Stan Genadek’s Top 7 Small Business Hiring Tips
Running a successful business means growing a team of dedicated and hardworking people.
But even Stan “Dirt Monkey” Genadek—a Jobber ambassador with over 30 years of landscaping experience—knows that hiring employees for your small business can be a challenge.
We spoke with Stan during one of our Coffee Break sessions and gathered all his best small business hiring tips.
Watch the full video below, or keep scrolling to get Stan’s tips fast and hire top talent for your home service team.
1. Invest in your employees
Hiring your first employee will cost you money for their wages, taxes, and other expenses. But don’t think of this cost as a liability—it’s an investment.
Your new hire will help you complete more jobs, provide better customer service, and save time that you can reinvest in growing your business.
“A good employee shouldn’t cost you any money,” said Stan. “A good employee should make you money.”
2. Hire before you need to
It’s harder to find the right person and the right fit when you’re overloaded with work. That’s why Stan says it’s a good idea to hire and train an employee long before you actually need them.
Give your new employee time to understand your business and grow into their role. That way, once work picks up, you’ll have someone ready to meet demand.
Pro Tip: Nervous about maintaining service quality after you hire someone new? Put systems and standard operating procedures in place to help your employees follow the same processes—and get the same great results every time.
3. Wait for the right person
While you should be ready to hire early, don’t rush the process. Not everyone who applies will be the right fit, even if they look great on paper.
Stan had one employee whose bad attitude offset his skills—and affected the entire business. “I didn’t realize the effect until that person was gone,” said Stan. “It was like I could breathe.”
READ MORE: 10 questions to ask a new employee before you hire them
When you have the right person come in, they start to take over the here and now, allowing you—the entrepreneur—to see into the future.
4. Set a vision for your company
Employees who share a common vision are more motivated and feel like part of the same team. That vision—for example, using your services to help customers love their homes—will grow alongside your company.
But no matter how big or small your business is, its vision starts with you, the owner. When you know where the company is going, that sense of direction sets the tone for everyone.
The biggest asset in your company is the way you think—your vision, your goal, everything you want to accomplish and set forward.
5. Give your team a greater purpose
Stan believes your employees want to feel a greater purpose. When you have a company vision in place, invite your team into it and allow them to be part of something bigger than themselves.
Your employees will see details that you don’t—ways to reach your goals faster, better, and more efficiently. Use their insight and experiences to keep your team moving forward in the same direction.
I’ve never seen a single major company built from one single person.
I’ve seen them built from the vision of one person, but through the teamwork of people all moving in the same direction. Build your team. Bring them in.
6. Build a positive culture from the top down
According to Stan, new hires don’t just want a job. Money isn’t always the biggest consideration, either. Culture is a major motivator—if a team is spending eight hours a day together, they want to enjoy that time.
In any business, culture starts at the top. Create an atmosphere that’s inviting, open, and a place where people can do what they love—and love what they do.
READ MORE: How to build a business where employees want to work
7. Connect the team
As your team grows, it’s important to keep employees connected. Try holding weekly, bi-weekly, or quarterly meetings to bring everyone together. Just make sure each meeting has a purpose and an agenda.
READ MORE: Try these 5-minute team-building exercises
Stan’s team would meet for breakfast every Monday morning. This was a chance for them to talk about upcoming jobs for the week, deal with any issues, and reconnect as a group.
We all have good and bad weeks. But if we can get together and ensure we’re going in the right direction, that helps everyone.