining the why's and how's.

Essentially, Why do we do anything? How do we do it?

I appreciate this point, I have some thinking to do but this straightens my path a bit already.

Also you mention asking the employee questions about how or why he did things the way he did.

This is excellent and also something I more or less missed completely.
How will I know whats going on in his/her mind if I don't ask?

Sounds like simple logic but I missed it anyhow, so thanks again!



Yeah this is also the way I was hired back some years ago. Difference was that it was a 3 month probation/trial period! So it is indeed a legal and actual respected way of hiring people in my country, so this is something I will have for sure.



Thanks ZCP, I just bought Emyth Revisited, will be reading the book in the next week/two weeks and keep you all updated on my take aways from the book here.

Much appreciated!



I talked with my lawyer about this and he tells me it is also very normal practice in any tech company here due to the sensitivity of certain information.

Of course he has an interest saying this as he is a lawyer and can make money from making a contract, but from what I can read online it is quite the norm.


----


Thanks once again everyone for taking the time to give your inputs, it all means a lot and I will show with time how it changed my business!

Yeah...people need to be connected somehow to the work they're doing. With places like Apple, or top secret engineering projects, where everything is segmented, and you don't know the 'why' of something, I'm not sure how they get people excited about it. But, in order to perform at a top level, they'd have to be personally connected to it somehow.

 

[kkoasdfawfqwe2]

In case anyone would fall over this thread and wonder, how I handled the situation onwards, here's an update:

I have had my first employee for approximately a month now.

Its going well and I must admit its the second best choice I made so far in terms of hiring.

The best choice I made was to read The E-Myth Revisited that @ZCP suggested.

I want to thank you all for your contribution, which you brought to this thread simply because you wanted to.


-

In case there is demand for it, I would love to keep you all updated with whatever having employee(s) brings for better or worse!

 

[Johnny boy]

you don’t know. That’s why firing was invented.

 

[Phikey]

When I started, someone told me that my first 5 hires would be shit.
It was basically spot on. My first 5 were terrible. Not because of them but because of me. They probably could have performed in another company (most of them) but not at ours. I learned quickly how to ask the right questions, look for values and personality, and how to grow, train and monitor employees for success.
I imagine you spent a lot of time writing this post when that could have been a well-crafted job post. You'll learn so much by doing and being comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations.

 

[kkoasdfawfqwe2]

Hey Phikey, I spent way more time and energy on my job post than on my OP here

You'll learn so much by doing and being comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations.

One of my strengths I believe, is that I know myself really well.

I know this one in particular is one I'm not very good at.

That said, I have what it takes to do what is necessary, but man I'm not looking forward to these kind of conversations. Especially if its something I don't wish for.

Say we don't have budget and need to let one or two employees go and I actually think they are great and then need to tell them that they can't work here anymore.

Well I try not to really think about it, because its not relevant for me right now, so its unnecessary stress, but it still comes to mind once a while.

You say you learned to ask the right questions, what kind of questions do you generally put emphasis on? And why exactly those, what do they reveal?

Thanks for your input Phikey, appreciate it!

 

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[Fastlane Liam]

I mean theres nothing stopping you from putting a job post up on indeed, getting a bunch of CVs, doing a bunch of interviews and going from there. Dont have to hire anyone, just to get a feel. Also you can just hire them as a contractor

 

[Phikey]

You say you learned to ask the right questions, what kind of questions do you generally put emphasis on? And why exactly those, what do they reveal?

To answer this you need to start with thinking about what information you are trying to find.
It's absolutely crucial that you hire for personality, attitude, and values. I actually prioritize these over skills/experience because I know that (depending on the job) good people can learn quickly but trying to change someone's personality is almost impossible. Plus, if you bring someone with a bad personality onto your team, you ruin everyone.

Have you ever played in a sporting team that was functioning so well? You were all on the same wavelength, vibing well, understanding each other. Then someone joins who is a major outsider and it just destroys everything. Not just the cohesiveness but the moral of each member of the group.
Steve Jobs talked about this too. If you have an A player (someone that's on top of their game, very good at what they do) but then you have them working next to a B player (someone mediocre), the A player is going to leave. Good people want to work with good people.
Once I focused my hiring on making sure I brought people into the fold that were a good culture-fit, it changed everything. Now my team love coming to work and they're doing better and better work. They stick up for each other and share the load. It's become a family of sorts. All this has become incredibly powerful because we're no longer just a bunch of people trying to earn money at my company, we're all in it for a bigger goal.

But how do you get there?
You want to make sure you have very very clear values and goals. We have a clear revenue goal we're working towards, but we also have 5 extremely clear values that define who we are and what we do.

Ours are:

Honesty & Humility.

Responsibility.

Growth & Self-improvement.

Team & Family.

Expertise.

We hire and fire by these values and a lot of our interviews are trying to dig deep into the person and find out where they sit on each of these.
Most people are good at interviewing and will tell you the same BS answer they think you want to hear. You need to get them to reveal their answers by asking questions around the topic.

Questions like:
1. What have you been reading lately? (growth and self improvement - figuring out their attitude and are they proactively seeking new info)
2. Tell me about a time where you really f*cked up? What did you do afterwards? What would you do differently? (trying to see how they take responsibility, at the time and also retrospectively)
3. Tell me about a team that you worked really well in, why?
My favourite one is this:
Start by asking them:
Think back to the last time you worked on a team
Was there someone there that you REALLY liked working with? (often they will say yes)
Who was it? And why did you like working with them?
They will then say something like:
"I liked working with Betty because she was always on time, and she gave me amazing feedback that helped me improve the designs I would submit. She was also really easy to get along with and knew how to have a laugh"
Here they've just told you that they like punctual people, enjoy receiving feedback (humility), like to improve, and they value getting along with the people they work with.

You then do the opposite:
Tell me about someone you really didn't like working with. Who were they, and why didnt you like it?
Often they will umm and ahh here and you'll see that they are clearly thinking of someone. You might need to prod a bit to get it out of them. But often it will be something like:
"Yes, it was my old boss actually. I didn't like that he was a perfectionist and judged every bit of work I did. He would always make edits to my designs and keep linking the brief he had sent me even though I had that link already. It was really annoying"(yes this was a real response) This response told me that this candidate didn't have attention to detail. Even though she perceived her boss to be a perfectionist a**hole, he was just referencing the design brief and this designer had missed important points. If the role requires attention to detail then this would be a major red flag.

One other thing I sometimes do is at the start of the interview I will share my screen or send through a pdf that has our values on it. It also has a brief paragraph about the value in detail. I say "hey I'm going to grab a coffee/tea, have a read of this and let me know what you think when I get back." I then come back in 3 minutes after they've had a read and ask them if they had any questions. Often they'll be unsure about a specific value and that's where you want to pay the most attention. Maybe they didn't like responsibility and they ask what that means. "What if my boss gives me the wrong directions by leaving something out of the brief?" They might be referencing a time before in their career or they are wondering if they can blame their manager, even though we expect our team members to ask questions when they don't know something. It's a case-by-case basis.

 

[Tourmaline]

I don't think you're overthinking it. Hiring an employee is very difficult and important.

First be sure they are of high integrity and of sound mind.
Then verify that they can do what you need.

Motivation and making them work hard comes from getting them to well see and understand your vision, care, and to then reward them in the way they like to be rewarded.

It's actually mostly on you as a leader. It's too much to real elaborate on here, and for disclosure, my knowledge is based on books and not practice...yet!