They're hard to find - Good Employees

In support of the idea that there is nothing new under the sun, enjoy the following quote:

“Teenagers these days are out of control. They eat like pigs, they are disrespectful of adults, they interrupt and contradict their parents, and they terrorize their teachers.”

Written by Aristotle in the year 350 B.C.

Science and Technology have made huge advancements in the last millennium but human nature seems to stay about the same. I might be becoming a little negative here but it seems that people in general are not willing to do what it takes to improve themselves. Specifically I'm referring to the segment of our population that are in the “Unemployed and/or Underemployed” positions.

Recently our government released statistics that show our nation having a 7.5% unemployment rate. Some in our government state that the number is more like 14% when you include the people that have stopped trying to find work. Stopped Trying??? That's like saying you're tired of breathing so ...

What has happened to our country's attitude toward work? Referring to the word “work” means taking the personal responsibility of working on developing the skills needed to become proficient at ones job or profession with the attitude that you will succeed. Somewhere along the line it seems people loose sight of what is important. There is dignity and a good level of pride when a job is done well. When your work life is going well, usually everything else seems to go better too.

I had lunch with one of my customers who owns a company that makes marble and granite counter tops along with other kitchen and bath upgrades. He has 6 locations and 90 employees. He knew I had hired about 22 salespeople in the last 8 months and he asked how they were working out. When I told him that none of them worked out he just shook his head. He said he just placed an ad that morning for a laborer that would help stock his locations and drive a company truck. In three hours he had eighty Email resumes. He showed me on his tablet what most of these resumes looked like.

The resumes were horrible. I swear that when my stepdaughter was in third grade she could have written better resumes. During our conversation my friend and business owner made a statement that I had not considered. He believes that more than half the people looking for work are UN-employable. Most do not possess the basic written and verbal skills needed to be hired. The ones that do, half of them don't show up for the interview and most of the ones that show up either can't pass a drug screen test or only want to know how much they will be paid and how many days off they get.

Is this a problem nationwide or is it just a South Florida problem? What have you experienced when trying to hire new employees? I'd like to know.

Putting negativity aside, if you have good employees, cherish them. They are few and far between. I wish you all good luck and good fortune in your business ventures.

Extract from the Alarm Association of Florda

President's Newsletter August 2013