In many industries, business is starting to pick up; employers are at least thinking about hiring again. One of the most important positions you’ll hire for is salespeople. What’s the best way to approach this challenge?

Salespeople need to do two things: acquire new business and take care of existing customers. It takes a certain type of employee to make a great salesperson—and there are few businesses that can survive a bad sales hire. Think about how long your company can wait for a new salesperson to get up to speed, and hire the best you can.

Five ideas to consider when you’re ready to hire sales staff:

1. Expert sales people can sell anything. Often, employers focus on finding someone who already works in their industry. They believe that if Tom has been installing flooring for several years, he should be able to sell it, too. Our first tip is to flip this thinking upside down. Try looking at people who have the skills, drive and temperament it takes to be a successful salesperson—even if they know nothing about your business category. It’s easier to teach a good salesperson about the difference between berber carpet and linoleum than to teach a good carpet installer how to close a sale.
2. Consider hiring from your competition. If you’re paying attention, you know what’s going on with your competitors. Perhaps they have a very strong sales staff you’d like to emulate. One way to do it is to hire those people. Hiring another company’s staff does not come without challenges, so be sure to do your homework. Confidentiality is the goal—but it’s not guaranteed. If you’re okay with your competitor knowing you’re trying to hire her star salesperson, go ahead. And be prepared to invest enough to lure her in and keep her happy and productive.
3. Speaking of investing in salespeople, hiring the best means offering an attractive compensation package. Salespeople are driven by a variety of factors, like the thrill of the game, winning the business and of course, making money. Growth is achieved through sales—and if you structure your compensation package correctly, you can make both your new salesperson and your bottom line happy. Consider a base salary plus a commission of some type. Commission only makes some salespeople desperate. Some companies put a cap on commissions—that’s not always a good idea. Why cap sales? Do look for quality of sales when figuring out commissions. Lower percentages for lower-profit items makes more sense than a flat fee no matter how much the sale actually nets the company.
4. Always be recruiting. This means you should have an idea of who your next salesperson should be long before you hire anyone. Through social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, you can get to know more people quicker than ever before. You could meet an unknown sales star at a networking event, a parking garage, or your neighborhood pizza restaurant. A natural people-person is a natural salesperson too. Keep an ongoing list of who you’d like to talk to when hiring for your next sales position—whenever that may be.
5. Do your due diligence on reference and background  checks. Salespeople can charm even the most wary employer into believing everything they say about their history and sales performance. Ask for former client and employer references, and don’t skip the credit check.

Productivity in the U.S. is down, and rumor has it that employees are maxed out. If you’ve trimmed some staff members and squeezed out all you can from your remaining employees, it’s time to assess your productivity. Perhaps it’s time to consider hiring again.

Re-hiring a Laid-off Employee
When they’re ready to hire for a newly-open position, many business owners and managers naturally think about the last person who held it. In many cases, that person didn’t leave the company, but was laid off. Before you pick up the phone to recall a laid-off employee, consider these tips.

Often, it makes sense to bring a laid-off employee back into the fold. After all, if Susan did the job for years, she won’t require any training. She’s already in tune with the company’s culture, so there’s no bringing her up to speed on dos and don’ts. She knows the policies and procedures as well as you do. It’s usually much easier to rehire a former employee than recruit, hire and train a new one.

But first, consider the reasons behind the layoff. If George was an exemplary worker and budget is the only reason he’s gone, then he could be your only choice for the position. If that’s the case, call George as soon as you can—before another company hires him.

Why Hiring Laid-Off Employees is not Always a Good Idea
Chances are your company and its needs have changed during the recession. Perhaps your remaining crew has turned into a lean, mean, production machine—and that ex-employee won’t fit in. It can be difficult for inflexible people to fit into a changed environment.

There’s a reason George was laid off instead of Tom. Before you hire him back, assess the situation around the layoff choice. It could lead to insight about George’s past and future performance. Was his work up to speed? Did he create bad feelings when he left?

