4 Considerations for Hiring an Employee

So, you’ve grown your studio to the point where you need to hire…congratulations! Not only is this a major milestone but a great employee will lighten your load and boost the success of your studio.

Here’s the thing though, hiring can feel daunting when you’re ill-prepared or uncertain about how to convey your expectations. Here are four considerations to help you make the best choice for your studio.

Consideration #1 — Write down your expectations.

Before you begin your search, you want to know exactly what you are looking for. Sometimes the brain can be a messy place, that’s why you want to organize your thoughts on paper (or computer). Start with a job description, and from there, describe the type of person that would be ideal for your studio; how you want them to handle certain situations, and what kind of personality would blend well with your current staff and students.

Maybe you aren’t going to find someone who possesses all of the qualities you are looking for but knowing what you’re looking for will help you to ask the right questions and determine your non-negotiables vs. your negotiables.

To get the most out of the interview process, ask open-ended questions. For instance, if you want to know how they would handle a student who is consistently late to class, you may want to say something like, “This is a situation I’ve run into before. How have you handled similar situations in the past or how would you handle them if it were to happen in our studio.”

The idea is not to give the applicant examples of other instructors’ responses, which hints at the kind of answer you are looking for, but instead, to allow them to answer on the spot, and as honestly as possible.

Consideration #2 — Use the same procedures with all employees.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is being lax in your hiring process with someone whom you know outside of the studio. Never assume that you will always get along or that you know the kind of employee they will be before hiring them. You’ll be wise to have them undergo the same interview process as everyone else and use the same communicational procedures with them as with any other potential hire. Remember, you are a business owner first.

Consideration #3 — Prescreen applicants.

Meeting with potential employees in person can eat away much of your valuable time. Always prescreen applicants. You will likely do this over the phone, through hiring sites such as Indeed, or through references from colleagues. To save your time and theirs, compare your applicants to all non-negotiable qualifications before scheduling an interview.

Consideration #4 — Hire professionals.

This may seem obvious when you’re talking about your teaching staff. Naturally, you’re going to hire professional instructors because you’re a professional educator. But the studio is a business and that means it needs to be managed equally as well outside of the classroom.

Often in an attempt to be financially frugal, administrative tasks are delegated to a parent or friend of the studio who has time to ‘help out’. Be careful. You want to provide the same excellence in the lobby that you do in the dance space. Same excellence in your process as your presentation.