Significant change and uncertainty are the new norm in our business environment. Is your company equipped to thrive?

Everything from a volatile global economy to proposed employment legislation changes make it more challenging than ever to predict what’s in store for the coming year (let alone the coming month).  Constantly changing workloads, talent availability and local economic conditions only complicate matters.  As a result, staffing strategies that worked for you in the past may not prove as effective this year.

This doesn’t mean you’re out of luck; it just means that you may need to re-examine your staffing strategy to thrive.  So start 2012 off right.  Consider these staffing best practices which have proven effective for corporate human resources executives across the country, courtesy of workforce.com:

• Make sure the staffing partner has an adequate balance sheet. Given the relatively low barriers to entry, it is too common to see staffing companies struggle financially.
• Be sure the staffing partner has sufficient size and financial resources to manage the contract. Sourcing 100 or more contract workers on an ongoing basis requires a very different type of staffing organization than providing two or three temps at a time.
• Visit the local office of the staffing company as part of the due-diligence process, especially for large projects, to make sure the operation meets expectations.
• Give your staffing partner feedback on all candidates that you review to help refine the recruiting strategy, and make it easier to find the best candidates.
• Be open-minded about “teachable” candidates, especially for hard-to-fill skill sets. Candidates who are a strong cultural fit and possess transferable skills are likely to succeed and thrive with some training and support.
• Provide enough training, rewards and feedback to keep temps engaged and motivated. One employer notes that small rewards—a free lunch for good performance, for example—go a long way toward winning the loyalty of temps.
• Beware of unfair negative stereotypes about the quality of temp workers. Temps can be—and often are—as qualified as full-time employees, and their skills can be equally useful.

Wood Personnel – Your Best Staffing Strategy for 2012

Comprised of highly trained human resource professionals with over 100 years of combined experience, Wood Personnel has grown to become a staffing industry leader in middle Tennessee.  Through the years, we’ve developed specialties in Professional Staffing, IT Placement & Contract Staffing and Executive Search.  Rest assured, we are a stable, successful partner you can trust with your all your workforce management needs – no matter how large or small.

Call Wood Personnel to schedule a 2012 workforce consultation. Together, we can identify your upcoming needs and develop a proactive, cost-effective staffing strategy that will deliver real bottom-line results.

While in an interview, you probably expect to answer questions like:

“What was your last job like?”

“Why are you interested in the available position?”

“Why should we hire you?”

These are all standard questions designed to gain more information about your skills and experience.  But are you prepared to answer questions like:

“What is the most creative idea you’ve implemented to solve a problem?”

“Can you describe a time when you tried to persuade another person to do something that he was not very willing to do?”

“What is the most difficult project you’ve worked on – and how did it help you develop professionally?”

Don’t let behavioral interview questions like these throw you into a tailspin.  If you’re new to the concept of behavioral interviewing, here is a quick 101 to bring you up to speed:

• Behavioral questions are designed to reveal more than just skills or experience.  They operate on the premise that understanding past behavior is the best way to predict future success.
• Questions may be casually inserted into a typical interview, or you may be formally required to answer a set list.  Be prepared for either scenario.
• Questions will require you to describe situations from your past, as well as your feelings and observations about them.  Depending upon your answers, the interviewer may have follow-up probing questions.
• The interviewer will look for evidence of desired behavioral traits in your responses, to assess your proficiency in certain job-related areas.

As with all interview questions, preparing for behavioral questions is essential to success.  While you cannot predict the specific questions you will be asked, you can use these tips to ace your next behavioral interview – not matter what type of job you’re seeking:

• Learn about the company.  Do your homework before the interview to learn about the company, its core values and the available position.  Use the job description to determine the most essential behaviors needed to succeed in the position, then research potential behavioral interview questions that are associated with these traits.
• Create your behavioral interview arsenal.  Create a list of key accomplishments that exemplify the traits necessary to succeed in the available position.  If you lack work experience, draw upon your school experiences (challenging courses/tests, group projects, research papers, etc.).  Select experiences that reflect well on you, even if the outcome of the situation itself was not favorable.  With a bit of work, you can develop a repertoire of a small number of workplace experiences that you can use to answer a wide range of behavioral questions.
• Flesh out each experience.  Make sure each of your examples has a beginning, middle and end.  Experts recommend using the STAR technique to communicate your ideas logically and concisely:  the beginning should describe a Situation you were in or the Task you needed to accomplish; the middle should recount the Action that you took; the end should review the measurable Results you achieved.
• Practice with a friend.  Behavioral interviews can be grueling.  Boost your confidence by rehearsing your workplace stories ahead of time with a friend or relative.  Aim for vivid, concise answers that are one to three minutes long.

