Finding a fit

If you interview for a project manager position at Silvis Group, you might get a job at the full-service firm in Mt. Pleasant, Pa. But you may not be hired right away, and you may not be hired as project manager at all.

With a downloadable form on its website, Silvis Group is constantly accepting applications and conducting interviews with potential candidates. Though the company is growing, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s constantly hiring – but when it does, President Jacob H. Silvis, IV, will have a pool of vetted candidates already waiting in the wing.

“If your radar’s not always up and you’re not listening to what is happening around you or who’s looking for work, you can put ads in the paper all day long but you’re just going to get people who are looking for a paycheck, versus someone who is actually going to fulfill the role,” he says. “The best employees do not typically come knocking on your door, so we always encourage people to come in and visit the facility and sit down for an interview, even if we don’t have an available position at the time.”

Silvis’ mindset is ABAR – “Always Be A Recruiter” – because there are opportunities at the company year-round. Landscape design/build and lawn maintenance services employ 42-50 people in summer, and commercial snow management requires up to 75 in winter, generating just as much revenue.

Summer or winter, Silvis is on the lookout for people who could contribute to the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction – in one role or another, down the road.

So, for example, during a recent trip to Lowe’s to pick up a few items, his ears perked when he overheard a conversation. He heard a man mention the word “brick” and grumble a phrase along the lines of, “If I would have known then what I know now,” – enough to prompt an introduction.

“I said, ‘I heard you mention you’re a brick mason,’” Silvis says. “He looked at me kind of puzzled, so I said, ‘I thought I’d just throw it out there: In the wintertime we bring on some sub-contractors and additional employees for commercial snow management. What do you do in the winter? Would you be interested?’”

The two exchanged cards, and a seed was planted.
 

The right role.

While the initial seeds are scattered broadly to spark interest and applications, Silvis narrows down the pool by defining the skill sets that best fit a particular position.

Depending on the position, the interview process may take six or eight weeks, culminating in role play activities where candidates must demonstrate the skills required in the role. Of course, there are also background checks, drug screens and reference checks to clear.

But it’s not just technical skills. Personality styles also factor into the evaluation. Silvis Group uses LandOpt’s portfolio of business processes and procedures to ensure consistency across the organization – including hiring, with tools like AVA. The “Activity Vector Analysis” behavior assessment categorizes candidates into core personality types, complete with communication preferences for managing them.

“When we’re hiring, we know what that position holds and what skill set, from a communication and/or an energy standpoint, is required,” Silvis says. “For example, our account managers have to be team-oriented, they have to be goal-seekers, they can’t be too quiet or introverted. We know what personality traits fit into specific roles. So if a person fills out an application for project manager, but the AVA says they’re better suited for sales, we’re going to dig a little deeper to understand more about this individual.”

New employees go through an extensive onboarding process after hire, where they’re paired with mentors in the company to walk alongside them. They also attend a week of “Transformation Training” at LandOpt to learn standard procedures.
 

Hands-on training.

After that, keeping employees tuned to the needs of Silvis Group customers is an ongoing process.

“They’ve called me ‘micromanager’ more than once,” Silvis says with a laugh, “but the reality is: It’s not so much about micromanaging. It’s more about educating and training and coaching the team members to give the end result that clients expect.”

So what’s the difference between micromanaging and coaching? Often, it’s how your approach is perceived. The key to coaching, Silvis has learned, is knowing how employees like to be coached.

“It’s very critical for your team members to understand your personality,” Silvis says. “We’ve done retreats where everybody has taken the AVA and then sat down to discuss it as a group: ‘Jake’s personality is this, and he likes to be managed this way,’ and on down the line. When people understand where you’re coming from, they can take coaching and direction much better than if you just come in flying off the handle.”

By taking time to hire the right employees whose skill sets match the job requirements, and continuing to coach them, Silvis has culminated a customer-focused team that produces the results that customers expect. With client satisfaction as the common goal, the growing company boasts a consistent client satisfaction rate of more than 90 percent. Last year, Silvis Group was honored as the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce’s Business of the Year.

“Ongoing coaching and training – of not only yourself, but others in the company – creates a better environment for all of us,” Silvis says. “Many times, companies fail because they put the wrong people in the wrong place, and they expect them to do something that is not in their character or their capacity. Making hasty hiring decisions is probably the worst thing you can do. If you hire the right people – not just someone to fill the void – and you give them the ongoing coaching and training that they need, they’ll go to the end of the world for you.”