Episode Summary

We’re pleased to welcome Kristie M. Holmes, Owner of The HR Dept, to this week’s episode of Make Space for More!

Melissa interviews Kristie about the steps business owners should take when hiring employees. They discussed the importance of job descriptions, screening candidates, and the onboarding process. Kristie emphasizes the need for transparency in the hiring process and recommends involving trusted colleagues during interviews. She also highlights the importance of having standard operating procedures, plus her recommendations around performance reviews, and much MUCH more. 

Key Highlights:

• Melissa’s team is made up of independent contractors, so she wanted to bring on an HR expert to educate her listeners around proper hiring policies and processes. 
• Creating a clear and detailed job description is essential for hiring your first employee.
• Screening candidates should involve multiple interviews and checking references to ensure a good fit.
• Transparency in the hiring process, including discussing pay upfront, is important for attracting and retaining employees.
• Having standard operating procedures in place can help with training and ensure consistency in processes.
• Regular feedback and communication with employees is crucial for their development and success. Conduct performance reviews at least once a year, ideally every six months. 
• Schedule weekly check-ins with new hires for the first 30 to 60 days
• Use the “build, break, build sandwich” technique for giving critical feedback
• Document all necessary paperwork, including employee handbooks, with legal requirements
• Consult with government agencies, insurance agents, and attorneys for guidance
• Consider using payroll systems to ensure accurate and timely payment of employees

About Our Guest: 

The HR Dept is led by Kristie Holmes who has nearly 20 years of recruiting and Human Resources experience across a variety of industries. Ms. Holmes holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Memphis, as well as a Masters in Business Administration (Human Resources) from Bethel University. Her knowledge and vast skillset allow The HR Dept to offer a wide array of services designed specifically for the benefit of small businesses. Ms. Holmes believes focusing on relationship building and a personal touch achieves the best results.

About Melissa:

Melissa Swink, Founder & CEO of Melissa Swink & Co., has a team of virtual assistants who provide administrative and marketing support for small businesses and non-profits.

Since 2012, Melissa and her team have helped more than 100 businesses grow through the services they offer, and she is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs create profitable, scalable businesses they love.

Her work is all about doing what works (and eliminating what doesn’t) and driving real, measurable results. Visit www.melissaswink.com to learn more! 

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Hi everyone. Welcome to the Make Space for More podcast where we talk strategies for growing and scaling your business in a way that's authentic and aligned for you. I'm your host, Melissa Swink, and today I have a very special guest, Christy Holmes from the HR department, and we are going to talk about hiring your first employee. Now, this is an episode that's been requested by many of

my colleagues and many of our listeners because my area of expertise as the owner of a virtual assistant services company really lies in the world of outsourcing and independent contractors. And I guess I could say that that's kind of where my expertise ends and where Christie's begins because she knows the ins and outs of hiring and what needs to be in place in order to do this in the proper ways.

how to avoid mistakes in hiring because we don't know what we don't know. And I think when you get to the point where you're like, I'm building my team, the next logical step is to hire a part -time, full -time employee. What does that look like? It can be very, very daunting. And so I wanted to bring in an expert who can share expertise in this area. And so without further ado, I'd love to officially...

you

Welcome Christy and share a little bit about her background. Now let her kind of take over the reins here. So the HR department is led by Christy Holmes, who has nearly 20 years of recruiting and human resources experience across a variety of industries. Ms. Holmes holds a bachelor of arts in journalism from the University of Memphis, as well as a master's in business administration, human resources from Bethel University.

Her knowledge and vast skill set allow the HR department to offer a wide array of services designed specifically for the benefit of small businesses. Ms. Holmes believes focusing on relationship building and a personal touch achieves the best results. Christy, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here. I cannot wait to dive into the world of hiring with you today.

Thanks for having me.

Yes, absolutely. So, Kristy and I originally got connected through an online networking group and we thoroughly enjoyed, we had several conversations, Kristy, and I knew right away that you were the perfect person to have on the show to talk about this topic. But before we dive into some of the basics and breaking down the steps to hire your first employee, do you want to share a little bit more about how you got started in this industry and why you love this work so much?

