De-stress Your Business

E27: How to Review Skills-fit Before the First Interview

Before we interview a job applicant, we want to test 2 things:
 
Are they a good fit for our organization?
Do they have the key skills we need in this role?
 
Looking at CVs is a terrible way of finding this out. 
 
CVs and resumes:
 
Don’t give us the information we need
Don’t allow us fairly compare candidates
Take too long to review!
 
So we start the process by asking our candidates simple questions.
 
We start by seeing if they’re likely to be a good fit for our organization.
 
And if they are… we then look at whether they have the key skills we need.
 
The way we do this leads to a great experience for both our team and the people applying for jobs.
 
In today’s episode of De-stress Your Business, we dive deep into the second step: Using simple questions to review skills-fit.
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E26: Don’t use CVs or resumes to filter candidates (!)

At AirManual, we often receive over 1000 applications for one job opening.
 
So we need an efficient way to filter this list down and make a great hire!
 
The first step is important. We don’t start with CVs.
 
Instead we ask 3 simple questions that start to show if this candidate’s right for us:
What’s your proudest achievement, and why?
What’s your favorite non-fiction book, and why?
Which of our features do you like the most, and why?
 
In 30 seconds, we can review:
Can this candidate write well?
Have they made any effort to understand what we’re about?
Do they align with some of our company values?
 
We filter out 75% of candidates this way, and it’s easy to outsource this to a VA.
 
We share this part of the process — and the pains it solves — in today’s episode of De-stress Your Business.
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E25: How We Get over 1000 Applicants for Every Role

AirManual, we get over 1000 applicants for each job.
 
It’s not because we’re a household name (we’re not — yet!)
 
And it’s not because we pay twice the going rate (we don’t!)
 
It is because:
 
We get clear on one specific role we’re hiring for
We hire remotely (and avoid any location constraints)
We identify the things that make us special
We provide a compensation package that’s generous for people who prioritize work/life balance over money
We create an ad which _really_ sells this message
 
Even if you’re not hiring remotely, you can greatly increase the number of applicants for your job openings.
 
In this episode, we dig into how, and why.
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E24: What Is an A-Player and Can I Really Afford to Hire One?

When it comes to recruitment, we love to throw around the term “A-player”.
 
We want to hire A-players! We need more A-players! We only hire A-players!
 
But… what exactly is an A-player. And can your business really afford one?
 
Put simply, an A-player is someone who outperforms most other people in a similar position and level.
 
When you have A-players, you’ get incredible bang for your buck!
 
Here’s how to hire one:
 
1/ Choose a specific role
 
For example, it’s much easier and cheaper to a find an A-player to be your Social Media Manager than it is to find one to be your Head of Marketing
 
2/ Document your existing processes so they don’t need to be an expert in everything
 
3/ Look at the key skills they need to excel in this job
 
Our Social Media Manager will need to be great at copywriting. But they do not need 5 years of Twitter experience!
 
4/ Hire for these key skills, and alignment with your company values
 
5/ Find someone who’s in the top 10–20% given the role and compensation
 
This is how you fill your team with A-players. If we’re specific enough on the role, it becomes very affordable.
 
We go deeper on this in today’s episode of De-stress Your Business.
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E23: How to Manage Effectively When You Wear Many Hats

Within an organization, it’s common for one person to have more than one role.
 
We sometimes call this wearing more than one hat. And in a really small business, it’s not uncommon for one person to balance 3, 5, or even 10 more hats precariously on their head!  
 
But it’s not just a small business problem. 
 
As you scale up, you’ll always be introducing new teams. New teams will start off with a generalist who wears multiple hats, and over time you’ll hire specialists.
 
So how do we manage this?
 
The key is to look a few years into the future. Work out what roles will need to exist.
 
Then start working as if they already do. If that means that you currently wear 6 and a half hats on your head, then so be it.
 
Why? It will make your life much easier when it comes to systemizing processes, delegating tasks, and recruiting new employees.
 
Put simply: It allows you to scale.
 
We go deeper on this in today’s episode of De-stress Your Business.
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E22: How to Manage Your Employee Onboarding Process

There are a lot of different people involved when getting ready for a new joiner!
 
How do we make this easy to manage?
 
First, work out exactly who needs to be involved and why:
 
HR will need to support the new joiner before they join, and during company onboarding
Finance will need to set up payroll
IT will need to set up system access
The manager will need to handle role onboarding
An assigned buddy can help to support the new joiner in the first weeks
 
Then think work out who will be responsible for the overall process.
 
We want to avoid a lot of handovers that could lead to dropped balls. So let HR be responsible until the end of company onboarding, and then handover to the manager.
 
