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Business.com

Why You Should Hire People From Outside Your Industry

Posted: 26 Jan 2020 09:00 AM PST

When they hear the term "diversity," most people think of gender or race – an understandable tendency, given the importance of both elements. Meanwhile, concepts like diversity of experience and diversity of industry are largely forgotten. 

Companies often ignore the need to recruit individuals who might come in and change the way they operate simply because they want to preserve the status quo. But organizations cannot grow unless they bring in diverse viewpoints that promote innovation, bring in fresh perspectives, and improve decision-making. Business leaders must think differently about how they fill gaps in their companies, particularly because research from the ManpowerGroup suggests 45% of employers can't find employees with the necessary skills. 

The world is always evolving, and a workforce that encompasses all aspects of diversity is what sets the most successful companies apart. 

Skills to pay the bills

When there's an opening on a team, it's common for most candidates to have the skills necessary for the job. If all things are equal, hiring managers default to whichever candidate has the most relevant industry knowledge and experience. After all, they might reason, that's the kind of thing you simply can't teach. 

Wrong. 

It's often more valuable to consider candidates who have innate and transferable skills learned over time, such as leadership, being an agent of change, having a passion for learning new things and being a quick learner. It's relatively easy to teach a stellar candidate the industry knowledge he or she needs to function in a role. It's far more challenging – and takes a lot longer – to bring someone on board who has industry experience but lacks the innate leadership skills necessary to drive change. 

People who are new to an industry aren't as likely to feel constrained by the standard practices to which everyone else adheres. They'll apply the lessons learned in their previous positions to their new sector, which can lead to surprising and impressive results. These candidates view everything from a fresh perspective and ask challenging questions to seek an understanding, which enables them to serve as catalysts for change. Industry disruption doesn't often come from within — it comes from outsiders who see a new way of tackling longstanding problems. 

Granted, there are some potential downsides to hiring someone from a completely different industry. The learning curve can be longer, for instance. A smooth and well-planned onboarding process can overcome this hurdle, enabling new hires to make connections and soak up critical industry information. 

It can also be more challenging to maintain long-term engagement. Once the initial thrill and novelty of a new industry wear off, some individuals lose interest in learning or stop seeking out opportunities to apply their diverse experiences in different ways. 

It's also quite possible that existing employees will resent outsiders coming in and saying they're doing things wrong. Longtime employees may become more resistant to change, or they may shun newcomers and marginalize their ideas. It's important that current team members understand newcomers are not threats and that change isn't indicative of failure on anyone's part. 

How to hire (successfully) outside your industry

Interested in going beyond your comfort zone and hiring people outside your industry? The following tips can get you started.

1. Plan ahead

Before you post a job opening, spend time to figure out what transferable skills or behavior-based competencies are most important in a candidate. Then, share those expectations with any stakeholders who may participate in the interview process. 

If you're working with a panel to interview candidates, think of them as company ambassadors. Candidates who can identify with someone who's already within the organization stand a much better chance of seeing themselves fitting in with the rest of the team. If one of your current employees took a similarly nontraditional path, try to get him or her involved in the interview process. 

It's also a good idea to take steps to include diversity and inclusion initiatives as part of your company's strategic plan. You can then refer back to these initiatives during the hiring process to underscore the importance of giving nontraditional candidates an opportunity. When inclusion and diversity are part of the fabric of your company, the entire organization shares a responsibility to adhere to those values. 

2. Be intentional

When seeking candidates, intentionally explore or recruit individuals who have expertise in the field but not in the same industry. If you're seeking a finance professional and are in the automotive industry, for example, you might prioritize candidates who have the necessary finance skills but who lack industry experience. That might mean sharing a posting on a nontraditional industry job board or reaching out to connections in other sectors to seek recommendations. 

To attract new candidates, you need to make efforts to reach them wherever they might be. You'll also need to eliminate any unintended bias in your job listings. Write job descriptions that are generic enough that numerous candidates can see themselves filling them. Pay close attention to how you describe the position as well as any desired qualifications; the last thing you want to do is discourage candidates in other fields from applying. 

When it's time to interview candidates, don't assume that people won't be a good fit if they don't tick every last box on your list of required skills. A candidate who comes up short in some areas but who brings a needed outside perspective to your organization can still be a successful hire. If someone seems like a great cultural fit and has a history of overcoming knowledge or skill gaps, you might want to give him or her a chance. 

3. Create open dialogues

Whether we like it or not, we're prone to snap judgments: One study suggests that impressions made during the interview's first 10 seconds affect the entire outcome of that interaction. To overcome any inherent bias, frame open-ended interview questions to allow candidates the chance to discuss how they can apply their experiences in new or different ways. 

Instead of focusing on the results candidates achieved, ask them what steps they took along the way to elicit those results. Their responses will help you determine whether they were truly involved in the process or simply acted from the sidelines. Listen carefully when candidates respond to catch those transferable skills or abilities in action. You may learn something new, or the conversation may generate a new idea or concept you have not considered before. 

While your questions should be open-ended, the interview itself should be more structured. Research suggests that interviews lacking structure are far less reliable at predicting future job success. Craft a clear and logical framework for the interview process to ensure all candidates are operating on a level playing field, no matter their experience. 

A recipe for sustainable innovation 

To ensure diversity of thought within their organizations, leaders must be open to the change and growth that accompanies it. Smaller organizations where only one or two people perform key roles are more likely to hire the same kind of individuals to maintain some degree of continuity, but this can be a vicious cycle, and businesses that stick to the status quo will find it difficult to grow or expand beyond where they are today. 

