Hiring and Recruiting Employees - Solve the People Problem! - LJN Blog Posts

Using a Recruiting and Hiring process to solve the People Problem!“There is a way to do it better – find it” – Thomas Edison.As business owners and managers in the landscape industry we all complain about the access to skilled workers in this business yet most of us don’t do anything to manage the problem. We have had the good fortune of having an apprenticeship program so that we can attract, train, and maintain our new workforce. It is a powerful tool and it’s not being used as often as it should be. Using the programs will allow our industry to grow tremendously having trade certification brings our industry to another level. Our trade certification is every bit as recognized as a carpenter, an electrician or a plumber with this certification. Before hiring a potential candidate for the apprenticeship program or any other position in the company, make sure you have a system to hire Superstars!The people problem is much easier to overcome if you use a hiring system that ensures you find and motivate the right people. Everybody on the team needs to have the right attitude and everybody needs to be a problem solver – without this you will never make a profit in this or any business, it’s that simple! People talk about motivating people to often the truth is in my experience, the right people motivate themselves. As a business owner you will be further ahead to invest your time and efforts into finding the right people that are self motivated than trying to motivate people who can’t find it in themselves to solve problems and work effectively. If there is one lesson I have learned running a landscape business it would be – you cannot change people, but you can train them to understand how to change themselves!As a company in any business your overall company objective needs to be simple:o Achieve your volume targeto Perfect qualityo Perfect safetyo Reduced cost of productiono Increased productivityBy hiring the right people these objectives can become reality, without the right people it will be impossible.RecruitingBy implementing a simple yet effective recruiting system you create opportunities for your company to complete high quality work in less time in a safe atmosphere. By hiring the right people you are preparing your company to produce the results you really desire, a highly skilled team with the right system will create opportunities at every turn – by recruiting year round using a recruiting system you will prepare your company to grow and continuously improve successfully. If you don’t have the right people on the team there is no chance for successful expansion of the company or your profits. Recruiting is really quite simple in theory, the more people you consider the better the chance you have of finding the superstars. By using a system to screen those candidates your chances of finding superstars improves exponentially. Imagine screening 5000 candidates a year, then hiring only 50 of them and ultimately keeping only 5 people on after their probationary period – that would mean you hired 1 in 5000 applicants, if you were hiring without a system, and you simply hire the first guy to apply each time, it would take you 5000 hires to find the same 5 superstars! Consider your company like a pro sports team, you need to hire the best if you want to win, and by winning, we are suggesting that anything less than double digit profits is a loss!• Why is recruiting the best people so important?o The best companies in any industry are built on the best people in the industry• Recruiting Hireso Where to Post – the more ads placed in various areas the better chance we have of finding a more diverse group of candidates. Hiring from outside the industry is usually where a great deal of opportunity exists. For example, landscape construction firms it is wise to advertise directly to the building trades to find well trained highly skilled mature workers. For example, snow and ice contractors are wise to advertise in agricultural areas to attract farmers with winter downtime, or on the government website to attract seasonal workers who do not have any other work in the winter. By advertising on-line we expand our reach significantly – the more applicants we receive the better our chances are in hiring the right person for the job. The number of applicants should be considered a funnel – starting with a large number, and after using the hiring process described in the course, you are left with just a few highly qualified individuals with an attitude that allows them to excel in your organization. Association websites Association publications Government job banks Classified websites Newspaper classifiedso What to Post Write descriptive job postings to attract the right people for the jobo When to Post Late in the winter a few weeks earlier than the competition The benefit of getting the best people will outweigh the costs of a few weeks salary spent looking for good peopleo Best Practices A great website will help impress potential candidates and help you stand out from other companies who are also recruiting If you don’t have an office to interview privately than consider renting a conference room in a hotel or a boardroom at an executive rental center for the day to interview your candidates more professionally. Present your company as a career opportunity, make the candidate want the jobHiring ProcessThe risks of not following a well documented include: Confused, hesitant, unengaged employees Frustrated supervisors Lower productivity, increased inefficiency + waste Risk of accident/incident involving new hire or others in their vicinity Risk of equipment damage due to improper inspection/maintenance/operation Company procedures falling apart• Pre-interview – consider using a pre-interview question sheet that potential candidates need to complete via the internet prior to being interviewed. By using the pre-interview concept you expand your reach and interview more people in less time, this allows you to spend more time doing personal interviews and testing with the right people.• Job-interviewo Make sure you are organized and prepared with a list of questions to asko Situational interview questions will provide a great deal of insight into the nine areas listed belowIn both the pre-interview and personal interview most of the questions should be positioned to gather information relating to the following:1. Team Orientation2. Initiative3. Oral Communication4. Problem Identification5. Problem Solutions6. Practical Learning7. Work Pace8. Adaptability9. Mechanical aptitudeAfter the personal interview, the recruiter should decide if the candidate is worthy of the testing phase to confirm aptitude and skills. If areas 1, 2, 3 look good in the interview than its time to consider areas 3-9. Using aptitude and skills testing will help make the initial decision, but we recommend using a two week working interview and a 3 month probation to ultimately allow a more accurate assessment of areas 3 to 9 before offering a career to a potential candidate.Aptitude Testing – this test can be designed on paper or it can be completed using our Aptitude Testing Modules provided in our web training modules. These aptitude tests will help the