To Hire or Not to Hire
When I first took over Roto-Rooter in Austin, the turnover rate was over 400%. After doing some math on the subject, I soon realized that it was costing me somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000 in lost time, training cost, etc, every time I lost a service technician. It didn’t take me long to realize I needed a plan.
1) Who you hire matters- Your business is like your family. You should be as deliberate about your choice of employees as you would about bringing a new member into your family. You owe it to yourself to do your due diligence. Check out the person’s Facebook page and Linkedin profile. Most people leave a wide digital footprint.
2) Determine what kind of person you want- As your coach, the one thing I can’t change is who you are fundamentally. I am a big believer that who you are is more important than what you know. Obviously you would like the person to have some experience. However, the right personality can be even more important. I did an exercise with one of my clients the other day. I had him list all of the requirements for the position he was looking to fill. Then I asked him to check off the things that I could not teach a new employee. Out of 15 requirements, we determined that 14 of them were teachable skills. Once my client started hiring the best personality fit for their organization, their turnover dropped almost 70%.
3) Interview, Interview, Interview- I always interviewed more than once, even in a highly competitive environment like plumbing. I wanted to make sure I knew the person. My job, as the interviewer, is to get the candidate to talk as much as possible. My goal is to try and extract all the information from the candidate as that I can. I am not here to argue. No matter what answer they give, my expression remains as friendly as possible.
Using these three steps as the cornerstone of my hiring plan, I was able to cut my turnover by almost 300%. The times I got into trouble was when I tried to circumvent the plan to hire a “must have” candidate. Identify you plan and stick to it. If you would like further details, please let me know.