So ironically, I started in a sales position when I graduated college, ended up doing the recruiting for the company and just kind of fell in love with the recruiting. And along the way took on more more HR responsibilities till I became the HR manager. And so I just stayed in an HR position because I love HR. This is so cheesy, but human resources means it's our job.

be a resource or provide the resources for the humans of the company. And there's just something that's very fulfilling about that. And then the recruiting, you're helping people find jobs, there's not a whole lot more exciting than helping somebody find a new career that they're excited about. So over the last 18 years, I've worked for companies in the collision industry, higher education,

I've worked in construction with contract security. So I've done a lot of different industries. And so I started this company about three and a half years ago. I've done small businesses and I've done corporate America. I really have a passion for the small businesses. So that's what I set my company up to do was to provide HR support and recruiting services for small businesses.

That's amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your background with that. It's funny how so many of us have stumbled in the industries that we're in, stumbled into these industries. We started in one role and then we found that we really loved a certain aspect or we started learning about something else. Then here we are today doing the work that we were meant to do. In your case, it wasn't sales, it was HR.

you

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Then not only did you, you built a career on that, but then you also had the courage to take that leap that so many others think about doing and people listening to this podcast have also done, taking that leap of going from corporate to a business owner yourself.

Yeah, and I have to say my boyfriend is a big reason I was able to take that leap. So I'm really thankful that I have that support system to give me the opportunity to do this.

That's amazing. That's amazing. Well, congratulations on three and a half years in business. Yes. I always figured like when I took that leap, like, well, I can give it a year or two or I can work part -time jobs if I have to make ends meet and such. And then it's like, you know, after a year, okay, like we're doing this and then two years and then, you know, the time just goes on. So congrats to you for building up a successful company. And so

Thanks.

Okay.

That's exactly right.

Thanks.

I would love for you to share all of the things in terms of what do we need to know when hiring a first employee because of course there's the aspects of logically like a job description and you have to interview and check references and all that sort of thing, but it goes even beyond that to payroll and legal and all these things and it can be really overwhelming. I would love to have you share more about how you can walk.

Here we go.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm Yep.

somebody through this process for the first time.

Sure, sure. So I've got lots of resources for people on my website. Some of the things that I'm going to reference today or talk about. But you definitely said the big one, the job description, that is a big, huge key. I know people can be very tempted to not have a job description, just bring somebody on to help with different things or just put together a really simple list.

But it's really important that you sit down and take the time to think about what are the tasks that you're going to need this person to do for you and identify what qualifications. One, you'll need that for your job posting when you're trying to hire this person. But then it also sets boundaries when they start their job that they know what they're responsible for. And then you can hold them accountable to that. So it's actually a really, really key piece that gets missed a lot.

But yeah, like you said, during the screening, you want to check references. I recommend multiple interviews with multiple people because you want to make sure they fit the culture. Doesn't matter what kind of experience they have. If they don't fit the culture, they're probably not going to stay very long. And so then once you find that person and it's time to get them started, I recommend you have a new hire checklist. So that's one thing that is on my website. People are free to grab and download.

Can you share your website? Well, of course I have it in the show notes, but definitely want to make sure that we list that a couple of times here because your website does include so many resources. And so I highly recommend our listeners to check that out.

Sure.

You

Yeah, it's the HR department, Kentucky .com. So we'll put a link to that.

Perfect. Yes, we absolutely will do that. So I want to break down everything that you just mentioned. I feel like a lot of people know like job description, interview, check references and so on. They kind of have a good, they understand that piece, but are there certain mistakes that you see people making during that phase of the hiring process? I love how you mentioned boundaries.

you.

when establishing the reason to have a job description because 100 % we need to create the container for, this is what the job entails so that it's very clear to everybody involved of what the expectations are. And it also helps clarify you and your own mind of this is the role that I'm looking to fill. But maybe even in the hiring process, because I know for me, I've certainly made hiring mistakes with building my team.

Mm

Absolutely.

What are some maybe some things that we should be paying attention to in interviews to help avoid some of those hiring mistakes? And I realize there's no crystal ball, but are there particular questions or things that you like to pay attention to when you're screening candidates?

