TRAITS SMEs SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR WHEN HIRING
Dooyum Stephanie Mtem Aca
Finance and Tax Analyst
Abuja
07069026949, stepheniedooyum@gmail.com
SMEs have a significant untapped growth potential; strong export and employment potentials. SMEs in Nigeria are currently distributed along sectors within regions; creating potential operational and cost synergies. Growing sectors such as entertainment and leisure clusters, Low-Tech Sectors clusters: Footwear, clothing & garment, agro-processing (cassava, oil palm and other oils. High Tech clusters: ICTs, Telecom, and Biotechnology (Agric and health) and to drive this requires man power. Borrowing the words of Benhabib and Spiegel, (1994) “It is a lack of investment in human capital, not a lack of investment in physical capital alone, which prevents poor countries from catching up with rich ones.” Educational attainment and public spending on education are correlated positively to economic growth. So SMEs must hire right and build working synergy with their employees.
When faced with several equally qualified professionals, employers look for the possession of certain traits to help them make a selection. These traits go beyond intelligence and communication skills and goes into the qualities that indicate you will be a great person to be on the team. In no particular order, here are the eight traits SMEs must look out for when building employees team work.
- Confidence
SMEs must look out for team members who are comfortable with themselves. Employees who know who they are and what they want. They are confident and goal oriented with the zeal to achieve success. They are friendly, engaging and, as a result, a pleasure to be around. These classes of employees have ownership traits and are ready to go extra miles in accomplishing their goals as against have a feeling of entitlement mentality without being satisfied.
- Willingness to listen and learn
Before hiring or building a working team as SMEs that will further build a relationship of trust, employers should obviously hire employees who appreciate correction with deep sense of humility as against the know-it-all professionals who have the skills necessary to do the job and rarely appreciate. Humility creates a sense of empathy and care.
- Adaptability
Jobs are evolving day by day. SMEs must therefore hire adaptable employees who can adapt to the changes. This may mean someone who can follow directions one day and figure out his or her own direction the next or someone who can spend some days behind their desk and other days in the field, equally productive in both environments.
- Flexibility
SMEs wanting to hire must look out for people who are flexible. Those who are stuck in their ways tend to be more difficult to work with than those who can go with the flow. Flexibility goes hand in hand with adaptability.
- Self-reliance
Employers must not go for people who require handholding or constant praise in order to feel appreciated. They must look out for employees who can motivate themselves, figure out what needs to be done. Everyone appreciates a pat on the back from time to time. Self reliant people are self driven and are quite ambitious without comfort zone mentality.
- Teamwork
SMEs should as a matter of fact look out for employees with ant spirit that can motivate other team members and show dedication to duty. The work is done more with team spirit and complementation.
7. Dependability
SMEs wanting to hire must watch out for employees with dog spirit with loyalty as their driving principle that will be there to do the job in the absence of the owner and not waste time with someone who may demand for vacation time during the busy season, or abuse a flexible schedule.
- Honesty
Once a liar, always a liar, at least in the eyes of potential employers, it goes without saying, but if an employer discovers “inaccuracy” or “exaggeration” in the course of interviewing a prospective employee that becomes a red flag that SMEs must watch for.
How SMEs can observe the red flags
An honest self-assessment will give you a good idea of what you need to look out for. This the SMEs can do through the following:
- Diligence in hiring the right person in the selection task is key. The background check can include ascertaining educational attainment, work experience, referees confirmation and even social media handles.
- Leadership by example. Leaders of SMEs must lead by example; they must deliberate and design an effective communication process that shows transparency.
Conclusion
SMEs should thrive to succeed and also leverage on the economic advantages giving to them to enable them record success stories that can transform in years to come dependable sectors that can be relied upon. Building man power and a great team is the starting point, hence the importance of this topic to employers on the qualities to be looked out for when hiring for SMEs.
