Lance Sinclair
Contributing Writer
Success Academy

We all need good people on our team.

Even if we are fully staffed – a successful business is always seeking out top talent.  At Success Academy we have always taught that a manager should spend 1/3 of their time managing, 1/3 of their time training, and 1/3 of their time recruiting.  Larry Bossidy once said, “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.”

Hiring today is not like it use to be…

The tide has turned. No longer can employers tell employees, “Like it or leave it.”  In today’s marketplace, attracting and retaining good employees is a top priority in both large and small businesses.

Worse yet, once you make a hiring decision, can you retain them? “In some companies, turnover rates among hourly workers are as high as 80{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} to well over 100{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f}” (according to Joan C. Williams, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, who studies work-life issues; Wall St. Journal, 10/3/11).

“You need to have a hiring process.” said Steve Jobs in the Steve Jobs Book

Let’s examine a five step process:

Step One: Recruitment Ads

Recruitment is all about finding the right people.  But the old rules no longer apply.  Today recruitment includes a serious referral program in your business, radio ads, job fairs and open houses, internet recruiting sites, church newsletters, and community organizations. Of course the internet and social media are important as well.

64{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of recruiters say they use two or more social-media networks (primarily Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter) to find candidates. About 40{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} report using three or more of these networks. Of all the social-media networks (most notably Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Plus, BranchOut and BeKnown), the vast majority of respondents (84{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f}), say they use LinkedIn (Jobvite’s Social Recruiting Survey 2011 — a survey of 800 recruiters and HR professionals; Workforce Management ezine, 8/25/11).

Another option may be recruitment from local career centers at schools and colleges in your state.  Go to www.rwm.org for as complete listing, by state, of vocational schools locations, phone numbers and contact information.

Most local newspapers also have an on-line edition – which normally includes a job search function.

Step Two: Initial Call

Have you called your office lately and pretended to be a job seeker?  What did they say?  Was it something like, “Yes, you can come by the office anytime and complete an application…”

In today’s market – few, if any, potential employees will “drop by the office” to “complete an application.”

Today’s workforce wants instant gratification. If you miss the opportunity to answer their questions now – they will hang up and go to the next call.

Make sure your entire team knows you are recruiting and let them see the ad you place. Have employment applications ready. Make sure you or a manager on duty are able to speak with every inquiry and are able to clear your calendar to meet with the candidate.

Step Three: First Interview

The goal of the first interview is 1. Sell the company and the job, 2. Let the applicant know what your standards are including drug screens and background checks, 3. Be real and don’t sugar coat things, 4. Let the applicant ask questions, and 5. Let the applicant know the next steps.

You must first sell the opportunity to the potential employee.  This can be accomplished by either a printed presentation in a three-ring binder or a PowerPoint presentation.

The presentation should include: Your company story (who you are), Product story (what you do), Service Story (how you do it), Guarantee story (what makes you different), Market potential (room for growth) and How you develop leads (take your company to market).

Step Four: Checks

It is highly recommended you contact past employers.  You may only get verification of time employed… or you may be surprised at what you may hear.  Remember, always ask, “Would you hire _____ again?”

Before proceeding too far in the selection process be sure to conduct a Driving Record check, A Drug Test check, and a National Criminal Background check.

Consider a personality profile as a part of the hiring process. 49{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of the companies surveyed in 2012 said they were using personality and competency assessments to evaluate current employees and job candidates. (That’s an increase from 40{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} in 2011.) (Aberdeen Group survey; Workforce magazine, 1/28/13).

Step Five: Now What?

Once the decision has been made to bring on a new employee – the work has just begun.  After all, research has shown that most new hires decided if they are staying or leaving the company within the first 5 days of employment! Steven Covey once said, “Within three weeks your employees will treat your customers exactly as they have been treated themselves”.

Have you and your team put together an orientation plan.  Then train, train, train!

Don’t just get them – Keep them!

Lance Sinclair began his career spraying lawns for a small start-up company. Within weeks, he became the Sales Manager. Shortly thereafter, he ascended to Service Manager, then Branch Manager, and then Regional Operations Manager. In time, he and several partners left to start their own service business, and in four short years, they grew that business’ sales from $0 to $24 million. After selling the business to a consolidator, he took a break from the contracting industry and successfully owned and operated several service companies. Inevitably, he ventured back to contracting and took a position as Director of People Services and later Director of Training & Development for a Fortune 300 company. Lance joined Success Group International in February 2004.  He began working in Operations then moved to Marketing and eventually landed at Success Academy. In his current role at Success Academy, Lance Sinclair is responsible for the development, design, delivery, and evaluation of all training and development programs for the Franchise and Company-owned locations.