Recruiting for Your Home-Service Company

"After serious thought, I had the answer: It was merit badges. Set a goal for a badge, work to achieve that badge, and take another step up the ladder to the next scout level. There was a crystal clear line of progression and advancement to become an Eagle Scout."

Based on Boy Scout merit badges, Ben created a program to inform recruits and provide internal structure an clarity for the road ahead. (SEE SIDEBAR )

The Assist

Legendary professional hockey player Wayne Gretzky famously said, “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”

The overwhelming number of skilled-trade business owners skate to where the puck has been. Think that’s an exaggeration?

How many companies do you know that have a written career path for service technicians and installers? How many:

• Brand recruiting and mentoring into their culture?
• Require recent hires to assist in the recruiting process?
• Build mentoring into their processes?
• Offer a mentoring bonus?

Ben’s service tech career path is a bullet list of actions that fit on one piece of paper. It isn’t a list that he simply sat down one afternoon and cranked out. It took over forty years to build it. That’s forty years of experimenting, doing, experimenting, learning, modifying, and doing again. That’s forty years of tribulations, perseverance, and delight. That’s forty years of knowing where to hit that hockey puck.

The question is, will you skate to where the puck is going? Or will you skate to where it’s been?

Where Do You Recruit?

Company Website

The company website is one of the most powerful recruiting tools available. It’s also one of the first places prospective coworkers or recruits go when they hear about your company. Create a career page to address all of their concerns and provide easy access to it. Don’t make visitors jump through hoops trying to find it. Place a career link on the top of your home page.

Prospects and recruits need to know why they should work for you. The best-case scenario is that they agree with your vision, purpose, and values. This means they believe what you believe. And when they get the opportunity to exercise their beliefs, ultimately helping others, you’ll have a committed and dedicated coworker. This is one reason the company owner should shoot a video explaining their vision, purpose, and values and insert it on the career page.

Not all companies have their vision, purpose, and values figured out. Most serious company owners, however, understand that the key to profitable business is through well-supported   and cared-for coworkers. While it’s necessary to list company benefits, perks, and amenities on your website, the more important part is to speak to your prospect’s inner needs and desires. Like Chris says, “They want a better boss, a brighter future, and a bigger vision. Most are looking for meaning and purpose in their work.”

Make it Mobile

To begin with, your entire website needs to be optimized for cell phones and other smart mobile devices. This is an absolute must.

Most forward-thinking companies have a job application on their career page, and most people use their cell phones more than their personal computers. Consequently, most people are not going to complete that job application on their cell phone.

Social Media

As an owner, Chris and his team used social media like a valued and trusted Sawzall.

One day, Chris was reading Joseph Hobson’s Facebook page. Chris noticed that Joseph, a local HVAC technician, was going through a family- related challenge. He also noticed Joseph’s smile and overall positive attitude in addition to his work ethic. Joseph worked early mornings unloading trucks for UPS as well as being a tech.

Chris messaged Joseph with encouragement and offered prayers. 

Chris and Joseph both tell this story, which also represents faith, one of the company’s core values, on video, HERE. 

By reaching out to Joe, Chris shows us how to proactively use social media. Another way    to showcase your company’s culture on social media is to include pictures and videos from training, holiday parties, cookouts, get-togethers, and fun activities.

A couple of months later, when Chris was in dire need of a technician, he reached out to Joseph’s wife, Lacey, on Facebook. Explaining that he was an HVAC contractor, he asked if they were looking for anything more in life. It just so happened that Joseph’s hours had been cut  and they were indeed looking for more.

Today, Joseph is the GM of Hunter Heat and Air’s Ada location overseeing a staff of 10 coworkers.

LinkedIn
All business owners should have a LinkedIn account. A common response when you tell someone this is, “Why should I have one; I’m not looking for a job.”

And while that’s true, prospective coworkers are looking for jobs. What better way to show off what you and your company are all about? Demonstrate your WHY, vision, mission, and core values. Write articles about them. Relate them to the company culture. You’re looking for people who believe what you believe. Appeal to them via your articles.        

Area Schools
Consider giving career day talks at your local public schools. Not only will you educate students, you’ll educate teachers as well (Some might even be prospective customers or coworkers).

Ben Stark adds: "Where will your new coworkers come from in five years? Get into the schools and talk about your trade. Perhaps some companies and industries in your area are rapidly declining. Find ways to touch and educate individuals looking for more. We refer to it as forward-thinking."

A Culture Book
The Service Nation Alliance helped Chris Hunter to build a company "Culture Book." It contains:

• Company vision, mission and core values
• Amenities and benefits
• Vacation and holidays
• Awards gained

"In addition, it showcases our focus on company communication, individual health and wellbeing, personal development, fun, and giving back. It demonstrates the commitment we make to our people. We pass the Culture Book out to prospective coworkers to show them what we’re all about.

