How do you hire the right people so you don’t find yourself letting someone go six months down the road? Do you hire for your weakness or hire someone that fits in with the culture? So much goes into hiring the right person. So in this episode of Wingnut Social, Colleen Baader joins Darla to share how she hires for her design firm.
Colleen Baader has been an interior designer for 27 years primarily focusing on commercial design. Seven years ago she started Vertical Interior Design focused on corporate, healthcare, and hospitality design. She even designed and built her own home in 2018.
What You’ll Hear On This Episode of Wingnut SocialColleen tries to look at the strengths of her team—and where she’s seeing weaknesses. Then she tries to target those weaknesses in the hiring process. They give out a survey called “The Culture Index” to help determine an applicant's natural tendencies and personality. Are they detailed? Visionary? Organized?
If she’s looking for someone detailed, she knows her creative people will be worn down and exhausted by those tasks. But if they’re being 100% creative for their 8 hours at work, they leave on a high. Colleen strives to hire the right people for the right role so they don’t leave burned out. You want to hire someone for a role that they’ll be successful and find joy in.
You'll have opportunities for more jobs if you allow your team to be diverse. People with different skills not only complement each other, they learn from each other. She always strives to foster collaboration—never competition. You should be rooting for each other to close deals.
Once you find a few individuals who fit, have them come in and work with the team for half a day. They can see what it’s like to work with them. The people you work with and the environment you’re in can often be what keeps you at your job.
Don’t be afraid to hire upDarla wanted to get to the point where she wasn’t doing all of the design work. If you’re hiring and want to delegate, you want to make sure the hires are capable of taking on that role. Conversely, Colleen emphasizes that you can’t be afraid to hire people that are smarter than you or are more talented than you. You have to learn to set your ego aside. Colleen worked with someone who said, “Let’s hire the smartest people and get out of their way.” Colleen loves it. She admits that her CAD skills and elevations aren’t great, so she uses her skills where they’re used best and offloads her weaknesses to someone else.
What about the compensation conversation? How do you hire to scale? Should you hire contractors or employees? Listen to the whole episode for Colleen’s take!
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PODCAST FAST TRACK
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Grow Your Interior Design Team The Smart Way - Episode 255
Metaverse Interior Design: The Future of the Design Industry with Tom Puukko - Episode 254
No Interior Design Degree? KD Reid Shares His Take - Episode 253
Attract Affluent Clients Doing What You LOVE with Melissa Galt - Episode 252
It’s Time to Tackle Renovation Projects with Renée Biery - Episode 251
Stacey Martin’s Formula for Rockstar Interior Design Presentations - Episode 250
Clean Design Home: Robin Wilson’s Incredible Story - Episode 249
Change Your Mindset—Raise Your Rates [Danielle Hayden] - Episode 248
Is a CoWorking Workspace Right For Your Design Firm? with Mara Hauser - Episode 247
How To Develop Your Working Knowledge As A Designer, with Andrea Hysmith - Episode 246
Carol Cox Shares Why Thought Leadership Still Matters - Episode 245
Abbi Perets: How to Write Email Marketing Campaigns that Get Read - Episode 244
Digital vs. Physical Product Libraries: Rex Rogosch Weighs In - Episode 243
REPLAY: Up-Level Your Social Media Marketing with Pinterest [Kate Ahl] - Episode 242
Kate Doster’s Attention-Grabbing Email Marketing Strategies - Episode 241
Business Coach Desi Creswell Shares How to Build Trust in Yourself - Episode 240
How Brett + Giselle Sugerman Found Phenomenal Success on Instagram - Episode 239
Pivot Your Business with a Strategic Business Coach [Like Michele Williams] - Episode 238
Kathleen Jennison’s 7-Step Cheat Sheet for New Interior Designers - Episode 237
How to Balance your Marriage + Business + Self [with LMFT Amber Hawley] - Episode 236
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