Sep 03

R2 = EOC — Recruitment & Retention = Employer of Choice

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Problems with staffing and retention may not be due to bad hires or a low unemployment rate. In fact, they may be related to poor management insight by not recognizing your employees as a core competency in your business strategy. Although employees may not fit the strictest definition of a core competency, it is a fact that your employees are the ones responsible for creating many of your core competencies. It is an undisputable fact that failure to recognize the importance of employee contributions will lead to failure regardless of your business strategy.

Recruitment and Retention

Creating a strategic plan and definitive initiatives is the easy part of the formula for success. The difficult part is finding, recruiting and retaining the appropriate talent combination in today’s market to carry out that plan.

Recruitment and retention are major issues in the wholesale distribution industry today. These issues are especially critical to the service center industry for two reasons:

o First, distribution is one of our aged-basic industries that doesn’t project the excitement of the high-tech industries and the dot coms of the new millennium (even though many have crashed and burned).

o Second, the number of employees between the ages of 25 and 44, traditionally the bulk of the workforce, will continue to decline in the United States for at least the next five years. The baby-boomers are aging quickly toward retirement.

Under these circumstances, how in the world does a distributor not only recruit new talent, but protect the talent they have?

Questions about compensation, training, incentives, benefits and work environment always come to the forefront. The answer is committing to becoming an employer of choice (EOC) with as much tenacity as you commit to being a supplier of choice, always wanting the first call and last look.

Pay Attention

Many distribution executives pay far too little attention to this part of their businesses. Often the mindset is that this is the “touchy-feely” stuff that’s a non-revenue producing necessary evil. Maybe that thought process didn’t hurt the company in the 80’s or early 90’s when unemployment in some areas reached 10%, but that’s not the case today where the labor unemployment rate in many markets is less than 4%. When unemployment is that low, most people who are unemployed just don’t want to work.

As a result, there is a lot of corporate raiding going on. Even with the recent struggles of the automotive industry and some high-tech industries, unemployment remains at a level that just is not conducive to recruitment and retention.

So what’s the answer?

Going on midnight raids? Offering BMWs as signing bonuses? Paying way above market wages? NO, the answer is building a human resource strategy into your business plan. Get over the old paradigm that human resource departments are too costly and of little value. In fact, those distributors that adopt that philosophy actually spend more money by having highly compensated managers, particularly sales managers, running ads, receiving resumes and doing preliminary interviews when they should be selling. The costs associated with that process as well as the revenue lost due to extended position vacancies inevitably far exceeds the annual costs of dedicated human resource professionals. Secondly, a huge percentage of new hires will jump ship within 18 months if they sense the company is not committed to its employees. They will jump if the company does not accept them into the fold properly by offering initial orientation, subsequent training and a culture that treats the employee as the company’s most precious assets.

The question is not, “Can you afford to invest in this soft touchy-feely stuff?” The question becomes, “Can you afford to not invest in your most important asset, your employees?”

The old paradigm creates a bias against paying attention to the human element of the workforce. Many wholesale distribution executives that do strategic business plans initiate from the top down instead of the bottom up often ignoring the real value of a strategic plan. The real value is the involvement and education of your employees in completing the plan, not in the document itself.

Are you at the mercy of your workforce?

This bias that exists in many distributors is almost as though admitting that employees are the most precious of corporate assets will lead to an anarchy on which owners and managers will fall at the mercy of the workforce. Well, shake your head in disbelief if you want to, but the reality of the situation is that you are at the mercy of your workforce. The rules have to continue to change. If you aren’t willing to admit that and get your head in the game then you won’t survive in the new millennium.

“People are not profits but without people there are no profits.”

Some wholesales distributors recognized their dilemma years ago. Many of the top performers in wholesale distribution are at the top because they strive to be employers of choice. These are forward thinking distributors that have found solutions to their recruitment and retention challenges. Following in their footsteps requires an initial “gut check.” Honestly ask yourself how your employees would answer questions like:

o Do you receive counseling on a career plan?

o Is there a current wage and salary plan in place?

o Do performance incentives exist?

o Do you receive regular training and instruction?

o Do you receive performance updates and recognition beyond a once a year chat with your boss?

o Does customer feedback play a role in performance evaluations?

o Are suggestions reviewed and awarded?

o Is there both a formal and informal communication channel?