interviewer understand how the applicant thinks and solves problems, and the tests will also help assess current trade related knowledge. We have different aptitude tests available on line for Construction Landscape Technician, Construction Landscape Labourer Unskilled, Horticulturalist, Landscape Maintainer, Snow and Ice Technician, Carpenter, Stonemason, AZ Driver, Delivery Driver, Landscape Designer, Office Admin, Accounting, and general manager. Our landscape management network members have access to all of this testing online and simply provide their potential candidates with a password to complete their tests on-line to save the time investment in the interviewing process.Skills Testing – the applicant completes three tasks that relate to the position and/or completes a short written skills test to ensure that the skills and knowledge of the candidate meet the job criteria.These tests allow us to first assess Safety, teamwork, process, capability to monitor changing conditions, general problem solving, attention to quality, responsibility, and adaptability. Second – we can assess the candidates mechanical aptitude, mechanical knowledge, industry knowledge and skill set.Once we have clearly made these assessments we can then assess our risks and rewards clearly. We need to do the testing to accurately consider risks like turnover, theft, absenteeism, compensation claims, legal claims, capability to learn, ability to do the work mentally and physically, and last but not least work pace. Work pace can only be accurately assessed by completing a two week interview immediately upon being hired. The landscape industry is physically demanding – some people just are not prepared for the physical challenge – and do not forget, the world is full of mentally and physically lazy people and the two usually go hand in hand!After deciding to make a hire the next steps involve the more process driven items, we suggest turning this work over to the office administration staff if possible.• Reference Checkso You need to complete reference checks to fully assess the risks of hiring the candidate. I have been amazed at how few reference check phone calls I have received over the years.o You will learn a lot about the potential candidates if you craft a simple set of questions to draw out the key information from the past employer, just simply asking for an opinion will not be fruitful since most business owners are apprehensive about stating the ugly side of a past relationship for fear of reprisals.• Offer of Employment letterAfter providing the offer of employment it is wise to add into the offer that it is valid based on the applicant submitting a complete health physical and a criminal background check. This will flush out any issues before hiring the candidate.• Employment Contracts – LMN members have access to templates for this hiring process, we highly recommend having a detailed employment contract with every employee. This contract will provide you with a great deal of clarity, and it can help you avoid many legal claims in the future.After making the hire be sure to use a similar process to provide a new worker orientation and training program to ensure that the time spent in the hiring process is put into action.• Post-Hire Procedureso Employee Information Form (systems library) Orientation + Signoffs• Health + safety policy• Employment policy• Employee handbook• New Employee Orientation Procedure• Benefits waivers (if applicable) Create employee file Income Tax Forms Employee mail slot/correspondence area Work Information• Days, start/end times• Holiday/vacation info Payroll information (frequency, dates, process) … go through the New Hire Procedure and highlight other key tasks• Best Practiceso Clearly specify probation period If you have a ‘bad’ feeling before the end of the probation period, better to terminate relationship at that pointOrientationThe main purpose of the new worker orientation is to simply protect the employee and start the relationship in a clearly defined manner. An employee will understand the culture you are striving to create from day one if they begin their career this way.o Protect the health + safety of new hire Industry uses many young, seasonal workers that are not familiar with the work Unskilled workers may be unfamiliar with equipment, associated job hazards and find themselves in dangerous situationso Increase productivity of new hire Identify company policies, processes and eliminate the small questions so that the employee can focus on the work at hand.o Prevent mistakes/inefficiencies that result from “not knowing”o Help new hire feel the company’s commitment to their personal developmento Protect the company Orientations are legally required Orientations + signoffs protect the company’s liability in case of an accident, injury, or incident• Who to orient?o Everyoneo Different orientations for different roles• What to oriento Follow Employee Orientation Procedure in Systems Library on LMN or create your own procedure to ensure that all employees receive the same orientation. It should provide the new worker with all of the information required to work according to company policy and in accordance to government requirements for health and safety.• When to oriento Start day employee is hired prior to going to work in the fieldo Key orientation must be done the minute employee begins employment before employee is exposed to any hazards Cover safety + PPE procedures Identify hazards, hazard controls, + first aid procedureso Consult Government department of labor for legislated training requirements and deadlines or use our documents on Landscape Management Network in the Human Resources areao Orientation does not stop after first day Ongoing training is the key to success Employee changes role, position in company• Where to oriento Shopo Vehicleso Jobsites• Best Practiceso Orientation is not enough – must get written signoffs from employeeo Employee Handbook will cover most (if not all) company policies and document many best processes/procedureso Specifically assign supervisors to orient employees – key responsibility for role of supervisorso Follow up with employees after 1 week, follow up with supervisor Ensure orientation process is occurring continuouslyo Film your company’s basic orientation on movie camera Identify key areas of shop + key company procedures• Shop safety areas + equipment• AM procedures• PM procedures• Working days + hours (start times, end times)• Payroll procedures• Vehicle/equipment procedureso Operating requirementso Maintenanceo Inspectionso Parking Make sure to…• Use video as an aid – don’t rely on video for complete orientation• Ask new hire to write down questions during video to address at the end• Confirm/check that employee understood and absorbed ALL information with questions and knowledge checks• You must still get employee signoffs• Keep video currentThis article was written by Mark Bradley, president of The Beach Gardener Inc, and Landscape Management Network. This is the first of a series of articles designed to help Landscape Ontario members implement systems to continuously improve their companies and eliminate waste. For more information visit landscapemanagementnetwork.com.

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