How to Find Amazing Employees

Offering small business help is my passion, and I love providing sales coaching, business consulting, and other relevant services that make life easier for those in the small business community. I really enjoy sharing things I’ve learned throughout the years that can help you create the kind of business you want. Today, let’s dive deep into a topic crucial to your entrepreneurial journey–Finding your team of A-Players.

I want you all to be armed with the knowledge to not just find employees but to discover gems who will ride the waves with you through the highs and lows of your business journey. Here we explore the ins and outs of how to get into the mindset of an A-Player, ensuring you’re not just building a team but creating a powerhouse of excellence and dedication!

To begin, I want to challenge you to, if you own a company and you’re looking to recruit or add people to your team, think about how an A-Player thinks. In other words, enter the mind of an A-Player.

 

1. First Steps to Finding Amazing Employees: Imagine yourself an A-Player

An A-Player is someone who is one of the top 10 to 20% out there to fill your job position. So if it’s a $50 an hour position, you’ll want the top 10 to 20% to fill your position. Think about how an A-Player thinks, and I’m going to talk specifically about an A-Player who’s looking for a leadership position in the company. 

First and foremost, an A-Player does think about company loyalty.

If they come to you, they will have been working for a while. They stay in positions for 5 years, 6 years, 7 years, or more. They have consistency. And I know that’s changing in the market in terms of there’s more people that aren’t staying as long, and that’s definitely the trend. But if you’d like to find A-Player employees, you want to look for people who have loyalty.

A-Players think about a degree of loyalty to their organization,

but not necessarily at the expense of their own career advancement. They’re not going to be blindly loyal. But generally speaking, there’s a level of loyalty that A-Players have to the organization if they’re working for an organization that takes care of them. It should take care of them in terms of the environment they’re in and making sure that they get paid fairly compared to the market rate, among other considerations. Having spent considerable time with the company, an A-Player typically demonstrates this balanced blend of personal career considerations and organizational loyalty. 

Also, when they’re looking for a position, A-Players often already have one.

Now we’ve certainly hired a lot of people that just lost their job or were transitioning out of their job for many reasons, and you can certainly find A-Players in those situations. But usually the best A-Players actually have a job while they’re looking for another job. When they start looking, they’re actually working for the other company, and they’re still performing well at a high level while they’re looking for another job. 

An A-Player also wants to fit into a culture.

So when they’re looking to interview, they’re not just looking at what the job is. They’re looking at the environment, online reviews, and what customers say about the company. They’re looking holistically at the company because they want to be somewhere that culturally fits for them, a good place for them to be from an environmental standpoint.

 

2. How to Work with Amazing Employees

A-Players may have a lot of experience and have learned a lot, but they also like training. They like to be coached. 

In many cases, when I talk to business owners, they want to find employees who don’t need any training and don’t need any coaching because they just want them to jump right into the position. But listen, A-Players want to be challenged, they want to be coached, they want to have goals that are challenging, and they like training.

An A-Player also wants to be rewarded based on the results they produce. Results through the growth of what they produce for the company in whatever position they’re in. So as you think about how to attract someone like that, there needs to be some sort of stability in the job from a compensation standpoint. But there also need to be extra things involved when they produce results.

Another important thing is that an A-Player wants their voice to be heard, especially in a leadership position. They want to be able to contribute, and they want their voice and their ideas to impact the results of the company. 

Oftentimes, even in interviews, I find many owners that are interviewing or managers that are interviewing talk too much. They don’t listen enough. In most cases, you can learn so much, even if you don’t hire a candidate, from what they’re saying and their ideas.

But an A-Player certainly wants to join an organization where they can be heard. An A-Player also knows their market worth. They know the value they have in the marketplace, and already know what fair compensation is. They already know what they’re monetarily worth. So A-Players are going to come in already knowing that as they’re interviewing to join your organization.

 

3. Pursuing Amazing Employees!

The final point I will discuss in your quest to find amazing employees is whether an A-Player wants to be pursued. Well, they almost want to be sold, they want to be desired, and they want you to go after them. So certainly if you interview, you need to ask tough questions, which A-Players like, by the way. 

A-Players like references; they like reference checks because everyone in the past will give them glowing references and are excited to say what a great job they did. That’s what A-Players are. But at some point there needs to be some type of transition in that it’s an interview. But you’re also selling the company, and the dream and the vision of what this person could do in your company. They want to be sold, they want to be pursued, and that means follow-up. 

Oftentimes, many A-Players are lost by many organizations, and I can tell you firsthand that it’s because people don’t follow-up with them fast enough.

After one interview, time lapses, the owner or leader gets lazy, they get busy, and the A-Player, who is being pursued by other companies, gets hired. So you have to pursue them; you have to treat them like your best client, best potential client, or best potential employee. You really have to pursue them while you’re making sure it’s the right fit.

 

Finding Amazing Employees Doesn’t Seem to Be Easy

Embarking on the journey of discovering and hiring A-Players is undeniably a vital yet complex endeavor for any small business leader. The process is far more nuanced than merely posting a job ad and hoping for the best. From embracing their mindset, understanding their loyalty, recognizing their desire for continual growth, and learning the subtle art of pursuing them, it’s clear that finding these outstanding individuals is an intricate dance between assessing their potential and genuinely appealing to their professional aspirations.

However, let’s face it – while the pursuit of A-Players is exciting, it can also be daunting and incredibly time-consuming for many entrepreneurs and business owners. Especially those who wear multiple hats when running their businesses. 

 

The Hard Work Can Be Eased with Expert Assistance.

The hiring process might seem too hard, or you might not have time to go through it all. If this sounds like you, outsourcing could be the answer. There are specialized companies out there armed with the expertise and strategies to not only find but also coach and create A-Players, so they can fit right into your business. This allows you to gain access to top-tier talent without having to navigate through the exhaustive hurdles of the hiring process.

This step doesn’t diminish the value of understanding what makes an A-Player tick, as explored throughout this blog. In fact, this knowledge remains a cornerstone in recognizing and appreciating the caliber of candidates brought to your doorstep by these companies.

Happy team-building, dear entrepreneurs! Whether through your own efforts or the expert assistance of others, I hope you find amazing employees who will help you grow your business. 

 

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