Words: Brandi Marcene
Photo: wera52
The first couple of months of employment are crucial in both the candidate’s and your business’s hiring journey. So, how do businesses ensure their desired candidate is likely to remain in their office? You plan out a well-thought-out pre-boarding and pre-hiring process. Here, we discuss in-depth the pre-boarding and pre-hiring process of masonry:
What is the Pre-Boarding and Pre-Hiring Process?
Pre-boarding refers to discussing the process your company currently boasts right after a candidate accepts their job offer. It involves completing tax and payroll forms, receiving an email address, and so on.
It helps clear out the details of the offered job and increases productivity by saving time wasted during the onboarding process.
The Best Pre-Boarding and Pre-Hiring Practices at a Glance
Businesses must boast an intricately crafted pre-boarding and pre-hiring process to ensure they select the ideal employees. In turn, they can ensure their team of dedicated experts is always safe. Thus, the process includes three main steps:
- Conducting a drug test
- Carrying out a physical test
- Discussing commuting details
Factors To Consider When Hiring or Boarding a Candidate
When it comes to hiring candidates suitable for your business, businesses may employ either one of the two methods. The first one entails putting an ad for your job and announcing a slot open in your company. That way, interested candidates can contact you based on details you add to your job posting.
There’s a chance you may notice a skilled employee that you want to hire on the flip side. However, this method comes with the uncertainty of what job the to-be-hired employee will perform. Here Kevin O’Shea, Director Of Safety and Training offers an innovative technique to figure out whether they’re worth being considered or not. “There’s another kind of way to do it, we call it — who should be on the bus and who shouldn’t be on the bus. You don’t know where they’re going to fit, but you know that you want them. That question is answered by should they be on the bus. And if the answer is yes, then bring them on the bus. And then, once you get them on the bus, you figure out where you can fit them.”
What Pre-Boarding Practices are the Best?
Well-crafted pre-boarding and pre-hiring procedures include the following steps:
Drug Screening Test
First and foremost, you conduct an in-depth drug screening test to evaluate whether the candidate is ideal for the position. Zach Everett, Corporate Safety Director at Brazos Masonry, says that “Part of our onboarding is getting three higher drug screen physicals.”
What Does the Drug Test Entail?
Typically, these drug tests screen for marijuana, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, and whatnot. Moreover, drug screening is indispensable for positions that require candidates to operate heavy machinery and heavy lifting. Since those who abuse illegal drugs can not only be a significant liability to your company, but they may also subject themselves and others to harm.
If the employee consumes any psychoactive substances during work hours, it becomes challenging and dangerous for them to perform effectively. But here’s the thing; even if the employee enjoys stimulants recreationally on the weekends, it could pose serious threats to their safety in the field of work. The reason is there’s no way of confirming how long the effects of the consumed product will last.
That’s precisely why businesses should focus on conducting regular drug tests and urine tests every Monday morning at the office. Kevin O’Shea notes that “Because one of the challenges as recreationally, maybe stimulants that can be taken on a weekend, that will last for longer than that, you know, it’s not unusual for drug tests and urine tests to be administered on a Monday morning on jobsites.”
Moreover, there is only one solution to this predicament: sending employees back home. No matter if the user took a drug or alcohol, as long as it remains in the employee’s system, it’s harmful to them and those around them. Besides, it lowers the overall productivity of the business.
Another thing to keep in mind is that while certain drugs and alcohol are not illegal in plenty of states, it’s still something that expedites risk factors by a considerable amount. Thus, why it’s critical for such industries to reject any consumption relevant to drugs.
Why is the Drug Test Necessary?
Businesses that deal with heavy lifting sectors include mast climbing work platforms hoisted to scaffolding hundreds of feet above the ground to offer subcontractor workers easy access to areas built/remodeled. On top of that, employees have to ensure the process of erecting and dismantling is 100% safe and that the equipment they’re producing should follow stringent industry guidelines and rules.
Thus, this process of erecting and dismantling equipment feet high up in the air is a whole lot more challenging and dangerous than manufacturing the product. In addition to this, Kevin O’Shea says, “By working in an industry that is safety-sensitive and involves working at sometimes extreme heights, with everything that they have to do and remember with regard to fall protection and behavior on equipment. Normally they could be working, or they could be working with young workers trainees, there are decisions that need to be made, quiet and working at height that need to be made.”
Worst of all, it’s common knowledge that one of the effects of any stimulant is that they may lose rational reasoning, as well as fail to remember the dangers of their job. In case they become even slightly less conservative while walking miles high in the air, the repercussions will be severe, horrifying, and long-lasting.
Point in case, the harmful effects of carrying out the job under the influence of a drug can easily be devastating. One thing’s for sure; they wouldn’t be able to perform the job safely. Thus, to ensure the hired employee is eligible for the job, companies should require candidates to pass a drug screen test.
Physical Test
Once candidates pass the first test, it’s time to move on to the second one, i.e., a physical test. While this isn’t true for every pre-boarding and pre-hiring process, the industry in question demands a certain amount of strength.
What are Physical Tests?
Physical tests entail asking prospective employees to perform various job-related tasks that require physical skill and manual labor. Typically, these tasks can measure physical abilities such as strength, muscular flexibility, and stamina of a candidate.
Moreover, an employee may be tested to check their skill in specific electronically monitored machines.
Why are Physical Tests Necessary?
Working in an industry that involves heavy lifting and complex machinery requires a specific skill-set and stamina. Regardless of an employee’s age and gender, it’s critical to ensure they can lift the involved products.
Not only does the physical test ensure efficient workers are on board, but it also makes sure all your employees are healthy and sound when carrying out daily tasks. Zach Everett adds, “We can’t discriminate over age or gender, or anything like that. But we can over the physical, some bags of cement can weigh 90lbs, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt while on the job.” The goal is for all employees to succeed at the company.
Way of Commuting
While this isn’t a question that necessarily makes or breaks the contract with a new employee, it defines the everyday working process of an employee.
For instance, if an employee lacks a mode of transportation, they may have to request rides. Discussing this during the pre-hiring process ensures both you and the employee have a proper understanding of how they will be commuting to work on a day-to-day basis. In turn, they can get to work on time with minimum roadblocks.