You're reading part 2 in our hiring series. Check out part 1 here.
In a recent State of the Moving Industry Report, we asked moving company owners, What areas of your business were most challenging in 2023?
Not surprisingly, staffing difficulties ranked #1. In an industry known for high turnover and stressful situations that often drive customers to point of tears, hiring a team you can trust from top to bottom might seem like an pipe dream.
But it's worth the effort! When you have an A team in place, everything runs more smoothly—and you can focus on scaling your business, instead of getting sucked into the daily grind.
So what does it take to build a high-performing moving team? We’ve broken it down to five simple steps.
1. Organize your systems and SOPs
Before you invite anyone in, make sure your house is in order. That means establishing clear standard operating procedures (SOPs) and a central place for accessing them.
Just ask Marcela Kerbs. As the co-founder of BustNMoves Moving and Storage, she and her husband run four locations throughout the state of Idaho, including a fleet of ten moving trucks, four packing vans, and one seriously amazing team.
“We’ve surrounded ourselves with people that know a lot more than we do and I might be a little biased, but I’m just gonna say it: we have the best movers in the state of Idaho,” said Marcela during her session on Streamlining Your Operations at the Virtual Movers Conference.
Marcela works just 15 hours per week and gets to spend the rest of her time with her family. It’s literally a dream come true. But getting there wasn’t always easy.
Here are some of the key steps she took to systematize her business and win back her time:
- Find your “SOPs.” Whatever documented processes you have tucked away in a file (or worse, notebook 😬) somewhere, gather them together in one place.
- Create your systems outline. What gaps are left after putting your current process together? Jot these down in an outline based on the client journey, with areas for things like, marketing, preparing accurate estimates, booking a move, performing the move, collecting payment, collecting customer reviews, and more.
- Appoint a systems champion. The best part about the “unsexy” task of documenting your SOPs? You don’t have to be the one to do it! Hire or appoint a systems champion to take over the process for you. Simply hand them your notes, a copy of the book, SYSTEMology, and get back to running the business.
- Centralize and digitize. Marcela uses Trainual to store all her team’s SOPs in one central, digital system. Team members don’t have to repeatedly ask where to find things — they always know where to look to find the information and instructions they need.
“The systems work and your people work the systems. This is where you get to take vacation or cut down to 15 hours per week. It’s a great place to be,” says Marcela.
Success can never come from chaos. By establishing clear protocols for every aspect of your business, you can deliver a consistently high quality moving experience for customers, while reducing the amount of training time required for each new hire.
“The systems work and your people work the systems." — Marcela Kerbs, Co-founder, BustNMoves Moving and Storage
2. Create a compelling job description
Your job descriptions are critical for setting the right expectations from day zero. So why are so many companies missing the mark with their job ads?
According to research, 72% of hiring managers said they provide clear job descriptions — while only 36% of candidates say the same. Clearly, there’s room for improvement.
Start by making sure all the basics are covered.
Your job description should include the following sections:
- Job Summary to help candidates quickly assess whether the role aligns with their skills and experience
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Responsibilities to let candidates know exactly what’s expected of them
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Skills and Qualifications to make it easy for applicants to understand if they meet the minimum requirements for the role
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Benefits and Perks. If you offer health insurance, professional development opportunities, flexible work arrangements, or other incentives, now’s the time to highlight them.
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Equal Opportunity Statement to affirm your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and encourage candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to apply
- Compensation including a clear hourly rate, annual salary, or salary range
That last one is key. In a competitive labor market, compensation has the ability to make or break a job seeker’s decision to apply, with almost half (44%) of job candidates choosing not to apply for a position that didn’t include transparent salary information.
“If you’re not offering competitive pay, you’re going to get the bottom of the barrel,” says Wade Swikle, CEO of 2 College Brothers Moving & Storage in an episode of the Grow Your Moving Company podcast.
The median salary for movers is currently $15.96 per hour according to Zippia, but when you consider that there are Amazon drivers who make more than that, it becomes clear that what’s average isn’t necessarily what's competitive.
“If you’re not offering competitive pay, you’re going to get the bottom of the barrel.” — Wade Swikle, CEO of 2 College Brothers Moving & Storage
3. Promote your open roles
Finding quality movers is largely a numbers game.
“We know that it's going to take a hundred candidates to get one to two hires,” says Winston Davis, founder and CEO of MoveUp Consulting. “You never want to turn off the recruitment engine.”
A good distribution strategy will get your job ad in front of as many candidates as possible.
Here are some of the top recruitment channels to consider:
- Free job boards. Job sites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, and even Craigslist have a large audience of potential candidates.
- Specialty job boards. Dedicated sites like MovingWork.com and GigSmart can help you connect with applicants who are actively looking for work in the moving industry.
- Your own career site. Leading franchises like Bellhop and TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® have their own dedicated landing page where applicants can find all available positions.
- Social media. Meta, X, TikTok, and Instagram are all great (and free!) ways to promote your job openings and engage with potential candidates who may already be familiar with your brand.
- Employee referrals. Offer incentives to your team members who recommend qualified candidates.
- Offer a signing bonus. To increase your chances of attracting experienced candidates who aren’t actively looking for new employment.
- Partner with a recruiter. Experienced recruiters and firms like MoveUp Consulting can help you find and secure the best team members quickly.
Still not sure where to start? Stick with the recruitment channels that worked best in the past.
From there, you can slowly expand to new channels based on your needs and hiring budget.
“We know that it's going to take a hundred candidates to get one to two hires." — Winston Davis, founder and CEO of MoveUp Consulting
Read on for steps 4 and 5!
Once you've got job descriptions posted and a funnel of candidates coming in, it's time to see who rises to the top. Head over to part 3 in our hiring series for tips on interviewing your top candidates and onboarding for success.
