I once had a conversation with a very friendly, hard working woman who worked in housekeeping at a previous employer. She told me she actually enjoyed cleaning and that’s why she had the job. Not only did she like cleaning but she was proud of how well she cleaned and how it made others happy. That pleased her. I honestly couldn’t relate, because I DO NOT enjoy cleaning but I can say I was impressed. I admired her for doing what she enjoyed, despite the fact that most people might see her job as a last resort.
It is said that “good help is hard to find.” This is true in most cases, and even harder when you are addressing volunteer needs or lower paying jobs. But hard doesn’t mean impossible. The approach and the strategies are pretty much the same, just be thoughtful, be deliberate and be smart.
Be Thoughtful
1. What is the plan and what is the need?
If you need a Music Director, don’t go searching for a piano player. Yes, a music director may be a piano player but every piano player is not a music director. The role of a music director entails a great deal more skill and responsibility than the piano player. If you go on a quest for a piano player you will most likely be disappointed in the end. And you shouldn’t be surprised if you end up with someone who promises more than they can deliver, just so they can get the job.
Unless you plan to provide on-the-job-training and will guarantee the necessary patience and development needed, be true to the needs of your organization or team and pursue the role and responsibilities you really need.
2. Use a job description
It doesn’t matter how large or how small your organization, paid or volunteer, make sure you have a job or role description. A job description is a written statement that generally includes duties, purpose, responsibilities, and scope or parameters of the position being filled. If you don’t have one, write one.
- When you have a clearly defined role, you know what you are looking for and who constitutes “the right person.”
- It keeps you focused during your search, in the event that you meet someone with a different skill set that you begin to imagine “might” be able to do the job well…because they say they can or because you really like them.
- It helps you compose advertising for the job
- It serves as a guide during the selection process to help you screen applicants and interview candidates
It is important for a job description to be reviewed periodically and updated annually or every two years or so. You review to make sure it is accurate in depicting what the role really is and what the duties are. Over time, things change. You don’t want to hire for a secretary that evolved into an administrative assistant years ago. You could inadvertently miss the mark on skills, experience and pay, and then can’t figure out why the person is not meeting your expectations.
Be Deliberate
With a job description in place, use the primary responsibilities and must have education, skills and experience (requirements) to write interesting and inviting ads, social media posts and/or flyers to reach a targeted group of people to apply.
But don’t stop there, talk to your best and brightest to encourage them to refer people they know for the job. I said, best and brightest, that means talk to your hardest working, most reliable and talented people. They might be more likely to refer individuals who will make them look good and who can do a good job. If there are professional associations or places where people with the specific requirements you seek can be found, contact them to find out how you can reach the desired individuals with your job notice or volunteer opportunity.
If it’s a hard to fill position, consider offering a referral bonus to employees who refer a good candidate who gets hired. For example, the employee who made the successful referral would receive a cash incentive after the new hire has successfully completed six months of employment. If you do something like this, however, make sure it is clear to employees how it works and why it is only done for hard to fill positions. Then, please, please, please, be consistent. If you pay a referral bonus to one employee and then choose not to pay the same referral bonus to another employee who has met the same criteria, you are setting yourself up for trouble and potential litigation. Make sure you can follow through on the promise if you use this method.
Be Smart
Those in need of help are often tempted to jump at the first person who even slightly resembles the person they need for the position. In such cases they choose a person ladened with red flags, in hopes that the good will eventually outweigh the bad. It’s the “warm body syndrome,” the “anybody is better than nobody” mindset; in which the individual is physically present but not mentally engaged nor professionally productive or responsible.
Be smart. Don’t just hire anybody. Hire the right person. Hire the person with a proven work history of consistency, reliability and solid experience. Don’t make excuses for people coming in the door. If they miss the interview twice, God is sending you a sign. They’re calling in already!
Be smart. Make sure you have the right mindset. Every job deserves the best skill, hard work and good work habits. When I worked in employment, I recruited for entry level positions as well as professional and technical. The hiring managers (supervisors) in the entry level service areas were usually satisfied with hiring “nice” people. The work history might be sketchy, but they wanted to hire them anyway. After working with these areas for a minute, I found the turnover was horrendous, and oh so frustrating. They were easy to fill but always open.
An Aha Moment
In the housekeeping area, the director and I decided to take a different approach. We reasoned it out. I knew housekeeping positions in any organization had high turnover due to pay and hours but why in a hospital with higher wages and full time positions? She believed it was because people came in thinking that cleaning was easy and doesn’t take skill. Their thinking? If I can clean at home, I can clean for pay. She also informed me that cleaning in a hospital or clinic requires more skill, timeliness and detail orientation than cleaning anywhere else. When employees are not prepared for that, it’s overwhelming and they quit. So I asked her to name her best employees and what made them so great. She did and I pulled their files to review their backgrounds. They were long term or at least showed some longevity to date in their positions. I also found some other very interesting and useful information: This was not their first job; there was no job hopping and most, if not all of her star employees, had previous cleaning experience in only one of two industries – hospitals or hotels. So guess what I did? I began to keep my eyes open for previous hotel cleaning experience (previous hospital cleaning was a given). And to avoid any warm body temptations, I made sure I screened out those with the sketchy backgrounds before the supervisors even saw the applications (not just in housekeeping but all service areas). That made a world of difference!
I want to point out, in case you missed it, we became more intentional and proactive in housekeeping. Turnover dropped considerably. Not only did we target certain candidates but employees who came from the hotel industry began to refer their former co-workers for positions. We really took advantage of opportunities for hiring when layoffs occurred in local hotels. What helped even more was that the pay was considerably higher in healthcare!
The mindset in hiring was that entry level workers aren’t expected to be reliable, hard working or skilled. This thinking created a self fulfilling prophecy. So check your mindset. Every job requires reliability, hard work and skill. Every job deserves excellence. Every job is important. And there are hard working, quality candidates out there. We just have to be smart about finding them. That’s the right mindset.
Closing Thoughts
Good help may very well be hard to find but it’s not impossible. When filling a position keep in mind there is someone internally or externally, who is just the right fit for the job. Be clear on what you want and what you need then find individuals who match that criteria. There are people who need the job and there are people who want the job. Find those people who want the job. To do so requires thoughtfulness…so be thoughtful, be deliberate and be smart!