You hit the nail on the head without knowing it in your post, Dan. I believe you used the phrase "hit or miss".
Ya gotta remember that everybody puts their best face on when they first meet the boss BEFORE they get the job. Why, I remember that night over ten years ago when Nick Paolella picked me up at O'Hare and took me out to dinner. I actually used my fork and didn't slurp the spaghetti!
I will say that nothing you personally do is more important than finding quality people to share your dream. The others? Cut them loose. The marginal flake zipper-heads of this world (to quote my old buddy Mack Clark) will spoil your good employees AND drag you down. What I call "managerial dilution". (Heck, I might have stolen that from Mack too.)
When you have the right people, business is just so easy AND fun. Bad people? An agony. Life is waaaaay too short to spend it working with losers. Business becomes a joy when you can look forward to each day working toward a common vision with quality individuals. (This is one reason I am still with Jon-Don after more than 10 years.)
How to find the "right people"? Get the odds on your side by doing in depth interviewing, background and reference checks, etc. But at the end of the day I am amazed how many of us put up with people that deep down inside we would not want working alone in our home with our wife ... and yet we inflict these losers on our unsuspecting clients. In other words, get the losers out of your life quickly and move on. "Hit or miss" ...
Oh, yes. treasure the good people in your company. The best way to show your appreciation? You guessed . By not forcing them to work with LOSERS!
Steve Toburen CR
Director of Training
Jon-Don's
Strategies for Success
PS You know, I really do feel your pain, Dan ... and your frustration. I get so many e-mails from our
SFS members whose growth is curtailed by their inability to find quality people. The fact of the matter is most good employees (not all) already have a job and a career and aren't looking for a new one. Good hunting. (Dan, review the procedures in your
SFS Operations Manual under Fast Track Training.)
Note: For anyone out there who is not a
SFS member just write me at
stoburen@homefrontsuccess.com and I will e-mail you a procedure called "Fast Track Training" and another one called "Employee Orientation". Both topics are essential if you are not going to allow yourself to be "held hostage" by loser employees!
PPS Dan, if you are having trouble having your people show up at a "moments notice" do you have a rotating weekly "on-call" technician that is paid a bonus just for being available? We had the same problem but then realized our employees deserved to have true time off. So we started up the On-call arrangement and the problem went away. Check your Ops Manual under "Water Damage Restoration" for all the
SFS On-Call procedures.