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.

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.

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.

Do you check candidates’ credit as part of your screening process?  If so, you may want to read this.

Although no current legislation is in process in the state of Tennessee, the National Conference of State Legislature’s (NCSL) website indicates that changes in credit screening legislation are occurring from coast to coast.  Seven states now limit employers’ use of credit information in employment: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon and Washington.  To date, 58 bills in 28 states and the District of Columbia were introduced or pending in the 2011 legislative session.

Connecticut’s new credit screening law went into effect just a few days ago, on October 1, 2011.  Their law bars mandatory consent to credit checks by employees and applicants for all but a few types of employers.  Since then, California has also banned most employers from running credit checks on job applicants, and at least five more states are also considering similar bans.

Although the legislation varies in scope from state to state, most prohibit some or all employers from using credit reports in making hiring and employment decisions.  Major exceptions include:

• financial institutions as defined under law;
• credit reports required to be obtained by employers by law;
• credit reports that are substantially related to an individual’s current or potential job, such as: those who make substantial financial decisions, law/peace officers, those who handle large sums of money as part of their jobs, etc.

To learn more about credit screening legislation in progress across the county, visit the NCLS website.

As an employer in Middle Tennessee, you still have the right to check a job candidate’s credit.  Before you do so, however, you should consider:

• how relevant the information you’re collecting is to the available position;
• the cost involved versus the benefit to be gained;
• whether or not your internal staff is trained in how to interpret the complex information contained in today’s credit reports;
• whether or not there may be potential adverse effects to checking an applicant’s credit.

While the use of credit checks as an employment screening tool has grown over the past several years (with some 60 percent of U.S. employers using credit reports for some or all of their background checks), this practice is now becoming illegal for many employers.  In the future, it will be interesting to see if and how this ban will help people with financial problems find employment.

What is your take on the new credit screening laws?  Will it affect the way you screen and hire candidates?  We at Wood Personnel would like to know.  Please leave your comments below.

U.S. workers are working longer – and retiring later.  Why?

According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s Retirement Confidence Survey (as reported by Workforce.com):

• about 36 percent of respondents cite the poor economy;
• 16 percent say their lack of faith in Social Security is forcing them to postpone retirement;
• 13 percent claim they simply can’t afford to stop working.

As a result, workers say they are more than twice as likely to work up to age 70 or older – a 25 percent increase from just a decade ago.

Rising numbers of older individuals remaining in the workforce creates both challenges and potential benefits for employers.  On the one hand, workers delaying retirement adds pressure to companies already struggling to reduce payroll as profit dwindles.  A glut of older workers also threatens to clog the talent pipeline for organizations who want to bring in new employees – at lower salary levels.

On the other hand, companies for which knowledge loss is a concern stand to gain a welcome benefit from a more mature workforce – less “brain drain.”  Key managers have more time to plan for the departure of older workers, and therefore can be more strategic in retraining or transferring institutional knowledge.

As older workers continue to delay retirement, HR needs to respond by reevaluating the way they manage human capital.  Instead of paying older workers to retire, HR should look for creative ways to take advantage of the shift in workforce demographics:

• Create cross-mentoring relationships. In a traditional mentor relationship, older, more experienced workers share knowledge with their less experienced counterparts.  When it comes to technology, however, younger employees are often more savvy.  Organizations can foster reverse mentorships, in which younger workers share their knowledge in areas like online social networking.
• Find new ways to attract younger workers. In a time when career advancement is likely to become more difficult, organizations should focus on new ways to bring top performers on board.  When HR can’t necessarily offer rapid upward mobility to new talent, they can offer lateral movement.  Lateral moves can help younger employees broaden their knowledge bases, become more valuable to the employer (increasing job security) and become more marketable overall.

Wood Personnel can help your organization proactively manage its personnel needs as our workforce changes.  We provide temporary, temp-to-hire, contract and direct placement services to employers throughout Middle Tennessee.  We are able to recruit and assess candidates for the following types of positions:

Professional Staffing Services

• Office and Administrative
• Medical Office Support
• Accounting Support
• Industrial
• Distribution & Logistics

IT Services

• Management
• Development
• Technical
• Operations

Executive Search Services

• Accounting/Finance
• Engineering
• Manufacturing Management
• Human Resources

How will your organization address the shifts in workforce demographics?  We at Wood Personnel would like to know.  Please leave your comments below.

Great staffing results don’t happen by accident.