Well, one thing that we do that I don't know how common it is, but we get the pay discussion out in the open from the very first phone call. You know, if we're not going to be able to see eye to eye, no matter the circumstances on pay, there's no point in wasting everybody's time with two or three interviews before you have that conversation. Absolutely, I do. Absolutely. Yeah, well, I mean, really, there's

Do you include that in a job description ever? Okay, so that way it's clear up front.

The transparency, that's a big thing job seekers are looking for right now is transparency. If you don't list pay in the job description, there's a chance that they're gonna see that and think, it must pay really low and that's why they didn't include it. But there are job boards that won't let you post a job ad without listing the pay. So we just go ahead and put it out there, because we format.

Okay.

Does that also help with the topic of discrimination and having equal opportunity hiring practices? Does that also kind of lay it out like this is what the job pays, no matter your gender or your background, anything like that, I would imagine.

Absolutely.

We do a range and the only thing that would depend where you fall in the range is how much experience you have. If you don't have a lot of experience, you'll be on the low end. If you come in with a ton of experience and great references, we'll pay you the top end for sure. Yeah.

Sure.

Love that. Love that. That's just logical. Transparency, you're right. think human beings are demanding so much more transparency and for very good reasons nowadays and hiring not excluded from that for sure. What else in the interview process should we be paying attention to and asking?

Yeah.

Yes. Yes.

I like to ask certain questions multiple times during different interviews. like pay is one of them. I always recommend my clients touch on pay with every single interview because sometimes the applicant will start to change their tune. And so that's just a little bit of a red flag if they're gonna, well, I I said, you know, I do for 60 ,000, but really I need 70 ,000.

That person's probably gonna come in and continue to try to ask for more and more money. What other questions, especially anything that would be really relevant to that particular position? Let's say it's an accounting position and you wanna know, well, what kind of reports would you run for us to review it month in to get an accurate overview of our finances? So if you have, we asked that during the phone interview and then the client might ask it during one of their interviews.

It just gives you a chance to look for consistency. Because if you have inconsistency, then that can kind of be some red flags.

Got it.

So maybe asking questions that pertain to how they would approach the needs of the position. Got it.

absolutely. Any type of situational question based on the role. Because one, you can see, they really know what they're talking about? But also gives you a chance to see how they critical thinking.

Yes, 100%. The other thing that popped into my mind is if somebody is a solo business owner and they're hiring their first employee and they don't have other people on the team as of yet who can sit on these interviews, definitely agree with having multiple interviews. But do you have somebody that you would recommend that maybe they could ask to sit in with them?

Well, I'm a solopreneur that has had to hire people and didn't have other people to interview. So what I did was I went to a couple of trusted colleagues that one works for the state of Tennessee and the other is also self -employed. But these are people that I trust and that know me well enough to be able to give me good feedback on, yes, I think this person would work well for you or I know, I caught this during the interview. So if there's anybody else out there,

That's what I recommend is you've probably got somebody in your network who cares about you and your success enough that they'd be willing to donate 30 minutes of their time to a phone call.

That's an amazing tip. That's an amazing tip because I'm thinking back to how many interviews I have done completely solo and I'm relying on my own experience and my own lens through the way I view that conversation. So love that. So with the interview, we find the candidate once it was like, okay, I'm ready to move forward with hiring this person. What do you need to have in place before that onboarding begins?

Yeah.

Always.

I would definitely do an offer letter, outline all of the compensation. And then if there are any contingencies to the job offer, like background check, drug screening, MBR, different screening tools like that. And then have a set plan. So, you know, decide what their start date is going to be and then have an agenda. Have some sort of an orientation. Does not have to be something crazy, but take some time.

to make sure they know about you and your business, what your goals are, what your vision is, kind of how you operate, how do you work. And then have a training, at least a loose training agenda, a plan, but the more you can firm up and have a solid plan of, all right, today we're gonna do XYZ, tomorrow we're gonna do LMNOP.

Because one, again, it goes back to the employees like the structure. They do well with things that are structured. When they have their expectations, they know what's going on. But then two, you just make sure you get everything covered. Make sure you don't miss anything in training because you were trying to do it by the seat of your pants. You go through ahead of time and make sure you planned out your list of this is what all we need to cover. It's very important.

