Franchisees tell us daily how difficult it is to find employees with the skills and positive attitude they need to deliver premium landscape services and exceed customer expectations. This month, we have best practices to help owners create an exceptional applicant experience to attract high-quality employees!
At Reunion, Jeff Baker, owner of the Grounds Guys of East Wichita, told the entire group that there ARE great employees in our markets but it’s up to us to find them. Jeff spoke about how Max Zuniga—2018 Service Professional of the Year—was vital to the growth of Jeff’s business. Finding people like Max may seem like a mystery, but here are some recruiting activities you can do that will help you find these amazing employees.
CareerPlug Pro is the first step. Without the Pro version, you are limited to posting jobs only on your website and must do 100% of the promotion of those jobs on your own. CareerPlug Pro pushes your postings to several job search sites that capture more than 80% of all job seekers.
Fast Response is the second step. On average, it takes a Grounds Guys location 3.8 days to make an initial outreach to a candidate. Waiting almost four days to make the first contact will lead to response rates of less than 10% among applicants. According to leading job sites, employers who respond in less than 15 minutes from when a person applies have more than a 50% chance of getting in contact with the applicant. Outreach made within five minutes of the application being submitted results in an 80% chance of getting in touch with the applicant.
You’re probably asking yourself, “How can anyone possibly respond within 15 minutes”? CareerPlug has a Fast Track process that allows you to receive instant text and/or E-mail notifications when an application is submitted. This is your edge to win quality employees from the competition.
Fast Hiring is the third step. The average Grounds Guys business takes 21 days from initial application to hire. Shortening this process to seven days or less will reduce the chances a quality person will have multiple job offers or say “yes” to a competitor before you make an offer. Fast hiring does not mean lowering your standards. It means creating a process in your company that quickly identifies and moves the right people from applicant to employee. CareerPlug Pro’s HR Onboarding module and Greenius training are tools that will allow you to streamline the onboarding process and shorten the learning curve for new employees.
Culture is Key. At Reunion, Chris Draaistra, owner of the Grounds Guys of Abbotsford, led an insightful recruiting session. The foundation of what has made him a successful recruiter is creating a positive culture. He paints a vision for potential employees; trains them to succeed on the job; and provides a career path using strategies from the GROW program to retain great people.
Visit https://www.careerplug.com/dwyer-group today and claim your account by entering your name and E-mail then upgrade to the Pro version for $495/year. You can activate the free HR Onboarding module once you go Pro. You can also check out Greenius training at https://www.gogreenius.com or visit https://protradenet.com. We would love to hear your recruiting experiences or questions, so please send them to me at eric.brown@dwyergroup.com.