Your workforce is the key to the success of your car wash. They can help you plan for its improvement, care for your tools and equipment and win customers. All of the above are necessary to ensure that your business stays ahead of your competitors. But how can you be sure that the applicant sitting right in front of you is the perfect fit? By having a good employee recruiting screening process in place.
Importance of a Good Employee Recruiting Screening Process
1. You Save a Lot of Money
Some car wash owners think that having a set system for employee recruiting screening only consumes time and money. How wrong they are. Yes, you do have to use your precious time and effort for interviewing an applicant and spend your hard-earned cash for background checks. And if you do not have the time or lack interviewing skills, you might end up hiring a personnel manager or a recruitment office. But this will pay off in time, as you reap the benefits of your efforts.
2. Weed out the Wrong Kind of People
Without a systematic employee recruiting screening process in place, you have no way of confirming the validity of an applicant’s CV. Surveys show that one in three applicants include some kind of dishonest statements in their CVs in order to land a job. How will you know if the person you just hired based on his appearance and initial interview intentionally forgot to mention that he was terminated from his former job due to grave negligence that led to huge losses? Or that he was once convicted of theft? Remember that car wash employees enter customer’s vehicles and sometimes even their properties (as in the case of mobile detailers), so there is always the chance that they might get tempted to steal from them. These are not mere allegations – studies show that most criminals repeat the crimes they were convicted for.
3. Promote the Positive Image of Your Car Wash
Having a good employee recruiting screening process can target three groups of people who matter to you: applicants, clients and lenders. We have to admit that no matter how decent a car washing job is, it still has a negative connotation to some people. William McGurn of the New York Times refers to car washing as “one of those dirty immigrant jobs” based on a cliché and also as the “United Nations of business” as stated by a car wash owner. Not to mention that there are owners who hire school dropouts and ex-convicts due to a lack of manpower.
But your target people will view your car wash in a different light once they become aware of how you choose your employees. Customers will feel safe and secure when they entrust their vehicles to you; applicants will apply to benefit from your positive image and suppliers, sensing that yours is a stable and reliable company, might consider your loan application.
4. Foster Harmonious Relationships while Doing the Employee Recruiting Screening
Calling up an applicant’s references and previous employers can validate his claims. Is he really hardworking or is he a lazy bone who will just annoy you and other workers? Did he resign or was he terminated? How do his references describe him? Is he a known trouble maker in his community? Knowing all these is essential in maintaining harmony in your car wash. An agitator, for example, can spark intrigue or bad blood between you and your workers. A trouble maker may be disliked by other employees, which may lead to unfavorable circumstances. It is also wise to put them on probation and observe how they perform their tasks and mingle with other workers.
5. Give You Peace of Mind
Ensuring that an applicant can really detail a car through an actual demonstration of his skill can prevent a customer from suing you for negligent hiring. He might take this action when his car is damaged by a worker. The same goes when you subject an applicant to an in-depth interview, background check or drug testing. As a service-oriented business, it is your duty and responsibility to keep your clients and their properties safe while on your car wash. Polite, decent-looking and drug-free car wash workers make you and your customer feel safe and secure. With no worries, you can sleep soundly at night.
Conclusion
Employee recruiting screening is indeed a good car wash management policy. It can save you a lot of cash, weed out the wrong people, promote the positive image of your car wash, foster harmonious relationships, and give you peace of mind.
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