Gotcha. So as a solopreneur, if you're bringing on your first employee, what are some of the easiest ways to train people? Maybe not easiest, easiest and most effective ways to train somebody. Of course, I think back to all the jobs that I had trained for back in my corporate career. And for the most part, it was just job shadowing. You'd sit with somebody else for a few days.

be taking massive notes and then they would just kind of turn you loose to do the work yourself. So, you know, what are some, do you have some tips for effectively training somebody but without having it be so reliant on you to have everything perfectly presented and ready to hand off on a silver platter because as business owners, that's not realistic for us to have ready for them.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah, yeah. Well, one of the easiest ways is if you have all of your processes documented. It's one thing we do is we create standard operating systems. And we have a client in Wisconsin that we did his accounting department a while back, and his bookkeeper is in the process of retiring. And so the new bookkeeper that is coming in to take her place.

literally has a book of processes that they were just able to sit and go step by step through everything. And this is how you do it. We have a couple of different platforms we use that are cloud based. And so I don't know how many cloud based companies are out there that will do this, but mine will actually get on with my new recruiter and train them on the different systems. And so once they've done training with my new recruiters, then I get on a call.

any sort of any questions, show them the things that maybe we do that's different from how the system was originally set up. Yeah, there's there's a variety of tools. You could also, if you're willing to give them an uproar, tell them what you need them to do, let them go do it on their own and then come back and look at it together after. OK, this was great. Let's work on this different next time. You know, because it also depends

on your employee, right? Everybody learns differently. I'm a very hands -on learner and a very visual person. You can tell me something 100 times, I'm not gonna remember it, but if write it down once, it's there. So you definitely need to find out how your employee learns best before making a decision on how to approach the training.

Yes.

Okay.

So that might be something to ask in the interview is how do you learn best as you're preparing for that? Going back to standard operating procedures, I know that's something that we talk about quite a bit as well, but it's interesting that this is something that your company does is helping business owners put together those SOPs. And I remember, and I've shared this story before on the podcast, but I remember when I was preparing to go on maternity leave.

Mm

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Bye bye.

and I needed to have some backup support for my clients. And I remember spending so many hours like step one, open this program, step two, go to click on this. And it was so painful to create. What are some of the easy ways that business owners can be creating these nowadays, either on their own or collaboration with somebody like you? I know we use Loom to just record a screen share. So I can go through and say,

Yeah.

Save, generate an invoice. And I just talk through what I'm doing as I'm doing it. And then I would imagine that there are also AI tools that can be leveraged to help create many transcripts and things like that as well.

Probably the next client that we do that for, it's definitely something I'm gonna look into. We've done a lot in the construction space. And so they use these different platforms, Builder Trend and Code Construct that I've never used before. And so we do try to screen share. I sat in a client's office and literally somebody was doing work, sitting there, know, writing down every little step as she was processing her purchase orders.

But I've done that too, where we've got on the video call and I'm just like, okay, it's process interviews. All it is, tell me what you do next. So, and we're looking for improvements along the way as well. But, you know, some people have what you call tribal documents. So just a simple word document with a one, two, three, four, five, here's what you do in a high level overview. So we can always take those and start to flush out the whole process.

Yes.

Sure. That's a good place to start. -hmm. I said that's a good place to start if nothing else, like here's high level and then we can go into the details. through the training process and onboarding, do you recommend, know, feedback is also very important. Sharing open and honest and constructive feedback in a kind way. Of course, we don't want to scar on the first cut if somebody makes a mistake.

It definitely takes some time. What's that?

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Right.

Do you have tips for regularly gathering and providing feedback? I would imagine there are also a series of reviews and checkpoints as somebody is onboarding and training.

