Author: Sarah Fister Gale

Medium Company

Name: Xilinix, Inc Location: San Jose, California Business: Provider of software design tools tools Employees: 2600

Peggy Phillips learned the importance of ERP training the hard way. Two years ago Xilinx rolled out a self-service HR application to the company’s 2,600 employees with only fleeting efforts directed at training. “We held informal sessions telling people that we would show them the new system if they wanted to see it.”

    The rollout team did little front-end needs assessment, so they had no idea what employees wanted or were capable of doing. For example, Phillips’s team assumed that managers wanted self-service options and that they understood how to perform administrative tasks such as documenting internal transfers or approving salary increases. It turned out that the human resources staff was handling all of those transactions and managers had no interest in taking them on. “It was challenging to get people to use the system and in the end was not accepted.”

    Now the company is in the middle of an ERP rollout, and Phillips is determined to learn from the past. “This will be even more challenging than the HR self-service tool, because it’s going to change everyone’s roles and responsibilities,” Phillips says. She has a dedicated team to handle all training and communication needs related to the ERP software. “We are focused on teaching users about the processes, not just how to use the technology.”

    This is especially critical since the company went with a generic version of Oracle’s enterprise application, an off-the-shelf system with little customization. That meant that all of Xilinx’s work processes, such as how to track performance reviews, change job titles, or transfer employees, had to be re-engineered to match the fields in the off-the-shelf tool. “With that level of change, there is going to be a lot of discomfort, but we are managing it by showing users the benefits,” she says.

    In all of the ERP training her team offers, which is a combination of Web-based and classroom-based courses, users learn what the new processes are and why it’s important to incorporate them into their daily routines. “Context is key. It’s not enough to tell them to do these transactions or even to show them how. They have to see the benefit,” she says.

    Because the system is self-service, many tasks that were formerly performed by HR now are the responsibility of managers and employees. “At first it just looks like more work,” she says, “so we talk a lot about the impact it will have on their productivity and benefits.” For example, managers are now expected to fill out Personnel Action Notification forms to alert management to changes in employee salaries or job titles. In the past HR had taken care of PANs, and Phillips began to receive complaints from managers about the added work. She responded by pointing out the dramatic reduction in turn-around time that would come from the new system. Inner-office mail delays and multiple sign-offs meant the old PANs took four to six weeks to be completed; now they take 48 hours. “By framing it properly, they can see the payoff to using the new process and they support it.”

    If the benefits of the new system are not enough to encourage employees to take on extra work, Phillips points out how not using them correctly will cause them to suffer. For example, when managers put off filing an internal employee transfer, they continue to pay the transferee’s salary even if that person is already working in another department. “Most managers understand the value if you put it into financial terms,” she says.

Workforce, September 2002, pp. 92-94 — Subscribe Now!

Small Company

Name: SI Corporation Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee Business: Manufacturer of industrial textiles Employees: 800

When SI decided to implement SAP three and a half years ago, management wasso concerned about the cultural impact it would have onemployees that it created a new position for a “change management leader,”whose sole responsibility would be to manage the human element of the effort.“People needed to understand what we were doing and how it would impact them,”says Patrick Keebler, who landed the job. “When you focus on managing thechange and on building strong executive leadership, you can succeed atimplementing an ERP.”

    He began by assessing users and the environment for risk factors that couldaffect system performance, such as lack of basic PC or Web skills, hiringfluctuations, or a history of resistance to change. Then he built achange-management strategy that included an extensive communication plan tosupport performance-based training.

    “Communicating a project’s purpose and goals as well the impact that itwill have on the organization and its employees is the best way to minimizeresistance,” he says. “If you show up one day and announce you’ve launcheda new system, you’ll get a lot of push back, but if you share your strategyand why it’s important early on, people will embrace it.”

