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The Three-Step Hiring Process That Saves You Months of Headaches
Published 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Description
Hiring the Right Team Member: How to Build a Lawn Care Crew That Sticks
Key topics
- Stop hiring for experience first
- Skills like mowing, trimming, edging, and striping can be taught.
- Character cannot.
- Andy would rather hire someone dependable, humble, and eager to learn than someone with years of experience and the wrong attitude.
- Write job posts that sell the opportunity
- Generic job ads blend in and get ignored.
- He urges owners to talk about culture, growth, paid training, professional equipment, and advancement.
- The goal is not filling a spot, it is recruiting a teammate.
- Use a 3-step interview process
- Step 1: A 10-minute phone interview to filter fast.
- Step 2: A face-to-face interview to watch behavior, not just answers.
- Step 3: A working interview to see how they move, listen, stay busy, and handle the field.
- Ask questions that reveal character
- Andy recommends questions like:
- Why are you looking for another job?
- Tell me about a mistake you made at work.
- What’s the hardest job you’ve ever had?
- What motivates you?
- In his words, look for honesty, not the perfect answer.
- Andy recommends questions like:
- Always check references
- A simple call to a previous employer can save months of headaches.
- Ask if they would hire the person again, how their attendance was, and whether they could be trusted.
- Watch for red flags early
- Showing up late to the interview.
- Blaming every former employer.
- Jumping from job to job.
- Having no questions and no curiosity.
- If they do not care in the interview, they probably will not care later.
- Training is where success begins
- Andy makes it clear: hiring starts the process, but training creates great employees.
- Build onboarding that teaches safety first, then equipment, then quality, then customer service.
- Use checklists, SOPs, and training videos to make it repeatable.
- Always be recruiting
- Do not wait until someone quits.
- Keep a list of potential hires.
- Ask for referrals, post on social media, visit trade schools, and network in the community.
- The best hires often happen before you actually need them.
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