Hiring an Employee - Jess Paxson

The Spiro Podcast: Managing your Real Estate Photography & Videography Business

Growth of your real estate media company is an exciting thing! Most likely you've started as a sole employee/owner business, but it's come time to hire someone to help you manage and grow the business. What is a good, consistent way to approach hiring the right people to help you grow and scale?

Jess Paxson, the Operations Manager for WOW Video Tours joins us on this episode of the Spiro Podcast. She shares WOW's process of hiring, and some important things to consider when bringing someone on to your team.

Resources mentioned on the podcast (no paid mentions):

• http://Indeed.com
• Crystal Knows (DISC and enneagram tests) - https://www.crystalknows.com/
• “The Road Back to You” - Suzanne Stabile & Ian Morgan Cron - https://a.co/d/5Vz4L2M
• “The Path Between Us” - Suzanne Stabile - https://a.co/d/3SAWWWz
• “The Five Love Languages” - Dr. Gary Chapman - https://5lovelanguages.com/
• “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” - Patrick Lencioni - https://a.co/d/6LPF4B4
• Independent Contractor (Self-Employed) or Employee? - https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-or-employee

Show Summary:

0:00-1:02 Sneak Peek

1:03-2:04 Intro

2:05-3:19 Craig’s story with Spiro

• Craig was the first Spiro beta-tester
• His business grew to shooting over 1,000 listings/year in about four years

3:20-4:40 Please like, share, and subscribe if you have found the podcast valuable, and let us know what you want to hear on the podcast

4:41-10:11 Intro to Jess Paxson

10:12-12:50 When is the right time to hire an employee?

• Ask yourself how many hours/day you are willing to dedicate to the job
• Someone usually pays the price, whether it’s you, your family, or your clients
• Can I scale my business alone? Usually not
• Determine what your time is worth
• If you set hours when you can’t work, you likely can’t scale
• If you can’t afford to hire an employee, you may need to raise your prices
• Having an employee or a team can improve your customer service

12:51-19:39 Wow’s hiring process

• Assess what position is needed and list the title, responsibilities, and hours
• Post job and application on indeed.com (Indeed features job assessments and allows you to see a candidate’s resume)
• Sometimes post on job boards for local trade schools or Ohio Means Jobs
• Screening process: How professional does their resume look? How are their communication skills? What is their past work history? (How long have they worked at each job?)

19:40-30:12 How to find the right fit for the company’s culture

• Culture is important
• Phone screening, then first interview, then second interview
• Second interview: same questions as first interview, but with different employees running the interview + a DISC personality test (Jess loves the enneagram as well)
• Personality tests help you understand how people work and communicate
• Recommended books: The Road Back to You, The Path Between Us, The Five Love Languages, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
• All employees who interviewed candidate meet in a room
• One of the biggest concerns is how a candidate will mesh with the current team
• Hire slow, fire fast- the wrong hire can sometimes do more damage than having an unfilled position
• Virtual assistants- hire a pool, contract for a few weeks, and then keep the one who does really well

30:13-32:21 Is it more important to hire the right personality or the right set of skills?

• Personality is super important, and skills can be taught
• A great personality with drive and determination can be molded and taught
• Taking the time to invest in an employee can build loyalty

32:22-36:44 What does a good onboarding program look like?

• What do they need on their first day?
• Have a solid training plan in place- Wow uses Basecamp or Trello to track and gain feedback
• Have the ability to track progress
• Set goals for them to work for and clear expectations
• Having procedures allows a manager to delegate training

36:45-39:12 Best piece of hiring advice: Just do it.

• Recognize you can’t do it all
• Don’t be afraid to hire someone who is better at you than the job; you are not threatened by them
• Learn from each other

39:13-41:49 Closing

For information on the differences between a 1098 contractor and a W-2 employee, look at the U.S. Department of Labor and your state laws.

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