How do you find good employees?

[thewvsignguy]

OK we have gone through 2 employees in the last 2 months. We had a total of three in the crew until today.

The first girl (19yrs) we hired last year and work about 14 months was fast and just "got it" with the whole process but her mouth, attitude, inability to work with others and facebook habits got in the way of her doing her job.

The forth guy we let go today was a really likable person. Older (32yrs) and more mature then the first girl, we specified what we needed and what we were looking for. Well after 2 months of wasting time and material we let him go.

I'm asking others who have employees, what to do? How do you screen future employees? When we hired the guy we let go today we went through 10 resumes and multiple interviews. Non of which had any kind on sign shop or vinyl cutting experience. My wife is a better judge of character then I, I take their word for it they are what they are until I call BS!

I know there is not one magical thing that makes a person worthy but I have no idea how to screen out the "village idiots".

 

[HulkSmash]

Good employees are hard to find. We lost one recently due to his wife having to move... that was a tough one, but we found someone else... our production manager is hard working, fast, and can do and figure out pretty much everything...its so nice leaving knowing that production won't stop when im gone. Love my crew.

It did take some tweaking to find the right people.. a LOT of dishonest people in this world we live in.......

 

[SignManiac]

I'm pretty at ease with saying "your fired"

 

[ProWraps]

do it all yourself. works for me. and makes me a sh*t ton of money.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Looking back over the people who have worked for us I can give you two things which must be present. But they are not a guarantee ... rather they are a prerequisite.

1. The person must have adequate intelligence, education and skills to do the job. Notice, I did not say experience.

2. Coming to work for you must be a positive move for the employee that is both convenient and an improvement over what they did before.

From there on only time will tell. I think it's also important that you have a structure in which the employee sees opportunity for improvement in both compensation and responsibilities.

The best employee I ever had knocked on my door and said she wanted to work for me. Her job at the time was delivering boat parts. She had been a helper prior to that in a sign shop that was under new ownership and she was the only employee that was let go.

I recall one guy we employed who was very sharp but he needed constant conversation ... to the point of causing other employees to complain. We finally put him in a room by himself and his work was good. he left our employ for an unremembered reason and ended up getting a job with Motorola at triple what we were paying him. They also put him in a room by himself.

The last time we did any hiring, the applicants were miserable. I don't envy you. We finally started asking some elementary questions like "How many inches in a foot?" and "How many square feet in a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood?" to screen out unqualified applicants. Believe it or not, 3 out of 4 could not answer those questions correctly.

 

[jc1cell]

Try requesting references and following up on said references. Asking the right questions will help in your search (to the providers of the reference).

 

[HulkSmash]

Try requesting references and following up on said references. Asking the right questions will help in your search (to the providers of the reference).

It's kinda against the law to talk bad about someone you've hired in a past during a reference conversation. The best question to ask is, would you hire this person again.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

It's kinda against the law to talk bad about someone you've hired in a past during a reference conversation. The best question to ask is, would you hire this person again.

There are quite a lot of things that you can't ask even towards a prospective employee. Gotten kinda foolish with some of things if you ask me.

 

[mortil]

maybe i should move over to the states and work for a while

im hard working (07-16regular job, 1630-2400my own company)
love chalanges and gaining experience.
currently project manager for a job worth $50 000 and 3 weeks ahead of deadline

but seriously i have a haaaard time finding anyone thats follows my way of working after my old companion quit after a big fight with my boss we hade worked 8 years togeather and i miss him sooo much.

i think that good people is RELAY hard to find, and if you find them jost hang on to them.

 

[Tim Kingston]

I'm from the other side of the fence, the employee side. Having lost my job and returned to school at the age of 50, it wasn't exactly easy, especially in this economy. One thing we learned in school that surprised me was that a vast majority of jobs are not advertised, something like 85%. What works, from our side is networking. Talking, connecting with people and letting everyone know you are interested in work and which type. I don't see why this wouldn't work from the employer side. I think the chances are you will find people seeking you out you are qualified, know what you do and how to do it. Plus, I would expect many would come with a well deserved reputation. Think about it. If you had to let one of your good people go and knew of a great company that neded someone wouldn't you try and help them? So, I would expect that in these hard economic times there are good people who need a job and former employers who would like to help them and you. They just don't know about you yet.

 

[Rydaddy]

Finding/keeping decent production help is very difficult. If anyone finds a secret to this they could sell there methods and become wealthy. As to the "references" thing... ditto on the fact that the world we live in has pretty much made "references" useless. Say the wrong thing about a past employee and you are potentially screwed. I have two friends that work in Human Resources at two different 500+ employee corporations. The stories they tell about what can happen with employees who are fired and the rights they have will make you question being a business owner.

Sorry for the downers... tomorrow is Friday though?

