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Who's in Charge of Your Reputation?
by Darin Drabing, senior vice president, operations, for Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries in Southern California, www.forestlawn.com, where he oversees more than 500 employees.
Have a Hiring Plan
First lesson: I think hiring is your greatest opportunity to improve your organization. You'll have the most impact on your reputation management by hiring. I believe this to my core. Jack Welch, CEO of GE, a pretty successful company that is also diverse, was asked, "How can you possibly be so successful at all these different industries, everything from turbine engines to tomatoes?" He said, "I don't have to be an expert, I just have to hire one right person for those businesses; that's my job."
How do you do that? You have to have a goal. You have to say, "I refuse to hire anyone that isn't better than the person they're replacing." You have to set a standard, and you constantly have to raise that bar. I can hear you now: "Well, my right-hand person, 20 years of experience, just retired; I'll never be able to replace her." Nonsense. All they've done for you is set a minimum competency that you're willing to accept. You can't take a step back. Find the right employee.
How do you do that? You have a hiring plan. You plan for everything else. You plan budgets; you probably plan capital equipment expenditures, maybe cemetery development, facility expansion. You plan for your retirement, your children's education. I heard these wild ideas this morning that people even plan for funerals. What's your hiring plan? Where do you start? What are you looking for? And what tools are available?
Where do you start? We have to ask this question first: Are you satisfied with the quality and quantity of the applicants that are out there? If not, what are you doing about it? Are you doing anything different? Let's start looking at the bait, because we have to find some good candidates.
Classified ads. We all use them. When was the last time you really read yours? Do you know what paper they're in? Do you know where they're positioned within the paper? Are they in sales? Are they in customer service? Are they in maintenance? Where are they and what are they saying? If you read it, would you be interested in applying for that job, or is it the same ad that you ran when that position was open last year, or five years ago?
The Internet. If I lost my job tomorrow, I would look here. I look here for everything else, and I'm no tech geek. I use the Internet all the time, and so does the rest of the population, so if you're not looking at the Internet as a source, you're missing the boat. It's inexpensive, and you have a great deal of freedom in how you can advertise for your position. Your own Web site: Do you have your classified ads on there? Do you have any open positions on there? Why not? You've got a good reputation; maybe somebody's looking.
College campuses. A great source for new employees. I can hear the naysayers, "I don't have any colleges in the town we live in; they're too far away." Do you live and work in the same town where you went to college? They've got great resources there, counselors who are helping students find careers or part-time work, and it costs you nothing but the telephone call, a letter with information about what kinds of jobs you have in your organization, what kinds of salaries and benefits you offer.
Job fairs. Here's a novel idea: Instead of waiting for employees to come to you, why don't you go to them? It's also a great way for your employees to get out and do something a little different, be an advocate for your organization.
Other "service" organizations. I'm not talking about the Kiwanis or the Exchange Club or the Lions Club. I'm talking about organizations like this hotel where you experience the kind of service that makes you think, "Hmmm; I wish my employees would respond to the public like that." Go up to those people and say, "I've got jobs open and I'm looking for people just like you. I know that you're happy with your job, but do you know anybody else who would be interested?"
Your current employees. You've got good employees; they're loyal. Wouldn't you like more of them? Do you offer any financial rewards for referrals? Are there any incentives for your employees to say, "Hey, why don't you come work for So And So Sons Mortuary? It's a great place."
Hire Knowledge, Not Labor
As you go through this, you really have to start asking a simple question: What are you looking for? Are you hiring labor or are you trying to hire knowledge? You've got no business hiring labor, no matter what job you're trying to fill. Every job has a bunch of tasks, but that's not what's important. That's not what we're looking for.
We're looking for people who can make decisions, people who can express empathy, people who are good listeners, people who can speak. That's what we need. We can teach people to do everything in our business, except those core elements.
Henry Ford once said of the assembly line, "It's a shame I have to have a whole person, because really all I want is the hand." Because the people messed up his assembly line. Do we run assembly lines? No, we don't. What we want are individuals who can respond and react; we don't want automatons. We're looking for people with knowledge, and the more you focus on what kind of knowledge they have as opposed to perhaps what their last job was, the better you're going to find the candidates out there to fill your jobs.
2. Tools to Help You
How to avoid hiring a horse thief, or anyone else who is wrong for the job.
3. The First Day on the Job
Are you making a good impression on your new employees?
4. Do Personnel Issues Make You Sick?
Stop spending so much time with "viruses" and start investing in your good employees.
5. Evaluating & Motivating Employees
Find out who can do it, who "gets it," and how to get the best out of the people who "get it" and can do it.
Darin Drabing can be reached at ddrabing@forestlawn.com; (323) 340-4701.
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Copyright ICFA 2002
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