Ryan Englin on Toolbox for the Trades: Hire Better People Faster, How to Fix the Technician Retention Problem

I went on Toolbox for the Trades with ServiceTitan to talk about why most contractors don't have a recruiting problem. They have a retention problem. And the fix starts long before day one.

Here's the math that wakes people up. Look at your headcount on December 31st. Now look at how many W2s you issued that year. I promise you issued more W2s than you had people on payroll. That gap is the real problem. One of our clients had a 140% annual turnover rate. After 12 months of implementing the Core Fit Hiring System, it dropped to 22%. That's not a recruiting win. That's a retention win built on better hiring decisions and better leadership.

We talked about the interview and I hit on something that makes people uncomfortable. The interview is the best version of both parties. Ever. The candidate got a haircut, brushed their teeth, showed up polished. And the employer hid the beat-up trucks in the back and told everyone to be on their best behavior. Both sides are performing. It does not get better from here.

So the real goal of the interview is not to see someone at their best. It's to get them to show up authentically. And you do that by being authentic yourself. Stop faking it. I told the story of a client who dropped F-bombs during interviews to test how candidates reacted. When I told him to put that same language in his job ad, he said "you can't do that, that's not appropriate." I said, so you'll be authentic behind closed doors but not publicly? And you wonder why you have a hiring problem?

That's recruiting as marketing in action. Your job ad is an advertisement. If it doesn't reflect the real experience of working for you, you're attracting the wrong people and repelling the right ones.

I also shared a story about a client whose controller quit after 18 months. The exit interview took two seconds. She said she'd been waiting 18 months for her 90-day review. The employer promised reviews, pay adjustments, all of it. Never delivered. Then had the nerve to complain that candidates lie during interviews. You did the same thing.

When it comes to what to look for in candidates, I keep it simple. Focus on things you can't or won't teach. I had a mechanical contractor whose superintendent was disqualifying great candidates over an obscure part from a 1970s unit. The CEO stood up and said it takes eight minutes to train someone on that part. Eight minutes. They were passing on strong people over eight minutes of training they already planned to do.

You can teach someone your CRM. You can teach them your software. You can teach them your processes. What you can't teach is showing up on time, making eye contact without being creepy, double-checking their work, and caring about safety. Those are behaviors. Those are traits. Hire for the things you can't or won't teach and train the rest.

We also talked about skills assessments. I'm fine with them, but don't bait people. One client put a brand-new run cap on a busted unit in the shop and waited to see if candidates could troubleshoot it. Here's the problem. In the real world, nobody walks up to a unit with a brand-new part that's dead on arrival. That's the exception, not the rule. Assess people on what they'll actually face day to day. Remember, 75% of job seekers say looking for work is one of life's most stressful events. It sits on the same list as death of a loved one and bankruptcy. They're already under pressure. Don't add to it with trick questions.

The last piece we dug into was the transition between the interview and onboarding. This is where I use the driveway analogy. Before you move in with someone, imagine sitting in the driveway with a checklist. Which way does the toilet paper go? Is the hamper a target or a requirement? Does the cap go back on the toothpaste? None of these are dealbreakers alone. But stack up enough of them and you get death by a thousand paper cuts.

The same thing happens with new employees. Before the offer is signed, sit down and talk through the small friction points. What happens when your boss doesn't give you all the information? What do you do when a customer blames you for something that wasn't your fault? What does "on time" mean here? This is the alignment offer process. Knock all of that out before day one and watch how much smoother the first 90 days become.

Onboarding doesn't start when someone shows up for their first shift. It starts the first time you interact with each other. Just like nobody forgets their first date 50 years into a marriage, your employees will remember how you made them feel during that first interview. And just like you have to keep dating your spouse, you have to keep re-engaging your people. Cast the vision again. Coach them through the funks. When they're going through heavy personal stuff, step in and modify expectations instead of looking for a replacement widget. The employers who do this build loyalty that no signing bonus can buy.

If you liked this conversation, I go deeper on every piece of this on Titans of the Trades. Subscribe for more.