As owners and managers of home service companies, one of the most important decisions you make is choosing the right employees to hire. Your team represents you and your company every day to the public, and the wrong team member can cause major trouble for you.
Setting and maintaining some standards of employment for your company can help you adhere to your personal and professional standards of behavior. Many times standards are created from each owner or manager’s personal beliefs for their company.
The hiring process has changed a lot over the years, so how do you know what the golden hiring standards are?
Skill Level
The need for highly skilled employees really hasn’t changed over the years. You want the best candidates to represent your company, and the best people to serve your customers with superior services!
Potential employees with training and skills in your industry should always be considered for employment no matter what they look like. Delaying your judgement of a person until you have fully evaluated their skill level is a really good standard to implement.
Professionalism that you can rely on is always going to be in demand!
Legal Drug Policy
To be clear, when we refer to ‘drug use’ we’re talking about legal drugs which are used after hours on employees’ personal time.
Now, when an employee finishes their shift, goes home and consumes alcohol, employers don’t usually care. As long as they are completely sober at work, there is no reason to mandate what your team does on their own time.
Is it the same for legal drugs?
Many states have legalized marijuana, and more may make it legal. The science behind testing for drug use is different from alcohol. One-time users of marijuana can have a positive drug test for several days and regular use can cause a positive drug test for several weeks!
So, what standards about drug use will you decide to define for your employees?
There is no right answer – you need to decide based on what your beliefs are for your company and the liability you hold for your customers and employees.
Criminal Record
Many companies in the past have enforced a zero-felony policy for their employees.
Is that still a fair standard to enforce?
Felonies can range in intensity from class 4 to class 1. You may see a big difference in a class 4 felony charge for possession of a weapon to a class 1 felony for first degree murder.
It all comes down to what you believe as an owner or manager. You can believe in second chances and reformation. You can believe that hiring someone with a lower class felony is okay. You can also decide that you don’t want to risk your company’s reputation or your customers’ safety.
Form your opinion and don’t be afraid to stick to it!
The Key To Hiring Policy
The main thing to keep in mind when deciding what your standards of employment are is that they need to be clear. Making an official employee handbook that outlines your policies in detail is fantastic. At the very least your job descriptions and interviews should clearly explain the expectations you have for your employees.
Service Excellence recommends that you decide what your standards are and use them to assist in your hiring process. Be confident in your decisions, and if you need help sorting out what your hiring standards are, give us a call!
