There is nothing like leaving unfinished work for the sole purpose of starting a new project for which you are not entirely prepared to begin.
But that was my situation last week, as I left my office for the airport and StonExpo 2011. There were quotes to review and prospective clients to follow up with and cash flow questions left hanging in mid air.
And...I was leaving it all behind to go speak at our annual convention in Las Vegas, delivering presentations that had a lot more rough edges than I was really comfortable with.
Why the pile of unfinished business and lack of presentation preparation?
To put it short, we are short staffed, short handed, and short on warm bodies that in fatter times we could afford to keep around just to make sure the work load remained reasonable.
Lately, when employees have moved on to greener pastures (read: any industry not related to the stone business) I have opted not to replace them in an attempt to run an ever leaner and meaner (and occasionally profitable) enterprise. The result is that my work load is heavy, and time for extracurricular activities like speaking (and writing articles) has been greatly reduced.
Thankfully, this hiring freeze is only an interim strategy to get us to the point where demand for granite counters again balances with the supply or the supply shrinks to equal demand.
That day will come!
And the day will come when orders will exceed our capacity, and we will again hire employees to fill the orders.
Whether in preparation of that day, the next glorious and golden age of granite, or out of immediate necessity, using the following strategy for hiring will generate an almost 100% success rate in identifying and recruiting high caliber employees from entry level sawyers to seasoned managers.
It all starts with defining in specific terms the ideal candidate for the position you wish to fill. In essence, a Frankenstein of sorts is created on paper... with a list of the characteristics, skills, experience, etc. that would be "ideal" for the person to possess.
Next, an employment ad is written around this profile, listing the specific qualifications the prospective employee must posses...with, a simple little request included in the ad. Instead of merely asking all applicants to email their resumes', it is crucial to demand a separate cover letter be attached briefly explaining how they meet the required qualifications.
Once the ad has run and the avalanche of resumes has hit the in-box, the first stage of evaluations takes place.
At least 1/2 of the applicants will not have read the ad carefully enough and will fail to include the cover letter! Boom! Delete all resumes lacking this cover letter.
The next step is identifying the applicants who appear on paper to posses the traits necessary to fill the position.
Those folks are invited to a "Recruitment Seminar" (also known as a "Group Interview") that will take place on the premises during the week after working hours. It is important to inform the applicants that the meeting will start promptly as scheduled and latecomers will not be allowed in. Note: do not, I repeat, do not tell people they are being invited to a "group interview!"
Usually 50 to 75% of applicants actually agree to attend the recruitment seminar and 75% of those actually show up.
By having applicants on site makes it easier to explain and describe your business and a large number of pre-qualified prospects can be met in a natural and comfortable setting.
The recruitment seminar should be no longer than 1 hour: 20 minutes to describe the company and the position being filled, 10 minutes for questions from the applicants, and 30 minutes for short interviews for the applicants who are still interested in the position.
We give each applicant a 3-4 minute "short" interview where we ask each of them the following three questions: 1) What did you hear today that resonated with you? 2) Describe an impossible challenge you have faced, yet overcame 3) What difference would you make if you came to work here?
By keeping it to 3-4 minutes and asking all applicants the same three questions, a much more objective analysis can be made about who should progress to the next stage.
At the conclusion of this short interview, we tell each applicant to expect a call from us by the end of the week to inform them of the next step, or to thank them for their time and that we've decided they don't fit our profile. Usually 4 in 5 attendees are eliminated, meaning in a single hour, 12 of 15 nominally qualified applicants that would have otherwise required a standard interview, have been eliminated. The others move onto the next step.
The next step is scheduling a phone interview with those prospects that truly meet the qualifications and made a strong impression during the short interview.
The phone interview includes more specific questions regarding their work experience and work history and is 7-10 questions long.
Usually two out of three applicants who make it to the phone interview actually make it to the next step...the actual "in-person" interview.
We always conduct the in-person interview in a two-on-one scenario, meaning myself and a supervisor (usually of the department we hiring for) will conduct the interview and it lasts up to 1-1/2 hours. We ask almost 25 carefully selected questions relating to how they interact with others, how they deal with frustration, and how they have dealt with difficult work situations in the past.
Of course, we are interested in their technical skills, but I have found that the greatest technical skills are ineffective if the person can't fit into a team situation and constructively deal with stress on a daily basis.
After the one-on-one interview, my supervisors and I put our heads together and decide whether or not the final applicants actually meet or fit the profile we created when we originally set out to fill the position. If they do, we check references and make the offer.
If they don't, it's time to start all over.
That's right, we have gone through this entire process and decided not to hire because no one fit the bill.
This process, which I learned from my business coach, while it appears time consuming, will save hours and hours of time wasted with applicants who don't posses the right qualifications and would never meet expectations.
In this day and age, making a hiring mistake can cost thousands...thousands of dollars in wasted training, delays, and potential litigation.
Good times will return to our industry and we will again be wondering how to get all the work done. Don't be caught off guard, short staffed or constrained by a time consuming hiring process that produces mediocre results.
Aaron J. Crowley is the founder and president of FabricatorsFriend.com, the exclusive promoter of Stone Sleeve fabricator sleeves and Bullet Proof aprons. He is also the author of Less Chaos More Cash. You can reach him by email at Aaron@CrowleysGranite.com
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