Hiring Great People in 2008

Historically, the two weekends after New Year's Day are the largest help wanted issues of any newspaper. With people looking for jobs, how do you stand out from the others in trying to hire the best people?

Most companies looking to hire wait until the new year begins. People currently working want to stay at their current jobs until the end of the year to earn bonuses and holiday pay, qualify for retirement plans and enjoy holiday parties with their co-workers. Conversely, hiring companies don't want to start people in December for the same financial reasons, and because current people are more interested in their holiday shopping than training a rookie. People make their New Year's resolution "to get a job they like".

How do you start your quest to hire great people?

If you are replacing a current person, terminate them. Nothing is more embarrassing than to have a current person come up to you and say, "I saw my job advertised in the paper---what's going on?" (I did learn this rule the hard way!) Sure, you and your team will have to work a touch differently, and more often then not, you'll find the person you are firing hurt the team efforts rather than helped...after all, that is why you are making the change.

The day after the termination, post the job description of the new person on your company bulletin board, asking your current employees for referrals. A current employee knows the ins and outs, the good and bad parts of the job, and if they are recommending their friend for the job, the friend will be fully briefed before your first interview. Most people take pride in their job and their workplace. They will only ask their friends that are good workers to join the team. Additionally, a new employee will be welcomed if a friend of a current employee.

Hiring through internal referral is, by far, the best way to hire working level people. (I guess by saying this, that senior management doesn't work--- but you know what I mean, don't you?)

Interview every referral you get. You don't have to hire someone from this pool, but I bet you'll get good talent here.

A question that comes up here is one of hiring family members. There are pros and cons, both with good points. At Floral Glass we went out of our way to hire family members. If a person is a great worker, the odds are his brother or sister has the same values. Current employees will not recommend their black-sheep cousins, as it does reflect on them. We had many families working with us. We had three brothers in one family, and they all rose to line supervisors positions. Work ethic instilled at a young age does carry through to glass companies.

Yes, we had an occasional problem, but less so than in our total workforce. There is no doubt that this helped us. You don't want to have two family members posting cash and doing collections, but other than that, go for it. Look at your employee manual; if it prohibits nepotism, revise it by saying, "We are glad to interview referred family members for employment at our company. Referred applicants will receive the same treatment as job applicants from other sources"

Help wanted ads are the next most common source of gaining new employees. Ads are placed in sections based on the type of job. If you are hiring an installer, don't place it in the medical help section. Confirm the section you want with the person taking the ad. If in a general section, it is most often alphabetized using the first letter of the headline. The headline is what gets your ad read. Don't use "hard worker wanted" or 'full-time job". Say something special to get attention. Use phrases like "Exciting glass industry" or "Energy savings glass installation". Help wanted advertising is just like every other type of advertising...you want someone to read and take action based on your ad. If the ad looks small and cheap, it gives that impression of your company. Now, don't take a half-page; do put your headline in a larger type and do put a thin box around your ad. The purpose is not to hire people with the ad; you do that in person. The ad should contain the basic job description, in seven-to-ten words, your location, a short list of your benefits, and the hours of work. THE PURPOSE OF A HELP WANTED AD IS TO GET PEOPLE TO CALL YOU OR STOP IN AT YOUR SHOP. This is what you want. Give the reader a reason to call you--invite them to call you to ask questions.

Never put wages in the ad. People who want more will never call. Your firm is more than wages---maybe you have great benefits---and the whole package makes you very competitive.

Somebody in the back row just said, "Hey, Bieber, now I gotta spend more time talking to people, interviewing and such...I don't have enough time!" Hiring good people is the most important job of a leader, bar none. Don't scrimp on time for this important task.

You don't like newspaper advertising? Next week I'll be with my in-laws and not able to post, but the following week we will talk about non-traditional ways to get job applicants. The week after that, we will discuss interviewing techniques that will help you hire the best candidates.

Safety--Round Three

My Son, Philip, who is a better writer and editor than I, tells me never carry a thought longer than three times. So this will be the third and final installment on Safety in the Glass Industry.

