All remodelers have a sales department. All remodelers have a production department. But few officially recognize a human resources department. 

Alex Raisanan used her experience to build an HR department for TraVek, a remodeling company in Scottsdale, AZ. Through skill and creativity, the department was able to build its team by 123 percent in a tough labor market.

In this episode, Alex shares how she did it with Victoria and Mark, and tells you how an HR department of one can help you grow your team with intention and create a culture worth talking about.

Alex is the human resource director at TraVek. Her dedication to high standards was ingrained at an early age by her luxury resort experience in the HR department of the Four Seasons Scottsdale, and led her to corporate recruiting at one of the largest national companies in the construction sector, and then finally to TraVek. 

She learned how to build a culture at the Four Seasons and found her passion for helping people find jobs to support themselves and their families. Alex has officially been at TraVek since February 2017, but had been doing work behind the scenes previously. Alex helped develop some policies and procedures, and an employee handbook. When she began full-time, she dove into recruiting in a tough labor market. She shares her strategies for finding the right people for the right roles, and growing your business, including:

• How to network and build relationships
• Starting conversations with people who have the skills you need
• How she attracts top talent
• Taking the long view of recruiting
• Using LinkedIn and social media to grow your staff
• Why to recruit when you’re not necessarily hiring
• What to do when you find a superstar, but no formal job opening
• Establishing a templated on-boarding process
• The interview process
• Involving your team to evaluate a good fit
• The questions to ask to determine a cultural fit
• And more …

Proactively recruiting can help you increase the chances that the top talent will be interested and available when you do have an opening.