Hiring Practices Have Come A Long Way Another piece to the hiring practice should include having hiring packets that include: An equal opportunity employee state-ment Space for applicant’s employment his-tory An acknowledgment of the company’s “at will” employment policy — for non-union companies A drug test authorization form if appli-cable A consent form for background checks — if you use a third-party company to do them A review of the company’s policies and procedures, which must have a place for a signature — an important document stating that you communi-cated your policies and the employee understands them Form I-9, the Employment Eligibility Verification document. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Immigration and Naturalization Service requires that individuals you hire are legally eli-gible to work in the country and this form has a list of acceptable docu-ments a new employee can use to establish their identity and employ-ment eligibility. Although sometimes expensive, using a third-party to do background checks may be very useful. They can uncover criminal records, motor vehicle records, credit history, edu-cation verification and employment verifica-tions. Many guidelines and tips can be down-loaded from various websites including that of the U.S. Department of Labor and other government sites. If It’s Broke, Fix It Carpet Care Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 2 p.m. EST/1 1 a.m. PST In our second-to-last seminar, veteran carpet cleaners, including Jeff Cross, editor of Cleanfax , will share their tips of the trade to help attendees achieve carpet cleaning greatness. If you are a contractor and want to expand into carpet care or are a facility service pro that needs to increase your carpet care skills, our carpet care experts' intriguing insights may be the reassurance needed. Attendees will learn carpet cleaning basics as well as solutions to tougher carpet care challenges. Questions can be submitted throughout the seminar and will be answered toward the end by carpet care experts eager to help you succeed. T o r e g i s t e r f o r u p c o m i n g e v e n t s o r v i e w a r c h i v e d e v e n t s , g o t o : www.cmmonline.com/onlineseminar Another good idea is to maintain records for people you have interviewed, whether you hire them or not. This will save a lot of time with repeat applicants and should be kept in a com-pletely separate drawer with notes. These simple changes in hiring practices have raised my entire company’s standards and my employees’ morale. It has not only allowed me and my clients to feel more comfortable with our employ-ees, it has also saved us money. I now have the time to focus my attention on other pressing matters of my business. Gone are the days of going through dozens of employees, poor service, frustra-tion, stress on good workers, wasted train-ing dollars and the negative impact on my company from customers that had a bad experience with a less than desirable employee. Training employees to do the work is the easy part. With the help of the personality test and maintaining documentation, we will contin-ue to do our best to hire only the people with good overall attitudes and good cus-tomer service skills. Maintaining a safe, productive work envi-ronment is now a lot easier, too. We have come a long way. CM 16 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • July 2010
CMM – Archives July 2010: 16
