Hiring employees through values

Hiring employees through values

Hiring employees whether painters, office staff is never easy, we have learned some tough lessons over the years by hiring the wrong type of person.

There have been angry ones, irrational ones, demanding and just plain old you don't want to be around them. One of the typical ones is the type that never can do wrong, even when they do something totally abusing the company policy they don't understand why they had to be let go and they don't end it at termination. Angrily leaving voicemails, verbally abusing anyone who answers the phone or leaving irrational posts on our social media sites.

We decided there had to be another way and there was, by creating our key company values which are. Dependability, Commitment, Relationships and Accountability and using those as the basis we hire or don't hire someone and never wavering from it. 

Whether experienced or not a bad seed who doesn't share our values will totally ruin the morale of the other workers quickly. So from the pre-screening interview to the actual interview, we are trying to determine whether this person will be a fit for our company.

By doing so we have gathered a great group of people who I would want to be around each day and are excited to come to work and a team that does great things each day.

Here is a recent video I made discussing this very topic.

Art Snarzyk to the rescue

"We need help!"

When we decided we could use some help managing employees we reached out to a few companies who all seemed to offer the same cookie cutter routines

But then I remembered a conversation I had with Art Snarzyk a few years ago that he most likely does not remember. 

I was having an issue with an irrational employee who was let go and I asked a few leaders in our industry what they typically do and they all said call Art.

I reached out via email and Art answered right away, no sales pitch no pressure and no cost. His answer wasn't really what I was expecting, he asked a few questions and said this person is a certain type of personality and this is what you need to say to diffuse the situation.

It worked like a charm and we parted ways and that was my last conversation with Art until this year.

I wanted the employees in the office to better understand me really, why do I need things done now, not wasting too much time thinking about it or planning or having idle chit-chat (I zone out)

How does he know all of this? A disc profile which basically asks a bunch of questions in different ways and out pops a very accurate personality type. I am a high D and High C which means I get things done quickly and will get frustrated with others who may plan and take longer. 

This can come off as not listening, not caring and tough to work with. It was great for others to see how to interact with me, I need quick questions not drawn out stories and an answer whether right or wrong. Just not doing something is not good.

So beyond knowing about me what this enabled us to do is making important decisions regarding employees, painters and even clients when we're out on estimates. Knowing what words can resolve situations or get the result you and is huge in our business.

From a sales standpoint I meet so many different types of people, some I get along with right away and some not, the key for us is knowing what personality type this person may be. If they are like me they don't need a full drawn out sales pitch, they want the info and price and let's do it. Or it may be another type that needs so much information they may be suited with a different estimator and that is where our team is so well balanced right now,we have different types of people for each unique situation and we will switch up relationships frequently.

If you or your company may need something like this I highly recommend Art and 

InnerView Advisors, give him a call and you will not regret it

Preparing for winter

Winter is on the way:

For the painting business, this normally means one thing a slowdown, layoffs, scrambling for work etc.

Typically after the holidays painting may be the last thing anyone is thinking about, they had family over during the holidays they are paying off bills and simply regrouping.

For the painting company they should be preparing for this all summer and fall by marketing, contacting clients.

The theme of this blog is not marketing however it is how do we determine who continues to work?

This may seem like a tough decision but the whole summer and fall is an audition for this.

We track production of their jobs, return trips to correct their work, days they called off, refusal of overtime.

All of these things play a role is deciding when things slow down who will continue to work, without having routine employee reviews that superstar painter may not know his jobs have been underperforming or he is considered difficult to work with or the office cringes when we here his or her name.

Use this time to make your team stronger, remove troublemakers and it is also a great time to find painters that may be unhappy somewhere else but would be a great fit within your company.

It is not the time to lay low and let the winter pass by. It is the best time to find new painters, develop new systems and make your business grow.

How We Hire Painters

How we hire painters is a bit different than probably
 most other companies in the fact we hire on character and not experience.

I would rather hire a great person and train them than hire someone of bad character who brings baggage in with them at the same time. This only will drag down the other workers and create a culture no one would ant to be in and one that cannot thrive.

Some of my best hires have been interviews that are rally quick chats to see if they look me in the eye when speaking, come early and are dressed properly for an interview.

We look for people who can uphold our mission statement and continue the quality work we strive for each day while working within a team and having goals of their own, not just using the job as a way to earn money or th painters that hop from one company to the next.

We have gone through many of these types and feel this year we have the best team we have ever put together, all striving to do what is right for the company and for the customer while maintaining a positive outlook each day.

10 Things you should be doing

Things you “should” be doing

Every day I am amazed at the things people should be doing but just don’t.

Does it come from how they were brought up or simply they are not fit to be around other people?

I see it doing interviews at Amato Painting, pre-qualifying potential employees, estimates, at the store

Here are my top ten pet peeves

1)      Not holding the door for someone when leaving or entering a store, this is common courtesy, hold the door even if yu have to wait

2)      Not moving to the left lane when cars are merging from a ramp on the right.

3)      Bringing your cell phone into an interview and answering it?  Now this is an automatic disqualifier for us

4)      Wearing sunglasses through your whole interview

5)      Not saying thank you in any instance

6)      Not looking me in the eye when I speak to you, are you hiding something?

