How to Find the Quality Employees
I found the perfect employee.
And I am going to tell you where and how to find them…
I am Ron Ramsden, and I am a DYB Coach, also painting contractor.
“Perfect” Employees Do Not Exist
First of all, “perfect” employees do not exist.
We are not perfect, but it seems when I talk to other contractors, we are all looking for that diamond in the rough, that perfect employee.
Well, I’ll tell you, they are not there!
So, do we have to settle? No!
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Be Specific In Your Job Ad
You can stack the cards in your favor by having a well-written Ad.
Put an Ad on Craigslist, Facebook, or wherever you are putting your Ad, but be as specific as you can, and lead with what you are willing to pay the employee.
If you’re willing to pay lower on the pay scale, that’s who you are going to get.
Experienced professionals are going to feel like you don’t even care about them and you are not willing to pay them –they are not going to apply.
You just lost that whole stack of employees.
Also, if you just write “experienced painter”, you might not really get the experience you’re looking for.
Write a long, good Ad, and be as specific to what you’re looking for as possible.
Detailed Pay Range
Be truthful of what you are willing to pay; $15 to $20 an hour, for instance, is a big range.
If you are looking for an experienced painter and the highest is $18 an hour, put $16 to $18 or $17 to $19.
Quality Interviews
What are you going to do for an interview?
Maybe you don’t do an interview –you are the guy who met the painter at the paint store when you were looking for painters and he said, “I work for 20 bucks an hour”, and you said, “Come on”.
I hate to say it, but we’ve all done it, however, we usually get what we pay for, and we get what we give in the effort.
You didn’t give any effort into hiring that guy just with a handshake, you actually have to do your homework –sit down and find their character, if you want them to last.
If not, in a month from now, you will say, “Oh, I am sick of employees, they never work out”.
The reason they never work out is that we usually don’t put the effort in.
Of course, there is always a bad apple now and then, but I will tell you, we’ve gotten a lot more shining stars.
For me, whenever a painter says he is going out on his own, it hurts, but I feel that I have done my job because that’s what I did at one time and that’s what you probably did also –you left your employer and went over and started your own business.
Yeah, we get mad when they leave, but we have to pat them on the back for taking that leap because we all did also.
So after creating a great Ad and conducting quality interviews, check their references.
Schedule Start Date and Walk Them Through Everything
Do an honest check of their references, and then schedule a time for them to start.
On the day they start, don’t throw them a bucket of paint with a brush, walk them through everything.
Walk them through how you use T-sheets online, if that’s what you use, online punching in and punching out for the records.
Show them where you keep everything at the shop if you have a shop, show them everything in the van, who is in charge of the van, who is the boss, etc.
Also, open up GroupMe for them, help them download Basecamp and GroupMe on their phones, have them feel like they are a part of the team!
It might take you an hour or two at one time, but they can never say you didn’t show them.
Also, when you actually show them all these things, have them sign something saying that they know how to use all those pieces of software, so that down the road, if there is a mistake with T-sheets, or they don’t punch in and punch out, they can’t say “I didn’t know”.
We have to help mold these “perfect” employees, we want to give them shirts, tell them what tools are required –all these in paperwork ahead of time.
When they come to the job, they are not just carrying a bucket of paint and a brush.
If they don’t feel like they are part of the team or company, when 50 cents more an hour comes around, they will be gone.
That’s how you find a perfect employee.
I hope that helps. Happy hiring!
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11 Interview Questions For Hiring All-Stars.
E-mailed To You NOW!