I definitely recommend performance reviews at a year, at a minimum every year, but I think ideally every six months. But with a new hire specifically, I would probably say every Friday for the first, I don't know, 30 to 60 days until the, really until the new employee feels comfortable in their role, feels like they've got it. But do a weekly check in with them. How did things go this week?

a great job with this. Let's work on this. An old kind of critical conversation tip that I learned many, years ago, the build, break, build sandwich. So give them a compliment. Man, you did a really great job entering these reports this week. I love it. Keep it up. I do need to see you work on this a little bit next week, but also keep doing a great job with the entries.

whatever the work is that they're doing, but start and end it with a compliment. Tell them how great they're doing. Right there in the middle, give them something that they need to work on to do better next week. And then the following Friday when you have your check -in, how did they do with that task that you gave them to work on?

Sure. Yes. Yes, absolutely. And I would imagine that you're documenting these things along the way as well. Yes. So that's actually a really good segue because I feel like the part that really trips people up in terms of the overwhelm side of hiring employees is that quote unquote paperwork. Do you need an employee handbook or

Yeah, we are talking and everything.

Mm -hmm.

yes.

There's certainly many laws and it varies based on where you're located. But from that standpoint, where does somebody begin with making sure that they're in compliance and they're providing the policies that need to be provided and not getting in trouble with the authorities kind of thing?

That is an excellent question. Of course, the two big ones, if you're hiring an employee, not a 1099 contractor, but an employee, everybody, no matter what state you live in, needs a W -4 and an I -9. So the W -4, of course, is for your federal payroll taxes. The I -9, I'll tell you one thing I see a lot with the I -9 is people will tell a new hire, I need you to bring your driver's license and Social Security card.

You cannot tell them which documents to provide. There is a list on the I -9 that says these are the acceptable documents. What I tell people is that either need one document that verifies your identity and another one that verifies your right to work in the United States. A passport covers both of those requirements. Generally, people use either a driver's license or state ID and a birth certificate or social security card.

Interesting.

So let them know kind of what their options are, but you cannot tell an employee which documents to provide. Now you may need a driver's license for their NBR check, and that's just fine. Another thing, of course, if your state has payroll taxes, you need to do the state payroll tax form. Of course, not every state of Tennessee does not have income tax, Kentucky does. Another one is new hire reporting.

Okay.

Again, it's not required in all 50 states. I know Tennessee and Ohio both do require it and you've got a certain amount of time after their start date. So make sure you know if that's a requirement in your state. It's easy to look up. But then I do recommend the employee handbook because again, it just goes to setting expectations. Hey, here are the things that are going to get you in trouble. Here are the things that we are not okay with.

outline your paid time off policy, what your paid holidays are, what your payroll schedule is. You also want to identify, you know, salary versus the hourly employees and what the overtime rate is. Most people, it's anything over 40 hours in a week. You California, it's anything over eight hours in a day. So, however that applies to where you live.

But there's, you know, a number of just kind of key things. I think I have a handbook checklist if they might need to copy.

was just going to ask you about that. Are there templates that would at least give somebody a starting point so they can go in and just edit and tweak rather than create this all on their own?

There are.

There are, we do have a template that we use. also got just like I said, a checklist to make sure we cover every single topic that needs to be in the handbook. know, safety reporting, that's another one, especially if you're, you know, in like the construction industry. Of course, safety is a really big concern in the construction industry. So you want to make sure you have outlawed procedures in there that if there's a safety hazard,

report it right away. Here's who you report it to. If there's an accident, there's an injury, call 911 first, then start all of these documenting procedures. But then of course, to make sure they have access to a digital copy of it. Those printed handbooks just kind of get tossed in the back seat and forgotten about when they cleaned their car out. But make sure they have a digital copy that they can access easily at any time.

Okay, so even putting something on like a Google Drive or a Dropbox and providing that link to your employee is important. Yep, that's true. Yep, emailing a PDF and yep, all really good information. As far as, are there government agencies out there that people can use as a resource to figure out exactly what their state or area requires? I know we have...

Just email it out to PDF, and when they've got it in their email, confirm it didn't stop.

the Department of Workforce Development here in Wisconsin. Are there agencies that people can contact to confirm what needs to go into their first hire?

There are and you spot on said it in Tennessee, it is also the Department of Workforce Development. Kentucky, it's the Department of Labor, I believe. So anything like that, again, depending on what state you are, those agencies have a ton of resources out there. They have a job board where you can post for free.

depending on the position and where you live, it may or may not get much activity, but it's a free posting for your job to get it out there. But they do, they have other, there are people that'll tell you, in Tennessee, you're required to have all of these items. And if you don't know where to do something, they've got resources where they can direct you to. There's also a lot of great resources. I'm glad you asked that question.