They occur when smart people (like you) invest in creating the best possible relationship with a quality staffing firm (like Wood Personnel).  Don’t leave your staffing success to chance.  Use these 10 ideas to achieve better staffing results:

1. Give temporary employees formal job descriptions. Job descriptions should be well-defined, prioritized, current and submitted in writing to your staffing firm.  They should include your expectations in terms of candidate abilities and experience, along with specific performance goals and standards.
2. Give your staffing service as much lead-time as possible. This will optimize your chances of finding an ideal candidate for the assignment and may give you more than one suitable candidate to choose from.  And when lead-time isn’t an option, let your staffing provider know which skills and traits are most critical for the assignment.
3. Be mindful of cut-rate deals. People – including temporary employees – are your organization’s most important asset.  They should be viewed as an investment, not an expense.  When it comes to staffing, you get what you pay for, so work with a staffing service that takes the time to fill your needs correctly.
4. Train your staffing services representative. Educate your staffing representative on your company’s mission statement, goals, culture, history and current performance.  Tell them what types of work styles or personalities will fit best in your organization.  Familiarizing your representative with your company’s needs and preferences helps your staffing partner become a more knowledgeable extension of your human resources department.
5. Take full advantage of your staffing vendor’s resources. Invest a little time to learn about your staffing firm’s full range of capabilities and value-added services, so you can take maximum advantage of their resources.  A good service can provide not only qualified candidates, staffing flexibility and cost savings, but staffing expertise and employee relations support as well.  To learn more about your staffing service, request a tour or a capabilities demonstration.
6. Set clear expectations. Establish mutually agreed upon expectations for interaction with your staffing supplier at the beginning of your relationship.  This may include order-placing procedures, appropriate quality control checks and feedback methods.  Setting expectations will ensure clear communication and expedient service.
7. Benchmark performance. Find out what tests candidates are required to take at your staffing firm.  When candidates are referred to you, ask what their test scores are.  Establish preferred scoring levels for placements within your company, using your own employees as benchmarks.  Additionally, encourage your temporary employees to take advantage of training available at the staffing firm.
8. Provide feedback. Maintain an ongoing dialogue and honest relationship with your staffing contacts, keeping them abreast of changes in your company.  Provide feedback on their service and the performance of their temporary employees.  Meet regularly to obtain their input on what you can do to improve the quality of service and placements.
9. Create a partner in your success. Consider involving a staffing firm in your company’s business planning.  For example, you might include your staffing representative in an annual meeting to plan staffing strategies.  Staffing experts can offer valuable insight regarding the possible uses of strategic staffing to meet your needs for workload variations, new hires and managing attrition.  They can also offer valuable market data to help you retain key employees.
10. Reward results. High quality staffing firms focus on more than filling orders.  They want to help you save time, lower expenses and get work done.  When you find a vendor who does a great job, look for opportunities to enhance the relationship.  Invite them in.  Challenge them to help you solve problems.  See what you can do to reward their good results.  Not only will you make your top vendor happy, you’ll increase their commitment to your success.

What can Wood Personnel do for you?  Give us a call.  Together, we can explore opportunities to enhance your staffing results by:

• identifying inefficiencies where work could be performed at a lower cost;
• providing access to qualified and diverse candidates seeking temporary employment;
• offering the staffing flexibility you need to stay fluid during economic challenges.

Can staffing services really drive profits?  In a word, “Yes!”

In today’s economy, businesses need to do everything possible to maximize the R-E=P equation.  And if your company is like most, your employment-related expenses are among the biggest line items on your company’s P & L.  The more actively you manage these expenses, the more profitable you can become.

Of course, driving profits is about more than just cutting costs.  It’s also about maximizing workforce productivity and effectively matching your human resources to the changing challenges and opportunities your business faces.  Used properly, staffing services can play a vital role in achieving all these ends.  Here are just a few ways temporary employees can drive profits in your organization:

• Stay lean and flexible. Design a strategic staffing strategy that limits core employment to that necessary for minimum production volumes.  Staff up with skilled temporary employees to meet peak demand periods or sudden surges in business.
• Focus on core activities. A staffing professional can help you critically examine work flow processes in your organization to identify administrative, repetitive or other support tasks that are being performed by highly compensated employees.  Bring in temporary or part-time contingent staff to take over these tasks and free valuable team members to focus on their most vital priorities.
• Lower employment-related costs due to turnover. Take a look at your hiring and termination costs by job functions.  Determine where high turnover positions exist and re-staff with temporaries to reduce hiring, training and termination costs.
• Reduce overtime expenses.  Work with your staffing representative to analyze your overtime expenditures.  Look for opportunities to use supplemental temporaries instead of overtime to reduce labor costs and prevent employee burnout.
• Shorten learning curves. As your company incorporates new technologies, bring in contract technical professionals to support your project teams.  They can help get your employees up-to-speed and productive more quickly, saving time and money in the process.  Once training is done, so are your training expenses.
• Capitalize on new opportunities. Have you ever had to table a great idea, simply because you didn’t have the resources to work on it?  For those times, consider supplementing your team with temporary and contract employees.  From support staff to senior executives, highly qualified temporary employees can be brought in to either manage the execution of new ideas or support your internal team while they work on the new opportunities.

Wood Personnel Services – Driving Profits for Middle Tennessee Employers

Need to aggressively manage staffing expenses?  Looking for new ways to increase productivity?  Have a great business idea, but lack the human resources to turn it into a reality?  Contact Wood Personnel today.  We have the knowledge, business expertise and highly skilled candidates you need to get work done and become more profitable.

