Small business owners aren’t that desperate
Earlier this week, I wrote
a blog post on how small business owners were bucking the trend and actually hiring or looking to hire more workers this year.
The big problem was finding qualified applicants.
Some of you pointed out the double meaning in the headline I wrote:
Small Business Owners Are Hiring Junkies.My friends, I meant you guys were in a hiring frenzy, not that you were hiring drug addicts.
One reader opened my eyes: “BTW, loved the (presumably unintentional) pun in the headline on your blog today. We knew it's gotten tough to find help, but didn't know we'd stooped to that level. :-)”
So many small company owners tell me finding the right person for a job can be next to impossible these days but it hasn’t gotten that bad, not yet.
“Yes, small business is hiring,” says Scott George, CEO of
Mid-America Dental & Hearing Center in Mt. Vernon, MO. “We need five-six people trained and ready to go by March 1st to keep up with increased number of providers.”
But, he adds, “it’s not likely to happen, we will do our best to adjust.”
I asked him what the problem was.
“We live in a small town between two major cities. Plus, low unemployment rates locally and statewide,” he explains. “We just don’t get enough qualified applicants. Hiring rookies and training them is usually our best bet.”
Not only are business people in small towns feeling the squeeze. I was in Houston this past weekend seeing family, and my cousin, who’s shop foreman for oil-drilling parts maker named High Tech Machine in Houston, has a similar problem.
He’s desperately trying to find skilled machinists; and these guys can make as much as $30 an hour.
Why can’t he find enough people to fill these high-paying gigs?
“Kids today don’t want to get dirty,” he says. “They look at the work and say 'it’s too difficult.'”
It’s so bad, companies in his industry are trying to snag workers from each other; and of course, many are going overseas to have the work done.
My cousin says he’s trying to keep everything local, but things are expected to get worse in the years ahead as the machinists who are in their 40s and 50s retire.
So what is an entrepreneur to do?
One thing is to make the most of the people that are coming through your doors with resumes.
Here’s some tips on hiring productive workers from Alan Nierenberg with recruiting company
People Options in Wilton, Connecticut:
* Prepare a job description that lists the skills / experiences required to be successful.
* For each required skill/experience, prepare a question that begins with “Describe” or “How”. For example, if developing new products is required for a marketing position, then ask, “Describe the process you followed to develop and launch a successful product”.
* The hiring manager should counsel other company interviewers on this form of interviewing and ensure all job requirements are discussed during the interview.
* One final assessment that’s extremely important for small company managers is to answer the question “Do I like this person and would I enjoy working with him/her”.
And don’t hire junkies!
