Why Small Businesses Should Hire The Best & Brightest

I started Next Day Flyers 16 years ago and have grown to 170 employees in two locations. In my early days of hiring employees I didn’t understand the value of investing in higher quality talent and how the entire package of pay, benefits and work location could be used to attract new employees and hire the best.

Instead, I hired employees I thought the company could afford. The results were the employees that were brought on board not only had performance issues, but life issues. Some of these individuals stole from the company, were drug addicts, and wouldn’t show up for work. It was frustrating to manage these individuals and it absolutely prevented our company from growing faster in our early years. Fortunately I learned the lessons early enough to right the ship and start to hire the best.

I recommend small business owners hire the best and brightest people that they can afford. Sell the non-monetary perks of the company, whether it’s the location, flexible work hours, or keg-Fridays, these factors influence the decisions of recruits.

Contributor: David Handmaker and I’m founder and CEO of http://www.nextdayflyers.com

Image credit: Steve Wilson