How to Ease the Very Hard Job of Finding and Hiring the Right People

… engage existing staff members so that there is interaction and the ability of the candidates to have candid discussions with our team to see how we flow, and understand that it’s not all smoke and mirrors and that we really are the cool place to work that we’re telling them.

CF: What new interviewing methods are needed when you have to go out and recruit applicants?

SC: I typically have my engineer and my service coordinator first grill them on experience and scenarios to see how they think and how they can problem solve. I then meet with them to see how they fit into my culture and about whether they have the soft skills and business skills to be successful. Technology you can teach, but culture, business professional skills and customer service you cannot — they either get it or they don’t.

CF: What new things have to be done today to keep the quality talent you have while others are trying to recruit your best people away from you?

SC: People want to be heard and want to be appreciated and know that their boss has their back. Pay is pay, but if you have them so involved in culture and being part of the family, then it’s hard for them to leave. In addition, keep thinking outside the box and stop trying to run a company the old-fashioned way. Just because you have an office, don’t force your team to have to show up there. Let them work wherever, but when they do show up make sure it’s a fun and relaxing environment.

Mythos Technology’s James Laszko

JL: When a team member believes they are part of the company and are vital to its success, it’s a huge thing. We work every day to empower our people to make a difference and help grow them along their career paths.

TG: To keep qualified assets on your team, you need to be prepared to come to the table with a solid offer and try to avoid a low-ball offer at all costs. Then perform semiannual or quarterly performance reviews to ensure your employees are hitting their marks. Have an open-door policy to ensure all employees have access to leadership and make sure that team members should not be afraid to sit down with leadership and ownership to discuss whatever is on their minds. Provide continued education and training, paid for by the company with stipulations, to encourage all employees to keep a vertical trajectory as this can help most avoid complacency, and provide remote work-from-home opportunities for some workers who are capable and skilled enough to strive in that environment. Lastly, provide a fun office environment to encourage a cohesive workplace, so add the typical perks like a fully stocked kitchen and coffee bar, floating holidays, team building events, having birthdays off, providing a fitness or gym discount, bring-your-dog-to-work days and more.

CF: What are the best ways to get the right candidates and the right hires for the jobs that you have?

JL: We’ve always felt a multiprong approach is the best way — work our local markets via Indeed or ZipRecruiter and leverage our partnerships with staffing and recruiting companies. Unemployment rates are low. We need to find a way to get in front of the quality folks we want working with us. Once we get in front of them, we believe we’ve got the secret sauce to appeal to them, but getting in front of the people is the hardest part of the process.