How to hire an outstanding decorator
We are a decorator and we are really busy, what do you do? There are a few options. Put your prices up so that you take your customers base back to what you can handle. You could pass the extra work that you cannot handle onto your decorator friends or you can take someone one and expand your business.
If you take someone on you can either take on an apprentice or you can take on a qualified decorator. There is too much to discuss here so I will just talk about taking someone on in general. In my experience what most decorators do is put the word out that they are looking for someone, maybe put a card in the paint suppliers who they use.
Someone rings you up, you have a chat with the and they start Monday.
Is this a good system to recruit someone? I would say that it is not.
Why?
Well there are a few reasons: -
Firstly, your net was not very wide, just putting the word out is not going to reach many people and your ideal employee or subbie may not be in there.
Secondly, you chatted on the phone and then just started them. Guess what? I didn’t get my job at college that way, I had to have a proper interview against other candidates. Can you imagine the College principal saying “Oh yeah Pete, come in Monday and start” it would never happen that way because they are a proper organisation.
Thirdly, you did not give them a trial period, they may be completely useless, or they may become useless after a few days. You may say that you would get rid of them at that point but it’s not really a good approach to take.
The main thing is that you need to have a system for taking someone on and not just make it up as you go along.
Spray Paint Decoration
4 年I have had the pleasure of proof reading this book and again Pete has written a fantastic book that is hard to put down.
Painting and Decorating Lecturer City of Liverpool College
4 年Basically we all worked for the same contractor. Decorating all aspects overall price all committed split equally. We also had our own businesses if one of us had no work we would pay them an agreed hourly rate the same for everyone. We were always kept busy and looked after each other, Never out of work
Painting and Decorating Lecturer City of Liverpool College
4 年Hi Pete, Same sentiments I also had a lack of trust for someone leaving the same quality and cleanliness. However worked with a great team of decorating contractors we all worked together shared the profits on a big job. If ones work was slow we phoned a colleague who was busy setting the same hourly rate for all. We were always busy, customers were always happy.
Delivering high quality decorating in & around London
4 年When I came out of IT, I worked for a builder helping him develop his management skills. And it was the same. Someone would ring up looking for work and he would start them on Monday. I introduced an interview process into the mix and the difference it made was really noticeable. Just by asking a few questions you get the feel or someone whether they would be a good fit and the amount they knew. We obviously rejected more people then we employed. He still uses the interview today when hiring.