Every Tuesday at 1PM Central Time, Portage Cartage moderates a Twitter-based "movechat" for movers and consumers looking for information on moving. For today's chat, the topic was 'Hiring Practices.' Below is the abridged transcript of the questions and the responses.
Q1 - For a moving company, is it hard to find good help? Why/why not?
GoodStuffMoving Q1 - Because it's such a physical job, there is always plenty of help available, but it can be hard to qualify "good" help...
FlatRate_Moving Q1 - The question is always how selective do you want to be? Many people can move furniture - but find the ones who do it well!
AllwrightMoving A1: It seems that "good" help can be found, its making sure that they are "good" help as the season picks up that is a challenge.
FlatRate_Moving Q1 - also willingness to treat their job as a craft is necessary.
Q2 - What skills are necessary to be a mover?
AllwrightMoving something that also means a lot is actual people skills
myBekins Q2- I would agree, people skills are a must if you're a mover
seamlessmoves Q1: We talked about corporate culture in Customer Service chat. It is important in all positions in a company.
GoodStuffMoving Q2 - Besides the physical and people skills, I'd rank creativity very high. Screen new hires through odd moving requests or tasks.
FlatRate_Moving Q2 - Movers need to be able to do heavy lifting, be polite and courteous, and also have common sense :-)
PortageCartage Often moves are caused by tense situations like divorce or death. Crew HAS to have a gentle custserv touch for those times.
AllwrightMoving They movers are the last people our customers see, so it is important that they are kind, flexible and personable.
FlatRate_Moving We always like to make sure our movers have the personal skills necessary for the job. WIthout those - things can go really wrong
PortageCartage Honesty is important too. Better to let the customer know about a damaged item right away than not mention it at all.
AllwrightMoving @PortageCartage Also be honest with us, tell the office when something happens on the road.
seamlessmoves Q2: Also: integrity, ability to "think on your feet" and genuine caring about people.
movinggal A really good mover definitely has the customer service skills but also is a motivated worker & can get it done quick & safely.
Q3 - What are some reasons you would never hire a certain person?
GoodStuffMoving Q3 - Reputation tends to be one of the biggest...if you've been around many moving companies, word travels...
AllwrightMoving A3: First if you don't do well on our test. We do make people take a Wonderlic, also their past experience...
seamlessmoves Q3: We used to be opposed to body art, but have noticed recently some of the hardest-working employees are "decorated."
movinggal I think a thorough pre-employment screening is essential.
AllwrightMoving @seamlessmoves As a "decorated" person, i agree, we work hard...it does matter greatly where and what the art is
FlatRate_Moving OMG yes! RT @movinggal Oops. Sorry multitasking has its drawbacks. I think a thorough pre-employment screening is essential.
PortageCartage @AllwrightMoving @seamlessmoves Great point - some of our best workers are inked up too.
PortageCartage Criminal background checks are a must, especially when working on gov't projects or with high-security corporate clients.
GoodStuffMoving Do any of you ever hire for familiarity of a region?
PortageCartage I don't think we ever have. That can be learned quickly. RT @GoodStuffMoving: Do any of you ever hire for familiarity of a region?
PortageCartage What about the way potential applicants dress? Don't need to wear a tie to the interview, but you've got to be clean cut overall.
AllwrightMoving @PortageCartage I totally agree that their criminal background is very important.
movinggal As for dress, I think it depends on the area. Some parts of the country are more casual.
movinggal I think it is good for an interview to wear a polo shirt & nice slacks but more 'rugged' attire on day of the move..
PortageCartage We have a strict no-foul-language policy here. It's amazing how some job applicants don't turn the filter on.
movinggal We have had some really 'rough' dressed crews but they worked their tail feathers off. A good crew leader makes a huge difference.
AllwrightMoving The position matters as to what they wear, I helper can be nicely but casual.
seamlessmoves We have hired for client familiarity (seniors, high-end, etc.) RT @GoodStuffMoving Do you hire for familiarity of a region?
Q4 - What can a mover do to attract quality employees?
movinggal Q4 Maybe performance bonuses based on feedback and surveys? A way to reward those who go the 'extra mile'.
movinggal If ur company has a reputation for treating its employees well, it will help attract employees. The key is finding the good ones.
PortageCartage @movinggal Great idea - that assumes the mover collects & tracks customer feedback and that employees have a scorecard.
AllwrightMoving The company's reputation is the number one way to attract employees.
Q5 - What sort of training do you provide for your employees?
PortageCartage Over the years, we've spotted many "diamonds in the rough" and have coached them up to the point where they're now our top people.
PortageCartage That includes driver training, packing lessons, how to build tiers in the trailer, custserv skills.
seamlessmoves Q5: Training manual, on-the-job training, periodic reviews, and a promotion track for those interested.
AllwrightMoving We find that the most effective training comes from our best guys in the field. We will send them to train with the best.
PortageCartage If any of you have questions for the group, fire away. We've got a few minutes yet.
PortageCartage Or enjoy this Three Stooges video where they play movers - http://youtu.be/bU93DCmde5A Love those uniforms!
Next week's topic will be "How To Stay Sane In Peak Season" - suggested by AllwrightMoving
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