Employees. They can make or break you. I should know. I have been and can be a bane or boon to an employer. But let's not discuss me.
Employees are a walking and talking representation of your company. It is through them that people form impression of who the company is, what it stands for. So, as with almost all aspects of building a business, hiring the right people is also very crucial.
In a previous entry, I have mentioned that I have already "hired" two people. That's with quotation marks because we have not really signed anything. What we have is basically an understanding. But that will change very soon. (And that's another topic.)
I have decided to focus on hiring today because earlier this week, I conducted my first interview as a potential employer. It was quite a revelation for me too. While we were talking, it was only then that I realized that I actually have thought about this topic more than I thought I did.
And I also became more conscious about the idea that how i conduct my interview already sets the tone of the culture and environment I want to instill into Agahan.
First, I opted not to sit. I asked Gen, the interviewee, to walk around with me. Yes, it means I do not give myself opportunity to look him straight in the eye.
Second, I focused on my reaction to him. I consider my instincts to be on the money 80% of the time, so I rely on it heavily, especially in decisions where leap of fate and major risk are involved.
Third, I laid out my plans for my employees. Having been a long-time employee (I have been part of the work force for 19 years), I have resolved that I will be a fair employer. I will not discuss the benefit package I'm setting up. But if you're interested, send me a PM and I will be very happy to talk to you about that.
Fourth, I enumerated my expectations. Again, I drew from my own experience as an employee and have resolved that I will not ask anything from my employee anything that I, myself, will not be willing to give as one.
Anyway, I came out of the exercise intimidated by what lies ahead, surprised at myself for the convictions I didn't even realize I have, excited that the future is already manifesting itself through the actions I am committing now, and thankful that God is allowing me this opportunity.
Another thing that made me zero in on hiring is also because this week, I took advantage of Jobstreet's offer for a Free One Month job posting. I admit to thinking that God sent me this small help because I had been wondering how to find more people.
You see, when you're opening a restaurant, it's very important to have the right number of people. And this is determined by two main factors: number of seats and operating hours.
Agahan will have 36 seats. This means that at its full capacity, there are 36 people requiring service. Due to this, I have decided on having at least five people per shift. This means that there are two in the dining, two in the kitchen and the fifth mans the counter. Then I have to add one more person, because by law, employees cannot be made to work without at least one day off. So, to ensure that at any given time, I will have at least five people at the store, that's six people per shift.
Then operating hours is from 7am to 10pm. That's 15 hours of operations. By law, full-time employees are only allowed to work for eight hours, anything beyond that is subject to overtime pay. So this means Agahan will have two shifts.
So there. six staff members per shift, multiplied by two shifts, equals 12 employees.
Anyway, going back to Jobstreet. Like I said, they have an offer for potential first-time advertisers. So since it's free (I reckon that I will imbibe the free-is-great mentality of business owners. I have already started with this!), and I really do need it, why will I not take advantage of the offer.
I have finished the documentary requirements today. And they have already sent me the necessary links and urls for posting tutorials. Now you know what I will be doing this weekend.
