When to hire and when to fire

Whether you employ one person, or fifty, choosing the right employees can be a challenge. How do you know which of the candidates will be worth their weight in gold, and which will waste your money? Well, the "secret" to hiring the right employee is to give equal weight to five different factors:

Education
Experience
Passion
Drive
Fit

Sometimes, the best applicant is not the one with 20 years of experience. Sometimes, the best applicant is not the one with the Master's degree. Focus your interview questions around all five traits, and the "right" employee will emerge.

What if you cannot decide? Look closely at the experience, because past experience is the best indicator of future success.

If you're struggling with current employees, here are four guidelines to determine it's time to let someone go:

You are doing (or re-doing) their work
They fail to reach their goals on a regular basis
The employee has not taken your feedback to heart
They negatively impact other employees around them

Business owners do not have the luxury of keeping poor or mediocre employees. You must keep only the best employees for your business. And, don't feel guilty for letting go of inefficient or unproductive persons. You're growing a business, not running a charity.

Plus, I've learned by experience that I'm not doing anyone any favors by keeping a bad employee around... not the employee, not my customers, not the rest of my staff, and not me!