Laid-off employees can change, too. A formerly dedicated worker could develop a negative attitude toward a company he’s been seeing as the enemy for months or years. Consider requiring the former staff person to go through the same application process and interview as a brand-new employee. This gives everyone an opportunity to look objectively at needs, skills, and attitudes. If there are any signs of a grudge, ask open-ended questions to get to the bottom of it.

Don’t Forget Employee Screening
It pays to be just as cautious when re-hiring an ex-employee as when hiring a stranger. Anything can happen between layoff and rehire time. Don’t expose your company and other employees to the risks of hiring anyone—even a former employee—without a thorough pre-employment background check.

When it comes to the economy, everyone seems to be waiting for something to happen. Reports we used to pay little attention to, like unemployment, consumer confidence, savings rates and housing starts, capture our attention and are analyzed closely.

Employers are no exception. They’ve weathered the economic storm, and many want to know if it’s ever going to turn around. You may be asking yourself if it’s time to spend some of the cash you’re holding on to, or if it’s time to hire again. Or you may just want to know if you can exhale yet!

We can’t tell you the answer to Questions 1 & 3, but here are some tips for question #2: How do you know if it’s time to hire?

1. You and your employees are stressed out. You might have cut positions, combined workloads, or just kept piling tasks on yourself and your staff. If your people are starting to show signs of discontent, are leaving things undone, or are threatening to walk out—you know you have a problem. It just might be solved with a new employee.

2. You are profitable. Profitability is a very good sign. But only when it happens for several months in a row. Much of this depends on your business, but if you’ve been turning a profit for 18 months, and your current staff is overworked, it might be time to hire. If you’re not steadily seeing profits, see #3.

3. The new hire will produce profit. If you’ve crunched the numbers and a new hire will pay for him or herself and then some, what are you waiting for?

4. You’re paying for temps or independent contractors. If there are services you need enough to pay higher temp and contractor fees, can you afford to turn that expense into an employee? Consider hiring a good-fit contractor or temp. If they have skills you need, then find a way to create a sustainable solution.

When you make the decision to hire, be sure to properly screen employment applicants. Pre-employment screening is an easy way to mitigate the risk of hiring staff with questionable backgrounds, criminal histories, or unacceptable credit problems.

Federal investigators in Bellevue, NE arrested a man for running a background check scam. The FBI accuses him of forming a fake background check company and charging consumers $600 for each bogus background check. His total take for this fraudulent activity was a whopping $170,000!

According to reports, the 51-year-old man had previously been indicted on wire and mail fraud charges before he started his latest scam company. Apparently, he indicated he could run FBI and Interpol background checks on anyone—which is not true. FBI records are not generally available to the public.

It’s far too easy for scammers to find victims who will pay $600 for a fake “FBI-quality” background check. Employers and hiring managers should do their due diligence and make sure they’re using a reputable employee background check company.

How can an employer be sure a pre-employment screening company is legitimate? Ask the following questions:

• Is it ISO 9001 Certified?
• Is it Better Business Bureau Accredited?
• Is it a member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners?
• Is it FCRA Compliant as a Consumer Reporting Agency?
• Is it PCI Compliant?

For more information about our pre-employment screening services and background check services ranging  from $25 to $160 on average, please see our newly-redesigned website.

Entrepreneurs are accustomed to “doing it all.” Their work styles make them self-starters, hard drivers and hard workers. One result is that sometimes, entrepreneurs are unable to let go. They believe the idea that if they don’t perform every task, it won’t get done properly—or at all.

However, this approach is not healthy for either the entrepreneur or the business. Hiring a “second in command” person is not always seen as priority for “I can do it all” business owners—but it is something they should absolutely consider.

This high-level employee can be invaluable to busy business owners, enabling them to focus on larger projects like strategic planning, or emergency problems requiring the owner’s full attention. They can also literally save their lives, by reducing the stress, lack of sleep, and poor health habits that plague most workaholic control junkies.

