The Hire Better Now program was developed by an HVACR contractor over 14 years as he struggled to solve an acute technician hiring problem in his own business. The following article tells the story of how and why this unique program was developed.

How To Attract, Hire and Train Quality HVAC Technicians And Other Employees Too

by Charles J. Brand

In 1971, my parents purchased Hart & Iliff Inc. in Sussex County, NJ. Founded in 1889, the company originally sold feed and grain, lumber, coal and heating oil. Over the years it diversified into HVAC installation and service. Since I had no interest in the business, when I graduated from college, I went to law school and practiced law. In 1987, my father died and within a short time, it became clear that I either had to get involved in the business or it had to be sold. Before I knew it, I was working full-time at Hart & Iliff. The company had a number of experienced HVAC technicians who were nearing retirement age. By the time I entered the business, one of these experienced technicians had already retired and been replaced by my father with a technician who had worked for another company. My problem was how to replace the other experienced technicians. As I began to learn the business, I quickly discovered that it was very difficult to find good HVAC technicians. I had no clue where to begin or what to do.

I ran newspaper ads, visited technical schools and tried to hire experienced technicians. In each case, I found the process frustrating and unproductive. At one point, I hired an experienced technician who was a recovering alcoholic. I talked to his Alcoholics Anonymous advisor and was assured that he hadn't had a drink in more than six months. So against the advice of my wife, who is a social worker, I hired this gentleman. Approximately six months later, I got a call at midnight on a Sunday from the local police department, informing me that this technician had been picked up driving a company van while intoxicated. Despite the, “I told you so" from my wife, I still didn't learn my lesson. I continued to hire HVAC technicians who had worked for other companies. None of these technicians, including the one hired by my father, were the type of employee I was looking for. For years I tolerated behavior that was totally unacceptable, afraid that if I let a technician go, I wouldn't be able to replace him. Hart & Iliff developed a reputation as a company in which a technician could do almost anything (short of driving while intoxicated) and get away with it. It was the classic case of the inmates running the asylum.

Eventually, I came to the inevitable conclusion that, in general, hiring experienced technicians is not a good idea. If they couldn't make it in another HVAC company, they wouldn't make it in my company either. Once I came to this realization, I began to study and analyze the problems associated with finding, hiring and training technicians. My legal training helped because I'm an analytical thinker and I'm very persistent. Over a period of fourteen years, little by little, bit by bit, I developed and refined the details of a program to successfully find, hire and train quality HVAC technicians. As the program began to take shape, we slowly weeded out the marginal employees.

When the first technician was let go, it made a huge difference in the attitude of the other members of the HVAC department. First of all, the technician who was fired was a constant complainer. Removing his bad attitude resulted in addition by subtraction. Secondly, it made it clear to the other technicians that if they didn't shape up, the same thing might happen to them. Even more important is the fact that each time we let an employee go, we were able to replace him with someone appreciably better. Today, the quality and reputation of the HVAC department is so good, that a large competitor hired a Hart & Iliff technician, with only 5 years experience, to be their service manager.

HireBetterNow.com was formed to make this powerful hiring program available to any company in the HVAC industry who wants to solve their technician hiring problems, once and for all. At the present time, there are over 30 companies successfully using the program. These companies come from various geographic areas and range in size from very small to extremely large.

The theory of the program is to attract new people to the industry. Applicants are screened to make sure they have superior mechanical aptitude, good people skills and the right character and personality for the job. Then they are trained on an accelerated basis. An outline of the steps involved in this new employee hiring program are as follows:

1. Attracting Qualified Applicants. Because we work in the industry every day, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that working, as an HVAC technician, is a very good trade, offering significant job benefits. If the opportunity is presented properly, you'll be surprised how many people are interested in learning the trade and working for your company. There are many under-utilized sources and proven techniques to find and attract qualified applicants. Running an employment ad such as, "wanted - HVAC technician", just doesn't work.

2. Screening Applicants. If you use the correct techniques, you'll be amazed how many applicants apply for the position. We recommend using a number of procedures to screen out the best applicants. These procedures include administering exams which test the individuals attitudes, people skills, work ethic, honesty and mechanical ability. In addition, we use certain specific background checks on all potential applicants. Our objective is to find and hire good people, with mechanical aptitude, who have the desire and potential to be good HVAC technicians.

3. Interviewing and Hiring. Most employers make hiring decisions based on a personal interview with the applicant. Studies show that applicants who interview well don't necessarily make good employees. What we really want is to find applicants who are good at doing the job, not good at getting the job. For this reason, proper testing and screening procedures are imperative. In addition, it is important to get references from previous employers. Unfortunately, in our litigious society, it is often difficult to obtain valid references. We use a unique system to overcome the reluctance of previous employers to provide meaningful references. Obtaining valid employment references is an essential component of the hiring process.

4. The Hiring Decision. Hiring the correct employees is probably the most important function of the management of any company. Employees with the wrong attitude can impact customer loyalty. One study estimates that when a customer stops doing business with a company, 70% of the time it is caused by the indifference of an employee. In today's competitive environment, no company can afford to lose customers. A report from ADP, the largest payroll processor in the world, states that, "the direct and indirect cost of employee turnover is 1.5 times the annual salary of that open position. If we assume that the average HVAC technician makes at least $50,000 per year, what ADP is saying is that the cost of replacing that technician is at least $75,000. Therefore, the hiring decision should be taken very seriously. When making a final decision about whom to hire, we weigh the various criteria as follows:

Test Results - 50%
Work History and References - 30%
Personal Interview - 20%

Before actually hiring an employee, we do a complete background check. While you might think that all this testing, screening and interviewing will discourage applicants, just the opposite is true. Paradoxically, the more difficult you make it to get the job, the more people want it.

5. Training.

Over the years, people have asked, "What happens if you train a new technician and he leaves?" The answer is always the same, “What happens if you don't train him and he stays?" If you want to run a high quality HVAC company, it is imperative that new technicians be properly trained. Our procedure is to use a mix of in-house training and the powerful online program offered by HVACReducation.net. All new employees are required to participate in a program that obligates the trainee to make a significant commitment to the profession and the company. This program ensures that the employer receives an appropriate return on their training investment. By hiring candidates with superior attitudes, people skills and mechanical aptitude, and by training them properly, you can make them productive HVAC technicians in a surprisingly short period of time.

Our Program was originally developed and perfected to deal with an acute technician hiring problem. However, in discussions with companies around the country, it became clear that there is a need for this type of program to help hire employees in other phases of the business as well. Therefore, the program has been expanded to cover other employees including drivers, office/support staff, sales people and management personnel.

The Hire Better Now Program allows you to take back control of your company from your employees. Lets face it, every business has to live with a certain amount of employee turnover. For a business owner/manager it is an empowering feeling to know that if an employee does leave, you have a proven method of replacing them. Furthermore, the program allows you the latitude to replace marginal employees and to upgrade the quality of your workforce. As your employee mix improves, so does the tenor of your organization and the operation of your entire business.

Charles J. Brand is a Principal in Hirebetternow.com.

He can be reached at (973) 383-3335

or via e-mail at cbrand@HireBetterNow.com.