Sue opened up her laptop, while sipping her hot, strong, fresh coffee. It was her third cup that morning. She realized and frowned to herself. She was drinking a lot more coffee than she had been prior to working remotely. She was going through coffee, and creamer very fast. She made a mental note to pick up more when she went to the grocery store that evening.

Adjusting to remote working was a challenge at first. She and Justin had to figure out technology, and move computers and phones to their homes. Setting up calls to be re-routed to the phone she was given for remote work was a challenge too. All in all, after those first few bumpy weeks, it had been smooth sailing. Now, entering their eight month of remote work, Sue found herself feeling a bit burnt out. Justin was busy with being an emergency EMT, and while that had lessened a little bit, he was still a little too busy to do landscaping work. Duey, on the other hand, had taken a little time to deal with his current personal life, and seemed distracted when he was working. She had a few customer complaints about his work. It really was time that they hired another landscaper. They were still getting new clients every week, despite the current economic climate. Sue was just happy to have a job, but her two bosses really needed someone else to help out with the workload.

After hanging up with yet another new client, Sue logged into her video meeting with Duey and Justin.

“Great news, I just signed the Association of Realtor offices of Realty. They can’t wait for us to work on their landscaping, and snow removal this year. They have finally returned to their offices, at least part time.”

“That’s wonderful news!” Justin exclaimed.

“How are we going to handle all these new clients?” Duey asked, apprehensively.

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Sue hesitated before continuing on. “I think it’s time we hire another landscaper.”

Duey and Justin looked a bit grave. Duey was the one who broke the silence.

“How are we going to do that remotely?”

“Well, I figured we could do a virtual interview and then send the new hire on assignments after they quarantined for two weeks, just to ensure the safety of our clients, and each other. We can assign the new person to one-person jobs for a little while as well, once they get trained.”

“Brilliant!” Justin shouted. So, they went to work, trying to find the perfect hire. It was quite the process, and while Duey was skeptical, Justin was excited at the prospect of this new way of hiring. With so many people out of work, they had hundreds of applicants to go through. They finally found a couple they thought would make a good fit. After three different remote interviews with their video meeting software, they shared screens in order to provide photos of what their office looks like. This allowed them to really give the applicants a chance to see where they would eventually work. Justin, Duey, and Sue discussed their applicants, and finally landed on Shep Shears.

The background investigation went smoothly, too. Sue called Commercial Investigations LLC, and was able to have a lot of the forms she provides applicants, available through the Applicant Quick Invite. This was such a relief, as Sue wasn’t sure how she would get the forms to her applicants without having to see them in person. After running the background investigation, and reading his wonderful references, the team at Fancy Valley and the Four Seasons were delighted with their pick.

This new hire was really going to take some of the stress out of their lives during their busy season. Of course, it wasn’t going to fix everything. Justin’s still facing some fear as a volunteer first responder. And Duey, well, he still has a lot to figure out in his life outside of work...

Will their new hire enjoy being a part of the Fancy Valley team?

Find out in the next issue!

Don’t forget to read Shep Shears reference verification report!