Sure.

A lot of the states are leaning towards these new programs that are designed to get the younger generation working in more of the positions, the professions that we're not seeing as much of, like carpenters, plumbers, these skilled trades, mechanics. There are a lot of programs out there where the state will basically pay you to hire an intern.

and teach them these trades. And they end up paying for the cost of the intern. So you basically get a free intern on behalf of the state.

glad you brought that up because one thing that came to mind as well as there are programs that are designed to help people get back to work. And so you just mentioned trades. I think there's a lot of veteran programs out there as well. Yes. So state departments are very helpful for finding those resources and things. Any other resources that you can think of from kind of that legal and hiring standpoint that

Yeah.

absolutely.

Mm -hmm.

might be good for us to know.

No, I mean, there's just the kind of the basics, of course, minimum wage, you to make sure we're paying above minimum wage, which could vary based on what your state you live in. And then with insurance benefits, but that you have to get to 50 employees to start having those kind of requirements.

Yeah, I mean, there's workers comp is something you would do through your business insurance or know you to file that with the state, right. And it's based on what their wages are, how much you have to pay. I don't have employees, mine or both were career, so I've not had to go through that process myself.

What about workman's compensation?

Yes. So a phone call to your business insurance agent would also be a great logical step in this hiring process to make sure that your business insurance policy also covers employees or contractors that working for you, but then also looking at what other types of insurance might you need for bringing somebody on. Okay. Yes. That's another great resource.

Correct.

Mm

Correct.

Absolutely. Well, you're a person, you're hiring is going to be driving. That is something else you need to find out with your insurance company is what are their driving record requirements. Some of them have, if there's more than three points on the driving record, they won't insure that driver for the company. So that's something else you need to make sure and find out from your insurance company what their requirements are. If you were going to do up

a contractor agreement, employment agreement, anything like that, run it by your legal. Find out if your lawyer is okay with it. They might find something in there that is my disclaimer. Anything that I've put out there is based on my knowledge and experience, but please vet it with your own personal attorney.

Yes. Okay. So we're talking about, certainly state agencies, government agencies. We're talking about our insurance agents and we're talking about attorneys, having them review handbook policies, things like that. Yeah. Those are pretty important.

Yep.

Yep. Yep. Yep.

Yep. Yeah, it is a little bit of an investment, of course. I know attorneys are not cheap, but it is better to make that investment on the front end to circumvent potential problems on the back end that could end up costing you a whole lot more money.

Yes, and I think too, going back to my question about templates and things, if you're able to do some of the legwork yourself in terms of creating that employee handbook and drafting some of these policies and having somebody review, certainly more cost effective than having an attorney create it for you. So depending on how you want to spend your time and resources, there's always that option. Yes, absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And that's I try to provide as many templates and resources out there for people that are pretty easy to just, you know, copy and paste the info to update it for yourself. Because it doesn't have to be ridiculous, expensive to run your business. We're all small business owners. We're trying to trim costs as much as we can.

Yes, yes, absolutely. So anything else in terms of legal or otherwise, I think one of my last questions here when I think about the basics of hiring employees certainly is payroll. And I realized that you are not a payroll company, but it does kind of go hand in hand. And I know there's a lot of systems out there. If you don't have an accountant or bookkeeper who can run payroll for you, know QuickBooks and Gusto.

Mm -hmm.

Right.

There's a lot of systems that can process payroll for you and make sure that you are filing taxes and submitting those funds to the appropriate agencies.

Correct. Correct. And then of course you've got the big companies. I've an associated ADP that would be happy to help with your payroll needs. Her name is Taylor, but there are, there are lot of different options out there. You want to make sure you're paying them on time. Make sure you're withholding the proper amount of taxes from each check. Yeah. And something else is,

and those taxes as well. We've all heard those horror stories. Taxes have been held from my check, but they weren't actually submitted. We don't want to scare anybody. But yes, withholding and filing, all very important steps in the payroll process.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yes.

