Friday, May 9, 2014

FINDING RELIABLE EMPLOYEES PART 2

As promised, this week I want to begin discussing the 9 specific items I mentioned in last week's blog on finding reliable workers. Let's discuss the first one from that list,


HOW ARE WE ADVERTISING FOR PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES?
 
 
 
In a previous blog I discussed the difference between hiring and recruiting so by now I hope everyone has adopted the idea of recruiting quality employees instead of just hiring them. Advertising for prospective employees can take shape in many different directions. For example,
 
 
NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING
 
CAREER FAIRS
 
ON LINE RECRUTING
 
NEIGBORHOOD SPECIFIC RECRUITING
 
INDIVIDUAL HEADHUNTING
 
BONUSES TO CURRENT EMPLOYEES
 
 
In my book "FINDING, TRAINING AND KEEPING GREAT SERVICE EMPLOYEES" I talk about each of these in detail but the important thing to remember in any of these processes is letting the prospective employee know you WANT to talk to them and that this isn't just another dead end job--it is a potential CAREER even if it is only part time at this time. I had scores of employees that started with me on a part time basis that ended up as valuable full time key people.
 
For instance, when writing an ad, whether it be for the newspaper, on line site, or neighbor door hanger, let them know there are multiple opportunities available. Many of the people we recruit don't necessarily have a high self esteem so if we let them know there may be several opportunities for them, it may just encourage them to apply. For example, saying something like
 
 
TEN IMMEDIATE OPENINGS
 
 
makes them feel like they have a chance. Now for those of you that say "I only have 2 positions to fill, my question is, do you have 8 people on staff you would like to replace if you have great qualified applicants to take their position? Use any number depending on the size of your company. Reminds me of the time several years ago when I was not having a good day and a vendor rep of mine asked me how many employees worked for me and my reply was "about half of them". But the day got better.
 
Next, make the ad exciting like,
 
BUSINESS IS BOOMING
 
 
This let's them know you have an exciting company to work for. In addition, your competitors will wonder what accounts you are starting that they may be currently cleaning. Keeps them on their toes.
 
 
I see so many ads where contractors try to save money by using abbreviations like P/T or F/T etc. Why do that? You spend a lot of dollars securing new business so why are you shortcutting the budget when it comes to the recruitment process? After all, your great staff is what you sold to your customer. Shouldn't you make every effort to secure the best employees you can to staff their account? Are you one of those contractors that says I will spend whatever it takes to secure XYZ account and then after you get the account, you tell HR to run an ad but be sure to not spend to much money on them? Really? Is our budget thinking a bit off?
 
I still believe there are great employees out there for us to recruit and train. We just have to change the way we look for them and communicate with them. Remember our previous blogs on the different generations and how they view the employment world. If you want to refresh your memory, you can go to my web site www.consultantsincleaning.com, click on the worksheets section and download the article entitled "The Generation Gap and How To Deal With It". The information is FREE and you may even find some other free downloads there that can help. Remember, the only thing constant in this world is change.
 
I used each of the methods I listed above to find GREAT employees. Our ads drew well when we advertised for several immediate openings. We did our own in house career fairs, utilized flea markets, placed door hangars in neighborhoods where we specifically needed people. We got several excellent people from on line, especially, mid level managers. I used head hunting business cards to recruit employees from other industries like restaurants etc. In fact, I was able to recruit a couple of great managers from the restaurant industry by giving them my special head hunting business card and having them contact me.
 
So, how are we advertising for prospective employees? The world is changing every day and we need to change with it. Advertising for those great employees takes many different approaches. Are you willing to commit the time and other resources to finding them like you do for finding new customers? I really like the AA credo "If you keep on a doin what you been a doin, you gonna keep on a gittin what you been a gittin".
 
Next time we will address how we treat prospective employees when they arrive. Hope you will join me.
 
Till next time. Don't forget our free pod cast each week at www.tripodcast.com.
 

 


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dick At United Commercial Cleaners we pre evaluate cleaners now using the cleanrecruits.com online training system to sort out the people truly looking for employment in our industry from those just looking for a pay cheque. This has had an huge impact on our retention rates as people now understand that our company is looking for serious job seekers to become part of our team.online cleaning training

Dick Ollek, CBSE said...

Glad to hear it. Until we take our industry seriously, prospective employees and customers won't either. Good job.