When employees are in short supply, it's easy to get trapped into thinking you had better just take what's available. But following that temptation will lead you into a vicious cycle.

The generic ideal employee is one who meets (or dare I say even exceeds) your expectations - expectations for how they accomplish day to day tasks; expectations for their interaction with co-workers and customers. Each business will have their own specifics to build their ideal employee requirements.

It surprises me how many businesses aren't even sure what the ideal employee in their company brings to the table. Lots of owners or managers say they're looking for experience, specific knowledge, or some sort of training. And that's what they base their hiring decisions on. But after they've hired an individual who isn't meeting their expectations, it's the employee's work ethic or attitude that seems to be the problem.

Doesn't it make sense then, to identify the specific characteristics you need your employees to have? If you find the right person for a job, you can train them and mold them into the skilled employee you're looking for.

It doesn't work the other way, unfortunately. Hiring a sales clerk with 17 years of sales experience is no good to you if you need a team player and the experienced person lacks that ability. Hiring a business school grad is not valuable to your organization if they have no concept of how to get along with others.

I heard an interview with Bud Konheim, a fashion leader in New York City. He had an analogy I really liked. . .

"Business is like a baseball team. If I have nine good players - we've played together for a long time and work together well - and we go up against a team with eight good players and one GREAT player, we lose! To win in this game, we've go to have GREAT players. To win we need players who don't just do their jobs. We need them to do more than their jobs."

Business is about winning. The best businesses know how to find and develop the best employees. The best businesses have employees who know how to treat customers. The best businesses have employees who are motivated to go above and beyond their 'duties' to make the business even better.

Do you want to be one of the BEST (as in most profitable) companies in your industry? Start by hiring better employees. Here are 5 important things to keep in mind to help you do that. . .

1.Never hire out of desperation. If you've got to pay employees overtime, work double shifts yourself or hire your mother to help out, do it! Buy yourself the time to find the right employee. There is no savings in hiring a person that you'll have to replace again in a few weeks or months.

2.Look outside of your usual recruiting channels for great employees. Placing a 25 to 30 word ad in the classifieds isn't likely to find you your ideal employee. Develop a detailed job description that includes the personal characteristics you're looking for. Hand that description to key people who can help you find the right person. Your current Best employees can be a source of referrals, too.

3.Know what personal characteristics are most important for success in your business and hire people who have those characteristics. Think about the characteristics of your best people. Think about the characteristics of your worst people. You can start to develop your list from there.

4.Spend time getting to know prospective employees. You didn't get married after the first date. The more face time you have with candidates, the more likely you are to discover whether or not they're the employee for you. Some employers do as many as six interviews before making a hiring decision. It's not difficult to do at least three.

Assessments are a great way to gain insights that you won't get in interviews. Many assessments provide interview questions that you can use in a final interview. Assessments can get pricey, so I recommend only using them for candidates you are seriously considering.

5.Always do reference checks and some level of background check. If at all possible, make sure candidates provide work related references. Personal references can't be trusted to give you the information you need to make good decisions for business. Get three references and make sure you make the calls. If there is disagreement between two or more references, get more.

Driving abstracts, criminal record checks, education confirmation, employment history, and credit checks all have their places depending on the position the prospective employee will fill. Make the appropriate background checks to prevent significant business losses and even law suits.

Develop a hiring process and follow it every time you hire. Keep track of your results and make changes as needed.