 

[thewvsignguy]

Thanks for the input guys.

Colorado:
We still have two employees and the one girl, she can do just about anything in the shop. The other guy is not so fast at cutting and or printing but he does have his place in the shop and does well at it. Ya know i really could not believe the BS people will say to try to get a job.

Prowraps:
There is not enough time in the day for me to do all the work. 97% of our business is on-line orders, so waking up to 50-60 orders a day is not for me. Plus I like being able to walk around the shop, design a bit at my desk, print a few jobs, cut and weed a few decals. Then go back to my desk to look out at the water!

Fred:
That is good advise. I'm always asking what if the guy that came in looking for a job was "the one" I told them that we were not hiring at the time and did not see the need to hand them a application. I guess we just need to be VERY specific about what the job is and see if they can pick it up if I show them a few times that same day. We are not looking for rocket scientists just some good common sense. I seem to remember a thread or comment and few months back that Bid Dawg said about having them do some sort of test cut that day....

jc1cell:
We ask if we can contact their previous employer and most would rather us not to. I assume that most quit for some reason or another.

 

[ProWraps]

the only thing you should ask a reference is "what dates did they work for you".

pretty much anything else can get the previous employer in big trouble for answering.

 

[LarryB]

Whenever hiring someone I look for longevity who has worked at their last job for 3+ years or doesn't jump around much. If you see their resume and they have a new job every 6 months, there is a good chance it will happen to you if you hire them.

 

[vinylbarry]

In this time and age you aint going to unless you find that gold nugget in the tons of rock, and that chance is one in a billion.

 

[GAC05]

I think the networking idea is a good one.
I lucked out hiring a very good production manager from another shop that way.
He had done some freelance after hours work for me when we were really overloaded.
Out of respect for the other shop I didn't try to to hire him away but did let him know that I would take him on in a minute if he made the choice to leave his current employer.
Being upfront and networking with other shops is part of the local island culture and about the only way to survive around here.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Rodi]

Find someone who is curious, but wants to learn the ins and outs of the work. Train someone, don't expect them to know all you do. See what they bring to the table. I brought a label company to process color from spot color, on my word. I was slow, inaccurate, but I got the job done 300 times faster than my predecessor (he made me look great :.) I have done all the side to side movements (mostly for the good), and I am always curious about how things are done. I love signs, one day I hope to make a bunch of them. I read here a lot. I remember. I have worked in typesetting, camera, pre-press, digital printing, label printing, even dabble a little in design, love setting type am always curious. I remember things I did 30 years ago that still work today, and I am still curious. Curious types who show up day in day out, not flighty no shows. Make sure they love graphic arts and are not just making bux to pay the bills. Hire slowly, fire quickly.

 

[jc1cell]

In this time and age you aint going to unless you find that gold nugget in the tons of rock, and that chance is one in a billion.

Most everyone on here is a gold nugget. It's why I think we strive for more. Granted, not all at the same skill level (sig time) but same eagerness and desire to work hard, perform and make a good product.

I would try for the position, but the commute would be a bear...lol.

jc

 

[ucmj22]

I don't know how my boss landed me, and has managed to keep me here this long. No benefits, pay that only rivals walmart, and very little support staff. I am a miltary veteran with an AA in graphic design and a high business acumen. I do overtime for free sell and advertise while I'm at home, put up with them discounting the prices I quote by 20% or more, I never get paid on time and at one point wasn't paid for 3 weeks (I get paid weekly). But I just keep working along because well it's my job, so until I find a new one I will perform this one to the best of my ability as the GM/ senior designer/ art director/ purchaser/ installer/ accountant/ salesman/ researcher, and on my off time I'll probably still come here to this forum and try and learn more so I can do my job better tomorrow. ... What te he'll is wrong with me

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

some things I've learned along the way...

I have found older employees to be much more "mature" (lol) than younger...eager to work, prompt, punctual, etc. Don't overlook your older applicants.

As mentioned above in our industry..have them prove that they can read a tape measure.

Drug test or at least tell them that it is part of the hiring process (even if you don't do it).

Don't cheap out. Hire the best you can afford. Hire ppl with skills you don't have or areas you are weak in. It's a business, not all positions are directly measurable in profits but a good production employee obviously will make you more money than a lazy one or one who is careless and makes many mistakes.

Don't hire friends or family..and sometimes harder, it is nice to be friendly with everyone you work with, that doesn't make them your friend.

Make the rules, policies, expectations clear and follow through with them.

Set your employees up for success and reward them for that success and in my experience you will have loyal employees who are proud to help you build a successful organization...and unfortunately if you encounter the the negative and dishonest GET RID OF THEM promptly..it tends to spread...and unfortunately once in a while there are just those who don't get it or aren't properly suited for their job.

Good Luck