7)      Scheduling an estimate, confirming it and then not being home

8)      Confirming an interview and not showing up and then begging for another one

9)      Not treating others in a respectful manner or as you would like to be treated

10)   Knowing the rules but expecting to be treated differently

These are just a few of the things I come across each day and things we look for in our job interviews, my job interviews are generally very quick and short as I am looking for character more so than your experience, degree etc.

Check your Social Media pages too, if you're applying for job interviews and your profile pic is you at a party drinking and other things with profanities and slang throughout your profile. Where is the first place you think employers look?

I am not saying I am the perfect person and sometimes break my own rules but work

hard each day to become a better person and offer something to the community

Snow day but not really

A snow day when I was a kid was a day to have fun with friends and not have to go to school and for some adults, this is the same just subtract school and add work in.
But when running a business is there really a day off?
Since I am writing this blog that answer is no.

A day off, while everyone is off, is the perfect day to catch my breath and evaluate things that are moving so fast on a normal day. When no one is in, customers have no demands time moves slow and I can check in on almost every process in our company and trust me there are a ton of them

We are always striving to make each process better for us and our clients, on a typical day they are all work in progress, continually updating, changing and updating.

Wehn things slow down, I can track the success of them, remove some and add others.
I bet the most changes I make come on Sundays and holidays while everyone else if off and it is most likely the least favorite of my employees when they return to work the next day as 100% there will be changes and evaluations

It may be a painting company however, we are really filling the roles of many different trades such as color consultants, psychologists for our customers and employees, human resources, delivery drivers, carpenters, cleaners and much more. Not too mention the sales aspect and accounting.  It seems as if I am pulled in so many different directions.

This is why I am steadfast on my time, I strictly enforce my available time and delegate many tasks to the appropriate person not working on the day to day tasks but managing and training the employees to make their own decisions as I would.

So a snow day to most is fun and relaxing a snow day for me actually means extra work , the normal days are less work as my team is back in.

Sorry Is For Suckers

Sorry is for suckers

I'm sorry, sorry for that, I apologize, my fault is one of my biggest pet peeves and something I correct and do not allow around the office.

Not that we do not want to be polite or the customer isn't always right but as soon as you say any of those words you have lowered yourself and gave the other person the thought they were correct and you will back down whether right or wrong.

Once you say those words you mise well have said your right even if your wrong and I will do anything you say

Sorry is self-demeaning and if you cannot lift yourself up you are going to be taken full advantage of by others

Sorry makes you seem unfit for leadership roles in some eyes

 It also sends a message that you would rather agree then be honest, over times your apologies will come across as submissive and make you a pushover for others to take advantage of. Over apologizing creates guilt and undermines your own self-esteem.

Instead of I'm sorry, say thank you for bringing that to my attention

"Just" is another one of those words,

I just wanted to reach out, I just have a few things to go over, sorry for calling but I just have a few things to talk about. If they were truly sorry they wouldn’t call knowing it is a bother. Get right to the point of the call.

Business and life can be tough enough without you purposely making it harder for yourself

Who we do not hire

Finding new employees is a difficult process in the first place adding to that finding painters is even harder.

It seems in this business we are lucky if someone has a drivers license, a vehicle, can pass a background check and that usually rules out 75% of potential new hires for us.

I thought I would simplify this and explain exactly what we look for and maybe it can help you in your own business. Being picky for us has been great in most ways, of course we are limited on man power but those we have are all very capable in holding their own

Top Red Flags and personality traits we do not like

• If you live in any city the people who double park when there are multiple spots in front and behind
• People who do not have the courtesy to hold the door for the person behind them AND let them go in first
• Not saying yes sir and yes ma'am , this may seem old school but we offer this respect to everyone we meet daily
• Someone who does not look you in the eye when talking to you, this always is a red flag and we do not hire those people
• No personal accountability, always blaming others or making excuses
• Asking how much they will be paid before they come in for an interview, I have canceled a few interviews because of this, we do not want money to be the number one motivating factor
• Stating you will only come in if the job pays well, again similar to the above issue
• Not showing up early, on time is late for us

We have most certainly limited ourselves as far as the total amount of painters however we have drastically increased morale and quality of work so working off our list above we will continue to be choosy who we bring into our family

Where are all the great people?

Hiring for us has been an ongoing struggle, from blaming ourselves for the failure of the people we hire to thinking there are just no good painters left around.
So what is the answer to this? Who is to blame? The answer lies in between blame and accountability.

We do everything we possible can to 

help make someone succeed, I am going to sound like my grandfather and say people are not like they used to be, not hard working and want things handed to them. I don't entirely believe that of everyone but it is prevalent today of the applicants we see. 

Some of the issues have been

• Showing up late to the interview if they show at all.
• Arriving at the wrong location
• Not dressed appropriately 
• Cursing in the interview everyone curses here and there shit I just did now but pick your spots please
• Asking what the jobs pays before coming into an interview
• Asking to be paid in cash to avoid their responsibilities

So all I just mentioned are red flags in my book and immediately you will find were not interested.

Working hard to pre qualify these leads, make sure were a good fit for each other and all share them same values as the company is a good start to avoid this.

Our values are dependability, accountability, relationships, commitment and trustworthy. You can see why the red flags are a direct violation of these values.

I was taught to work hard and that in itself is a reward but eventually the accolades, money will come. We made a stand to only have people work with us who share these goals, it has limited our company in the number of people who work with us but it has made every day and every job that much better.

We hire people who want a career in painting and will do whatever they can without question to get jobs done and be a great person to their family and company, it is the only way to feel great about your company.