What Else Have You Got For Me?

What’s your biggest pet business challenge right now? I’ll bet you it’s finding, hiring and keeping employees. You’ve tried all your old tricks and nothing seems to be working as well as it did before the pandemic. Even your most tried and true methods barely seem to move the needle.

You’re not alone. Every business, pet and otherwise, is having the same problem. Even if they find people, they’re not able to keep them long before the barely out of the gate employees jump to another, better opportunity.

Unemployment levels are at record lows across the country. Literally everyone is hiring. Job seekers have their pick of jobs and they tend to be driven by the latest shiny object. That is, they job hop from place to place, following the higher wages or the enhanced benefits that many medium to large companies have started offering. Add to that that places like Walmart and Amazon are starting new inexperienced employees at $20+ per hour.

Most people including the business owners don’t get into pet care to get rich. Most people care for pets because they generally love what they do. They find great satisfaction in spending time with and nurturing animals. They are caregivers at heart. The need to get paid to make a living but money is not their only or even their primary motivator.

So what do you do to attract new employees? In this article, I’m going to talk about some of the things I started doing post pandemic to attract talent.

#1 My job posting today looks a lot different than it did before the pandemic. I used to start and end with functional facts.

Pre-pandemic

“Part time pet sitter position during these hours for this amount of money. Requirements are; need to have a car, be eligible to work in the US, etc. Contact this number/email to apply.”

Post-pandemic

“Do you love animals, do you want a way to earn extra cash while having a flexible schedule. Join us and spend your days playing with puppies and kittens! Here are all the amazing benefits we offer…”

As you can see the post version is a lot sweeter. I still include some functional information like the area of the job and whether it’s part or full time but very little else. I don’t include the pay, the fact that the job involves a lot of driving or that it’s more complicated than playing with puppies all day. My ad is designed to do one thing and one thing only, get people to give me their contact information so that I can follow up.

#2 More phone calls, less emails.

It used to be that, in the steps leading up to the in-person interview, I would communicate with candidates 100% by email. Phone calls didn’t come into the picture until the actual job offer. That morphed over time into a mix of emails and texts as the tech generation entered the job market more and more.

Today, post pandemic, I start with phone calls. I immediately call anyone who has applied for a position to present a great picture of my company and the job and to feel them out to see if it seems like a good initial fit. That phone conversation is followed by email and text communication to move forward with the other parts of the process. Candidates today are swimming in a sea of job search related emails. They barely read them. Reaching out to them by phone seems like a small thing but it elevates you above much of your competition.

#3 I introduced new benefits.

I’m not talking about health care or insurance benefits for employees. Although by all means if this is within your means and you feel it will make a difference, do it. I’m talking about other benefits that may not cost you as much but can make the job more appealing. I introduced a signing bonus. It pays out after 6 months on the job so that it encourages employees to stay. I created opportunities for advancement in the company after 9 months with us. I started offering cash bonuses to employees who brought in new clients.

#4 I made it easier to go through the sourcing and interviewing process.

There are some people out there who will disagree with this approach. They’ll tell you that you need to make candidates jump through a bunch of hoops before they ever even talk to a real person in your company. They’ll tell you this weeds out the candidates who aren’t serious that you don’t want anyway. They were right about this before the pandemic. They are wrong about this in today’s hiring climate. If you are not able to move people through your interviewing/hiring process at a faster pace, you will lose people.

My process involves filling out an application, in some cases a phone screen, an in person or zoom interview, a field interview, checking both personal and professional references and doing a background check. It’s thorough and it’s important but it takes a lot of time. I haven’t stopped doing these things as part of my process but I have relaxed the order in which I do them in favor of personal contact first and indirect contact (paperwork) second. If I can speak directly to a candidate early on this process, I can set the stage for them and sell the job. Once I’ve done this, they are interested and willing to go through some administrative hoops to pursue the job.

#5 I started doing more interviews.

The truth is that some, and by some I mean most, people do not know how to write a good resume. They either have trouble with the content, format, punctuation or all of the above. On paper they look like a train wreck (okay not a train wreck, but not good). However, when you speak to them in person, they shine. If you’re good at making candidates feel at ease enough to open up during the interview you find that they have talents that weren’t reflected well on their CV. This does take more of your time but I’ve found it’s worth it in this market to not rule out someone simply because their resume is poorly done.

#6 I raised my pay rates.

Not a lot, remember this is already a very low margin business and I do want to make a profit, but enough to get my foot in the hiring door. Notice I put this one last on the list. This is intentional because I don’t believe this is the best answer and it’s definitely not the only answer. Don’t try to compete with other businesses on pay. You will lose. Instead, you’ve got to take advantage of all of the things listed above to convince prospective employees that this is the job for them. After all, what we do is fun! Animals are fun! Use that to your advantage.

So as you’re wading into the hiring market keep in mind, if you continue to do the things you’ve always done to attract talent, chances are you’re not going to get what you were getting before the pandemic. Job candidates are as likely to look you straight in the face, shrug at what you’re offering and ask, “What else have you got?”. Be ready with the answer to this question and you’ll attract people!

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About Eliza

Eliza is the owner of two successful pet related businesses; Preferred Pet Partners, a pet sitting and dog walking company, and The Pet Business Coach, offering coaching and resources to aspiring or current pet related business entrepreneurs. She maintains two awesome blogs. One for pet parents https://preferredpetpartners.com/blog/ and one for pet business owners https://thepetbusinesscoach.dog/blog-page/.  Eliza also supports various animal rescue and shelter organizations. Eliza and her husband have a growing pet family. Visit her websites: www.preferredpetpartners.com or www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog.