What is a new hire?
A new hire may be an employee or someone you hire under a different employment status, such as a contractor, consultant or temporary hire. It’s important to understand the differences between the types of hire you can make in terms of legal and financial obligations, and whether you need someone permanently or short-term.
Why hire an employee?
An employee is hired under a formal employment contract and is legally entitled to statutory rights, including sick pay, paid annual leave, and parental leave. They have other workers’ rights too.
Alternatively, you can hire a self-employed contractor who manages their own tax and does not hold the statutory rights or responsibilities of a standard employee.
Understanding the types of employment status and what your business needs and can provide is essential before you make your first hire.
Defining your hiring needs for your first role
Before writing a job description or launching your candidate search, clearly define the role’s core purpose, daily tasks, and key responsibilities. This includes the role’s overall objective and the main tasks and responsibilities.
You can then benchmark it against other similar roles in the market or use salary surveys to ensure a competitive salary. Other things to consider are the locations, hours of work, reporting lines and employee benefits you will offer.
Types of new hire
Beyond employment status, you’ll get to decide whether a full-time, part time or job-share structure fits your operations.
A clear job title accurately reflects the role’s responsibilities. For a sales position, assess the seniority level, required experience and market standards to choose an appropriate title.
Budget heavily influences the scope of this first recruit. In addition to salary, calculate ongoing costs such as National Insurance contributions, statutory sick pay, equipment, training and employee benefits.
Using external recruitment support
Recruitment specialists
Organisations may choose to work with a recruitment agency to benchmark compensation, refine job titles, advertise roles and identify candidates for interview. This can improve efficiency in the recruitment process and help attract relevant candidates.
Agencies can also screen candidates and deliver a shortlist for final interviews, reducing your recruitment administration.HR consultants or agencies
HR professionals can provide guidance on employment requirements when recruiting a first employee. This may include reviewing job descriptions, supporting interview processes and preparing key documentation such as offer letters and contracts of employment.
They may also assist with pre-employment checks, including right-to-work verification, background checks and employment references.
Payroll specialist
Employers are responsible for ensuring employees are paid accurately and in line with tax requirements. Where in-house payroll is not available, external payroll providers or consultants may support this process, including managing tax details, National Insurance contributions and employee benefits.
Interviewing candidates
If managing the interview process internally, employers may conduct interviews to assess candidate suitability. Interview questions can evaluate how candidates align with organisational priorities, respond to challenges, stay motivated and contribute to business outcomes.
Depending on the role, employers may look for the following qualities in candidate responses:
- Flexibility and resilience
- Commitment and understanding of the organisation
- Cultural alignment with the organisation
- Versatility and adaptation
- Accountability
Making an offer and preparing employment documents
Once you select a candidate, extend a verbal offer followed by a formal offer letter and employment contract. These documents outline the terms and conditions of employment and may include details such as:
- Job title
- Start date
- Salary
- Benefits
- Notice period
- Work location
This stage of the process may be supported by an HR professional, who can assist with documentation and onboarding preparation.
Onboarding a new employee
A structured onboarding process can support a new employee’s transition into their role and help establish expectations from the outset. Employers may choose to plan the initial period of employment by setting clear goals and outlining responsibilities to support performance and integration.
As the organisation grows, developing an employee handbook can help communicate key information, such as policies, procedures and workplace expectations.
Hiring your first employee involves several key steps, from defining the role and establishing legal employment practices to delivering a structured onboarding process. Taking a structured approach can help organisations manage hiring processes more effectively.