    His communication techniques included a constant flow of written materialscombined with frequent face-to-face presentations with departments and shifts todiscuss the system and offer tool demos. He tailored his messages on the basisof feedback he gathered through focus-group studies and employee surveys. Forexample, an early survey regarding employees’ opinions about the impending ERProllout showed that users were afraid they wouldn’t understand the technologyand their new roles within the system. They were also confused about why thecompany invested so much money in an ERP when there were other importantprojects going unfunded.

    In response to that information, he launched several communicationinitiatives, including a monthly ERP newsletter with stories about the project’sdevelopment, expectations, and training plans. To addressspecific concerns about role changes, he published a special double issuedescribing the alterations that were being made to various business processesand profiling role changes for specific job titles. For example, after the SAProllout, sales reps became responsible for managing customer credit debts, atask previously done by the accounting team. The salespeople were annoyed at theextra work and the accountants felt threatened, Keebler says. He managed theproblem by showing both groups the process stream map and pointing out that itmade more sense for reps, who are the single point of contact for clients, tohandle their debt information. This flow of communication reduced the amount ofstress associated with the change and prepared users for training, he says.

    Keebler delivers all of his ERP training in the month leading up to thatphase of the rollout. For the most recent phase, which was completed in October2001, that meant he and his team of four trainers conducted 120 classes in 19days. “It’s important that training be close to the rollout date so peopledon’t forget what they’ve learned,” he says. “And you don’t want totrain before the system is completely configured; otherwise, you may be teachingpeople to do things incorrectly.”

    To make training as relevant as possible, each course that Keebler offeredwas role-based so that the functional groups—accountspayable clerks, service reps, manufacturing, and supervisors—received specificguidance on their particular role changes. They got overviews of the workprocesses that affected their jobs and looked at the impact of their actions onpeople upstream and downstream from them. “If people make a mistake recordingdata, the results can be exponential,” he says. “We want people toappreciate how serious their responsibilities are to the business.” Forexample, if a service rep records incorrect contact information for a customer,product shipping will be wrong, billing will be wrong, and the customer’scredit rating will be damaged.

    Once the system phase goes live, Keebler offers refresher courses and watchesfor system errors that might reflect a need for retraining. He also offersself-paced tutorials at the Web site and context-sensitive help options withinthe application that let users practice transactions in a simulated environmentso that they can make mistakes without affecting the whole system. “Peoplewill embrace a new system if you give them the skills and support to use it,”he says. “Otherwise, you are just leaving it to chance.”

Workforce, September 2002, p. 90-92 — Subscribe Now!

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Medium Company

Name: Reynolds and Reynolds Location: Dayton, Ohio Business: Provider of integrated information management solutions to the automotive retail marketplace Employees: 4,775

 For Reynolds and Reynolds, e-learning is about far more than eliminating travel and classroom training costs. While the company estimates it saved $1 million during the first year e-learning was implemented—compared to the costs associated with instructor-led training—the real value came from improved customer service. “We are in the business of selling technology,” says Mona Yezbek, vice president of training. “To be successful in a marketplace that changes so rapidly we have to be able to get our people trained quickly and efficiently.”

Reynolds University, which is responsible for providing learning to internal associates and external customers, offers 300 off-the-shelf Web-based training courses from SmartForce, a Redwood City, California-based provider of e-learning, on subjects ranging from interpersonal skills and sales and marketing to technical training.

Trainers also develop custom courses internally to support specific Reynolds products and use Webcasting technology, which delivers live presentations over the Internet, to offer new product training courses online. “With Webcasting, we can bring several hundred salespeople online at the same time to learn about a new product from senior management,” she says. “It’s a consistent message delivered by our leaders in smaller chunks of time.”

These Web-based training sessions get associates up to speed faster on products and skills they need to support customers and the sales process, she says. For example, 200 field engineers recently required network training to prepare them to install and maintain the company’s new Generation Series network software product. “We were able to get them trained in their down-time while they maintained their productivity,” Yezbek says. “The implications of that are huge. I can’t imagine trying to get our staff up to speed on our products using stand-up trainers.”

