Hiring in Small Business
Hiring someone to join your small business is like finding a roommate to live with in your home.
And since we are in a time of hiring at our business as the holiday season and the busiest time of the year is upon us, we’ve been thinking about recruiting, hiring, and training from August through October! After that, we’re in full production and retail mode and can’t take the time to slow down, so just got to do the best with what we’ve got!
The question for us (and truthfully for so many other small local business owners we’ve been talking to) is where have all the workers gone? Feels like we’re all looking for people to add to our team and like they all disappeared?! No joke.
We’re grateful that we have found a bounty of interest in part time work and have a team of 8 volunteers eager for this holiday season, but we can’t seem to find the full time help.
We found people available, but not a lot of interest in working hand-crafting production or customer service which are things that can’t be done remotely from home. Even if the pay and benefits are at or above industry standard, we’re left scratching our heads.
We know the cost of living, the housing in Hawai`i are all factors of this as we’ve had many people tell us they would absolutely LOVE to work with us, but they are stuck having to do a job they even hate, just to afford the lifestyle mortgage/rent they want to maintain.
So why is this so hard for a small business to hire a full time person. Because we’re not trying to hire just to hire, we’re trying to find someone who will fit our small chocolate family. A small business to an owner is like a second home. A team is like a second family. And once you take responsibility for their pay and livelihood, you want to make sure they are people with a good heart, are committed to your vision and mission, will be a team player, a positive person to be around, and a contributor to the growth for everyone. If not, it’s like having someone live in your house rent free who eats all your food and uses up all your toilet paper. :p
And like the famous quote says, “You are an average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” We’d like to make sure in a small business that currently has only 5 of us, we’d all like to add on chocolate crew members that will increase our average. :)
If that’s you, please consider applying! We can’t wait to meet you. ;P
erin’s tip
Be patient. Don’t rush hiring for the sake of hiring. The investment you plan to make in the person, the time it takes to build the relationship, the opening of your heart to let someone in, for me personally is a lot and I’d rather wait for Mr/Ms. Right for us! Every time I do, even if our time together is not forever, you don’t regret it and ultimately, you’ve made a new chocolate friend!