Profs to share hiring expertise with start-up business owners

April 12, 2021 | UHCL Staff

To start your own business, you'll need more than innovation and creativity. To sustain it and make it successful, you'll have to hire good people who are the right fit for the jobs within your business.

University of Houston-Clear Lake's Office of Strategic Partnerships will present a business start-up "lunch and learn" virtual event entitled, "A Special Session: Hiring the Right Person," Thursday, April 22, 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. via Zoom.

Strategic Partnerships Program Manager Alexis Nwagui said this event's theme came from questions that were raised in last fall's event, which covered general information about finance and creating a business plan for potential start-up business owners.

"People were asking about how to go about hiring for their business — should I hire a friend or my spouse?" she said. "Since there were so many questions about it, we decided to make this presentation explore the issues surrounding hiring."

She said the presentation would feature three panelists: Professors Troy Voelker, Vanessa Johnson and Donna Stringer.

"They're all UH-Clear Lake College of Business professors with plenty of expertise to share, and that there will be a Q&A session afterwards," she said.

"Your employees, particularly those who work directly with your customers, determine whether your firm succeeds or fails," Voelker said. "Identifying the best candidates, hiring, and then retaining those persons is one of the most important issues facing your company."

"This is a community service event," Nwagui explained. "This is not targeted to just business majors. Anyone who might be in a position to hire others could benefit from this information, and these are great leadership skills, no matter what your field. We have excellent resources here at UHCL and we hope everyone will take advantage of this opportunity."

The event is free. Register online.