StretchLearn Course

Hire your first employees without learning it the expensive way.

Define the role, run interviews that predict performance, onboard with a real plan, set KPIs, and manage your team with frameworks built for small businesses, not corporate HR.

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Beginner9 hrSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

Going from solo operator to employer is one of the highest-leverage and highest-risk moves a small business makes, and most owners learn it by expensive trial and error. This course teaches the whole employee lifecycle: defining a role and its scorecard, writing a job description that attracts the right applicants, sourcing and screening, running structured behavioral interviews that predict performance, making a compliant offer and completing I-9, W-4, and E-Verify paperwork, onboarding with a 30-60-90 day plan, setting SMART KPIs, running effective one-on-ones, coaching with the GROW and SBI models, and managing underperformance through to a clean, lawful exit. Every step is tied to real tools, real costs, and the documents and conversations you will actually use.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Define a role with a scorecard and write a job description that attracts qualified, well-matched applicants

Source and screen candidates and run a structured behavioral interview using STAR and a numeric scorecard

Make a compliant offer and complete I-9, W-4, and E-Verify onboarding paperwork correctly

Build a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan that gets a new hire productive and reduces early turnover

Set SMART KPIs and run weekly one-on-ones that align effort to outcomes

Coach with GROW, give feedback with SBI, and manage underperformance through a fair PIP to a clean exit

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Defining the Role and Attracting Candidates

A good hire starts long before the interview, with a clear picture of the work and a job posting that pulls in the right people. This module turns a vague need for help into a defined role, a scorecard, and a posting that attracts qualified applicants.

3 lessons

From Overwhelmed to a Defined RoleContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

The Role Scorecard: Defining Success Before You HireContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Writing a Job Description That Attracts the Right PeopleContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Screening, Interviewing, and Selecting

The interview is where most small businesses make their costliest mistake by trusting a gut feeling. This module replaces that with a structured, behavior-based process that predicts on-the-job performance and reduces legal risk.

3 lessons

Sourcing and Screening: From Many Applicants to a Short ListContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Structured Behavioral Interviewing with STARContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Scoring, Checking, and Avoiding Legal TrapsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Offer, Onboarding, and the First 90 Days

A signed offer is the start of the real work. This module covers making a compliant offer, completing the legally required paperwork, and onboarding with a 30-60-90 day plan that gets a new hire productive and reduces early turnover.

3 lessons

Making the Offer and Getting the Paperwork RightContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The 30-60-90 Day Onboarding PlanContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Setting KPIs and Clear ExpectationsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Managing, Coaching, and Performance

Hiring well is only half the job; the rest is the day-to-day leadership that keeps good people productive and engaged. This module covers one-on-ones, feedback, coaching, handling underperformance, and parting ways cleanly when you must.

3 lessons

Running Effective One-on-Ones and FeedbackContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Coaching for Growth and Delegating WellContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Handling Underperformance and Parting WaysContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

hiringonboardingsmall business managementjob descriptionsstructured interviewingperformance managementKPIsfirst employee