Hiring a Detailer: 7 tips.

Filling a position at my detailing shop is a process. Years in the business have shown me the best in employees as well as the worst. There are those that “milk the clock” and those that I’d be lucky to have working for me around it.. Now and then someone will turn out to be a bad fit – but time has taught me some ways to get a pretty reliable idea for what kind of person an applicant will be in the workplace. I took pride in my team and in the system I use to hire them. Here are 7 things you can do to make the best choice in who you hire.

1.  Let friends and acquaintances do the work for you.

I guarantee you know someone who knows someone who needs a job when you have an opening. Let their judgment be your guide. Getting a good reference from a friend is perhaps the best way to hire in this industry.

2.  Find employees you can train.

Not everybody is trainable. Experienced detailers can be a mixed blessing. They don’t always just wind up and go on their own. Odds are, you’ll have to re-learn them how to do it your way. I’d take a hard-working, quick-learning employee with no experience and a good reference over a hot-shot veteran detailer who thinks they know it all any day. If they say they’ve got tons of experience and the ability to prove it, you’ve got to wonder why they haven’t already opened their own business.

3.  A good “help wanted” ad does a lot of the hiring work for you.

Let the application process be a trial on its own. Good employees know how to follow instructions – so provide some from day one of the hiring process and see how people do. Particular requests contained in your want ads thin the stack of resumes before you read even one. Have them reply to a specific email different than the one attached to the Craigslist ad, for example. Request that they not call you. Using this want-ad-as-test tactic allows applicants who think they’re too good for the rules to show you from the outset.

4.  Require resumes and references.

If they can’t come up with someone who will vouch for their workplace performance, be wary. Your ideal employee will almost always have someone who will take the time to speak highly of them. Your ideal employee will be someone who you’d be happy to vouch for in the future. A resume allows the applicant more freedom than a standard application. Resumes are easier and more pleasant to read than a stack of papers with filled in blanks.

5.  Make some kind of written contract.

It doesn’t have to be in legalese, but it should be something you can easily reference in order to settle a dispute. Once you’ve interviewed them, formally or otherwise, and you decide they are probably going to be a good fit, send them an employee manual and a document containing your business’ policies – performance expectations and consequences. Don’t be afraid to state the obvious in writing. If in doubt, write it out. I.e., there should be a section that says “be on time”. The employee should sign the documents, bring them to you, and you should keep them on file. This keeps most people honest. Ambiguity has great potential to make both employee and employer uncomfortable.

6.  Probation.

No matter how much of a god-send they seem to be, the first month and a half should be a trial period for a new employee. During this time you should pay special attention to their performance and trainability. Most flight accidents happen on take off. Same with a new employee’s career in your workplace. Make sure you’re performing the necessary checks and diagnostics for the duration of these ninety days and, of course, onward in time. The over-confident, cumbersome ones will show it quickly. Listen to their co-workers’ reports and observe the dynamic between them. If they’re working to a standard you’re unhappy with and don’t seem to “get it” when you help them learn new things, you’ll probably want to let them go.

7.  Don’t get caught in a pinch.

Think ahead of the game. The least ideal situation is the one in which you needed an employee yesterday, second only to the situation in which you need one tomorrow. Unpredictable holes in your roster should be filled with a list of resumes that just missed the cut in your most recent draft. Start the hiring process a month before you need someone. Try to predict the busiest times of the year and hire accordingly. If you get caught in a pinch, call someone who took the time to make you a great-looking resume, with a good reference, sometime in the recent past.

Take home message: Recruiting is like marrying.

Since you very well may find yourself spending more time around your crew than your spouse, take your time going through some ritual motions with prospective employees to see who’s going to be your new hire. There are some great people out there without work. It’s up to you to track them down.