Looking for more interview help?  Searching for jobs in Middle Tennessee?  Wood Personnel is here to help.  As Middle Tennessee’s leading employment services company, we can help you take the next step in your career.

The best way to keep workers’ compensation claims down is to avoid workplace injuries in the first place.

This is not news, of course, but the concept occasionally bears repeating. If you’re just learning about workplace safety, or would like to refresh your knowledge, take a few minutes to read this brief but valuable post outlining tips to create a safer work environment.

1. Keep the work space as clean as possible.  Poor housekeeping can cause frequent workplace accidents.  As such, cleaning should be an ongoing effort by all employees.
2. Properly plan jobs.  When expectations, time schedules and equipment lists are clearly communicated, each team member knows what is required to complete a job safely and on time.  As part of your planning, identify potential safety hazards, so you can avoid them.  All too often, “rush” jobs lead to shortcuts, lack of/improper use of safety equipment, accidents and injuries.
3. Remind employees to:  lift with their legs and knees; never twist while lifting something heavy; take hourly breaks to stretch when required to sit for long periods; use the right tools for the job.  Post these reminders in areas where your employees will frequently see them.
4. Encourage staff to report dangerous conditions.  You can’t be everywhere at once, so train your employees to proactively identify situations which could be potentially dangerous.  Evenly a seemingly innocuous burned-out light bulb or beverage spill could lead to a slip, trip or fall.  Make sure everyone on your staff knows to whom dangers should be reported.
5. Properly train and require employees to wear OSHA mandated Personal Protective Equipment when necessary, including: goggles and face protection, hard hats, safety shoes, gloves, ear muffs and ear plugs.  Proper protective equipment is a critical part of preventing workplace injuries.
6. Establish and enforce formal workplace safety policies and procedures.  Your company’s management team should create and carry out an accident prevention program that encourages employees to take safety measures seriously and to report any dangerous situations.  Make resources available to your staff with contacts and phone numbers in case of an emergency.

Creating a safe work environment should be a top priority for every employer.  Not only can a culture of safety reduce injuries and workers’ compensation claims; it can also improve morale and increase productivity.  So make workplace safety everyone’s responsibility.  Work with your staff in implementing these common-sense tips and everybody will benefit.

At Wood Personnel, we work diligently with our clients to ensure workplace safety.   We thoroughly orient and train our temporary workers, to make sure they stay productive and efficient on the job.

It’s a new year – and for many Middle Tennessee companies, it’s time to hire.

If your 2012 initiatives include adding to your direct headcount, the best way to ensure hiring success is by being prepared.  Failing to do so can lead to a host of interviewing problems, including biases, inconsistencies, costly inefficiencies – and ultimately, bad hires.

But by preparing ahead of time and using more effective interview methods, you dramatically increase your odds of hiring a top performer.  So before a single candidate arrives for an interview, use these tips to create a more structured, consistent process that ensures hiring decisions are based on relevant, sound information – and not merely first impressions:

1. Analyze the position to be filled. Assess what the ideal candidate will need in order to be successful in the position.  Consider:  skills, knowledge, type of experience, core competencies (e.g., decision making, customer responsiveness, problem solving, etc.), attitude, corporate culture fit and even interpersonal style.
2. Define the job. Develop a thorough job description, including the key roles and responsibilities.  Review performance evaluations of top performers in this role and ask existing team members what it would take for the new hire to succeed.
3. Develop standard interview questions. Use the requirements created in the previous steps to make a list of standard interview questions.  Ask these same questions of all applicants for the position.  Before interviews begin, determine ideal/acceptable responses for each question, to increase objectivity and improve the accuracy of your ratings.  The structure you create now will yield better quality judgments once the interviews are over.
4. Identify additional details needed to select the best candidate. Before interviewing, review additional information you will need to collect or verify, such as:  proof of certifications or licensures, records of educations, lists of references, etc.
5. Establish clear standards for non-verbal cues. Body language, eye contact, posture, appearance and other non-verbal cues all impact the first impression a job candidate makes.  But while these cues can be helpful in making a decision, they are also easy to manipulate and prone to subjective interviewer bias.  To avoid these biases and personal judgments (especially when multiple interviews are involved), establish clear standards for non-verbal cues which are appropriate for your corporate culture and employee/customer expectations.  Once you ascertain that a candidate meets your minimum standards, you can shift attention to the true substance of his responses.

