Beverlee Rasmussen CEC PCC What if you need help, but not forty hours a week worth of help? You may need to hire a part-time employee. But what if the job seems unfillable with the hours you have to offer?
Back in 2007, the economy was booming. It seemed like everybody was working. Small business entrepreneurs couldn’t find workers. So owners had to get creative.
Hiring part-time for a short time
A printing company owner I worked with had a delivery guy who was going on a four-month leave for a surgery and the subsequent recovery and physical therapy. Who would take that job? My client only needed someone to run deliveries two hours a day Monday through Friday at $13 an hour.
“There’s a job for everyone,” I told her. “Some people will actually accept money to clean people’s teeth. You couldn’t pay me a million dollars an hour to do that. Somebody is thrilled to get their very first job, and it’s working four hours a week at McDonald’s. When I was a kid, I had friends who got paid to catch chickens on the neighbours’ farm late at night.”
Sure enough, when the print shop owner published a help-wanted ad—delivery worker needed for two-hour shifts during the work week for four months—and she heard right back.
“This is a perfect gig for me,” a retiree said via email. My client hired him right away, and everything worked out.
Hiring part-time employees on their schedule
Getting creative worked with another client. She hired moms who were otherwise unable to find a job that fit into their available time. Their shift would start at 9:30 in the morning once the kids were on the bus and end right at 2:30 p.m. with just enough time to spare to pick up the kids from school.
There’s a job for everyone.
If you need someone for ten hours a week, put them on the organization chart. When you hire, it’s about finding a good fit. Someone needs a job, someone has a job. There’s a job for everyone, and there’s a person for every job. No matter what.
Avoid these hiring mistakes!
“The biggest trap small business owners fall into is waiting too long to hire and then having to find someone at the last minute when they are desperate.”
This trap along with the other 9 Hiring Mistakes are described in the Top 10 Hiring Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) written specifically for small business owners.
