Sid Woryn, with Michigan Builders license training, is here to share his thoughts on hiring.
We all know that hiring can create some issues and some problems. We know there's a demand for good laborers, but how do we know they're good?
First, I would always require a resume. An applicant for a job should have something in writing indicating who they are and their qualifications. Second, when they give you that resume, verify that resume. If they worked for somebody previously, give that company a call. You want to make sure that you're dealing with someone with a certain work ethic. If the resume looks like something that is representative of your company, you can use that individual, and then I personally recommend that you try them on a part-time basis for a couple of weeks or whatever time you want to do it. I like the part-time offer first because it gives the crew time to see how this person interacts with everybody.
Then the next thing is to provide a health physical. I hope you're not letting anybody just come to work for you and start working. There have been situations where a new employee intentionally came to work for a company known they had a previous injury. After a few days on the job site or, in one case, after the first day, they claim they have an accident, and the next thing they're going in for a physical, and then a worker's comp is being filed because they claim they were injured when working for your company.
So that's why we want to do a physical ahead of time to verify that they are in the condition to do the work that you're assigning them to do. Then, we want to do some training with the team leader that they'll be working with. Or if you don't have a team leader and you're the person in charge, then we take them to the job site and have them operate some tools so that we know they know how to operate the tools properly. It would be best if you were training and recording that, that you've trained them in properly using those tools. Train them, record that they understand how to use and operate that tool properly, and then put that in their file that you prove that you've done training on that particular tool. It's important that you can prove that you've done the proper training.
Then, you want to introduce them to the crew or the staff so they know who the people are. At the same time, they fill out their tax form. And then for all of us, not only do we have state and federal taxes, but we have the federal I-9 form that we have to do for each new employee, and we have to do an e-verification on that as well to verify that that person can be legally employed. And then, after they've worked for a while for your crew, get the crew's feedback and see if this person is gelling and is actually becoming part of the team. I would say most of the time, they're going to prove themselves adequate within 1 or 2 weeks. But like in a marriage, sometimes the honeymoon is over, and that individual is not working out well. If they were hired part-time, it would be much easier for you to let that person go than if they were full-time.
So I hope some of this helps you out. Be careful with your hiring because whoever you're hiring will probably be with you for quite a while. You want him to be an asset not only to you but to your employees as well. And again, we want that team spirit, and we don't want anybody interfering with that team spirit. All right. Good luck with your job. Be profitable. Thank you.
