Contractors, it is Time

Guest Blog by Ron Jumper

We all have that uncle or friend from high school… You know, the one that always has a good story, always catches a supposed “bad break” but, regardless of all the believable or even reasonable excuses, just can never seem to quite put it together. There always has been and always will be “something” that holds him back from being successful.

Working with home improvement companies across the country and also running my own Bath Remodeling company, I see it every day. There is a small percentage of companies in this industry that really have recruiting dialed in but, for the majority, you are sounding more and more like that uncle or friend from high school that has a good story but just can’t quite get it together.

Yes, you can make all the excuses you want, there is a labor shortage and the unemployment rate is under 4%. Plus my personal favorite, “you don’t understand my market, it is different here.” That all sounds great but, magically, the companies that have great processes in place, are willing to invest in recruiting, and are proactive instead of reactive are getting the job done instead of you.

Here are a few things that won’t be fun nor will be they cheap, but it is time you started doing them:

1. You Have To Start Writing Real Job Descriptions

The days of posting on Craig’s List “must have own tools and a truck, if you don’t have 5 years of experience then don’t waste my time” are over. Don’t miss the opportunity to “sell” your company by making it sound like somewhere a person in this industry would want to work. Don’t be bashful, tout what makes your company unique and where your company is going. Also, list out the responsibilities of the position, plus the preferred skills & experience and any details on benefits or compensation.

2. You Have Understand Your Place In The Job Market

I’ve seen it far too many times, you want to pay a Lead Carpenter less than $20/hour and you don’t want to train this position either. To put the cherry on top, you don’t understand why the candidate doesn’t want to take at best a lateral move and leave a larger company to make the same money in the same position working for you. If you don’t want to offer a promotion or an increase in compensation, then you need to accept you are going to have train a candidate with potential and the right attitude.

3. You Must Be Proactive And Not Just Reactive In Recruiting

There should be two forms of recruiting that your organization does, lower cost tactics that you do on a weekly or monthly basis so that you always have a few candidates on file and then some more aggressive tactics when you are in desperate need. For example, it doesn’t cost anything to have a Careers page on your website and post on Social Media that you have openings. It costs very little to hand out business cards at the hardware store or offer your current employees an incentive if they refer someone. The second form is higher cost tactics for when you lose an employee or have a sudden growth spurt, there should be some combination of job boards, career fairs, or newspaper classifieds that you post when you have an immediate opening.

Ron Jumper is the founder and CEO of ProFinder USA, the only job website dedicated exclusively to the home improvement industry. He also owns and operates Bath Makeover of Arkansas, offering bathtub and shower remodeling as well as walk in bathtub products. Visit www.ProFinderUSA.com to learn more about ProFinder USA’s services.