Condo Media - November 2012 - 22

ASKED & ANSWERED

Hiring a Maintenance Worker
Define the Community’s Needs First

Q A

QUESTION: My community association is planning to hire someone to provide in-house maintenance services. How should the board evaluate candidates for this position? ANSWER: The first thing you should do, suggests Nicholas Boit, CMCA, AMS, president of Barrington Management Co., Inc., is define the position clearly and in detail, listing the tasks you want this employee to perform. The job description you create will define the scope of the work, telling you, among other things, whether this is a full-time position or something less, and helping you answer a more fundamental question: Do you need to hire an employee at all? This is the first question you should ask. Some boards hire an employee reflexively, Boit says, because they have always had someone in the position or assume this is what the community needs. Your board should consider whether the community’s needs could be met as well, or better, and more cost-effectively by hiring independent contractors on an as-needed basis. A cleaning company can provide janitorial services as frequently as you like; many construction firms and construction workers offer handyman services; and some association management companies employ workers that can provide a range of maintenance and repair services, as well. If you decide a full-time employee is the right choice for your community, go back to the job description you created. It will dictate the skills candidates for the position should possess. Make sure the job description and your expectations are realistic, Boit cautions.

Many communities expect maintenance workers “to do everything,” but the “jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none” isn’t usually the best choice. You may find workers who are willing to clean and handle basic repairs and do some carpentry as well, “but they aren’t likely to do those things equally well,” Boit says — or with equal enthusiasm. If you can only hire one person, identify your priorities. If your major concern is cleaning, screen candidates with that in mind. If you want a handyman able to handle a wide range of maintenance and repair tasks, “look for a varied skill set,” Boit suggests. Also look for candidates who have their own tools, he adds. “If they don’t, it’s usually a sign they’re not all that handy.” When interviewing applicants, Boit says, you should ask them specific questions about the skills they have. “Ask them what things they do best and where they think they fall short. You don’t want to have someone trying to patch walls if they aren’t good at it.” Boit also suggests designing a test for candidates to demonstrate their skills, for example, have them paint a simple wall or explain how they would approach a specific maintenance project. The qualifications you require should match the job and the salary you are

offering. You obviously can’t demand an engineering degree and 15 years of experience if you’re paying minimum wage. Prior experience in a maintenance or cleaning position handling the tasks you have identified is an obvious plus, as is a trade school certificate of some kind. But Boit doesn’t think a trade school education should be a prerequisite for the job. “It doesn’t tell you whether they are capable or not,” he notes. And it certainly doesn’t tell you anything about a candidate’s work ethic, their personality, how well they will take direction, how much direction they will need, and how they will interact with board members and owners, all of which should weigh heavily in your selection process. You will want to check references, of course, and make sure you follow the rules for verifying that a prospective employee is a U.S. citizen or, if not, has the documentation required to work legally in this country. “This isn’t rocket science,” Boit says of the process he recommends, but it is important, especially the part about defining the community’s needs first. If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s said, any road will take you there. But if you don’t know what you are looking for in an employee, you’re not likely to find it in anyone you hire. CM

CONDO MEDIA • NOVEMBER 2012

Condo Media - November 2012

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