At a later time when the engineers are out in the field, they will have access to online help and product tutorials to reinforce the learning. “It’s a broad support model that lets us maintain a leading edge in the marketplace,” Yezbek says.

The same e-learning content is also reused for client training, says Candy Maloney, director of services and training developer. Reynolds offers custom blended e-learning solutions in which customers spend some time in a self-paced online environment learning about the company’s products. Then they work in tandem with a classroom trainer for hands-on practice. “Everyone loves the tandem environment,” she says. It costs less to deliver, requires less time away from the job, and allows customers to get comfortable with a product before using it in front of the group.

“By offering customers Web-based training in small task-oriented chunks, the training is easier to use and more affordable so they can get more of it,” Maloney says, which means they increase their proficiency. “If they are more productive with our tools they see a greater value for their investment. That gives us significant competitive advantage.”

Workforce, August 2002, pp. 74-77 — Subscribe Now!

Small Company

Name: Unit for Continuous System Improvement, state of Oregon Location: Salem, Oregon Business: Delivers training for the Department of Human Services of Oregon Employees: 25

 

Rod Roehnelt, distance-learning coordinator in the Unit for Continuous Systems Improvement for the state of Oregon, says he wasn’t out looking for a cheap way to conduct online training for Oregon’s Department of Human Services. “We just fell into it,” he says. It happened when a group of employees in Eastern Oregon needed a half-day computer training class. It’s an eight-hour drive from Salem, which meant trainees would spend three days off the job and 16 hours driving to take a three hour course.

“It was ridiculous,” Roehnelt says. “They didn’t want to drive to Salem but they needed the training.” Instead Roehnelt and David Walker, the multimedia consultant and training specialist, downloaded a copy of Microsoft NetMeeting, the free Internet conferencing software, and gathered students together via phone conference.

“Most of the presentation for the class was on a computer anyway so it seemed like a good idea,” Walker says. The first test class had 12 people in the room and two on the phone. Because the in-class students didn’t have mics, repeating their questions over the phone was awkward, Walker says. But the rest of the class went well, and the cost savings were remarkable. “We were able to train the entire staff, roughly 700 people, on how to use the new computer system in eight weeks.” It would have taken more than three months for three trainers traveling all over the state to complete the same amount of training in the classroom.

“The savings in travel and time off the job is significant, but the real difference has been accessibility.”

Because the new Web-based training system was so popular, Walker and Roehnelt decided to add to its capabilities, cobbling together a low-cost multimedia studio for about $2,000 that would allow them to offer more robust presentations with multiple trainers, more elaborate graphics, and better support. They already had a video projector and four older computers. They added a $400 mixing board to manage the audio, a $600 audio bridge to manage the phone signals, wall speakers, and three microphones.

Now the presenter, subject matter expert, and program manager each has microphones during presentations. The instructor uses the first computer to run the presentation. The program manager uses the second computer to troubleshoot, help students with technical difficulties, and to add content to the white board—an interactive electronic drawing board—if necessary. They use the third computer as an audience monitor, making sure the presentation is running smoothly on the receiving end, and the fourth computer is used as a backup in case of problems.

Today Walker and Roehnelt deliver 150 courses per year using the set-up, which they named NetCast.They teach versions of all of their classroom courses using NetCast, including computer skills classes, how to implement child care programs, customer service, and a series on helping victims of domestic violence. Students from several sites around the state view the presentations online at the same time, share thoughts on the white board, and interact via telephone.

“It works for anything that is taught in a classroom,” Roehnelt says.

Because NetCast is so convenient and has eliminated travel time for trainers, Walker and Roehnelt have been able to expand their course offerings 40 percent. If they’d delivered the same number of courses in on-site classrooms, he estimates that the training would have cost Oregon $4 million more. The system has been such a success that they are planning to invest in a higher-tech version of the software, such as Symposium or LearnLinc, which include options for quizzing, hand raising, classroom management, and break-out sessions.

