Preferred ages employers want to employ.
Turns out, they want a lot of things we weren’t quite expecting: diversity in the workplace, mental health support, and competitive wages.
Now it’s your turn. As small business owners, what difficulties are you having with today’s applicants? How are you finding labor, and is that method working for you? What are you looking for in an attractive employee?
We turned to our readers to find out.
For many of our readers — 31 percent of those surveyed — the search for employees begins on traditional job sites such as Indeed. However, these job sites aren’t always helpful. According to Sue Dalton of Diamond Pools in Bridgeview, Illinois, many people apply through Indeed without actually reading the job description. When the time comes for an interview, they fail to respond.
“The non-responsive ghosting issue happens even when an offer letter has been signed and a starting date has been set,” Dalton said. “These last couple of years have been extremely difficult to fill open positions.” his friends' kids because he feels like he can trust them better. Regina Lancaster of Kelley’s Pool and Spa Care in Chula Vista, California, said that some of her best employees have come from customer referrals.
David Hastings of Hastings Water Works in Brecksville, Ohio, uses financial motivators for referrals.
“Word-of-mouth referral is the best bang for our money, relative to other sources,” he said. “We pay $250 when a service technician is referred by another employee and is hired. We then pay another $250 when that technician is still employed by us 90 days later. $500 per referral total.”
As we all know, finding workers is only the first hurdle; the next challenge is keeping them.
The pool service industry is generally composed of small businesses. The majority of readers surveyed have 0-5 employees. Many of these businesses are eager to grow but continue to have difficulty with keeping service technicians.
Roger Neill of I Pools AZ in Phoenix said that while he has many
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