Ten Tips for Locating Hourly Workers

With the economy improving, it is becoming more and more challenging to hire new employees. Here are ten tips for finding the best new hires.
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With the economy improving, it is becoming more and more challenging to hire new employees. Here are ten tips for finding the best new hires.

Search for employees from other industries. “I often suggest people look for workers in places they don’t normally look, said Darren Schulte, vice president of membership for NATSO.

One industry that truckstop and travel plaza operators can tap into is home health care. “They have very loyal employees that are used to taking care of people. What do we want in a cashier? Someone who is friendly and wants to help,” Schulte said.

Schulte also suggests operators look to the hotel industry when searching for custodians. “Both of these industries—hotels and home health care—don’t always pay well, so we may be able to offer these employees a higher salary than they were receiving,” he explained. “If you’re an organization that is looking for a full-time employee and you have benefits, you may be surprisedat the type of person you can find and hire in those industries.”

To find these employees, operators should look at how hotels and home health care centers recruit for employees. “My guess is they aren’t advertising through the help wanted sign,” Schulte said, adding that operators could reach out to a local staffing agency to let them know what types of positions the travel plaza has available.

Make recruiting an ongoing process. Recruiting only when you have job openings can leave you at a disadvantage because you’ll most likely rush to fill the position, which could result in a bad hiring decision.

Focus on word-of-mouth advertising. While technology has brought about more employee recruiting innovations, such as job boards, websites and social media, referrals from existing employees, vendors and customers are still one of the top ways to find a new hire. You should also be on the lookout for good customer service. Whether you’re checking out at the grocery store or ordering coffee at Starbucks, keep an eye out for good service and let the person know that you are always in the market for friendly, helpful employees.

Put hiring information on your website. Adding a “Careers” or “Join Our Team” tab on your website can help spread the word about open positions. Even if you don’t have a current need, you can list the qualities you are looking for in potential hires.

Use social media. If you’ve already cultivated an online presence, you can spread the word through your social media channels.

Use local job boards. Look into all of the resources available in your community. These vary by region, but they could include online listings via local television stations or newspapers or community Facebook pages.

Cultivate a relationship with your local schools. You can introduce your business to local high schools, tech schools and colleges by sponsoring events on campus. You can also create a more formal internship program for certain positions.

Know what you are looking for in an employee. Create a job description for every position, which will help you identify the qualities your employee needs to have.

Make it easy to apply. Putting systems in place, such as job applications that can be submitted online, that make it easy for potential hires to apply can increase the number of applicants. See suggestions at right.

Maintain a reputation as a good place to work. Keeping facilities nice, being involved in the community and treating employees fairly will all affect the number of job applicants a location receives.

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