The First Step of Successful Recruiting

As a home service contractor, you’ve probably heard the mantra “always be recruiting” more times than you’d like to think about. But what does this mantra mean?

Does it mean posting your ads to job boards every few weeks? Does it mean visiting supply houses periodically to drop off fliers? Does it mean frequently sharing “now hiring” content on social media?

Sure, those activities are all effective; they certainly contribute to your “always be recruiting” goals. But are you really thinking about your strategy? Are you applying an intentional, disciplined approach to recruiting in your business?

Over the last three years, I’ve facilitated periodic recruitment trainings. During one exercise, I ask participants to brainstorm the daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual processes and procedures that go into successfully running a business. I invite volunteers to share some of their answers.

Participants frequently mention answering phones, running service calls, paying bills, payroll, month end, inventory, fleet management, etc. I then ask, by a show of hands, who listed recruiting as a business process. I have yet to see a hand go up in response to that question.

Why don’t we consider recruiting a legitimate business practice that’s just as important as running service calls or closing month end? If you’re not recruiting and hiring people, there won’t be service calls to run or month ends to close. People are everything to your business. You can’t run your business without a team. Disciplined, intentional recruiting is a daily task.

The contractors who are having the most success with recruiting — even during the COVID-19 restrictions — are discussing recruiting daily. Success looks like this: Each department head discusses what openings they have. Then, each department head commits to a proactive recruiting-related activity they will work on for the day.

This includes reaching out to people in their network, family, friends, suppliers, former and current employees, and former applicants. A daily, constant focus on recruiting sets the tone from the top down that recruiting is an important part of running a business.

Recruiting should be discussed during department meetings and all-staff meetings. Remind employees what openings are available; make sure to plug your company’s employee referral bonus. If your company doesn’t have an employee referral bonus, why not? You’d be surprised how effective this can be!

Recruiting updates should also be a topic of leadership meetings. If you have an in-house recruiter, invite them to these meetings so they can give a status update on each position. Which positions are open? How many people have applied? How many phone and/or in-person interviews were conducted the prior week, and how many offers or hires were made?

If your company does not have an in-house recruiter, each department head should be prepared to give a similar update for their respective department.

Discussing recruiting constantly and during meetings adds a level of intentionality and focus to the important and legitimate business process that is recruiting. Recruiting is woven into the fabric of who your company is. When real focus is placed on recruiting, success will follow.