Build your company’s dream team using pre-employment tests

Every hiring manager envisions putting together the perfect group of employees to complete the company’s dream team. The ideal combination of individuals who can work off of each other’s ideas and bolster great success for the business. Although it’s not always as easy as recruiting people who seem like they’d make good team players – it goes beyond getting to know them during the hiring process.

If you want to build your company’s next dream team, there are numerous factors you need to keep in mind before, during and after you hire candidates. Here are a few tips to consider:

Before recruitment
Ahead of hiring new candidates, you need to assess your goals and desires. What kind of talent does your business need to build the company’s next best dream team? Inc. magazine contributor and CEO of Slingshot SEO Jay Love recommended brainstorming and identifying the type of talent that will serve the clients and the business. Think outside the box – do you already have people who possess the skills you’re looking for? If so, who can you hire to finish the dream team puzzle?

“For this step, it was important to consider the big picture, so we looked beyond obvious skills such as sales or customer service,” Love wrote. “We focused on pinpointing what could truly make a difference, even if the skills were hard to come by.”

Think long and hard about the talent your business already possesses so that you can hire individuals who complement the rest of the team.

During recruitment
As you’re hiring new staff members, stay focused on the skills and assets your team already has, plus the ones the group still needs. Overall, a dream team occupies the following skills, according to AllBusiness:

• Communication
• Trust
• Collaboration
• Cooperation
• Leadership
• Empowerment

Understand where you need to fill in the gaps throughout the hiring process. Many human resources professionals make the mistake of hiring too many individuals who possess the same skills, making it difficult to make up for those that were missing to begin with. Consider how these staff members can best complement your already existing team and make the group better.

When choosing new individuals to build the dream team, be willing to fill in the gaps when it comes to skills.

After recruitment
Properly managing this so-called dream team will ensure these individuals live up to the name you gave them. After you give your staff members the tools and resources they need to succeed, keep up with their progress. This allows them to learn and grow with each other as time goes on, and understand the mistakes they make early on before it puts a damper on the company’s bottom line. Co-founder of Recruit Loop Paul Slezak explained the importance of watching over your new team after finishing the recruitment process, as it encourages sustainability.

“Observe their progress closely, give guidance and assistance when needed, praise and reward when deserved and offer constructive criticism when they falter,” Slezak wrote. “Regularly review their progress to ensure they are comfortable in their new role and achieving the goals you have set for them.”

Consider yourself the glue that holds the team together. You brought all of these talented individuals to the same place, now it’s your job to make sure they can work effortlessly, side-by-side, just as you envisioned during recruitment. Don’t get discouraged if someone doesn’t quite fit as you pictured; continue working with the other staff members and hire another individual down the road if you think it’s what’s best for the company.

Use these tips before, during and after your hiring process to encourage staff members to work together and build a strong team that the company will be proud to employ.