Bringing in diverse perspectives can also be a huge benefit for workplace culture and engagement in the long run. By building relationships and working with those individuals who have different backgrounds and experiences, your entire team can learn new skills. This organic approach to ongoing engagement can ensure team members who have been around for a long time never feel tapped out or bored in their roles while ensuring your organization promotes innovation and fresh perspectives for years to come.

How to Pick the Right Insurance Coverage When You're Self-Employed

Posted: 26 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST

Ask anyone who's self-employed what they like about their career path, and they'll certainly say that the flexibility and freedom of being their own boss are high on the list. Talk a little longer about the drawbacks that come with being you're own boss and the cost of insurance is likely to come up. 

Everything has its pros and cons, and if you've joined the estimated 15 million Americans who have embarked on the road of self-employment, securing insurance can be a real headache. 

When your employer offers insurance, hitting a road bump in life isn't as big of a deal. There are a lot of "what ifs" that arise with self-employment, and forgoing insurance or going with the wrong plan creates a nightmare situation. 

Keeping costs low is essential for self-employment, especially if your business is just getting started, but don't skip on insurance. Having the right insurance is imperative for the well-being of you, your family and your business. Here's how to determine what coverage you need and how to get it if you've embraced the entrepreneurial self-employed spirit.  

1. Securing health insurance is an obvious must-do

It might seem like an obvious statement, but its truth is worth echoing – when you're self-employed, everything depends on you. Getting the flu can put you out of commission for a few days and that means lost income. An even more dire situation such as an injury can really eat into one's income and savings if they don't have health insurance. So how does a self-employed individual secure health insurance?

If you have a partner, you might be able to obtain coverage through his or her work. If this is the case, consider yourself lucky. When that's not an option, you'll need to find individual coverage. HealthCare.gov is one place to start, but you may also want to look into professional employer organizations, or PEOs. These are companies that outsource things like payroll and other tasks and may offer healthcare as a benefit for an additional fee. 

It's also worth looking into such organizations as The National Association for the Self-Employed and the Freelancer's Union. Both offer different health insurance options plus financial planning benefits like a 401(k). 

Finding health insurance when you're self-employed requires research, but there is a silver lining. Self-employed individuals can claim a tax deduction on their health insurance premiums, which will put a little more money back in your pocket.

2. Don't discount disability insurance either

Getting sick for a few days when you're self-employed is always going to be a setback, but what if it's something that takes you away from work longer?

Here's where disability insurance comes into play. Disability insurance often gets ignored with an estimated 51 million adults not having it, but if you're self-employed and the sole breadwinner of your household, having some coverage is a good idea. 

Disability insurance is generally designed to cover around 60% of your income, and there are two types available: short and long term. Short term is only meant to cover around three to six months.

Long-term disability insurance kicks in after that short-term window ends. You may have to hunt to find a policy – many insurance companies only offer limited benefits to self-employed individuals. Check with PEOs and different self-employed organizations to see what potential policies might be out there. You may be able to find occupational or "own-occ" disability insurance that is designed to provide coverage for the job you were trained in, such as a dentist, mechanic, contractor, etc. 

You may not have a traditional employer paying for your disability coverage, but this is all the more reason to have it.  

3. Make sure you're looking after your family with life insurance

If you support a family, then having life insurance is going to be an important pillar of your family's well-being. Unless your self-employment career has been so financially successful that you can self-insure – which isn't likely in the beginning – you'll need life insurance coverage. 

Acquiring life insurance coverage when you're self-employed is, thankfully, relatively straightforward. You'll want to check out a few different insurance aggregators and enter your health information to see what sort of prices and term limits are available. There's a range of life insurance options from whole to term and universal. Whole life insurance is marketed as an investment, but opting for term life insurance will generally give you the most bang for your buck. 

Term life insurance tends to be much less expensive and a policy 10 to 12 times your annual income will provide for your family for a specific time period, should you kick the bucket. Ideally, you should choose a policy that will last until your kids become old enough to make it on their own. 

The cost will go up with the risk, so if you're a self-employed sky-diving teacher who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, well, you'll pay more than somebody who runs a yoga studio. In either case, having it when you're self-employed with a family that depends on you is an absolute must.  

4.  Protect yourself with business insurance

There's always going to be a certain amount of risk involved with self-employment, whether you're a freelance copywriter or have your own carpentry company. Buzzsaws may pose a greater threat than a keyboard, but having some form of business insurance in play can help protect against various gaps in any already existing insurance policy. 

Since many self-employed individuals have the benefit of working from home, going with a home-based business insurance policy would cover things your homeowners insurance might not. This could be anything from certain damages that fall outside of your homeowners insurance to the theft of property you need for your work. 

If you run a small business, general liability business insurance can cover your business for a  range of things, from slander to somebody slipping on the floor of your business. Nobody is perfect, which is why some form of business insurance should be in place for the self-employed.

Business insurance policies come in various forms with a range of different prices. Some may cover just property or liability, and others may be a bundle deal. Because of this, you should research what sort of coverage is right for you.  [Read our reviews of the Best Business Liability Insurance Providers of 2020.]

In conclusion 

There's no question that opting to leave behind traditional employment and setting out on the road to self-employment brings with it a certain amount of freedom. With that freedom, though, undoubtedly comes increased risk when the safety net of benefits with a regular job is no longer in place. Skipping out on the insurance coverage, though, can result in the downfall of a new business venture.

Navigating the waters of self-employment is always going to be tricky, and finding the right insurance plans is simply part of that. Squeezing room in the budget can be difficult and insurance can be expensive, but going without it shouldn't be an option.

Whether you're thinking about self-employment are already doing it, health, life, business, and disability insurance should all strongly be given careful consideration. As the saying goes, it's better to be safe than sorry.
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