These are just a few of the things you can do to improve your hiring process.  Look for future posts with more tips for hiring better.

Hire the Best with Wood Personnel

With two decades of recruiting experience in Middle Tennessee, Wood Personnel can quickly and cost-effectively deliver candidates with skills, expertise and behavioral traits to succeed in your organization.  We use professionally trained interviewers, skills-specific testing, thorough background checks and satisfaction guarantees to ensure the success of your next hire.

It’s as natural as the circle of life.

With each flip of the calendar year, many of us resolve to improve ourselves – to drop bad habits, to start good ones, or to find a way to make the world a better place.

While these intentions are certainly noble, they’re also likely doomed from the start.  So this year, resolve NOT to make a New Year’s resolution.  Instead, sit back and take a read through this list of the Top 10 Most Commonly Broken New Year’s Resolutions, courtesy of Time.com:

1. Lose Weight and Get Fit.  After a season of cookies, candies and holiday parties, it’s only natural to want to shed a few extra pounds and get into better shape.  But research shows that by February, 60% of gym memberships go unused.
2. Quit Smoking.  E-cigarettes, nicotine patches and chewing gum are all designed to help newly motivated smokers kick the habit.  But after just six months, only an estimated 15% of quitters are still cigarette-free.
3. Learn Something New.  If you’re thinking of taking up a musical instrument or learning to cook French cuisine, know that you’ll face an uphill battle.  Resolving to learn something new is exciting, but it’s also hard work.
4. Eat Healthier and Diet.  Many dieters are full of resolve on January 2nd.  Unfortunately, they force themselves into restricting diets they can’t possible keep.  Try using some common-sense moderation, instead, and you’re much more likely to succeed.
5. Get Out of Debt and Save Money.  After the budget-unfriendly month of December, many consumers try to halt their spending and manage their debt more effectively.  Rather than announcing sweeping changes and setting unattainable goals, however, financial planners advise making specific budget-friendly rules (like packing lunch, shopping for cheaper insurance/lower credit card interest rates, etc.) to improve your financial situation.
6. Spend More Time with Family.  The beginning of the year is an ideal time to reconnect with family whom you’ve not seen in awhile.  But work pressures, physical distance, strained relationships and even messy divorces make this resolution particularly hard to keep.
7. Travel to New Places.  The new year awakens within many of us a desire to travel.  The financial realities of the Great Recession, the headache of planning and the difficulty of finding help to tend to your home and pets can quickly put this desire to rest.
8. Be Less Stressed.  While it’s not a bad idea – less stress can make you healthier and happier – stressing less is likely to be the very first resolution you’ll break.  Case in point?  Just thinking about tackling any resolution will raise your stress level!
9. Volunteer.  This year, you may resolve to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than you.  While this is certainly a noble gesture, even the most compassionate among us can fall back on commitments.  Finding time to give to a worthy cause is often harder than finding money.
10. Drink Less.  After a seemingly endless barrage of parties filled with beer, wine, champagne and cocktails, it’s not surprising that many of us vow to drink less.  But after a few days or week, why do we start drinking again?  The Greco-Roman ancients may have said it best when they proclaimed “In vino veritas” (in wine, there is truth).

From all of us at Wood Personnel, have a safe, happy, healthy and successful New Year!

In times like these, how can you afford employee training?

Given our country’s current economic situation, many managers and HR professionals like you understandably struggle with training expenditures.  Should you cancel upcoming classes?  Postpone all your plans until a brighter tomorrow?  While these solutions may seem attractive to your bottom line, they are probably too drastic.  The fact is, you need to continually train staff to remain competitive.  Why?

