Finding and Choosing The Best Employees

[Tim Wright]

OUt of all of the business threads that we have started, I do not remember a thread specifically aimed at choosing good employees.

For the most part, what we are told, and believe is that if you pay enough and have a good enough benefits package you will attract the best employees.

While this may have truth to it, I think that having these along with a quality work environment is not enough. In fact those things will attract nearly everyone. Everyone wants to work at a great place to work, have the max bennies, and all the time off in the world, be able to have flex time, bring in a pile of money and all the rest. Everyone will be knocking on your door and mine looking for a job just as soon as we advertise these things whether through the paper, job fair or word of mouth.

The thing that I am aiming at here is; How do you learn to read people? When you have Johnnie Joe, and Jim Bobbbbb sitting in front of you, and they both have the same skill sets, and dress the same, appear the same, how do you know that Jim Bobbbbb is a slouch, a rip off a con while Johnnie Joe is an honest hard working man?

What bodie movements if any will alert you to one or the other? What vocabulary (and this is a little easier) will tip you off?

What is it that will tell you to pick Johnnie Joe over Jim Bobbbb?

Are there classes or seminars on this issue?

Any other thoughts?

Tim

[Lawnmasters]

I have hired employees for 25 years in 3 different types of business. It has been my experience that advertising a high pay rate will reap you bunches of applicants, that doesn't mean they will be any good. The person has to have it inside them and they will be a good employee, regardless of pay. I have hired people who I thought would be great, paid three times above the local pay rate, only to have them do less than a person making shortly over minimum wage. I have hired people who I thought wouldn't make it to the end of the week, only to have them be the best I had that year. How to read is tough. I look at the type of work we are doing and look for a certain type of person that fits our manual type of work. Pretty boy Biff who pulls up in daddy's BMW isnt going to last 2 hours, or even want to work. A guy who pulls up in a modest truck or car, has real world skills like, worked on a farm, actually done some landscaping for another company, he can weld, do a little plumbing, etc. He will get my attention because we need someone who has "common sense" and the ability to get the job done no matter what happens that day. If a guy has never had to figure out a problem on his own, he won't figure out your problem out on the jobsite and get it done, he will come back to the shop.
There is no magic formula to figure it out, you just have to pick the best your gut tells you, but experience in hiring and seeing how they turn out is priceless.
Good luck in your search.