As a business owner, you likely depend on your employees for a variety of necessary tasks. Often, your resources and time are stretched thin, so relying on your staff members to get things done is something you rely on. For this reason, you want to do what you can to ensure you are hiring the right people and keeping your workers happy and motivated.

It all starts with your hiring process. Are you interviewing and offering positions to the people you want in your organization? Next, it moves to onboarding. Once they have been hired, are you doing what you can to offer them the tools needed to showcase and enhance their skills? These are the questions you should ask yourself when determining if your staff members are happy and engaged by their jobs.

Once you’ve answered them, you can then develop strategies for improving your hiring efforts as well as training initiatives you provide. Working to make these methods better gives you the ability to hire the best people and keep them happy, leading to ultimate small business success.

Businesses see uptick in hiring
Small enterprises across the United States are experiencing an increase in hiring, according to recent figures from the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Out of 608 small companies, 13 percent hired an average of 3.7 employees throughout the past few months. September saw the largest boost in hiring so far in 2014, with an average of 0.24 staff members being brought on per firm, the NFIB reveals.

Developing solid hiring and training skills
This growth in hiring highlights the fact that small businesses need to put more focus on seeking out the right candidates and retaining their valuable workers.

When interviewing potential staff members, Fox Business suggests that you not only ask individuals typical job questions (“What is your experience?”, “What are your strengths/weaknesses?”) but also questions that will make them think outside of the box. For example, the source recommends asking what motivates them daily and where they seem themselves in 10 years, not professionally but personally.

Fox Business writes that you should also look for passion in candidates. If someone is passionate and excited about your company’s products and services, that positive feeling is going to reach customers as well. While an individual may not be as experienced as you would like, having passion gives them the drive they need to bring about small business success.

Once workers are on board, the focus then moves to offering training initiatives that allow them to enhance their skills. Business News Daily suggests that you encourage your staff to seek out the answers and be willing to learn more, not only about your operations but about their positions and the industry as a whole.

Additionally, the source notes that asking your current employees what type of training they would like to receive can give you better insight into what you can provide to keep them motivated and engaged.