• Training keeps you and your staff on the cutting edge of your industry.
• Training keeps your employees motivated, interested and innovative.
• Training increases efficiency levels, while minimizing errors and delays.
• Training boosts worker morale, confidence and collaboration.

So when it comes to your staff – especially knowledge workers – the question isn’t, “How can we afford to train employees?” it’s, “How can we afford not to?”  Try these ideas to creatively enrich your staff – without breaking the bank:

Cross train.  To keep workers from feeling isolated or stagnant when budgets are tight, consider rotating them through different tasks and/or projects.  Their new skills will make them more versatile assets to your organization, while encouraging collaboration among work groups.

Use inside trainers.  Does anyone within your organization already have the expertise you’re trying to teach other employees?  If so, consider developing that individual as an in-house trainer.  You can easily go online and access a “train the trainer” program, and then use your new inside trainer to educate other staff.

Leverage your training resources.  Building on the last point, your inside trainer can create a PowerPoint which covers the training material.  You can then use a software sharing program (such as NetMeeting or WebEx) to conduct the training with small groups at other locations – and save yourself the travel costs.

Bring in temporary experts.  If you lack internal knowledge or resources, consider hiring a trainer through a staffing service for a short-term contract.  Give him access to existing materials and the direct staff he’ll be training, so he can quickly and cost-effectively customize the training to your company’s culture, values and goals.  Once the training is complete, so are your additional expenses.

Barter training services with other companies.  Collaborate with other organizations to share your knowledge.  If a company is in the midst of a systems upgrade you’re considering, send a representative from your staff to observe, learn and share his findings with his colleagues.  Likewise, if your workers are well-versed in operating a specific type of new equipment, invite team members from another organization in for a training seminar.  Not surprisingly, collaborative efforts like these work best when participating companies are not in direct competition.

When you need highly trained and experienced workers immediately, give Wood Personnel a call.  Throughout Middle Tennessee, we rapidly deliver temporary, contract and direct staff to keep your business competitive.  Contact us today to learn more.

Employee turnover is inevitable, and while sometimes it can be useful, losing good performers costs you both directly and indirectly.

Studies have estimated direct turnover costs per employee to be 25-30% of an individual employee’s salary/benefits package, with hidden costs inflating that figure substantially. How much does turnover cost your company?

How to Estimate Turnover Costs

• SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, once estimated that it costs $3,500.00 to replace one $8.00 per hour employee when all costs — recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, reduced productivity, etc., were considered. But SHRM’s estimate was the lowest of 17 nationally respected companies who calculate this cost!

• Do a quick calculation: Think of a job in your organization that has experienced high turnover, maybe supervisors. Estimate their annual average pay and the number of supervisors you lose annually. If their average annual pay is $40,000, multiply this by .125% (125% of their annual pay). The result? It costs $50,000 to replace just one supervisor. If you lose ten supervisors a year, you’re spending $500,000 in replacement costs just for supervisors.

Do These Numbers Seem Unbelievable?

Actual turnover costs are usually much higher than we think they are.

If you want to find out exactly how much turnover is costing your organization, find an online employee turnover calculator. Just remember that only tangible costs can be calculated on these sites. Intangible costs are just as real and sometimes much greater than quantifiable costs, but they are difficult if not impossible to measure.

Why Don’t More Companies See This as a Costly Problem?

Many companies don’t realize the true cost of turnover, which costs companies in both expertise and dollars, because they have never examined it. Here are four possible reasons:

1. No process is in place to tabulate the costs of turnover.

2. If they are measured, those costs are not reported to top management.

3. Employers think it’s an inescapable cost of doing business — but it’s not!

4. Costs are underestimated, so they don’t cause concern.

How Can You Measure Turnover Costs in Your Organization?

A comprehensive program measures the following costs:

• · Separation costs
• · Replacement costs
• · Training costs
• · Vacancy costs

Separation costs include:

• administrative functions related to termination
• separation/severance pay
• any increase in unemployment compensation.

Replacement costs include the cost of:

• attracting applicants
• interviews
• preemployment administrative expenses
• acquisition and dissemination of information.