These questions relate to the basic core competencies of human resources: staffing, training, rewarding, recognizing and organizing. The business strategic plan cannot succeed without paying attention to this part of the business. You must facilitate your employees’ involvement and feedback into this process. This basic premise in implementation across wholesale distribution varies according to size. The same plan for a $20 million privately held distributor would not work for a $500 million distributor.

EOC

To solve your recruitment and retention problems you must strive to become an Employer of Choice. To accomplish that objective you must have a Human Resources strategy that is integrated into your corporate strategic plan that acknowledges and recognizes the employees as the company’s most precious asset.

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Sep 03

Looking For Jobs in Manufacturing? How to Select the Best Executive Recruitment Partner For You

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For those with little experience of today’s recruitment market within the manufacturing and engineering industry, it can often be a daunting task to understand the best way of securing an appropriate technical engineering job, senior management position or an executive appointment. Within this article we hope to give you some more information on how to select the best Executive Recruitment partner for you.

Often, new job seekers become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of manufacturing jobs advertised on online recruitment sites such as Monster, Total, Jobs, Hotonline, Planet Recruit, Jimfinder, Just Engineers, Executives on the Web and Jobsite. Furthermore, individuals seeking manufacturing jobs, often become disheartened when they receive very few responses to a high volume of applications made. For those that are new onto the market, there are a few things that should be considered, probably the main one being “which is the best executive recruitment company to partner with?”

In order to supplement your own job applications, it is advisable to partner with one or a select few Executive Recruitment Companies who genuinely specialise in Manufacturing and Engineering vacancies as opposed to working with a generalist. Often the most valuable process undertaken by the executive recruitment consultant will be to spend time understanding your individual needs, your key skill sets and your career aspirations, and then work alongside you to generate a profile of clients which they can then make direct contact with. The consultants understanding of the manufacturing and engineering industry is a vital factor in this process as this knowledge can save a lot of time in securing your next job. A good understanding of the cultures that exist in certain types of manufacturing environments, a knowledge of which skills would be of interest to certain businesses, an understanding of the key drivers that exist within specific sectors can only add value to the candidates job hunt, as this will ensure that well matched manufacturing vacancies are presented to the candidate in a timely manner.

Further considerations when looking for a job in manufacturing

As mentioned above, it is recommendable that you choose a recruitment consultant who focuses purely on working with people in industry to fill manufacturing and engineering jobs. It is also advisable to consider and question further what area of expertise your ideal consultant would have. Would they specialise in aerospace jobs, automotive jobs, jobs in defence, jobs in the process industry, jobs in design, capital equipment jobs; obviously the list is endless. Once you have considered this, it is worthwhile considering what level of job you are focussing on i.e. is would your ideal consultant specialise in technical engineering vacancies, management jobs, senior management jobs, director level appointments or executive appointments.

Obviously what we are doing here is coming up with the “best fit” for you, the ideal company for you to partner with. At this stage it is worthwhile investing some time in speaking with few people in your own network, looking through recruitment websites to get a feel of what certain companies can offer before picking up the telephone and speaking with the recruitment consultants direct. At this stage it is worthwhile asking the consultant you speak with the questions that will help determine how close the recruitment consultancy is to your “ideal recruitment partner.” Once you have shortlisted 3 or 4 specialist manufacturing and engineering recruitment companies, it would be advisable for you to meet with the company’s consultants face to face to understand them more and to ensure that you have fully demonstrated your key achievements, your aspirations and the key factors you are looking for in your new job. This information will ensure that they work with all the facts required for them to do their job effectively.

With one or two quality recruitment companies working on your behalf, at the right level, in the correct areas of the market, this should ensure that your exposure is maximised and that you get the correct volume and quality of manufacturing and engineering vacancies to consider. If this thorough process is followed thoroughly, then when combined with other means of flagging up opportunities such as direct applications through the newspapers and internet, then it should ensure that no stone is left unturned and the process is as seamless as possible.

