It’s Hard To Find Good Help

My Grandfather and his brother ran a successful contracting business in my small hometown. It has been passed down for generations and now my cousin is running it. They’ve never had an advertisement and yet there is a waiting list of over a year to get them to build you a house, even in the current crappy housing market. They don’t even have signs on their trucks. Their staff is small, and their overhead is low. The quality of their work- unmatched.

They run a tight ship, and when they do hire, like most small business owners, they are looking for a competent, trustworthy, reliable employee.

One summer while I was waiting to go back to college, I worked for them. It was a great experience and I loved it. Looking back on it now, I also learned a lot while I was there.

My grandfather has passed away, but one of the things he used to say on the job site has stuck with me. It was kind of a running joke. Every time someone would screw up a measurement, or the angle of a cut was off, he would look at them, shake his head, and say “It’s hard to find good help.” This of course would embarrass the hell out of the guy who had screwed up, and everyone else would get a good laugh. If you messed up around him, you knew it was coming.

There’s a lot of truth in that statement, “It’s hard to find good help.” Have you experience the woe’s of trying to hire an employee that performed to your expectations? It’s difficult. For many small business owners, the “good ones” are few and far between.

Here’s what my grandfather did, perhaps unknowingly, to attract people who performed.

1. Make it clear up front what is expected from the employee, before you hire them. If an employee get’s hired under the assumption that he/she will be doing one thing, and then they end up doing something else, they may be unhappy and may even feel that they were deceived.

2. When they screw up, let them know about it, but in a way that they can deal with. This can be touchy, but the “It’s hard to find good help” technique works pretty well at letting someone know they screwed up, they can do better and that you have a sense of humor.

3. Reward positive behavior. This is the single most important thing you can do. Reinforcing good behavior can come in many forms, a simple “good job” will do in most cases, if something big was accomplished, a gift or bonus may be the way to go. Use your own judgment but never let a day go by without rewarding good behavior.

4. The old adage, fire fast and hire slow is more true than ever. In a down economy, businesses that hire have more options to choose from– you can be more picky. Take time to find someone who will work well within your company. Conduct multiple interviews if you need to. Have other staff members talk with them and get a feel for their vibe. It will help.

How do you approach the hiring process? What secrets of success do you have for hiring stars?