The pet care industry, in many markets across the US, is becoming saturated with competitors. And while most pet business owners believe their competitive advantage is “the quality of service” that is provided; they are failing to look deeper into what drives the quality of service. The quality of your services and the customer experience is influenced by the internal processes/policies, the dedication of your team, the company culture, and the tools that you are leveraging to be intentional about aligning all experiences with your brand ethos.
Finding, Hiring, and Retaining top pet care talent is the number 1 challenge that pet care facility owners struggle with and that does not appear to be changing anytime soon. As a business owner, you should ALWAYS BE HIRING and looking to build the best team possible. This is a comprehensive guide to help you through the hiring process, crafting effective interview questions and leveraging tools for managing your recruiting efforts.
SAMPLE DIGITAL INTERVIEW SCORECARD
1. Crafting Effective Job Descriptions
Before you even start the interview process, you need a clear and detailed job description that attracts the right candidates. Outline the specific responsibilities, qualifications, and skills required for the role. Highlight any certifications or experience in pet care that are necessary. A well-crafted job description will help filter out candidates who may not meet your standards and attract those who are genuinely passionate about working with animals.
The largest contributing factor to staff turnover in the pet care space is centered around expectations. If you have had a new hire show up and leave before the end of the first day, then you can be sure that the expectations were not clear. Being honest about the large amount of cleaning that is required won’t scare off the right employees. When you build a great company culture and gamify the workload, you can retain staff for years and build a cohesive team that has genuine friendships with the pet parents and animals entrusted to your care.
2. Finding the Best Candidates
This might sound counterintuitive, but your next best employee won’t always have experience in the pet care industry. I have spoken with dozens of facility owners who are recruiting new employees from retailers, coffee shops, and other places where they receive fantastic service. Have a flyer for hiring that has a QR code linked to a digital application and whenever you receive great service, hand it to that person and let them know that you are always looking for great people to join your team.
The one piece of advice I would have is that if you are hiring outside of the industry, then be sure to have an internal training program to get new employees up to speed on safe off-leash play, dog body language, pet CPR, and other critical areas of expertise. I typically recommend Dog Handler Academy and PackPro as great resources for implementing a training program that every new hire completes before they are solo in a playgroup or interacting with dogs in your facility on their own.
A. Job Boards and Recruitment Platforms
- General Job Boards: Platforms like Indeed, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor have a broad reach and can be effective if used with targeted keywords related to pet care.
- Social Media: Leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Join groups related to pet care and post your job openings there. Dog Daycare & Boarding Best Practices has over 9,000 members and is a great place to get information for job descriptions and might be where you find your next amazing employee.
- NextDoor: Finding the right person in your community can be as easy as posting on NextDoor. This is beneficial because it lets the community know you hire amazing people and for the younger generation many of their parents are on NextDoor and might allow them to give an encouraging push to reach out.
B. Networking
- Industry Events: Attend pet care industry events, trade shows, and seminars. Networking at these events can help you connect with passionate and knowledgeable individuals in the field.
- Local Pet Communities: Engage with local pet organizations, shelters, and veterinary clinics. They often have a network of professionals who might be interested in or know someone suitable for the role.
C. Referrals
- Employee Referrals: Encourage your current employees to refer candidates. They are likely to know others who share their passion for pet care. This is also great for building a strong team of people who like working together.
- Client Referrals: Ask satisfied clients if they know anyone looking for a pet care position. They might recommend someone who is both trustworthy and experienced.
3. Interviewing Candidates
A. Key Interview Questions
- Experience and Background:
- “Can you describe your experience working with different types of pets?”
- “Have you ever had to handle a difficult or emergency situation with a pet? How did you manage it?”
- If you are managing a group of 15 dogs solo and two dogs get into a fight, what are the first three steps you are going to take?
- Skills and Knowledge:
- “What types of pet care services are you most comfortable providing?”
- “Are you familiar with pet first aid and CPR? Can you provide examples of how you’ve applied these skills?”
- If you can see a playgroup of dogs that is getting a little too high energy, what steps would you take?
- Behavior and Attitude:
- “How do you handle a situation where a pet is anxious or scared?”
- “Describe a time when you had to go above and beyond for a pet or a pet owner.”
- Customer Service:
- “How do you ensure that pet owners feel confident and satisfied with the care provided?”
- “Can you give an example of how you’ve resolved a conflict with a pet owner?”
- How do you approach building rapport with customers?
- Work Ethic and Adaptability:
- “How do you prioritize tasks when you have multiple pets with different needs?”
- “Describe a time when you had to adapt quickly to a change in your work environment.”
B. Working Interview
One of the best ways to ensure the employee is a good fit and understands what the position requires is to schedule them for a “Working Interview”. I think that when you have an open position to fill, you should try to find 3 suitable candidates to attend a “working interview”. This should be a side-by-side with an employee who has a great work ethic, and positive attitude, and works through a task list each day to completion.
- Skill Demonstrations: This is going to be dependent on the position you are hiring for, but could be anything from food prep and delivery, small playgroup participation, cleaning protocols, and use of your kennel software to add notes, book appointments, update vaccine records, etc.
- Scenario-Based Questions: Pose hypothetical scenarios to assess problem-solving skills and how candidates handle stress or unexpected challenges.
4. Tools for Managing the Hiring Process
A. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
- Software Options: Tools like Greenhouse, Lever, and BambooHR can help streamline your hiring process by managing applications, scheduling interviews, and tracking candidates’ progress.
B. Interview Scheduling and Communication
- Calendly: This tool allows candidates to book interview times that fit both their schedule and yours, reducing back-and-forth emails.
C. Evaluation and Feedback
- Google Forms or SurveyMonkey: Use these tools to collect feedback from your interview panel and ensure a consistent evaluation process.
- Scorecards: Develop a standardized scorecard to objectively assess candidates based on key criteria. I’ve created a sample scorecard for Pet Care businesses using a tool called Formstack that allows you to create custom questions, collect information on each candidate, and then can be used to have a team with the hiring team to decide who is the best fit for the position.
5. Retaining Top Talent
Finding great people is challenging, especially in the pet care industry. To ensure you are retaining your team it’s important to be thoughtful about the company culture. There is no right answer here, but the most successful businesses can come together as a team to achieve goals. One key way to do that is through transparency in WHY you have set the goals, and how it benefits employees, customers, and the business. If you always focus on a WIN, WIN, WIN model for each goal you set then everyone will be aligned and your success will follow.
In addition to company culture, it’s also important to create opportunities to grow each employee based on their personal goals. Getting to know each employee personally and determining what motivates them, where they want to be in 5 years, how they like to be acknowledged for a job well done, and the types of rewards they like to receive are critical to employees feeling seen and appreciated.
To continue to improve your team, it’s highly recommended that you do Quarterly performance reviews. This allows you to collect important feedback from staff who are interacting with customers, caring for the dogs in daycare and boarding, and understanding how you can better support both staff and customers. It’s also a great way to share opportunities for improvement, update focus, and re-evaluate goals.
By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to building a team of dedicated and skilled pet care professionals who can provide exceptional care for pets and excellent service for their owners.
