Hire the right people
Russell has seen his share of talented young people come into
the company, but he’s also seen a handful of that talent pool leave
because of their own dishonesty. The key is to minimize that handful and get as many of those honest, talented people as possible.
When you do this, you’re building your business with solid people,
which will help ensure its success and sustainability.
“The key to finding good people is looking at the education of the
people and looking at the reputation of that individual,” he says.
One’s education is easier to detect because you can simply look
at the resume, but honesty is another issue.
“You can’t really tell until you put the people in the game, but people who have been trained can sometimes detect honesty much
easier than people who have not been trained for that,” Russell
says.
He has potential hires spend a day with a psychologist for psychological exams so that he can get an expert opinion from someone who can better read a person than himself.
“I have interviewed and hired enough people to have my own gut
feeling, and I do follow my gut feeling, but I want the scientific
evaluation,” Russell says. “I get that to go with my gut feeling.”
In addition to the psychological testing, he also does background
checks and drug testing on top of the standard interviews.
“You take all of that and put it in the hopper, and you come back
99 times right in your decision-making,” he says.
Beyond the time it takes to do the various tests, it also costs
some money. Russell estimates that his company spends at least
$300 to $500 for every hire, depending on the position, but despite
the cost, he says it’s worth it in the long run.
“It’s better to spend the money and time upfront,” he says. “It’s
100 times cheaper upfront than on the tail end — it costs more. It’s
like saving a child — you can save a child and keep that kid from
going to prison with a good education. A good education is much
cheaper than paying to keep someone in jail.”
Beyond the simple costs associated with turnover, having the
right people will also help you build your company for long-term
success.
“You want to have the very best,” Russell says. “You want to be
the very best. You want to serve your customer with impeccable
service. It pays off for you. It’ll be better if you have the right people on board.”