Safety in the glass industry (and most industries) is driven by four things:

1. A desire to keep people safe and in one piece
2. A need to reduce worker's comp costs
3. A need to keep people working and productive
4. A desire to avoid problems with governments (OSHA)

If you have a true desire to remain accident-free, read on. If you are willing to accept having some accidents, then stop reading and go to work because you are going to need every penny you can get your hands on to pay your comp bills and OSHA fines,

A while back I too believed that some accidents were unavoidable, and that a small accident was OK. As our worker's comp rate slowly climbed, as our workforce became less experienced, I learned that having a safe company was not a cost, but an investment that pays real dollars and goodwill back to leadership.

If you allow a 'simple cut' as OK, where do you draw the line. Three stitches? Five stitches? A tendon in the wrist? As you work towards a zero accident rate, the three just mentioned would end up as: Nothing, Nothing, and Three stitches. The cut tendon could be avoided or at least the damage reduced. How?????? By teaching proper practices, enforcing handling and shop rules, and by wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The biggest cause of glass accidents is handling glass too often. DUH! Of course. The less 'touches' you have, the less chance for an injury. Plan your travels during the day with the last stop on the inside of the rack, and the first stop towards the edge. You say, well the orders don't come that way...and I say, get the scheduler in your company involved so that they schedule jobs with large glass on trucks that don't have other stops, or later in the day on trucks with multiple stops. You see, it does takes everyone in a company to create a safe company. Wet glass is tougher to handle than dry glass, of course you know that. When your scheduler makes appointments for large glass, do they say that high winds or rain will cause a delay? Or is it up the the installer to make his stops, no matter what? Give the installer the authority to decide when it is not safe to carry certain glass. If you have a good team they will not abuse the privileges; your teams will grow because of your trust in them.

So 'work smart' will reduce accidents. I promise. In my observations, the next biggest cause of accidents was clutter around the shop or truck. If you are carrying a lite of glass and have to step over something, your balance changes and that can cause a slip. Always have clean walkways in your shop. Have clean racks so that glass doesn't break when sliding out. Have good lighting so that a small run can be seen before a lite is picked up. Which begs the rule that every lite is inspected before it is picked up. Good lighting doesn't work if people don't open their eyes!

Working smart involves wearing shoes that support and protect you. Glass shops should allow only leather work boots, at least ankle height, with metal toes and a metatarsal guard. What is a metatarsal guard? It is a piece of steel worn on top of the shoe, above the ankle. They sure are wimpy looking---until you realize that major league umpires wear them because they prevent injuries---and umpires are far from wimpy.

If you require work boots, (YOU SHOULD) you will be responsible to pay for them. Sears is about the best choice, along with local uniform or work supply outlets. There are expensive boots, and there are realistic boots. You should offer to pay up to a set amount, usually $50-70, and if the worker wants more expensive boots than that, let them pay the difference. What do you do if the worker left his boots at home...send him home to get them, on his time, not yours. He is late when he goes for them and comes back. Too bad. Nobody wakes up in the morning and forgets to put shoes on. If employees are responsible they wear boots, if they are lazy or trouble-making they will wear their sneakers. No boots, no work, no exceptions.

Arm guards are next...there are many types to wear. I recommend a short pair of wrist guards, from the base of the hand up about six inches and then a cut protecting sleeve from the shoulder down to a point where the wrist guard is covered. Cut wrists are an expensive, and unfortunately too common injury in our trade.

If you are a manufacturer, then leg guards, or chaps should be part of your PPE program. I've found very few installation companies that use or provide chaps. So, if you don't have chaps, insist on a heavy denim-type pant, not shorts!

Safety equipment is not going to be the most comfortable option for your staff. They will complain, they will try to get around the rules, just like the 3rd graders who pass notes, but this is for every one's good. Enforce the rules you create. Use one or two people from your shop floor to help pick out various safety equipment. Try different types for a week, and you'll find greater cooperation from the work force.

