Recruiting good (and loyal) staff is a problem faced by nearly every asbestos surveying company.

In this guide, we'll explore some techniques for attracting the best staff and ensuring they don't just hop off to another company.

Positive Company Culture

According to a leading recruiter, the best way to attract new staff is to have a positive company culture. If staff enjoy working for you, they'll likely tell others in the industry, and you'll have more success attracting staff organically. After all, it's a small industry!

What does a good company look like:

• Regular check ins with staff.
• Avoiding a blame culture.
• Having an open door policy.
• Don't make staff feel uncomfortable (e.g. No shady/unethical practices)
• Support staff wellbeing.
• Encourage staff development.

Work-Life Balance

44% of asbestos professionals would switch jobs for a better work-life balance. So focusing on having a good work-life balance at your company could be a great way to attract fresh staff, especially those with young families.

A leading recruiter says that travel is most significant factor to consider in terms of work-life balance. So a simple way to improve work-life balance could be to focus on winning jobs in your local area rather than sending surveyors across the country!

Here are some ways you can improve work-life balance:

• Better working hours.
• More flexible shift patterns.
• Less travelling.
• Less paperwork.
• Remote and local working.

Career Progression Opportunities

51% of asbestos professionals would change jobs for better career development opportunities. No-one wants to feel stuck in a rut, after all!

You might be afraid to train your staff up and upskill them in case they go to work for someone else. But imagine if you don't train them and they stay —that would be even worse. It's in the best interest of your company to nurture and upskill staff at every opportunity.

Here are some opportunities you may want to offer your staff:

• Industry training.
• Self-development.
• Coaching from other team members.
• Managerial roles and duties.
• The chance to try something new.
• The change to learn new technology and tools.

It's your job to make sure staff are fully developed and improving with new opportunities. And it's your team that grows your business.

Higher Salaries

In the asbestos industry, 39% of people aren't happy with their salary. So offering a higher-than-average salary is a good way to attract new staff.

If you're a small company with higher profit margins, then offering salaries above the market average could be a simple way to complete against other companies.

But don't ignore the other tips in this guide; A higher salary might encourage someone to join you. But you'll need a good company culture and career progression opportunities to retain them!

Dedicated Training Arm

If you're a large company with plentiful resources, having a training arm that provides external training (e.g. p402 or p402 refresher training) will give you the first pick of surveyors entering the industry.

This technique isn't for everyone, just the major players, But it's a smart way to attract new staff, and also add a defensible "moat" around your business.

While you watch other companies struggle to find new staff, this strategy means surveyors will fall directly into your lap!

Hiring Through Recruiters

Why spend your hard earned money hiring recruiters? Well, recruiting is a full time job so outsourcing to an agency will free up your time and company resources.

There are some potential downsides though. Recruiters sometimes get a bad rep for a reason, so make sure you do your due diligence on the recruitment agency.

It's important to be aware that staff you hire through recruiters may end up having weak ties to your business. So you'll need to focus extra hard on retaining these staff members once you've hired them.

Refer a Friend Bonus Scheme

Surveyors tend to stick together in the asbestos industry.

So if you've recently made a successful hire, consider offering them a bonus to bring in anyone else they know looking or work.

This technique is an alternative to paying expensive recruitment fees, so it's not unreasonable to offer a thousand pound bonus, split equally between the existing staff member and the new hire.

Summary

To summarise, finding and attracting loyal staff is a challenge faced by nearly every surveying company.

However you can stack the cards in your favour by offering better salaries, focussing on work-life balance, and providing better opportunities. Opportunities you offer staff don't have to be financial, they could just be the chance to try something new.

If you're still struggling to hire, consider working with a recruitment agency or offering a refer-a-friend bonus scheme. These will either attract staff with weak or strong ties to your business, depending on your approach.