Benefits.  Perks.  Extras.  Whatever you call them, they really make a difference in today’s changing job market.  Here are a few key ways the benefits we offer our temporary and contract employees directly benefit you and your organization:

• Attract the best candidates. Today’s job seekers are savvy.  Most know to choose a reputable staffing firm that provides extras like insurance, vacation pay and free online software training.  Wood Personnel’s value-added services help us attract, recruit and retain Middle Tennessee’s top talent – and put them to work for you.
• Keep the best candidates. Some staffing services are plagued by extremely high turnover rates, which translate into a “revolving door” of temporaries for their clients.  The benefits, value-added services and free online training resources we provide not only attract top candidates, but keep them working for us.  When temporary and contract employees stay with us, they’re much more likely to stay working for you, delivering greater continuity throughout your assignments.
• Ensure workers stay healthy, focused and productive. The medical and dental benefits we offer allow our employees to take care of their health issues, while available life insurance gives them peace of mind.  Our employees can also qualify for vacation and holiday pay, motivating them to earn the time off they deserve.  When employees are healthier and happier, they have better attendance records and stay more focused on the work they do for you.
• Access highly skilled workers. Free online computer training allows employees to develop their software skills – improving their confidence, proficiency and value to your organization.
• View a complete list of our employee benefits.

Wood Personnel Benefits – The Right Thing to Do

The economy is still tough and we realize that many people who come to us have lost their jobs and health benefits, too.  Admittedly, Wood Personnel offers benefits to gain a recruiting advantage and deliver the best results for our clients.  But honestly, the main reason we do it is because it’s just the right thing to do.

Like most things in life, you’ll get out of your job search what you put into it.  Those who work harder, have a positive attitude, persevere and go the extra mile are more likely to get what they want – period.

If you have the commitment to work hard, but need direction for your efforts, here are five things you can do to take charge of your job search today:

1.  Clarify your self-knowledge and your goals. Do you know exactly what you have to offer an employer?  Do you know exactly what you are looking for in a career?  Take the time to write down your specific skills, strengths, accomplishments and career goals.  If you know what you want, and what you bring to the table, it’s infinitely easier to focus your efforts, identify potential employers and find the job you want.

2.  Establish your network. Identify individuals in companies, industry organizations and professional associations who can provide insight into their employment needs.  When possible, schedule informational interviews to learn more about potential careers, as well as skills you may need to acquire to make yourself more employable.  Identify faculty, friends, business associates and relatives who can assist you with your job search.  Tell everyone you know that you’re looking for a job and ask them to refer you to potential employers.

3.  Get more organized. Place all of your job search materials, including: research on potential employers; listings of job postings to which you’ve responded; resume versions and cover letters; staffing services with whom you’ve registered; network lists, etc.  Use this binder to track your progress, plan follow-up, develop daily to-do lists or record other important information.

4.  Find a mentor. If you don’t have a trusted advisor who can help guide your job search efforts, you should get one.  To select a mentor, choose someone you know who:  has earned your respect; is successful in his or her career; will provide honest and effective feedback; will take an interest in your professional development; will support you in your career progression.  Meet with this person regularly to solicit advice, share your ups and downs, and get the feedback and support you need to keep going.

5.  Register with Wood Personnel. As a leading Middle Tennessee staffing and placement service, we specialize in connecting hard-working individuals with rewarding temporary, contract and direct employment opportunities.  If you are looking to:

• open new doors and create new connections;
• earn money while conducting a full-time job search;
• gain access to unadvertised opportunities;
• keep your skills sharp and your morale high…

…contact us today.

A recent Reuters article by Kristina Cooke shares some good news:

“The pace of temporary job creation after the most recent recession – an average of about 25,000 per month – has been faster than the past two, potentially a good sign for a labor market struggling with a jobless rate of 9 percent.”

This Reuters graphic of BLS data illustrates why experts look to the staffing industry for signs of recovery:

If you compare temporary employment to overall employment, you can see how the number of temporary workers declines faster heading into a recession and rises more quickly in a recovery.

In fact, research from the American Staffing Association indicates that temporary help employment is a strong coincident economic indicator when the economy is emerging from a recession.  Overall, temporary hiring rose steadily through 2010, with U.S. employers adding more than 300,000 temporary jobs (about a quarter of the 1.17 million in overall job growth last year).  Translation?  The sustained upturn in temporary staffing is good news for the economy.

But Cooke goes on to temper this enthusiasm, noting that a faster pace of temporary hiring hasn’t yet translated into significant full-time job creation – a critical piece of the recovery puzzle.  Experts such as Peter Capelli, professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, say that because employers are now using temporary assignments to try out potential employees on the job, the increase in temporary hiring could be masking direct hiring.

Wood Personnel Services – Driving Middle Tennessee’s Recovery

As businesses throughout Middle Tennessee begin to staff-up again, Wood Personnel is driving the recovery.  We deliver customized staffing solutions to help companies like yours achieve sustained business success in a volatile economy.  What can we do for you?  Contact Wood Personnel today.