Operations staff is critical. They can help organize people, build partnerships, and allocate resources. They can give you insight into a broader strategy. They will look at what is happening across your organization to make sure you're staying on track. Without operations staff at the helm, are you taking on this responsibility yourself? 

For small-to-medium-sized businesses, you will have to survive by sharing the roles and responsibilities that the operations staff would traditionally take on. Eventually, you'll look to find and hire an operations contractor that will help you succeed, and to do this you'll need some backing from your leadership team.

Looking for local talent to champion your organization can be difficult when you realize there is often no way of finding specifically qualified temporary, contract-to-hire, or permanent operations staff. Or so it may seem. Before you feel too hopeless, let's talk about the few ways you can start your search for operations staff and how to support them once you've interviewed several candidates and found one you'd like to onboard into your organization.

Candidates Not Applicants

Not having anyone in your immediate network to hire is not a reason to stop looking. Sure, it can be helpful to consider that your team may have friends or acquaintances who can fill the role, but you want candidates, not just applicants. As a business leader, you need to be your company's greatest advocate in finding the ideal contract or permanent staff to oversee and manage your operations. 

Qualities To Look For In Operations Talent

Here is how we discuss themes to consider when writing job descriptions when working with staffing companies to create job orders for your next operations staff candidates.

Demonstrate Purpose

Intention drives action. An operations professional that shows you exactly how your goals serve the company's overarching strategy is the strongest way to assess value. Candidates for operations jobs must show that they understand where the company is headed and how your company delivers in that direction. Put together a job description that visualizes this - map out the major themes and initiatives you have planned for your roadmap to meet those business goals.

Crucial Conversations

Providing internal and external stakeholders with the best experience possible and earning their loyalty should be your top priority for operations staff. Tactically, feedback will help to make better prioritization decisions to continue to deliver an extraordinary experience. Sharing this feedback internally will also help you build credibility and respect. When it is clear the type of conversations you'd like your operations contractor to hold with partners and customers, it can be easier to get candidates on board to understand and assess their future value to your organization.

Use Data

You can't argue with facts. Operations staff should be using real data and numbers in the work they perform. Their daily activities should be tracking and presenting the most compelling metrics that show past success and future potential. Even if your company is not the most compelling, exciting organization in the marketplace, you will find interest from leaders when you can show benefits through hard data.

Build Relationships

It's non-essential for your existing staffing to have congenial relationships with everyone in your organization. Operations staff - even if only temporary or contract-to-hire - should not wait for others to come to them. Look for candidates who are proactive and inquire about customer and market insights. They should be able to demonstrate how they may use those insights to address operational pain points. Can they find new ways to talk about your product? The more they do, the more they can encourage others to advocate for the product.

Share Updates

Some operations staff will serve as, in the absence of an executive attached to a business unit, the key point person required to attend high-level planning meetings to share quick updates about roadmap plans and associated factors within control. This might not be the case depending on your organization, but you should be relying on operations staff to facilitate these conversations so it is imperative to demonstrate the importance of this to candidates you interview for the role. It is your job to set the goals for the job you would like someone to fill, and to ensure you will provide support to the operations staff that is hired to assist you in accomplishing those goals. It is your job to make sure your staffing model plans tie back to the reason why you're in business. It is through your leadership and effort to research, interview, hire, and retain operations staff that will give you the greatest opportunity to thrive internally and externally. The longer you wait, the longer you'll overwork your staff. 

For further information about Operations Staffing, check out these blogs:

• The Evolution Of Operations Staffing
• Business Operations Staffing Has Never Been Easier

Learn more about how Premier can help you find your next Operations Staff. Let's get you the support you need.

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