Stop Hiring on Gut Feel: A Smarter Way to Build Your Small Business Team

By Rob Lockard, Principal Talent Acquisition Advisor | Arc Human Capital, LLC

As a small business owner, you wear many hats. One of the biggest—and riskiest—is hiring.

Whether you’re building your first team or scaling up after years of growth, the people you hire can either fuel your business’s next chapter—or become your most costly mistake.

It’s tempting to rely on gut instinct. Maybe you “click” with a candidate. Maybe they “feel like a good fit.” But here’s the tough truth: hiring based on vibes is not a talent strategy—it’s a gamble. And for small businesses, the stakes are too high to leave your hiring to chance.

Why Hiring on Vibes Isn’t Working

According to Textio’s recent research, most hiring teams still lean heavily on personality impressions rather than objective skills and experience.

In interviews, candidates are often described with vague, subjective terms like “confident,” “likable,” or “a great culture fit.” While this might seem harmless, it can actually:

• Lead to inconsistent and biased hiring decisions
• Reinforce harmful gender stereotypes (e.g. women being labeled “bubbly” while men are called “level-headed”)
• Result in weaker hires who lack the skills your business truly needs

For small businesses, every hire matters. Every hour counts. And every dollar spent on the wrong person takes away from what you could be building.

Data Proves It: Structure Beats Instinct

Textio analyzed over 10,000 interviews and found a troubling trend: candidates who received job offers were significantly more likely to be described by their personality traits rather than their demonstrated skills.

This same bias doesn’t stop at hiring—it bleeds into performance management. Over the last three years, Textio found that top performers often receive the lowest-quality feedback, with praise like “rockstar” or “great job” instead of actionable insights.

Without meaningful feedback, high performers hit a ceiling and leave. In fact, 30% of top corporate performers quit within a year, and they’re 63% more likely to leave if they get vague, low-quality feedback.

For small businesses, this is a risk you can’t afford.

The Secret to Smarter Hiring: Structure, Clarity, and Feedback

The good news? You don’t need a corporate HR department or expensive software to fix your hiring process. You just need a simple system that removes guesswork and focuses on what truly matters: skills, results, and potential.

Instead of asking yourself: “Do I like this person?”
Ask:“Did this candidate clearly demonstrate the skills needed for this role?”

Instead of writing: “She had great energy and seemed friendly.”
Document: “She shared a specific example of resolving a customer complaint and improving retention by 15%.”

It’s a small shift with massive upside.

“Building a great team doesn’t require scale—it requires strategy.”

5 Ways to Upgrade Your Small Business Hiring

Here’s how you can start hiring smarter right now—without adding corporate red tape:

1. Use Structured Interviews

• Build interview guides focused on skills and competencies that truly matter for each role.
• Ask all candidates the same questions to ensure consistency and fairness. Plus, it makes it easier to match candidates against the job description. If you’ve only asked some of them the question(s), how can you effectively compare the others?

2. Avoid Personality-Only Judgments

• Ditch phrases like “great energy” or “good fit.”
• Instead, record specific actions or experiences that relate directly to job success.

3. Train Your Interviewers

• Help your team spot bias and stick to evidence-based evaluations.
• A quick 30-minute training session could save thousands in future turnover costs.

4. Give Candidates Feedback

• Even a two-sentence email with constructive feedback leaves candidates feeling respected and informed.
• It strengthens your brand and boosts the likelihood that candidates will consider you again.

5. Invest in Your Top Performers

• Once you’ve made great hires, keep them.
• Provide specific, actionable feedback so high performers feel challenged, valued, and motivated to stay.

Bottom Line: Your Gut Isn’t Enough

Hiring is too important to leave to instinct alone. Your gut can help—but it shouldn’t drive the final decision. When you anchor your process in structure, transparency, and data, you’re not just hiring better people—you’re building a stronger business.

Ready to stop guessing and start hiring smarter? Let’s connect. I help small businesses build talent strategies that work—without sacrificing the agility and personal touch that make your organization special.