Hiring the Right People!

Job Adverts - Inspire to Hire

We changed our job advert about two years ago and we're getting better quality techs and far more of them. We've even had to turn a few away, which is an odd problem to have after struggling to attract just one in years before. Here's two of the main changes that we've made that have made a difference:

Sell Them on Your Company and Give Realistic Expectations

I used the wording and language that Simon Sinek uses in his book "Start With Why". Although it's a book about finding the core drive behind your business and why you turn up everyday, it gives some great examples on how to effectively communicate to others and pull them along with you. We also found a contact through a business networking group that offers a whole bunch on benefits for employees at relatively low cost to ourselves (our employees would never be able to get these services for anywhere near the price that we're getting them for). One of the things that Simon tells you to do is to give your prospective employee  realistic expectations of what they going to get themselves into, there's no point in selling someone a dream that falls flat the moment they come for the interview or join you.

If you want a good example of these kinds of job adverts, look for the more innovative type of companies, like a Mindvalley for example. They may not be in home services, but when you look at how they sell their company and their jobs, it's very compelling (Check out a few adverts from each company; companies like Mindvalley seem to let each department pull together the job advert rather than doing it through a centralized HR department).

A lot of what Simon and Mindvalley (I'm sure they're following Simon's playbook) are doing these days is to give the prospective employee a reason, or even a calling, to join your team so that they can feel proud of and feel like they're contributing to something bigger than themselves. No matter what service you offer, you are making a significant difference in the lives of the people you serve and it's not to mushy to say that. If you believe strongly against working over time or on weekends and you believe that spending quality time with family is of primary importance to you, then make that clear to them - you will find someone that resonates with that and it could make them choose you over a higher paying competitor.

Basic job adverts from years gone by are proving ineffective these days, unless you're offering a whopping, industry leading salary or your company has such a big brand, you almost want to scare some applicants away if they're not already committed to finding your jobs and applying.

Offer Security Incentives - Family's Are Very Important

Life and injury insurance have been a big one that people have mentioned when they come for an interview. We also have health insurance that provides doctor appointments online for children for free, with free prescriptions. These benefits seem to attract a family man or woman who are looking for security for their families rather than a quick payday. Younger people wanting to have a family one day seem to be attracted by these benefits too. The fear of getting injured or dying and having no way to support your family is a big motivating factor for a lot of people that have applied to us in recent years.

Google Reviews Are King

Other than the two changes that we made (above) that have worked very well for us, something that is mentioned again and again by people who have joined us within the last two years, in particular, are our good Google Reviews.

People seem to try gauge how good a prospective employer will be based on their Google Reviews. If you can rack up a whole bunch of 5-star reviews it says that you're a successful customer with a lot of customers. It also gives them a feel for what you offer your customers and the manner in which you treat your customers (never fight or argue with a customer on the reply to a review - even if they're completely out of line). I just pretend that I'm in a big corporate and I'm give a very airy, "Thank you for taking the time to leave us feedback. I'm sorry to year about your poor experience with us. We pride ourselves on offering a high level of service and we want to make sure that you're taken care of. Please contact our Store/Company/Shop so that we can resolve your issue." It doesn't matter if you've already had a blow out with this customer in-person or over the phone, no one reading will be any the wiser. Everything public is all about marketing yourself to prospective customers and employees and tells them what type of experience they could expect to receive from you should something go wrong. My trainer once said it best, "If I don't see a 1-stat review on Google, then I don't believe it's a real company. Everyone knows that there are some unreasonable people out there, so if it's a real company, I expect to see at least some bad reviews."

I hope at least some of these help. They've made a big difference for us.