12 Recruiting Tips Leading Into Spring Training

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by Coach Rob Balfanz

Don’t wait until spring to bring the training to “SPRING TRAINING!”

  1. START RECRUITING NOW AND DON’T STOP!

Companies that continually recruit have a vision. They have a vision for today, tomorrow and the future. Great companies with great vision understand that the only thing constant is change. Companies with vision understand attrition, track it and it becomes part of their culture.

  1. USE SOCIAL MEDIA (A LOT)

Have you resisted the trend to join social media? Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, to name a few? Though it all might seem like unnecessary noise to distract you during your busy days, social media has become a great place to find or connect with quality, skilled tradespeople. Social media is a powerful tool for companies looking to grow their businesses and a highly effective way of recruiting new crews and/or employees.

  1. INCENTIVIZE EMPLOYEE REFERRALS

You’ve probably wished you could clone your top-performing employees, right? Unfortunately, we’re not quite there technologically. Your second-best bet is to incentivize quality referrals from trusted employees and sources. Referral bonuses are a terrific way to incentivize employees to find new hires for you. And it’s a fantastic way to put extra money in your employees’ pockets.

  1. INCENTIVIZE CUSTOMER REFERRALS

Incentivizing your customers is a sure win, one that is often forgotten about or disregarded. If you have a happy customer, who would be a better champion of your product or service than a happy customer? You now have what I call a partner/customer for life. Sometimes, the best ways to recruit are homegrown.

  1. CONSIDER TEMPORARY, FREELANCERS, STUDENT CO-OPS and MORE!

Hiring temporary labor, freelancers and student co-ops is another great way to build a roster or pipeline of talent from which you can choose when hiring full-time. Temporary agencies support overflow work, alleviating stress on your full-time or project employees. Freelancers and independent contractors can contribute to small projects short-term. This strategy gives you a feel for their work ethic and other measurable observations. Team up with your local high schools, trade schools and community colleges for co-op prospects. Not only will you be able to manage the influx of work during busy seasons, but you’ll also have a chance to “audition” new talent before taking on a skilled worker full-time. Picking up young prospects as freelancers and student co-ops is an excellent way to bring talent into your company before the competition snags them.

  1. HOLD AN OPEN INTERVIEW DAY, EVERY WEEK

Always be recruiting! Need to fill a bunch of jobs fast? Interview when you have the jobs available. Need to fill a pipeline of people who believe in the vision? OR want to be a part of the bigger picture, build a brand and work for a great company like yours? Then interview every day and every week of every month.

  1. PHONE CALLS AND SIGNS

And you thought the days of yard signs, wall signs and old-fashioned phone calls were history! Old school tactics still work; you just need to use them correctly, in the right places at the right times. With recruiting, there is not one thing that works all the time – you have to be diverse and willing to try everything.

  1. STOP BY JOB SITES, SAY HELLO AND PASS OUT BUSINESS CARDS

As in most of the information provided already, sometimes conventional wisdom says, “forget the old way of doing things and focus your efforts on new, leading-edge technological approaches.” In my experience, there is a time and place for this and more. Call people; don’t only text or e-mail them. Visit job sites, pass out your business cards and some information about your company, focusing on “why” they should give you a try. Face-to-face relationship-building is still extremely essential in our industry. Business deals and relationships are built on trust and on adding value, and I don’t expect this to change in the near future.

  1. BE SOCIAL–GO TO AFTER-HOURS EVENTS, MIXERS, POWER-NETWORKING EVENTS

Mix it up! There are dozens of meetings, power networking events, mixers, after-hours socials and more in every community. Put a plan together, map out each quarter and go to the events that you believe will add value to your business – and your people. Get involved in as many associations, chambers and other local, state and national groups as possible.

  1. HAVE A PLAN – ONBOARD WITH PURPOSE

What will you do once you get the candidate lead? Is your onboarding process defined? Does everyone on your team know and understand the process? Once you have a candidate or a company that you want to move forward with, have an onboarding process mapped out. Take this approach with a single employee, a class of new hires, a group of contractors or a single crew that will be sub-contracting work. You must roll out the red carpet for them. Treat them so well that they can go work for anyone else in the industry, but they choose not to leave you because of your process, vision, culture and genuine care for them, their family and their well-being.

  1. TRACK EVERYTHING

If you don’t track it, you won’t improve it. We are in the age of technology and analytics. Knowing and understanding history is one thing, but looking at the future can also tell us what we need to know. Do you want a bumpy ride, a smooth ride, a roller coaster or a train ride? Track everything and let the data guide you through the process. Regarding recruiting, figure out where your leads are coming from, how much they cost you and whether those leads are working out for you. If not, call a time-out and pull out the playbook.

  1. FORECAST FOR THE FUTURE

Knowing is half the battle! To go where we want to go, we need to know three things: where we’ve been, where we are, and most importantly, where we are going. I always say, plan for the worst and plan more for the best! You will experience turnover, lead time issues, sickness and health challenges, weather-related and transportation delays, product defects and a lot more. So, we know what we know and have to plan and forecast accordingly. What are your goals, and are you on track to exceed your goals? Be motivational, inspiring, passionate, and tough, yet be empathetic. As we head into 2023, it all starts and ends with being a good coach and positively impacting your team, on and off the job.

“The only place success comes before work, is in the dictionary.” – Vince Lombardi

Be Resilient – Add Value – Stay Healthy – Deliver the Experience - Trust the Process!

To our success,

“Coach” Rob Balfanz, Senior Director, Workforce Development, VSI

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