In the recent issue of Inc. there is a page that directs readers to Inc’s online presence. There are ten different topics listed with an appropriate link to each. In this month’s issue all of the content was related to celebrating National Small Business Month. And here I thought that every month was National Small Business Month.

One of the topics, Hire the Right People, caught my attention. When you click on the link, you are taken to a page titled Recruiting and Hiring Employees and another link to Business Owner's 2011 Hiring Tool Kit - Help for small business own... Here you can find a wealth of material covering every aspect of the talent acquisition and retention process, Hiring and Screening, Orientation and On Boarding, Goals and Performance, Training and Education.

The Tool Kit even contains examples and templates of every conceivable form that a small business owner would ever need, such as, Position Request Form - Hiring Checklist  - Job Description Template  - Job Descriptions - Pre-Interview Questionnaire - Rejection Letter (Pre-Interview) - Interview Letter for Employment - Sample Employment Application Form- Job Applicant Reference Request - Background Check Authorization Form - Employee Reference Release - Job Offer Letters  to list just a few.

With all of this comes the suggestion that here is "everything you need to turn that promising new recruit into a star employee."

Really? As a small business owner I know what it takes to run a business and how much is required to keep it running, to manage the daily activity and to grow the business and achieve profitability. When it comes to hiring the right people I have a unique advantage over most small business owners. My company, Q4B, is in the business of helping our clients hire the right people. What we do successfully for our clients, we are able to do for ourselves. Most small business owners do not have this luxury.

By definition, small business implies limited resources, lack of non-revenue generating processes, limited understanding and knowledge in some areas, seat of the pants decision making and single minded focus on revenue and growth. All of this makes for an exciting adventure for the owner and everyone involved with the company. And because of the nature of the small business (hectic, stressful, exhilarating, thrilling, etc.) most successful small business owners soon realize what parts of their business they can’t successfully manage. And the reasons they can’t are a function of time and knowledge.

Most successful small business owners quickly see the value in outsourcing their accounting functions, their payroll and benefits, their manufacturing, their advertising, their technology support, their billing and collections and their web/internet/social media content. They see the value because they know that they don’t have the time and/or the knowledge/expertise to successfully manage that particular part of their business.

So why not outsource the monumental and strategically important task of hiring the right people? Again, most small business owners are in business because they possess an expertise and interest in a certain area. And unless the small business is recruiting related, they possess very little expertise in recruiting and talent acquisition and retention.

Making a mistake in hiring the right people is more costly and detrimental to the ongoing success of a small business than any mistake that could be made in accounting, payroll, benefits, manufacturing, advertising, technology, billing and web content. Mistakes in these areas are all quickly correctable usually with minimal impact. A mistake made in hiring can be a business killer.

So, how did Inc. magazine end up promoting RPO for small business? By simply putting all of the Hiring Tool Kit information on their site and suggesting that “here is everything you need to turn that promising new recruit into a star employee.” Every small business owner reading the Inc. information will go away overwhelmed with what is required to hire the right people. They will see the amount of time and knowledge that is required to hire and retain great talent. Time and knowledge that they don’t have. They will look elsewhere and consider outsourcing all or part of this important function.

Thanks Inc. for the ringing endorsement!