Ryan Englin on Roofer Growth Hacks Podcast: You're Hiring the Wrong Way

I went on Roofer Growth Hacks with Chris Hunter to talk about why most roofing companies are hiring the wrong way and what to do about it.

Chris opened with the question every contractor wants answered: why can't I find good people? Here's my answer, and it's not popular. There is no labor shortage in the trades. It's a myth. It's perpetuated by the fact that it's easier to play the victim than it is to take ownership.

I challenged every listener to do one thing. Go to your accounting team and ask how many W2s you issued last year. Then compare that to how many people you had on payroll December 31st. For some of you, that number is two or three times higher. You don't have a hiring problem. You have a retention problem disguised as a hiring problem. And if you don't believe me, do the math. Some of you won't do the math because it will sicken you.

We talked about what actually causes people to leave. Only about 9% of people leave for more pay, and usually it's tied to a life event. A spouse gets sick. Twins are on the way. A bigger house becomes a necessity. If you as the employer haven't shown them a career path to make more money, they will find someone who will. But money is almost never the root cause. The real issue is people don't feel like they belong.

This is where the Core Fit Hiring System comes in. I broke it down for Chris. The word "core" shows up everywhere in what we do at Core Matters, and that's not an accident. The one thing that makes it so difficult for blue-collar companies to recruit is that most of the time they're never clear on what their core is. Your core is the sum of your behaviors, your leadership styles, your communication. If we're not clear on what our core is and we don't know how to communicate it externally, we will struggle to recruit.

I walked Chris through how we help companies define that core. It starts with your core vision. Why roofing? You can make money a whole lot of easier ways than roofing. You chose it for a reason. Then where is your company going? We've all heard the metaphor about getting the right people on the bus. But is your bus going around in circles? Is it heading to the mountaintop or the beach? Nine times out of ten, the owner doesn't know. People don't want to get on a bus that's been sitting on the same street corner for six months. They want to get on a bus that's taking them somewhere.

Chris noticed something important. Nowhere in that conversation did I mention benefits, pay, or perks. That was intentional. Recruiting is a marketing activity, not an HR activity. The same work you do to attract customers applies to attracting employees. I shared the Corvette example I use in every workshop. A 60-second Corvette commercial shows the roar of the engine, leather seats, G-force, people smiling. It never mentions specs, maintenance schedules, or price. Then I show the window sticker. I ask the audience: which one do your job ads look like? The answer is always the window sticker. And you know how hard it is to find a window sticker photo online? GM makes it nearly impossible. They know that's not what sells cars. Switching jobs is an emotional decision. Your job ads need to sell the experience, not list requirements.

I also shared the story of five guys who ran a nine-figure company like a fraternity. Passive-aggressive communication, hazing, razzing. I told them it wasn't healthy and I couldn't help. They said that's who we are. So I rewrote their sales job ad to own that culture. Their procurement director read it without knowing it was his own company and said, "I want to work here." Six weeks after putting it out, they hired salespeople who thrived in that environment. Morale went up. Sales went up. Customer satisfaction went up. Every single time.

The lesson is simple. Hire people who thrive in the environment you've already created. Stop casting a wide net and hiring whoever calls back. Build a Core Fit Profile that defines what a rockstar looks like in your company based on behaviors and traits, not just skills. Then craft your message around the kind of boss they'll work for, the kind of team they'll join, and the kind of investment you'll make in their life.

We also talked about investing in the whole person. Companies that bring in programs like Dave Ramsey's Smart Dollar to teach financial literacy see massive returns. Not because budgeting has anything to do with roofing. Because you're pouring into the human being, not the task. That's what makes people stay.

If you liked this conversation, I go deeper on all of these frameworks on Titans of the Trades.