4 biggest challenges trade business owners face when hiring

Hiring tradies is hard. As trade business owners, we already deal with fierce competition when it comes to hiring. On top of that, we also have to deal with the day-to-day recruitment issues every business owner faces! These day-to-day issues are something you can fix. Improve your chances of finding and hiring the right tradesman for your business.

Hiring issue: lack of resources

The solution: A lack of resources is a common problem in businesses, especially ones that have just started out due to lack of budget. Small businesses aren’t alone in this either, even some large companies’ HR teams still struggle because they’re given low budget.

Whilst popular job search websites such as seek.com.au require payment for a job posting that may limit your search due to budget restrictions, don’t let this discourage you! There are plenty of free or low-cost options you can use when hiring to find worthy candidates.

  • Facebook (community groups, Facebook Jobs & your business page)
  • LinkedIn
  • Flyers at local suppliers
  • Other free job posting sites such as Jora and Gumtree.

Hiring issue: workers are scarce

The solution: Have you noticed the demand for work is increasing but the number of tradies is decreasing? The tradie shortage is a real issue in Australia right now! In order to attract the ‘few’ tradies that are out there to your business, you need to stand out from the crowd. Your job offer needs to be competitive to do this. Think about listing exactly what is included in their wages/salary. New truck, new iPad, new phone, above award hourly rates etc.

Hiring issue: onboarding and retention process

The solution: It’s important to realise that the hiring process doesn’t stop when you hire an employee. There’s still the onboarding process, which can have a massive influence over how long your new hire stays for and how loyal they are.

There’s no point in putting your time and money into finding a new staff member only to watch them leave soon after they started.

Once you’ve implemented your onboarding process with your new hire, monitor them and ask for feedback! This will increase their feeling of ‘being valued’ by yourself and the business and further increase their chances of staying long-term!

Hiring issue: finding suitable employees

With tradesman becoming harder and harder to find, it can sometimes be easy to hire whoever comes your way. In the process, you’re forgetting what you want from an employee.

Make sure you include qualifications needed, skills required, and other personality traits preferable that will suit your company culture in the job description to filter out unsuitable candidates.

Candidates should be able to figure out themselves whether or not your business is one they would like to work for from these requirements!

It’s time to fix these issues and start hiring.

What’s next?

  1. Join our Kick-Ass Tradies Facebook Group, for access to trade business specific conversations, tips and resources, plus a like-minded community of tradies.
  2. Book a 15-minute Game Plan Call with Andy, owner of Dr. DRiP plumbing and co-founder of Lifestyle Tradie, to clarify your priorities and get clear action steps.