Training costs include both formal and informal training costs. Vacancy costs include the net cost incurred due to increased overtime or temporary employees needed to complete the tasks of the vacant position.

How can you reduce turnover?

When turnover costs are unacceptably high, do an assessment. Find out who is leaving and why. Exit interviews can help you gain information. Then develop a retention program based on your findings.

As a leading staffing service in Middle Tennessee, we know how to reduce your turnover costs. Contact Wood today to learn more!

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Research by Princeton psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov reveals that all it takes is a tenth of a second to form an impression of a stranger from his face, and that longer exposures don’t significantly alter those impressions (although they might boost your confidence in your own judgments).

From your handshake to your knowledge of the potential employer, everything you do and say is scrutinized by an interviewer – from the instant he lays eyes on you.

Are you doing everything you can to create a positive first impression?

Fair or unfair, an interviewer sizes up you and your abilities within the first few minutes of meeting you.  In fact, the more experienced he is, the more likely he is to draw conclusions about you based on limited information.  So whether you call them hunches, first impressions or simple intuition, an interviewer’s snap decisions are critical to the success of your job search.  To land the job you want, use these tips to make a great first impression:

Do your homework. Spend a good amount of time before the interview date researching the employer.  Their company website is a great place to start.  Don’t just skim through the information – really read it.  Find out everything you can about the organization’s history, mission, lines of business and key personnel.

Next, Google the company and find out what others have written or said about them.  Check newspapers, business magazines or other reputable sources to further educate yourself.  When you finally head into your interview, you’ll have an additional level of knowledge and confidence that will shine through – and keep from looking like a “deer in the headlights” if the interviewer asks you to tell him what you know about the company.

Remember that actions speak louder than words. The nonverbal cues you send from the moment you walk into an interview are scrutinized.  Pay careful attention to your posture, handshake and eye contact to create a positive first impression.

Come prepared. Put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes.  What would you think of a candidate who had to ask for a pen, or who rifled through a cluttered briefcase to dig out a wrinkled résumé?  Have a crisp copy of your résumé and references, a pen and notepad for notes, and your portfolio (if applicable) organized and ready to go.  Doing so will allow you to hit the ground running and immediately focus on the interviewer.

Avoid common interview mistakes. To succeed in your job search, you need to back up your skills and experience with a first impression that leaves no doubt that you’re the right person for the job.  Arrogance and sloppy attire are mistakes you simply cannot afford to make.  Be confident, but make sure you’re not cocky.  Overconfidence could be misconstrued as indifference – suggesting you could take or leave a job offer.  Similarly, you should dress for interview success.  Failure to do so could convey that you don’t really care about the job opportunity enough to dress appropriately.

Ask only relevant questions. Show the interviewer that you’ve done your homework by preparing a few questions pertinent to the job or the company (use the research you’ve conducted to help you generate ideas).  If they’re answered during the course of the interview, don’t feel pressured to make up new ones on the spot.  Throw-away questions won’t impress an interviewer – they’ll only end the conversation on a down note.

Thank the interviewer. Expressing thanks is one of those “pivotal moments” an interviewer may hang his hat on.  So without fail, thank the interviewer for his time both at the beginning and the end of your conversation.  Tell him that you’re excited about the opportunity.  Positive emotion and good manners go a long way toward creating a lasting favorable impression.

Ask for the job. Good salespeople ask for the sale; good job seekers should ask for the job.  Beyond thanking the interviewer, say, “I would really love to work here.”  This sounds simple, but so many candidates fail to do it!

Land Your Dream Job with Wood Personnel

As a leading staffing service in Middle Tennessee, we match job seekers like you with rewarding temporary, contract and direct hire jobs every day.  Contact Wood today to learn about administrative, light industrial, IT, accounting, engineering, management and human resources employment opportunities in Middle Tennessee.

Recruiting and interviewing technology is changing rapidly.  Is your company keeping pace?

Online postings used to be the most cutting-edge way to connect with potential job candidates.  Recent advances in technology (including smart phones, tablets, social media and free online video technology), however, have dramatically changed our recruiting landscape.