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Sep 02

E-Recruitment and Fixed Price Recruitment Solutions Gaining in Popularity Due to the Recession

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E Recruitment / E-Recruitment

E-Recruitment is the process whereby Employers utilise electronic resources for the placement of personnel. In particular; the internet has taken on an extremely important role in the E Recruitment world due to the fast, efficient, and cost effective nature of the advertising. E-Recruitment makes it easier to reach potential applicants and the speed at which positions are filled is greatly increased, resulting in less money dedicated to the hiring process for employers. E Recruitment is changing the way businesses view recruitment in general and giving them much needed cost effective means of hiring staff in the current global economic recession.

With print medium being extremely broad-based and not able to target a specific audience, E-recruitment allows companies to pin-point a more precise group of potentials through criteria searches. This is done through standardised application forms that allow the E Recruitment agent the ability to immediately target those applicants with the necessary skills and/or experience. This means that the calibre of candidates is greatly increased and time is saved sifting through unnecessary applications. Furthermore, with the immediate placement of E-Recruitment advertising without the lengthy wait for newspapers or magazines to go to print, the duration of the entire process is significantly decreased. The amount of time between placement of the advert and candidates receiving the information is greatly reduced, adding to the efficiency and cost reduction of recruitment. E-recruitment also allows possible candidates the opportunity to email or directly apply online for the various positions so the company starts receiving applications almost immediately once their advert goes live. Additionally, E-Recruitment has the added benefit of consolidating all candidate information into a standard format, allowing for easier access to pertinent information. This saves time in that employers can instantly locate the most relevant information pertaining to their criteria. Lastly, E-Recruitment also allows for the future utilisation of captured information on candidates.

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Aug 31

Advantages of Outsourcing Partner Recruitment and Management

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There are vendors who still have second thoughts when considering outsourcing their partner recruitment and management processes. However, the fact is that this strategy is extremely viable and practical especially considering the state of the global economy today. There are many advantages to having one’s channel management and recruitment outsourced. First of all, one can get more control over the fluctuating expenses. One can also augment the over all efficiency of the process. The flexibility and reaction time will be increased, and finally, the vendor company will be able to pool its time and focus on marketing strategies.

Here is a more detailed outline explaining each of these distinct advantages:

Higher Control of the Expenses

This is the most popular and well documented advantage to outsourcing the aforementioned channel processes. In general, giving the highly specialized job to a good company will definitely lead to sizable savings on the company’s expenses. First of all, the recruitment process is a very expensive and time consuming step. It requires the formation of a specialized staff that means hiring, training, and salary. Also, this would require overhead costs, renting more office space, and buying more equipment for these personnel.

Higher Flexibility and Faster Reaction Time

A vendor that outsource its channel management and partner recruitment will gain the ability for flexible and quick ramping down or ramping up of the management and recruitment team. This is important especially since the needs of the channel and the team are two things that will fluctuate and will need attention.

Higher Efficiency Rate

The act of creating and maintaining in-house creative consultants, account managers, and auditors for company compliance issues will inevitable drain a vendor’s resources and focus. The administrative work and the costs of such work will be eliminated and will therefore be redirected to the more vital tasks of the vendor such as product evaluation and market creation.

Gives the Company More Leeway for Strategizing

The daily grind of recruitment and management is time consuming. When the vendor chooses to outsource these processes, they can just lay back and rely on the outsourcing company to handle the daily work of managing and recruitment research. The vendor will inevitably have enough time to make its own studies in order to formulate strategies for channel programs.

There are a whole slew of channel processes outsourcing benefits that may be discussed elsewhere, however in the past fifteen years of the industry, the four advantages listed and explicated above were the most popular ones.

The recession of today’s global economy has forced a lot of companies to considering any strategy that will help them cope with the downturn. Hiring companies to perform recruitment has always been a great alternative that would help vendors save large amounts of their budget. The strategy reevaluation that is happening to many vendor companies right now has led many of them to try outsourcing their partner recruitment and channel management activities. These companies are the ones who were able to move forward faster, thereby getting ahead of their competitors. The ability to save on such costs can save the companies teetering on the brink of losses.

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Aug 30

Website Solutions For Recruitment Companies

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With more and more people ditching the jobs pages in the local papers to search for new job opportunities online, the functionality, presentation and search engine optimisation of recruitment web sites and job boards is key to attracting more suitable candidates to your vacancies.