"We continually train our leaders on what to look for in potential team members and the recruiting process," Hunter says.

People are Looking for More
Most supermarkets, restaurants and retail stores offer limited career opportunities. The HVAC, plumbing, and electrical professions are in a position to offer much more. And people are looking for more. As Chris said, "they want a better boss, a brighter future, and a bigger vision." People want meaning and purpose in their work. 

Be a better boss. Do you think manager in retail operations really care about their coworker's lives? As an owner or manager in our industries, you have a golden opportunity to make a real difference. Soak in and drink up Joseph Hobson's story. Offer people more.

Company Headquarters

Your office, shop, warehouse, and satellite branches are open books. They tell a story about you, your team, and your company to anyone who walks in.

What does a prospective coworker think when they walk into a disorganized and messy office? To be real, probably not much. Why? Because it’s what they’ve seen in most offices and shops. It’s what they know.

Now, imagine when that prospective coworker walks into a clean, organized, and well-run office. A friendly receptionist greets them with a warm and inviting tone. A facility tour reveals:

• Dedicated training and educational areas
• Organized dispatch, CSR, and sales areas
• Organized parts and job-staging areas in the warehouse
• Organized tool and equipment bullpen
• All coworker’s pictures and vision boards on one wall
• A clean lunchroom with a full kitchen
• Dedicated truck-washing area

Your organization is going to stick out like a lemonade stand in the desert. The type of facility we describe here tells prospective coworkers how much you care about your people. It tells the sharp ones how much you care about your customers. Who wouldn’t want to work there?

Job Fair

Hold a job fair at your office or shop. Not only is this a great chance to show off your facilities, it’s a super-great chance to show off your coworkers. Bring in folks from all departments to inform, educate, and answer your guest’s questions.

Have your top installers and service techs there showing off their vehicles and talking with guests. 

Hold 20-minute mini training sessions to provide a taste of your educational programs and training.

Make it a fun event by holding a raffle and giving away tools and meters. And, as is the case with any premium company event, bring in good food.

Create an atmosphere for your guests that simulates what it might be like to work on your team, and be sure to collect contact data and email addresses so that you can keep in touch with prospects.

In preparing for a job fair later in the day, Chris and his team shot a guided video tour of his facilities. It was a great way to entice interested parties to attend.

Offer a Career

In addition to the Career Path to Success program Ben talks about above, smart companies have structured programs to take an inexperienced person off the street and start them off on a brand-new career.

Commonly referred to in the industry as fast track programs, this type of education provides the new coworker with the basic fundamentals to get the job done.

For example, a new maintenance tech is trained to interact with the customer and how to perform a basic tune-up on a furnace and condenser.

Other positions like Comfort Advisor and CSR, are often fast-tracked as well.

The Bottom Line

People want to be on winning teams. They want to work for and with winners. Strive to be that company everyone talks about and wants to work for. Follow Ben and Chris’s lead, foster a culture of development, growth, and improvement, and do right by your people. Prospective coworkers will find you.

Hiring

A Google search on the cost of a bad hire reveals some interesting insight. The overarching theme of the first thirty search results is surprise. People are surprised by the extreme cost and detriment of hiring the wrong person. Most of the articles address “true meaning” and “true and hidden costs.”

Financially, bad-hire cost estimates range anywhere from fifteen to thirty percent of a person’s annual pay. While this is staggering, it might not even be the worst part. The non-financial  costs of extra stress and decreased morale on existing coworkers, in addition to lower productivity, will absolutely gut a company.

What Are You Looking For?
          What qualities, traits, and characteristics are you looking for in new coworkers?

Character - Does your applicant have the right character to fit in with your company culture? While the interviewer begins to get a feel for the person’s character in the first interview, a great place to start, and perhaps avoid an undesirable prospect, is social media.        

In recruiting, Chris looks for a great attitude, strong work ethic, and the desire to succeed. Traits like these, and others that are not so desirable, tend to surface in the applicant’s social media accounts. Be sure to check them out.

Growth Mindset - You want coworkers who are passionate about developing and growing as individuals. What have they done in the past to advance their careers? 

Team Oriented - Does the person work well with others? Are they supportive? What have they done in the past to help fellow coworkers? 

A Desire to Serve - Most techs like to fix things. The key is to find the ones who relish the fact that they can improve a customer’s situation, or even life, by engaging their talent and skills.

