Let’s face it. Recruiting can be a pain back there… And I am a recruiter! 

“Sometimes, I see things differently” is my tagline, and it is how I handle problems, especially those problems surrounding Talent Attraction. Hey! I am lefthanded! My life as a lefty forced me to look at problems differently. Have you attempted to open a can with a lefthanded can opener as a righthander? If so, you understand.

During winter months in the northern states, many concrete contractors find work inside. Sometimes, the inside work does not require the same number of employees as the outside work does in the warmer months – and good workers are laid off. How does the layoff impact those workers’ perception of your concrete company, especially if they are supporting a family? But you may be thinking, “If we don’t lay them off, we will go out of business!”

Are you open to some creative ideas that may assist you in the retention of those workers?

In the Rocky Mountains, and probably near the Appalachian Mountains north of North Carolina, there are ski resorts. We live in Park City, Utah. We have two ski resorts in a town of 8,000 full-time residents. There are not enough seasonal workers to staff the resorts. The resorts must pay companies in South America to attract college students with J-1 visas to work at these resorts. Now the resort guests are dealing with college students with poor English language skills, and (some) do not have a strong work ethic.

Do you see the opportunity that I see?

Humbert (red Olympics training jacket) serves another year as the Bobsled starter at Utah Olympic Park in Park City (Site of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics competitions for Bobsleigh, Skeleton, Luge, and 90 and 120 meter Ski Jumps).

If your organization would like to keep the workers that you need to temporarily lay off without paying their wages, would you like a way to do so?

Let’s be creative! If your workers live within a commuting distance from a winter resort (does not need to be downhill skiing, but they tend to hire more seasonal employees), have you considered approaching the resorts and offering them some of your employees to work during their winter season? The resort would pay their hourly wage (probably more than unemployment). 

Another potential partnership opportunity is with towns that need seasonal snowplow drivers. Park City Municipal is offering $26 to $29 an hour for drivers with a CDL.

This is a win for everyone.

This would benefit your unemployment insurance experience. Now for the icing on our cake: since they are working for someone else, would it not be nice to have a thread to draw them back to your business when you need them?

Let’s be creative! You know what a pain it is to lose your insurance benefits, especially when you have a family. Negotiate with the resort/city, committing  your company to maintaining your employee’s health insurance, so your employee has insurance continuity. Since your employee may not be contributing to your company’s 401(k), you will not have to contribute to their 401(k) – and if they want to contribute, even better! The thread becomes a string!

Depending on your location, the seasonal workers will probably be able to rejoin your company when you need them. Your returning workers have been trained by your team and will be able to step in with a strong motivation to work hard.

This plan enables you to welcome good workers back (and possibly some other seasonal workers your employees met at the resort) without having to recruit and train new team members!

EXPECT SUCCESS!

Editor’s note: Bill Humbert, RecruiterGuy.com, is a consultant member of the Concrete Foundations Association. He offers these quarterly articles as a way of inspiring workers in this industry to think more strategically and creatively about the talent attraction and retention processes. As valuable as this free advice found in Concrete Facts is, how much more could you and your company benefit from becoming a member of the Association? How much more could you benefit from a work session or two with RecruiterGuy? You may reach out to Bill directly to set up an appointment (www.recruiterguy.com/contact/).