In this ever competitive recruitment marketplace attracting the best candidates is paramount to your company’s continued success. Ask yourself these questions “Does our current recruitment web site or job board portray the correct image of our company?”, “Does it look inviting to job hunters?”, “Is it easily found on the web?”.

It is a fact of life that first impressions are important to the success of any business and this is no different with recruitment companies. Put yourself in the shoes of a job hunter, on the one hand a recruitment company has a modern, well presented, easy to use web site and on the other a poor, dated web site where searching for vacancies is almost impossible, which of these sites are you going to submit your CV to?

Another key strategy with recruitment website and job board development is Search Engine Optimisation or SEO. What good is a beautifully crafted recruitment web site or job board if candidates and clients are unable to find it? Many recruitment businesses now identify the successful search engine positioning of their recruitment websites and job boards within the major search engines as one of their main reasons for growth. So why advertise vacancies online? Online vacancy advertising provides an efficient, easy-to-use tool that puts recruiters in control of their advertising while cutting their recruitment costs.

When comparing online vacancy advertising to other methods, you should consider the following: Job seekers can view your vacancies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week The vacancy will be emailed directly to relevant job seekers Applications to online adverts are received immediately and electronically (by email), cutting down on paperwork and delays Recruiters can reduce their cost per hire and the time it takes to source candidates.

Recruiters are in control of the content and layout of their adverts, eliminating third party errors Recruiters have optional access to a CV database, giving them direct access to job seekers from whom they can “cherry pick” Recruiters can edit the content of their adverts to maximize their effectiveness Advertising online is simple compared to designing, proofing and publishing a newspaper or magazine advert which can take days A record of all applications and CVs is maintained for the recruiter on the system There are no publishing deadlines and telephone support is available for recruiters with most job boards.

There are many website design agencies available on the market but very few specialise solely in recruitment website and job board design and have the knowledge, expertise and experience to design and develop recruitment industry websites that are feature rich, well presented, rank well within major search engines and meet all the requirements needed to succeed in this competitive market place.

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Aug 30

Evaluating Your Recruitment Process

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Recruiting the correct employees for your company is often an expensive task. When recruiting you want to be certain you’ll be getting the most from your hard work. The first and most obvious sign will be finding the right person for the available job. That said just because you found the right person the last time doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement for both now and the future. With careful attention and a some new skills you’ll be able to reduce both time and cost, as well as increasing your ’strike rate’ – that is finding the best talent for your company.

A straight-forward way of measuring your recruitment process would be to view it as a marketing exercise. In the same way as you hope to attract new customers and clients, when recruiting you’ll form a message (job description), use a variety of media sources to communicate that message (job advertisements, online tools, recruitment agencies etc), generate leads to add to your sales process (candidate shortlist and interviews) and eventually employ who you consider to be the best person for the vacant job.

Similar to a marketing campaign you’ll want to make sure you get value for money from your chosen media, attract top-quality leads/candidates and improve your business’ image somewhat. Give careful consideration to the following questions:

1. Is your organization attracting the right types of candidates?

Quantity vs. quality – It would be very tempting to say that finding highly qualified candidates is the point, whether you receive 1 application or 100 – and up to a point that’s true of course. That said your recruitment process should be able to deliver consistently on both points. To many or not enough applications can cause problems:

Problems with poor quality – are the best candidates you choose to shortlist the best possible or the best that actually applied?
Problems with a high number of low quality candidates – no one is up to the job
How to make a fair judgment:

How to improve on this:

2. Is your process effective financially and in terms of time costs?

Track your responses to find improvements in the following areas:

Your message
Media chosen
3. How does your recruitment process affect the complete image of your organisation?

You are, in essence, advertising the entire business.

How are you considered within your industry?
How your company is positioned will affect the likelihood of applicants applying for other vacant jobs in the future
How are you hoping to ’sell’ your business to prospective job applicants? Is your message a consistent one?
Disgruntled people (those who feel they’ve been badly treated in the process) can easily become a source of negative word of mouth and research has shown that this dissatisfaction easily spreads into consumer behaviour – so it affects the individual as well as their circle as customers.