Hiring a second can save a business, too. What if the owner is the sole information of vital company information? How long would it take the business to recover if something happens to him or her? What about the employees, vendors, and customers who depend on the company—what happens to them if the business owner becomes ill, suffers an accident, or dies unexpectedly?

Not letting go of control is just too risky—for most every business. And while “I must do it all” entrepreneurs might think they’re the only ones capable of handling the details of running their businesses, chances are they lack a number of skills. After all, nobody can truly “do it all.”

Besides, when objectively analyzed, most day-to-day operations can easily be handled by a qualified executive-level hire. It’s best to recruit a second-in-command with skills the business owner lacks; a complementary work style is beneficial, too.

So if you’re a business owner who thinks you’re the only one who can do it all, think again. The job market is full of super-qualified people who could give you your life back—and make your business more productive, efficient, and successful.

Because this is such a crucial position, due diligence is a must when hiring a second-in-command. Check references, and run a thorough employee background screening to be sure you’re hiring someone you can really trust.

Perhaps your company is just starting to hire again after the economic downturn, and you need ideas on how to make your new hires more successful. You don’t want to just hire them, run them through the standard orientation, and let them go.

Here are a few tips that just might help your new employees do their jobs better, sooner—and make you happy that you hired them.

New hires need to know your company’s culture. Simply put, if everyone except the new guy knows that Fridays are Hawaiian shirt day, or that nobody ever works late, you’re not doing them any favors by withholding such information. It can be difficult for business owners to see the company culture because they’re so used to it—but it’s important to help new employees adapt to it.

And start right away—maybe even before the person is hired. Hiring the candidate who’s most qualified but just won’t fit in with your company culture is probably a recipe for failure. Let candidates know during the interview process how things are done, and allow them to decide if your company is a good fit for them. Be honest and paint a realistic picture of your organization.

Introducing a promising candidate to the rest of the team will make them feel more comfortable when and if they are hired. They’ve already met the people they’re going to be working with, so one big barrier is overcome. If you can’t make introductions before hiring the new employee, be sure to make proper introductions on Day 1.

As manager or owner, your job is to recognize who the new hire will work closely with, who their possible conflicts might be with, and who can help them in their position. Tell your new hire who the 5 most important staff members are for her to know. Ask those staffers to take a few minutes to meet with the new hire and identify ways they will work together.

Training is good, but too much training and not enough working can be detrimental to a new employee. Provide resources and support the new employee needs, but let them do their job, too. This allows your new employee to make connections with other staff, and learn how things are really done.

Helping your new employees learn your company culture and who they need to know are two ways to help them transition more successfully!

Are stacks of resumes piling up on your desk? Is your email inbox overflowing with inquiries from potential employees who not only are not qualified, but didn’t follow your application instructions? It’s not easy to find qualified employees, even when the nation’s unemployment rate is 10%. In fact, it’s harder than ever for some business owners to weed through the flood of applicants to hire just one or two employees.

We asked a few HR Managers where they go to save time and their sanity when it’s time to hire. Perhaps you can use some of these great ideas:

Professional Associations: If you’re a member of a group for accountants, attorneys, credit managers, automobile dealers, natural food store owners, or whatever your profession—try checking in with your local or regional affiliate. You might find an out-of-work industry veteran in their ranks—maybe even someone can fill your job opening.

Ask yourself, “Where do the people with the skills I want hang out?” or, “Where do they go for continuing education?” For example, if you need a website programmer, do an online search for a local web developer group, or see if there is a Facebook group in your area. Then, check local community colleges, technical colleges, and universities. Their placement offices could have your perfect candidate waiting for an opportunity.

Check your own online networking groups. LinkedIn is the most popular professional social media site. If you belong, ask your LinkedIn group members if they know people who match your needs. If you don’t belong to LinkedIn, it’s easy to join. Put out the word that you’re hiring on your company’s Facebook page and Twitter account. Use the contacts you’ve already made online to spread the word fast.

Does your company website have a news page or blog? Consider it your company bulletin board—only with a much bigger reach! Post your “now hiring employees” notice there.

