Pulling the trigger…A problem…

Pulling the trigger…on that new hire

You’ve done everything right in creatively recruiting and carefully interviewing that new candidate. Those steps have you feeling pretty certain that he possesses all the requisite can-do’s and those all-important will-do’s. So, with that work established you’re ready to pull the trigger and add that new team member, right?

Well, if you’re like most of us that answer is likely a somewhat uncertain yes. And there’s a reason why you might be less than 100% confident. Yep, it’s those references that you so carefully asked for on the application but haven’t contacted!

The reasons behind that inaction are fairly predictable: We believe his employment references are unlikely to give us anything beyond confirming his dates of employment and you feel that those personal references are probably just friends who would give you only the positives anyway.

And while the chances of getting anything much beyond “name, rank and serial number” from those past employers isn’t an ill-founded suspicion, even that sparse information can be useful simply because folks don’t always tell the truth when it comes to those dates. And occasionally that past boss will share a lot more than the barest facts. In the case of those personal references the feedback there can be extremely informative when it comes to validating those can and will do qualities that you think are there.

But to the point of checking references, we operate at

our peril if we don’t take the few minutes that contacting them can cost versus the days and weeks that will be invested after we make that offer. And if checking would have causes us to back off, those few minutes would have been very well spent. But in the best of worlds, checking them can make us even more certain that we’re hiring the right person.

Next up: Some tips on what to say to those contacts.

A problem…and an opportunity

News flash: Apparently there’s an infectious malady going around. Well of course you’d have to be living under a rock not to realize that there’s mounting public concern over the spread of Coronavirus.

To that end we’re all being deluged with lots of well-meaning information about what to do and what not to do in order to remain safe. That includes our customers many of whom are wondering what they need to do to both safeguard their customers and their employees.

Our role – and opportunity, is to help them elevate their sanitation game. That begins with increased – and thorough hand washing and the heightened / correct use of surface disinfectants on food prep and serving surfaces. To that end, it’s a great time to remind those operators that to be effective those surfaces need to be wetted and remain damp for the specified time in order to kill both bacteria and any viricidal contaminations.

It’s also a good time to remind them that all sanitizers and disinfectants may not be virucides. The label or technical data sheet on these products will list it’s efficacy against which pathogen. Those data will also tell you at what concentration it’s effective and what the required wet dwell time is based on each listed pathogen. Note: While it’s not typical to list specific product information here, this is the exception and attached to this issue is a complete listing for the TMA sanitizer line.

The bottom line is that public health concerns are not going to go away until this problem abates. Like most Flu seasons that’ll likely happen in May, but in the meantime, our customers need all the help we can provide to minimize the effect it will have on their business – and in turn on ours.