All of this helps point one and two. Point three calls for keeping people working. Let's now tell you Bieber's Brainstorm: 'ONLY THE GOOD EMPLOYEES HURT THEMSELVES. THE INJURIES ONLY HAPPEN DURING BUSY TIMES OF THE YEAR. INJURIES ONLY OCCUR WHEN OTHER KEY PEOPLE ARE ON VACATION. When an accident occurs, of course you loose a good worker, even if it is just for that day. You also have three people talking about it for a day. Accidents hurt productivity beyond the person that has the injury. My feelings are that for every day an employee is lost due to an accident, you loose an additional day of productivity because of having to refocus efforts of others.

Number four, which will bite you when you are not looking is OSHA. If you have a serious injury rate higher than other firms like yours, you can expect a visit from OSHA. I have been involved with a couple of OSHA visits, and I was so surprised how careful and friendly the inspectors were. Of course, we didn't argue with them, that may have helped. But they were not there to hurt us, but to find ways to prevent accidents. Their mantra, "zero accidents", is what they will talk with you about. If you have a process in your business that has the potential of an accident, and you don't have accident prevention in place, OSHA will tell you to stop doing that, now. The answer of: "It will cost money to build a guard", or "it will take longer to do something", will not fly. Trust me, the OSHA agents I met were unflappable in their goal of stopping accidents. They took no middle ground, no compromise. An OSHA visit, will, in the long run, make you a better company, but it will be expensive and time consuming. Avoid the visit by preventing accidents.

We could write three blogs on each of the points here, but you get the drift. Avoid accidents and you will be a better company. Still have questions? Catch me at paulbaseball@msn.com, anytime.

Oh Say Can You See

In the glass industry the most basic personal safety equipment are gloves and safety glasses. Yet, in a very casual and unscientific survey I saw many glaziers and fabricators not wearing safety glasses. I kept asking 'why not?', and the overwhelming answer was "I'm careful--nothing will happen to me". I called this the 'Superman' complex as it was mostly in younger workers who thought they were invincible.

Every person in a plant, a glass shop or on a job site should wear approved safety glasses. Approved glasses are polycarbonate or approved corrective lenses, usually chemically tempered glass. No excuses. No exemptions. If you walk into your shop for just a minute, put on safety glasses. If you take someone on a tour, give them safety glasses. It's OK to set up a small safety zone by your back door for deliveries, as long as there is no glass in this area.

Owners must wear the glasses. Even if running out for 10 seconds, wear the glasses. By setting the example it is easier to enforce this safety rule throughout your organization. If you wear prescription lenses, simple side shields are available. These slip on the sides of the ear pieces protecting you from bouncing fragments. Looking chic doesn't exclude safety glasses. There are many supply companies that sell safety glasses that you won't be embarrassed to wear. Sunglasses are not safety glasses--don't allow them unless they are certified for safety. For job sites or residential calls don't allow tinted or reflective glasses. Your customers want to see who they let into their house!

It is impossible to place a value on an accident that didn't happen, but in comp cases, loosing partial or full sight is a very expensive claim. A scar on a wrist is a small claim; any claim that involves the face is an expensive claim. But don't do this for the insurance...mandate safety glasses because a horrible injury is totally preventable by wearing glasses.

If someone doesn't wear glasses, safety glasses are an adjustment. When you start your program, give it a week or two for people to get used to them. Issue each person a pair of glasses, and keep spares for visitors by the door to your shop. Yes, you will get complaints on a hot day, and some joker will say he can't see as well, using glasses as an excuse for doing something wrong. Stand firm that glasses have to be worn.

Every glass fabricator has a favorite customer. At Floral Glass our favorite customer was a gentleman named Howie Norden, from Northport, NY. He was a customer for 40+ years. He was and still is the most honest man you'll meet. He always had a joke to tell, always had a smile on his face. One day his son, Howard Jr. came in with a tragic story. His Dad was throwing some glass into the dumpster and a fragment jumped out and went right into Howie's eye. It was a long surgery, and a long recovery. After the bandages came off, his vision was saved, but he didn't see as clearly as he had before the surgery. Howie had thrown glass into that dumpster for 40 years and never had an accident. He now wears safety glasses whenever he is near glass. It only takes one freak accident to have a devastating effect.

Simply put--avoid OSHA, avoid claims, avoid trouble--provide and make mandatory the wearing of safety glasses in every corner of your shop.