Find where your new hires get lost between "yes" and day one.
A 10-business-day diagnostic for contractors and industrial employers. You get a map of how hiring-to-start really works today, where it loses time and people, and what to fix first.
Focused Audit $2,500 · Full Audit $5,000 · Invoices and POs welcome
The offer went out. Then nothing happened fast enough.
- A candidate accepts on Thursday and doesn't show up on Monday.
- Badging and screens take longer than finding the person did.
- Orientation runs whenever one person has time on their calendar.
- The superintendent finds out on Monday morning that the crew is short.
- Nobody can say how many days it takes to get someone from offer to first shift.
- The same hiring surge breaks the same way every time.
It's not just a slow start. It's a second hire.
of contractors say new hires fail to show up or quit shortly after starting. It's their #2 reason for unfilled jobs.
AGC 2025 Workforce Survey, national · sourceof construction workers' comp claims (2017–2021) happened in the worker's first year with that contractor.
Travelers · sourceconstruction jobs added in Houston, Feb 2025 to Feb 2026. That's the most of any U.S. metro.
ENR, citing BLS · sourceaverage cost per hire for non-executive roles, before overtime, schedule slips or safety costs.
SHRM 2025 Benchmarking · sourceWhat is the gap costing you?
Use your own figures. We don't store anything you type here. It's a rough estimate to help decide whether the problem is worth a closer look.
Four things you can use on Monday.
A current-state process map
From approved requisition to first completed shift: every step, owner, handoff and wait.
A bottleneck analysis
Where time, money or candidates are lost, with the evidence for each one and how bad it is.
A ranked improvement plan
What to fix this month, what to plan for later, who owns each fix and how to measure it.
A readout with your leadership
A working session to go through the findings, answer questions and agree on the first three moves.
Bottleneck table, sample layout
| Step | What we saw | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Offer → screen order | Screen ordered only after paperwork is back | HIGH |
| Badging | Safety-council slots booked one person at a time | HIGH |
| Certs check | Required tickets confirmed after the start date is set | MED |
| First-day handoff | Crew lead not told the start date | MED |
Made-up example to show the format. Not from any client.
Ten business days. One workflow. One plan.
The clock starts when the agreement, payment, kickoff and data request are all in. We keep the work narrow on purpose, so we can finish it properly.
- Before
Fit call and proposal
A 20-minute call, then a one-page proposal within one business day.
- Day 1
Kickoff and data request
We agree on scope and contacts, and send a short request for de-identified data.
- Days 2–4
Interviews and walk-through
We talk to the people who touch each step: recruiting, HR/safety, site leads, and new hires where possible.
- Days 5–7
Sample and evidence
We trace a sample of recent hires from offer to first shift and time each step.
- Days 8–9
Findings and plan
We build the process map and the bottleneck table, then rank the fixes.
- Day 10
Readout
We walk your leadership through the findings and leave you with every file.
The scope sets the price, not a discount.
For one problem area you already know about.
- 1 role family, 1 location
- Up to 5 stakeholder interviews
- 90-day look-back
- All four deliverables and the readout
- Paid in full at signing
For multiple crafts, sites or a surge on the way.
- Up to 3 role families or 2 locations
- Up to 10 stakeholder interviews
- 6-month look-back
- All four deliverables and the readout
- 50% at signing, 50% at delivery. POs accepted.
Final terms are confirmed in your proposal and services agreement.
If we can't show you the gap, we keep working.
If the Audit doesn't turn up at least three specific, fixable bottlenecks, each backed by evidence, we keep working at no extra charge until it does. If it still doesn't, we refund half your fee.
- Not recruiting or placement. We offer those separately.
- Not software, and we're not selling you any.
- Not legal, immigration or PEO advice.
- Not ongoing support, unless you ask for it.
You'll come away with a plan your own team can run.
Jennifer Hightower
Jenn brings 12+ years in industrial workforce recruiting, staffing and onboarding, with more than 100,000 craft placements. She's seen the gap from the recruiter's side, and now she maps it for the employer.
More about Jenn →We ask for less than you'd expect.
- De-identified data only: dates and steps, not names.
- No Social Security numbers, medical information or drug-screen results.
- We don't need records from any other employer.
- Nothing confidential changes hands until an agreement is signed.
What buyers ask first.
We already use onboarding software. Is this still useful?
Yes. Software runs the steps you give it. The Audit checks whether those steps, owners and handoffs are the right ones, and whether people follow them. We're vendor-neutral and don't sell software.
How much of my team's time does it take?
For a Focused Audit, plan on a kickoff hour, 30–45 minutes per interview (up to five) and a few hours from whoever pulls the data. For a Full Audit, roughly double that.
Our data is messy and scattered across systems.
That's normal. We plan for paper, spreadsheets, payroll and screening records, then trace a sample of recent hires by hand. Working through messy data is part of the job.
Can you fix what you find?
Your team can run the plan on its own. If you want help, we offer a follow-on Fix Sprint, scoped separately once you've seen the findings.
Do you work outside Houston?
Our focus is the Gulf Coast. Interviews and the readout can be remote.
Will you need a vendor setup, W-9 or insurance certificate?
We expect to, and we'll work with your process.
Why fixed scope and not hourly?
You know the price and the finish line before you sign. If the scope needs to grow, we'll send a new proposal first. There are no surprise invoices.
Twenty minutes to find out if the gap is costing you.
Bring one recent hire who didn't make it to day 30. We'll walk through what happened together.