HR - When You Want to Hire Staff - Part 4

ARTICLE 62

When You Want to Hire Staff – Part 4

By Nikki Viljoen of Viljoen Consulting CC November 2010

I have this serious allergy! I, personally, am allergic to staff. Yes it’s true – there was a time, while working in the Corporate World, where I did manage staff. In fact, at one point I commanded a work force of in excess of 250 people and the one thing that I did learn from that experience is that I don’t like or want or need to have a staff compliment.

So, how do I get around this little allergy that I have – simple really, I outsource everything that I cannot do or that I don’t want to do.

I have a virtual PA as well as my own accounting department and an IT department not to mention a really brilliant legal team, a design team a . . . . well I could go on and on, but it would in all probability bore you to tears.

Bottom line is that I don’t have to have someone constantly in my space. I don’t have to think about deadlines and staff being late or being off sick or doing disciplinaries because staff have been caught stealing my Company assets or stealing Company time or in fact just staff getting up my left nostril. Point is that in the long run I am saving a fortune on salaries because I am not paying staff for the time that they spend chatting around the water cooler or regaling tales of what happened over the weekend. I pay for the actual time it takes for someone to do what needs to be done or the price that I have been quoted for the job. How cool is that?

Outsourcing is not the only option out there for individuals who would prefer not to have staff working for them. There are obviously Companies who have no alternative but to employ staff and quite frankly, having them as clients gives me quite a good income as I help them to deal with their staff issues.

There are many small business owners or independent contractors out there, who would be open to partnerships or joint ventures or strategic alliances or even value trade exchanges. There is also nothing to stop you from having a mix of all the options – whatever works for you is right.

The trick though is to make sure that both parties have their expectations met. That both parties do their part to the best of their ability and consistently, particularly if what you are doing is a value trade exchange. The minute one person feels that they are not ‘getting their fair share’ or that they are doing more than the other, is the minute that things start to go pear shaped.

Whatever your choice is – to employ staff or not to employ staff, make sure that you deal with people fairly and with integrity. Be open, be honest and above all, stick to you word and keep to the bargain.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za