HR Know-how

Nearly 10 years ago, Albuquerque, N.M.-based Heads Up, which currently employs 120 full-time employees and in spring and summer can employ up to 170 employees, hired a Human Resources manager part time, and the position went to full time quickly when the company realized how much they needed someone in this role, particularly as finding adequate middle managers like product managers and account managers became more difficult, said company Vice President David Daniell.

Heads Up's HR person is responsible for all hiring and recruiting and she approves and fulfills hiring requests made by other managers in the company. She also prescreens applicants to reduce the number of interviews managers have to schedule. “She’ll do phone interviews with about 20 of the best applicants and get that number down to the six or seven best of the bunch,” Daniell said. “This really helps when we’re looking out of state for employees and want to minimize the amount of money we’re going to spend on flying in people for interviews, plus the time spent interviewing.”

Also, 80 percent of Heads Up employees are Hispanic since Mexico is only a four-and-one-half hour drive away, and the HR manager handles all I-9 forms for Hispanic workers. Also, she’s responsible for making sure each new employee receives a pre-employment drug screen, which Daniell relies on because of how much the program has decreased workers’ compensation claims and equipment and vehicle accidents. “We cannot afford not to do this,” he said, adding that though drug testing can be a three- to four-day process,
it’s well worth the time investment. “And the employees actually pay for the drug screens themselves – we take out the amount, about $20, a little at a time from their first four paychecks. If they want to work for us, they have to be willing to do that.”

The author is Managing Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at nwisniewski@lawnandlandscape.com.