Have any of you hired a painter based on an interview, and discovered a day or two into the job, that person wasn't the right fit for the position? I have seen it many times. This hurts everyone involved. That includes you, the customer, the other shop staff and the prospective employee who may have left a job to come to you, only to be let go days after staring.
In the case of a painter, a pre-employment test can consist of several things. After you have interviewed the prospective employee and feel the fit may be good, do a reference check. This is very important but is seldom done in the collision industry.
Ask the prospective employee for at least three references. Two of them should be business references such as a paint jobber, or former employer. At least one should be a personal reference that is not a relative. Make sure you call these references, and take notes on the responses to your questions about the candidate. Use your job description, again, as a basis for your questions.
Once satisfied with these results, contact your paint jobbers or suppliers, and ask them if they will work with your prospective hire a day or two at their training center (most big companies have one in every market) or at your shop. The times for these sessions can be arranged with your prospective employee to avoid as much disruption as possible in that person's life. Consider using evening hours, after normal work hours. Suppliers and jobbers are generally unbiased and will give you an honest opinion of the prospective employee's viability.
Obviously, the prospective employee will need to agree to perform this type of testing; however, it has been my experience most will with no issue. It also shows your prospective employee you really care about what you do. You can do this same type of testing with detailers as well.
This type of pre-employment testing is much more difficult with collision techs, however. In the case of metal techs, I suggest a series of interviews to help determine a potential employee's viability. The first interview should be performed either by you, a manager or a human resources person. If the candidate passes the first interview, pass the candidate on to an interview by a production manager or shop foreman. The final interview should involve a conversation with a lead tech.
All these interviews should be supervised by a manager or a human resources representative to make sure the proper questioning is followed. The purpose of these multiple interviews is to address questions from every possible different perspective. The tech may be able to ask specific repair methodology questions, while a manager may ask more general ones. The answers need to be documented and should present a well-rounded portrait of the potential hire's level of knowledge.
Ask the candidate about what types of training he or she has participated in. Does the candidate have the required number of I-CAR points for the position? Verify through the school the prospective employee's answers.
Estimators, managers and customer service reps can take written exams to determine if they have the basic traits needed for their positions. Many companies offer these types of tests for a very reasonable fee structure. Yes, there is a cost to doing this type of testing, but it is far less expensive than hiring the wrong person for an important position. I know three interviews may seem like overkill to hire a metal tech. In reality, with the responsibility that lies on a shop when doing repairs on a modern vehicle, hiring the right person is critical. To find one of the companies that does this type of testing in your area, ask a local employment agency, or take a look online. You can purchase an entire suite of tests for use in every position on several Web sites for a reasonable fee.
You might also want to consider performing a pre-employment drug screening as well. These tests also are relatively inexpensive and will help keep people that are dealing with drug problems off your payroll. This type of employee can be a very real liability with regards to vehicle safety and keeping your shop safe. Collision repair involves the use of some pretty dangerous tools that can cause a great deal of harm to all shop personnel if handled incorrectly. One serious accident could hurt innocent people and shut down an entire shop or company. I recommend all companies utilize this type of testing before hiring.
Prepare an employment agreement
Once you have decided that the prospective employee is the right hire, you should draft an employment agreement to present to the candidate. The agreement should cover the specifics regarding compensation and hours of work and should provide a schedule for reviews and promotions. It should also include your expectations for work attire in the case of office staff or possibly uniforms for shop level personnel. It should also include a specific amount of time you allocate as a probationary period, during which the prospective employee will be tested. This is usually the first 90 days of employment. This will give you enough time to determine if a prospective employee is truly the right fit for your organization.
Make sure this document is specific and includes all the details of employment you have discussed with the candidate. If you promised the candidate two weeks of vacation time at a specific time interval, make sure it is reflected in the document.
Provide a space on the form for the employee to sign once accepted, and for the person in charge of hiring to sign and date. Make sure the prospective employee receives a copy of the document.
Do this for every position. This document will provide protection for both parties in this agreement.
Make sure you stick to the schedule of reviews you have listed on this form. Keeping employees has a great deal to do with trust and respect.
Do not make promises to any employee you have no intention of keeping. Any conversations about advancements, pay increase or bonuses are extremely important to employees. If you make a promise to pay a bonus, pay it if it is earned.
I have worked with some groups who kept moving the targets when the staff got closer to hitting them. Not surprisingly, these companies always were looking for people due to a high turnover.
I worked at one group where an entire front office was promised a bonus for hitting a sales target. They were motivated and hit the goal several months in a row. The company president conveniently forgot about the bonus promise and, when asked, declined to pay it. The total bonus money due to the two-person front office was less than $1,000 dollars.
For the next three months in a row, before the manager quit, he and the other office staffer actually turned away more than $50,000 in work. That's a huge loss in response to shorting a $1,000 payment. The owner never knew this was going on. Two former office staffers told me about this occurrence during a chance meeting with them several years later.
Set realistic goals for your employees and reward them when they are met. The word about your level of employee commitment will get around, and prospective employees will begin coming to you. That's a key step in improving your hiring strategy even more – drawing talented employees to you so you can spend more time evaluating and less time searching.
Effective recruiting strategy
Every shop should develop an effective recruiting strategy that gets all current employees involved in looking for new talent. Simply running newspaper or Internet advertisements isn't going to bring the best talent to your door. Set up a program that rewards current employees for a referral that results in employment for the referred person.
I bet many, perhaps everyone, in your current staff knows someone who might be a perfect fit in an open position. You will be amazed at how many qualified people you will find through this method.
Post your current openings on bulletin boards in your shop(s). Also, become involved with trade schools and state jobs programs. If you can successfully develop a program for training apprentices from trade schools, you will be able to grow your own techs for future need. These techs general work out very well in progressive, well-run shops because they already know your processes and procedures. Even before they are full-fledged techs, they will be making the shop money.
Look for talent everywhere. A great waitress is a potential customer service rep. A really good salesman is a potential estimator/sales manager/marketer. In every industry, there are positions similar to those used in a collision repair shop.
Learn to interview
One thing few of us ever learn to do really well is conduct an effective interview. With the potential flood of candidates in today's market, consider what will you need to determine during your interviews that highlights the best and most qualified candidates for you.
Conducting an effective interview is a skill that can be learned. I suggest all of you involved in hiring staff members at any level take classes in performing this task. There are certain questions that cannot be asked in any interview and, in fact, are barred by state and federal laws.
Make sure the questions you ask potential candidates during an interview are legal. Your local state employment office may be able to assist you with the types of questions not allowed. Most of this type of information is available on the Internet through government Web sites.
Here are some other basic points to use when conducting interviews.
Always use a private office/area with a table so that both parties can comfortably take notes during the interview. Conducting an interview in an office with you as the interviewer behind a huge desk is not a good idea. It gives the prospective employee the impression that he or she is inferior to the interviewer and can cause candidates to not perform at their best. You want to make sure the candidate is comfortable, and therefore is showing you, the best that person can offer.
Allow ample time to conduct a thorough interview. I suggest an hour time slot. Create a list of pertinent questions, again using your job description and benchmarking lists as a guide. Try to ask some open-ended questions that require a longer answer than just a yes or no. If the interviewee has a resume, make sure you read it completely and highlight areas that you want to question.
Try to avoid personal questions other than small talk about the weather, directions or traffic. Do not ask about family or children. The candidate may volunteer personal information during the interview, but it should be relevant to your conversation and decision-making process. Note that asking some questions, such as asking about a person's religious beliefs, is a violation of federal law. Make sure you are aware of all federal and state laws regarding hiring.