Just one issue of course, is coming up with hard data, or even experiential evidence to help answer these types of questions about your recruitment process and the partners you choose to work with in that process.

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Aug 30

California Nursing Jobs

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Nursing is a health care profession that is pursued by a large number of men and women around the world. In the United States, the demand for nurses has been steadily increasing and almost each state offers numerous nursing jobs in various specialized fields. The state of California provides a number of opportunities to fresh as well as experienced working nurses in the healthcare industry. This can be in a hospital, private care facility, as a private nurse or as a home health care nurse.

There are about 600 hospitals located throughout the state of California. Many hospitals require full time registered nurses to work as Clinical Care Coordinators for different hospital programs. The CCC works together with the hospital care team and organizes the patient care process, right from supervising their admission, to their discharge. Such a position gives the CCC a unique opportunity being a patient caretaker and also an administrator.

California travel nurse jobs are among one of the highest paying nursing jobs in the country. The state requires ICU/CCU, ER, Medical Surgery and Telemetry Nurses. Throughout CA, there are, a number of traveling nursing assignments. Many aspiring nurses are attracted towards this field because of the competitive pay, cash bonuses, opportunity of traveling to different places across the state and other benefits.

California has widened the avenues for nursing jobs to overcome the shortage for nurses faced by different cities within the state. There are many medical employment services, that help experienced as well as fresh nursing graduates, find suitable nurse jobs in California. There is also a unique opportunity of employment as a travel nurse, wherein the nurses agree to be temporarily re-located to different regions and earn a considerable income. There are many Web sites that help people find available nursing positions in different cities of California.

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Aug 29

Health Recruitment in Christchurch – Making the Move

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Deciding to move to Christchurch, New Zealand to further your career is a big decision and one which means that you will need all the support you can get when it comes to finding a job and somewhere to live. Finding a health recruitment company which specialises in matching your skills and expertise with the jobs available here is one of your best ways to make this move, as you are guaranteed the support you will need.

Christchurch is the main city in the Canterbuy region of New Zealand and offers a public hospital along with many private hospitals and doctors surgeries placed throughout the city and residential areas. Christchurch public hospital is located across the road from Hagley Park, one of the city’s popular sport and leisure parks, not to mention a beautiful location. Whilst smaller doctors surgeries are placed in areas such as Hoon Hay, Merivale or Avonhead for example, each of these places offering something slightly different in terms of scenery and proximity to shopping centres, schools and public services.

Situated on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, Christchurch offers a backdrop of the Southern Alps and also views of the sea from certain areas. If you are looking for a mix of urban and rural lifestyles, Christchurch definitely provides this. Work in the city and live on the rural outskirts on a farmlet, for instance, enjoying farmlife with your family. Christchurch is also a reasonable drive away from some of the popular holiday destinations such as Kaikoura and Hanmer Springs – perfect for a weekend getaway.

To make the move to Christchurch it’s important to find a health recruitment company who has close working relationships with health providers in the area as that way you will be taken care of every step of the recruitment process and sometimes even after you have a placement. This might not seem very important at the beginning as all you will be wanting them to do is find you a job and provide assistance with your relocation, but you will be thankful that they are there to turn to should you need them later on.

Whether you are a nurse, midwife, ODP, anaesthetic technician or other medical professional a health recruitment company will be able to find a position for you that meets your skills and expertise. Health recruitment companies will work with you whilst you are still in your home town by arranging phone interviews for positions. This saves you making a big move without having a job.

Get security, support and expertise with a health recruitment company when moving to Christchurch, New Zealand for a career move and make it easier on yourself and your family.

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Aug 28

Jump Start Your Recruitment

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It’s getting ugly our there. The ability to find good people is getting harder and harder. All the studies continue to point to increased employee shortages, particularly in critical positions such as nurses and engineers. Depending on traditional means of recruitment won’t work any longer. Placing newspaper ads and posting positions on the internet will land you limited response.

Today you need a comprehensive approach to recruitment. No more passive approaches. Employers must put on a full court press to find good people. Without it, you and your organization will find yourself behind the competition.

