Hearthstone Property Services, Murfreesboro, TN, has developed what Scott Graby, president, says is the most-effective approach he's seen of identifying successful sweeper operators before he hires or trains them.
According to an article in the October/November issue of Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction, Hearthstone requires prospects to take a personality test as part of their online job application. Test results are reported and analyzed using these types of charts, and Graby says while not foolproof the results are a pretty good indicator of which applicants might be a successful sweeper operator.
"We've done baseline testing on our best drivers so we simply look for the test results that match the baseline," Graby says. "It's an unusual type of job that takes a special breed of person who can take pride in doing good work year after year. It's done late at night, the driver is all alone, it's not ideal for a 'people person,' and this test does a great job of identifying the type of person who might be successful operating a sweeper."
In fact only 20% of applicants make it past the personality assessment - and one who didn't was Pavement Editor Allan Heydorn. You can read his experience in his Roundabout blog.
For the full story and more insights into why Hearthstone has been successful over its 25 years, read "How to Fine-tune Operator Hiring, Training and Motivating" in the October/November issue.
Each applicant for sweeper operator completes a personality assessment and results are reported in grid format (left); additional analysis is generated using the personality traits chart (right).