Talk to your competition—if they’re not hiring, let them know that you are. Perhaps they can send a candidate or two your way—or give you the contact information of that terrific employee they just had to lay off.

Are you registered with a local Workforce or Employment office in your area? After all, that’s the place you’ll find people who don’t have jobs but want to work.

When you use your networks and online contacts, or just try using a personal touch and reaching out in your community, you may find your search for qualified employees just got a little easier!

George Cloutier is the author of a popular business book, Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing. The book came out of a series of business training seminars he was doing for small-business owners.

The Turnaround Ace’s Tough Advice
So named by Business Week, some of Cloutier’s advice is unusual, if not controversial. A few examples:

• Cloutier says you should love your business as much as you love your family. (And he used to say, “Love your business more than you love your family.”)
• He says it’s fine to have a plan—but that’s the easy part. The hard work is the hard part. Work on weekends. Give up golf, because you’re not going to make money on the golf course. The people who say they do are making an excuse to be lazy.
• Take responsibility for your failures—don’t blame the economy, the recession, the bank, or your employees. If the bank doesn’t lend you money, it’s your fault. If an employee fails, it’s your fault. If a customer drops you in favor of another product, it’s your fault. Taking responsibility is necessary to be successful.

The Business Owner Comes First
Cloutier espouses that business owners take care of themselves first—ahead of the employees, process, team—or anything else. He says that without focusing on profits, your business will fail. When business owners allow employees and popular wisdom to run the company, instead of focusing on cash and profits, they will fail.

You’re Not in Business to Pay Your Vendors’ Bills
Cloutier advises business owners to not pay vendors on time. When it’s difficult to obtain financing, the only place you can get more credit is from your vendors. If you’re getting 30 days, ask for 60 days. If you’re getting 45 days, ask for 75 days. He does not advise business owners to be unethical, or to not pay taxes on time, but to be upfront and conserve cash as much as possible.

Teamwork is Overrated
Cloutier thinks teamwork is vastly overrated. If the team takes over your business, they will protect their failures. They will not hand out harsh penalties. Better to have one person in charge—the business owner.

Embrace Your Inner Control Freak
Coultier says that if your employees fail, it’s your fault. You must take responsibility. You hired the wrong person, failed to train them properly, or failed to correct their mistakes. And what about delegation? He says, don’t do it. Instead, micromanage your business. Look at everything, every single day. Who’s calling? Who was that customer who just left? What did they buy—or not buy? How are your employees dressed? How much cash is in your bank account?

Getting good help, Cloutier says, is “100 times more difficult” than we think. Many people are mediocre—so it makes sense to have procedures in place to follow up on them and see how they’re doing. Monitor closely, and intervene earlier, rather than later, when they’re going off track.

Fear is the Best Employee Motivator
But it’s okay to like your employees. In fact, Cloutier says that business owners must treat employees with respect, follow the law, help them with personal problems—but coddling employees is off the mark.

Stop Whining and Get to Work
The recession, Cloutier says, is a big excuse for poor performance. Failure to build a strong sales organization, strong financial reporting, and strong profits and cash flow are the real reason businesses fail.

And Fire Your Relatives
According to Cloutier, says a family business with more than one family member is a bad idea. The entitlement family members usually feel is a morale killer and bad for business.

Even as the economy shows signs of strengthening, many companies haven’t yet seen business rebound. They still need to do more with fewer employees. Perhaps you’re a hiring manager or business owner who is not able to begin hiring—but needs to keep existing employees motivated and more productive.

You might be thinking, “Haven’t I analyzed productivity enough over the last couple of years?” Perhaps you think there is no way to ask for more efficiency from overworked employees. What if you want to give them a break without affecting productivity? And you know you can’t hire more staff just yet. What to do?

Analyze Again

One answer is the one you might not want to hear: start at the top and analyze your business again. Look at your processes and procedures with a fresh eye—not an easy task, id it? So, why not get some help from the people on the front line? Seek input through an employee survey. Solicit their ideas for increased efficiency.