While job boards should remain part of your recruiting mix, consider incorporating the following emerging media to attract and recruit the best talent:

Remote Interviews

Online interview technology has revolutionized the hiring process.  This cost-effective tool allows you to rapidly connect with viable candidates anywhere, while greatly simplifying interviewing logistics.  Instead of spending valuable time and money on travel, you can now use services like Skype and TokBox to virtually meet applicants and determine their potential early on in the recruiting process.

Mobile Technology

According to statistics from Pew Research Center, 83 percent of Americans own cell phones.  Nearly half of them (44 percent) use their mobile devices to get access to the internet.  Leverage mobile technology to reach potential job seekers anytime, anywhere by sending text alerts about your job openings and recruiting events.  Additionally, you may want to consider making your website more “smart phone friendly,” so that it facilitates the job search and application processes.

Video

Digital video enables you to get your company’s message across like no social media tool can.  By allowing candidates to literally see and hear what the true employee experience is like, video offers a powerful way to influence and engage potential candidates:

• Use online videos to enrich your online job postings.
• Add video clips of your offices, production facilities, etc.
• Interview current employees about what it’s like working for your organization.
• Demonstrate ways you take care of your employees, work for the greater good and/or stay on the cutting edge of your industry.

To ensure your videos are viewed, add them to your homepage, job postings and social media, or use QR codes to direct job seekers to them.

Twitter

Twitter can help you contact candidates in real time by instantly broadcasting or “tweeting” available jobs.  If you have a Twitter account:

• Search for relevant hashtags that qualified candidates might be using and integrate them into your tweets.  Tools like Search.Twitter.com, Twubs and Tagalus can help you identify hashtags your target candidates may be using.
• Shout out new job listings.  Services like jobshouts.com and jobamatic.com allow you to automatically feed new job listings to your Twitter account.  You can even add custom prefixes and hashtags to make the content more user-friendly and searchable.

Recruiting technology will continue to evolve at a rapid pace. If, like many employers, you find this rate of change intimidating, remember that you don’t have to go it alone. As a leading Middle Tennessee employment agency serving area employers since 1988, Wood Personnel can help you win the war for talent.

With staffing offices in Nashville, Murfreesboro and Cool Springs, we are strategically located to provide you with the most highly-qualified and trained professionals available throughout Middle Tennessee. Contact us today!

If you’re like most Middle Tennessee business owners and managers, you are using more contingent workers this time of year.  But as you bring these temporary and short-term employees in, how can you ensure you get the best return on your staffing investment?

While you certainly don’t have to go out of your way to reward and motivate temporary employees, it may be in your best interest.  Why?  Doing so may help you improve the results you get from them – translating into better customer service, lower turnover, higher productivity and improved quality.

Simply put, rewarding your contingent staff makes good business sense.  To show each temporary employee that he’s a valued part of your organization, use this quick list of tips:

Create a formal job description. Doing so sends the message that the employee and the work he does are important.

Orient and introduce. When a new short-term worker shows up, introduce him to the people with whom he’ll be working.  Give him a formal tour of your location, pointing out the lunchroom, restroom, etc.  Do what you can to make him feel like a part of your team.

Treat him with respect. Introduce the worker to his colleagues by giving his full name.  Explain to everyone involved the role he will play.  This presents your temporary in a much more respectable light to his new co-workers – and presents you as a professional in the temporary employee’s eyes.

Provide a challenging environment. Encourage contingent workers to beat the performance or quality standards set for your direct staff.  Take the time to learn about each temporary worker’s skill set – you may uncover additional capabilities that could benefit your company.  Finally, challenge each short-term worker to use his talents to their fullest potential.  This increases the likelihood that he’ll stay working for you.

Keep him in the loop. Without sharing proprietary information, include your temporary as a recipient of memos, company announcements, etc.  When appropriate, invite him to company meetings and share information regarding your organization’s goals and challenges.  The more involved he feels, the more invested in your success he’ll be.

Consider a cash completion incentive. If you have no plans to hire a contingent worker onto your own payroll, consider offering a completion bonus.  A cash incentive can be very helpful in keeping a highly skilled individual working on a long-term project to its completion.

Need short-term, project-based or temporary staff?

If your company is located in Middle Tennessee, give Wood Personnel a call.  We can provide immediate access to thoroughly screened and highly trained administrative, light industrial, IT and management personnel who are ready to perform for you.