Finally, create a checklist for each person involved to use. HR’s checklist can include steps to ask Finance and IT to complete theirs, and to check it actually happens.
 
We cover all this and more in today’s episode of De-stress Your Business.
 
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Helpful resources:
 
- Checklist for HR: https://airmanual.link/templates/hr-onboarding-checklist
- Checklist for manager: https://airmanual.link/templates/manager-onboarding-checklist
- Checklist for Buddy: https://airmanual.link/templates/buddy-checklist
- Checklist for Finance to set up payroll: https://airmanual.link/templates/payroll-checklist
- Checklist for IT to set up system access: https://airmanual.link/templates/system-access-checklist
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E21: How to Make Employee Onboarding Self-Service

Our top tip for employee onboarding? Put the new joiner in the driving seat!
 
With self-service onboarding:
 
New joiners can move at their own pace
Teams and managers save hundreds of hours
Managers can focus on coaching rather than lecturing
New joiners get up to speed quicker, and then make fewer mistakes as they have resources to refer back to
 
We often see total onboarding time cut by 80% (!), and new joiners getting productive within 1 week.
 
But how do you go about making a self-service employee onboarding process?
 
And isn’t there a risk of creating something that’s tedious and dull for the new joiner — the opposite of the engaging and motivating experience we want?
 
That’s our topic for today’s episode of De-Stress Your Business.
 
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Helpful resources:
 
- Company onboarding process template: https://airmanual.link/templates/company-onboarding
- Role onboarding process template: https://airmanual.link/templates/role-onboarding
- Set up employee onboarding checklist: https://www.airmanual.link/set-up-employee-onboarding
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E20: How to Start Employee Onboarding Before Day One

When should employee onboarding start?
 
A common mistake is to kick it off when the new joiner walks in the door for the first time.
 
At this point, we’ve already missed an opportunity
 
Before day one, we can:
 
Get contracts and policies reviewed
Explain our vision and values
Describe how we work together
Let the joiner know we’ll support their growth
Give the new joiner clarity on how their first day, week, and month will work
 
In doing so, we help to de-stress the new joiner, turning some of their anxiety into excitement.
 
And we make day one a lot more fun, as there’s less information to share, and the new joiner can make more progress towards getting productive.
 
In this episode of De-stress Your Business, we dive deeper into what you can share before day one, how best to do it, and the impact this can have for both the new joiner, and your team!
 
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Helpful resources:
 
- Pre-day one onboarding template for new joiner: https://airmanual.link/templates/onboarding-pre-day-one
- Onboarding template for HR: https://airmanual.link/templates/hr-onboarding-checklist
- Onboarding template for manager: https://airmanual.link/templates/manager-onboarding-checklist
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E19: The Essential Steps for a Role Onboarding Process

When you plan employee onboarding for a specific role, you need to consider both the short and long term goals.
 
On day one, the new joiner will be excited, but also anxious…
 
… Will they be able to deliver the value the team needs? 
… Will they be welcomed?
… Will they be well supported?
 
We want to address these concerns as quickly as possible.
 
So look for a task that the new joiner can get productive in quickly, and focus on helping them get there. For a sales rep, it might be doing sales calls without support. For a software engineer, it might be developing simple features or fixing bugs.
 
Try to get here in days or weeks, not months.
 
Looking longer term, we want to help the new joiner to become happy and confident in all areas of their role.
 
This will take longer, and that’s OK. The key is not to stop until that end goal is achieved.
 
We go deeper into the essential steps for your role onboarding process in today’s episode of De-stress Your Business.
 
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Helpful resources:
 
- Company onboarding process template: https://airmanual.link/templates/company-onboarding
- Role onboarding process template: https://airmanual.link/templates/role-onboarding
- Set up employee onboarding checklist: https://www.airmanual.link/set-up-employee-onboarding
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!

E18: The Essential Steps for a Company Onboarding Process

What are the essential steps for a company onboarding process?
 
The 5 key areas to include are:
 
1️⃣ Meet the team
2️⃣ Set up tools
3️⃣ Learn about vision, values and goals
4️⃣ Learn how to work together and get support: accountabilities, processes, performance
5️⃣ Learn how the business works: Target market, products, services, competitors, customer stories
 
This doesn’t need to take long… but it’s important you don’t skip any of this.
 
Everyone on your team needs this context to perform well. And without it, you can expect bad decisions, mistakes, confusion, conflict… and general stress.
 
In this episode, we go deeper into why it’s so important, and what to include in each step of the process.
 
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Want to learn more? Join our weekly webinar and we'll show you how to free up 15 hours per week and remove the constant stress of running a business, without slowing down growth. Visit www.airmanual.co/webinar for all the details!