So here are five elements guaranteed to jump start your recruitment:

1. Define your recruitment niche: Everyone wants to work for the best organization. Your challenge is to create a great working environment, where your current employees want to be everyday.

Think about why prospective candidates would choose you over a competitor. It could be your organization’s mission or an innovative product line. What ever it is, you need to be able to show why you are a great place to work and then spread the word. Your recruitment niche must create a “buzz” in your community.

2. Make everyone a recruiter: recruitment must be every employee’s responsibility-from the president to the receptionist. Your employees know you best and as such they should be your best ambassadors and therefore your best recruiters. They should be scouring the community for the best people and bringing these candidates to your attention.

An employee referral program must be the cornerstone of this initiative. In a recent Society for Human Resource Management national study, employee referrals were cited as generating the highest quality of candidates with the best return on investment for the organization. Develop a generous program, promote it heavily, and unleash your employees into the community. You’ll soon find candidates flocking to your door.

3. Educate your employees: Let your employees know why they are critical to your recruitment efforts. Beyond the employee referral payout, employees benefit by getting to work with other good people. Help them understand that as they assist in recruiting stars, their job becomes easier, and remind them, it is more pleasurable to work with a winner you helped recruit than a stranger who came in off the street.

4. Develop a recruitment toolbox: All of your new recruiters will need access to this toolbox. Include an inventory of stories highlighting the good things happening in your organization and the successes your employees have experienced. When your recruiters speak to a potential applicant, they should be armed with a number of these success stories. Remember, applicants respond to a genuine story told by a peer much more than they do to flashy ads created by advertising.

Develop a recruitment brochure featuring your organization. Make sure your prospects know why working for you is a good idea. Include everything an applicant will need to apply for a job. Incorporate your success stories and new job information in your company newsletter and web site. Your toolbox should also include posters, letters to employees, payroll stuffers, etc. Be creative. Try different things.

5. Expand your sources for applicants: Target your recruitment efforts to where your potential applicants “hang out.” That means you have to carefully analyze what you are looking for in a successful applicant and only then you can determine where to focus your search. There are two ways of doing this. First look specifically at their professional skills. If you are recruiting an engineer, then focus your recruitment around engineering schools, professional engineering associations, niche recruitment boards, etc. Second, look at traits or attributes. If the job’s primary need is a warm, nurturing, individual with good organizational skills, you’re looking for a homemaker so you should focus your search at PTAs, health clubs, church bazaars, etc. To be successful here, you cannot passively recruit. You have to aggressively go to these venues to recruit.

Other applicant sources include job fairs; open houses; school recruiting (colleges, community colleges and high schools); association conferences; senior centers; military; direct mail campaigns (a great targeted approach); and networking at professional associations. There are many other sources. Target your search and use multiple sources to ensure a better return.

Remember, ads and the internet focus on those that are unemployed or at least looking. Focus on those who are working, generating a better and larger source of candidates.

Every great hire you make brings you one step closer to success. Be unequivocal in your search for the right people. When you develop a recruitment strategy that becomes intertwined within the culture of your organization and include all your employees, you will find that candidates will start to seek you out.

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Aug 26

The Police Department Recruitment Process

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I want to talk to you about the police department recruitment process. A lot of people want to be in the police force, but really don’t understand all the steps that are involved in the process. It’s not too complicated, but there is generally added steps in there that you won’t find in the public sector. The recruitment process starts by you simply applying for a job. This is the first step, but obviously they’re not going to look at your application and figure out if you’re good enough to be a police officer. I’m going to talk to you about the rest of the police department recruitment process.

Hundreds and sometimes thousands of people will hand in applications for a single job, so the recruiters have an exam for the applicants. This is a very hard test because they simply don’t need hundreds of people. They only need the best of the best, so they give a hard exam. It’s not just that the questions are hard in a knowledge sense, but the questions are designed to make you put the wrong answer. That makes it the hardest type of exam that you’re going to take. About 7 out of 10 people will fail this test, so you better wake up.

The police department recruitment process finishes with an oral interview in front of the board. If you’ve got to the interview, then you did well on the exam. This is your time to wow the recruiters in person and show them that you really deserve this job. At this point they’ll make the choice to hire you or not.

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