Don’t Pass on Them

Ben Stark: "If an excellent job applicant crosses our path, we hire them. It doesn’t matter if we  don’t have an open position. We hire, then we increase our marketing and/or budget as needed. With the industry labor challenges, our job is to manage the situation and act   in the best interest of our companies. Oftentimes that involves upgrading a position or moving a less-qualified person to a different role."

The One Thing

 There is one thing that successful business owners do to overcome bad hires that others do not. Establish and use a hiring process. In other words, do not use shortcuts. And whatever you do, don't wing it!.  

1. Website Application Form - The online application makes it easy for job applicants to apply. Provide a means for uploading applicants’ resumes as well.

2. Analyze Resumes From Various Online Job Sites - Scan resumes for desirable applicants.

3. Perform Social Media and Online Candidate Research - If you’re considering a prospect, check out their social media presence. You’ll most likely discover if they might or might not fit in with your culture.

4. State Background Checks and Drug Testing - In addition to conducting criminal and driving background checks and drug testing, make sure you state this practice in recruiting and public media messages. One, it weeds out undesirable candidates, and two, it informs customers and potential customers that your coworkers are top-quality people.

5. Phone Interview - Conduct a phone interview and determine whether or not you want to bring the applicant in for an onsite interview.

6. Onsite Interview - Invite the candidate into the office for an interview. Remember, you are selling your organization as much as the applicant is selling their potential. Give them the full tour, showing off your facilities.

Chris Hunter: "The owner or other significant leader should conduct the interview. It’s critical to get the right people on the bus. We involve the team leader in the process and, if the situation is right, we involve other team members as well. Every time a new coworker is added it changes the team chemistry. We must be careful and deliberate to make sure it changes for the better. We use a structured and calculated interview process that relies on open-ended and clarifying questions.

"We also attempt to involve the spouse in the interview process. If we can win the spouse’s approval on a desired candidate, it’s a done deal! As with recruiting, we continuously train our leaders on the hiring process and technique."

7. Technical Test  - Whether it’s a service technician or installer, test for technical aptitude. Design a basic mechanical aptitude test for those who may be put through a fast-track type of program.

While it’s important to check an applicant’s technical aptitude, there is one critical factor not to overlook. Some very good technicians are not good test takers. If the other criteria line    up and the applicant bombs the test, take a good hard look before you eliminate them from consideration.

8. Personality Assessment Test - Understand the candidate’s personality and behavioral tendencies by administering a personality assessment test. DISC Profile is an example. It checks for how people respond to challenges, how they influence others, and how they respond to rules and procedures.

9. Second Interview With Other Company Leaders - Have the would-be candidate’s manager or other leaders in your company interview the candidate. This helps to make sure positive and/or negative tendencies are not missed in the initial interview.

10. Include Significant Other - When hiring a married candidate, it’s good to take the couple, along with the department manager and their spouse, and your spouse, out for an informal dinner or spousal interview. Do this after the second interview.

-- Although it seems as if you’re hiring one person, with married couples you’re usually hiring two, albeit unofficially.
-- Will there be support at home?
-- Will there be a problem at home? (Author Dave Ramsey says, "...the spousal interview might help you discover if the person is married to crazy. If they are, stay away.")
-- Does the spouse share similar values?
-- Talk about your vision, your WHY and company values.
-- Demonstrate your belief in taking care of coworkers.
-- Gain the spouse's confidence.
-- Gain your spouse's opinion.

Onboarding

Onboarding is the process that a company uses to bring a new hire on board. Paperwork is completed and a thorough indoctrination to the company is performed. It happens during the new team member’s first week.

Chris Hunter:  "Onboarding takes place in our main office and never on a Monday morning. We have a team member who champions the established process. The key to getting off on the right foot is to make clear what is expected of the new team member. We show a video that explains where the company has been and where it’s going. We paint a picture of the future for them to see how they will fit in and flourish. We provide crystal-clear expectations for every position. If a team member wants to move on and become a leader, the cost and higher standard that must be achieved are in plain sight. Each new team member is assigned a mentor.

"Give new hires a ninety-day probationary period. Inform them that your company is on probation with them as well. There are few obligations from both sides during the trial period. If it doesn’t work out, dig in and really understand why. You and your team, along with the candidate, have put in significant time and effort to this point. But if it doesn’t work out, part ways."

Make it Special
Chris’s team sends flowers to the new team member’s wife welcoming them to Hunter Heat and Air. This makes a fantastic and positive impact on the new hire's spouse.   

Reprinted by permission from "It's Go-Time: Insights & Strategies to Help Your Home-Service Company SUCCEED!" by Ben Stark and Chris Hunter, with David E. Rothacker. Edited by Jason Liller. Illustrations by David Thompson. Copyright 2020 by Ben Stark, Chris Hunter, and David E. Rothacker.

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