Fewer Steps, More Efficiency

If yours is a production-based business, efficiency can make or break it. Again, start with your front-line employees—like Mike, your shipping clerk. Look at Mike’s flow and setup. How many steps does each task take? Which can be eliminated or streamlined? How can Mike reduce travel time required for his job requirements? The higher the number of steps his feet take, the more time and energy he’s wasting. Encourage Mike to work with you to redesign his work station, eliminate wasted time and materials, or redistribute his tasks to others, if that makes more sense.

Decrease the Layers of Authority

If your business is sales-related, listen to your phone operators. How can they better balance customer service with efficiency? Are they wasting time waiting for approvals for services they are not authorized to give? Can you empower customer service staff to take care of issues on their own level, decreasing the layers required to handle a problem?

Be an Undercover Boss

Not sure if these areas are problems in your company? Your employees do! So ask them. Spend time with them. Get out of the office and shadow a few employees for a day. Take a cue from the new reality show “Undercover Boss,” where CEOs go undercover in their own companies, working alongside the lowest-level employees—and learning how their businesses really work.

Employees often follow procedures they are trained in, whether or not they are the most efficient use of their time. They do what is expected. But when given the chance to change things, many will jump at the opportunity to contribute to an improved workflow.

Give Mike a Promotion

Perhaps your frontline employees, like Mike, are capable of taking on some management duties. If you’ve downsized your management team, it may be that they already are—and if that’s the case, recognize them for it. Sometimes a change in title helps employees shine in ways you didn’t expect—and it can be real morale booster, too. So make Mike the Shipping Manager if he deserves it!

Talk to Your Staff

As with most management challenges, the key to increasing productivity lies in staff communication. Talk to your workers, learn how they do their jobs every day, and solicit their ideas for improvement. If they are willing to take on more responsibility, start on a plan to make that happen. And if they are at the point where another task will send them out the door—you need to know before it happens.

It’s an interesting saying, “not pulling your own weight.” But think about a team of horses, or oxen, or even sled dogs. Each one must contribute equally to the success of the team—or else the sled gets stuck in the snow, the field doesn’t get plowed, or the stagecoach takes a lot longer to reach its destination.

In an updated scenario, your business is the stagecoach, and success is your destination. If the entire team is pulling equal weight, you’ll get there together, faster. If even one employee is not pulling as hard, or putting in as much effort, it will take longer. And you might not ever reach the success your company is capable of.

So what does an employer do when one employee (we’ll call him “Joe”) is not doing his part?

First, don’t assume that Joe knows. Joe is not a mind reader. Even if his co-worker, Lucy, rolls her eyes each time Joe mentions he’s tired, or brags about how much he’s accomplished today, he could have no idea the rest of the team thinks he’s a slacker. You might think Joe is deliberately unproductive, while Joe thinks he’s a superstar.

Don’t wait. If it’s several months before Joe’s annual performance evaluation, don’t wait for that special day to bring him into your office and talk about his performance. It’s crucial to address a problem when it’s happening (or in this case, not happening), and ask for improvement right away. Especially if Joe’s teammates have complained to you about an unfair situation—you owe it to them to follow up and fix the problem. As boss, that’s your job.

Don’t accept excuses. Joe may have legitimate issues that are affecting his work performance. If so, call on your best leadership skills and help him through this rough spot—and if he’s a great worker, help him keep his job. But, if Joe is just really good at avoiding his workload, it’s only fair to the rest of the team to require improvement.

Choose a good time. If you’re under unusual stress, or the entire team is, due to a big project deadline, don’t escalate a potential problem. Wait until you can handle the conversation with Joe with clarity, keeping objectives in mind.

Acknowledge Joe’s strong points. Give a dose of good with the bad news. Focus on Joe’s strengths, appreciate his effort (such that it is) but let him know that other employees are doing more. Ask for Joe’s input on splitting the workload more fairly.