Yes, yes. And make sure you're paying the employee for all the time that they work. It drives me crazy when I go somewhere and somebody's like, I'm not on the clock right now. I'm just helping out. No, if you're working, you're on the clock. That is a huge FLSA violation. Not to just mention from an ethical, if they're doing work for you, they should be compensated for their time. But yes, that is something I see people try to kind of skirt around sometimes.

Yes, good point.

Don't, if they're working, make sure they get paid for their time.

Yes, absolutely. I even reinforce that with my own team who they are all independent contractors and like, I do not expect anybody to work for free. So if you're getting, if you have more work than you have time, let's talk about it and figure out a solution because we can prioritize or, you know, we can certainly reallocate some of that work to other members of the team, but we don't want people working for free. Yes.

same.

Mm -hmm.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Kristi, anything else that you can think of in terms of breaking down the basics in the hiring process?

No, my best advice is if you're thinking about it and haven't done it yet, just jump in. Just start putting that job description together, create an Indeed account. It's 100 % free to post on Indeed. They'll ask you to spend money. You can, but it's free to create the account. And just be willing to make mistakes along the way. Be willing to tumble and get back up and readjust and keep going.

There's no such thing as a perfect process. So once you get started, you'll be able to fine tune your process to what works best for you and your company.

I love that. And it's like, you know, get started with this before you feel ready. You're never going to fully feel ready, whether it be hiring a VA or hiring an employee, but don't wait until it's to the point where you're so crazy busy and on the verge of burnout before you start getting help in growing your company.

Mm -mm. Mm -mm.

Yeah, don't get to where you hire somebody and you think, I should have done this six months ago. I should have done this a year ago. What are you waiting on? Just do it.

All of us have that experience though where it's like, what a relief. I should have done this a long time ago. That is too funny. So Kristy, you mentioned that you have so many resources on your website. I have seen those resources. It is quite extensive. Remind us again, your website as we're wrapping up here.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

It is the HRDEPTKY .com, the HR Department, Kentucky.

Love that. And you also have a 30 minute free consultation for people who are looking at this hiring process. Can you share a little bit more about what that call entails and where we can go to book that?

Cheers.

Yeah.

Go to the website. I every page of the website has a schedule, a call with us button. And we'll take 30 minutes for you to pick my brain. Tell me what challenges you're having, whether it's recruiting or HR. We can help you create those handbooks. We can help you document that standard operating system. If you just have a few questions, maybe you don't even need my service. Maybe you have some challenges. I can give you some pointers during that 30 minute call.

and you can go take care of it yourself. But I don't know until we have that conversation. So, I'm to give everybody 33 minutes of my time to figure out what the challenge is and see is it something we can help with or do you need a different solution.

Awesome. Thank you so much for providing that to not only our listeners, but just small business owners who are doing their best trying to figure out and they don't know what they don't know. Quick question for you, Christy, before we wrap up. You're located in Tennessee, correct? But you can work with clients from all over, right? Yes.

Okay.

Yep.

on the Tennessee -Contisconsin state line. Yes, so right next to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. If anybody out there knows Fort Campbell and the 101st, they are my next -door neighbors.

And awesome. And you can work with clients from all over the United States, correct? Yes. Yes.

absolutely. Absolutely. We do the climb all up and down the East Coast and all the way out as far west as Utah and Colorado.

Wonderful. So if you're listening and you're like, I don't live near Christy, doesn't matter. She's able to work with you exactly where you're at. So Christy, thank you so much for sharing all of this really important information to help break down that daunting hiring process, especially from an employment perspective.

But absolutely.

Thank you.

All of that being said to our listeners, if you know a small business owner who's thinking about hiring their first employee, maybe feeling a little bit overwhelmed or not sure where to start, please share this episode with them. We really want to get good information to the hands of people who are able to take it in and really use it to be confident as they continue to grow their business, especially through hiring a team.

Absolutely.

Kristy, thank you so much again for joining us today. To all of our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in and I'm looking forward to being back next week with another episode of Make Space for More where we can talk about strategies and tools for growing and scaling your business beyond you. Have a great day everyone.