    Walker says they expect to spend about $300,000 for the new software and hardware in the next five years, which will easily pay for itself. “The savings in travel and time off the job is significant, but the real difference has been accessibility. We are seeing people in training that we haven’t seen in a long time because for the first time attending training is convenient.”

Workforce, August 2002, pp. 74-77 — Subscribe Now!

Asuccessful relationship with a third-party recruiter hinges on your abilityto express your needs and the recruiter’s willingness to listen.

“Recruiters need more than just a list of job skills to find qualitycandidates. They need to understand your culture and environment,” says TomLucas, senior vice president of HR and employee relations at Adecco NorthAmerica, an international employment firm headquartered in Melville, New York.

Good recruiters research your work environment by asking questions andinterviewing employees. Once the relationship has been established, they stay intouch, calling periodically just to chat, or to let you know they’ve found ajob candidate who’d be perfect for you, even if you aren’t currently hiring.”This is a personal relationship,” he says. “You need someone whosejudgment you trust, who understands you, and is looking out for your bestinterest.”

Finding that person can be tricky. “You aren’t going to get theinformation you need from the phone book,” Lucas notes. “Recruiting is ahuge industry, and there are not a lot of standards to govern it.” The bestway to find a good recruiter is to ask around. Turn to your network: ask yourpeers who they use for their own recruiting and who got them their jobs.

Also, think about the jobs you need to fill. Some agencies recruit for all positions. Others specialize in areassuch as HR, IT, finance, or trade skills. The one-stop shops are handy if yourhiring needs vary, but specialty companies will have better access tohigh-quality people with unique skills, and will have a pipeline of existingcandidates to fit your needs.

If your offices are dispersed, location may be another factor to consider.You want a company that can help you regardless of which city you are hiring in,Lucas says.

With these criteria in mind, narrow your search to a few companies and theninvestigate their style and approach. From the beginning, they should activelyseek information about your company and your core competencies. If they don’t,be skeptical, Lucas says. “If they come in talking about what they can do foryou, if they are arrogant and don’t listen to you or ask questions, then youshouldn’t hire them.”

Before you make a selection, find out how accommodating they are, says CathyFyock, president of Innovative Management Concepts, a recruiting consultancy inCrestwood, Kentucky, and author of Get the Best: How to Recruit the People YouWant (Irwin Professional Publishing, 1993). Ask if they have flexible rates whenyou use their service more frequently, if they can customize invoices to meet your billingrequirements, or if they are willing to negotiate aspects of their contracts.To meet the budget constraints of customers, many recruiting firms will unbundle their offerings to be more competitivelypriced, allowing companies to purchase individual services such as pre-screeningor background checks.

If you can’t afford the full service, using recruiters just forprescreening can be valuable in today’s economy, since so many people arelooking for work, says Ron Griffin, regional marketing manager at Randstad NorthAmerica, an international recruiting firm based in Houston. “In the past youcould put an ad in the paper and expect 20 responses; now you get 400,” hesays. “A staffing company can use all 400 résumés, but an HR person lookingto hire just one employee doesn’t have the time to wade through them all.”

Once you find a recruiter you like, be prepared to commit time to building that relationship, sharing information about your company, it’s culture, and it’s values.

Fyock points out that although a lot of companies don’t have the recruitingbudgets they had five years ago, when the economy was booming, they still needrecruiting help. “By unbundling services, the recruiter maintains therelationship and the employer only purchases the services it really needs,”she says.

Once you find a recruiter you like, be prepared to commit time to building that relationship, sharing informationabout your company, its culture, and its values. “Give them your valuestatement, define your core competencies, and share your interview questions,”Fyock says. She also suggests allowing the recruiter to interview some existing employees to get a feel for who they are, and toparticipate in the first few screening processes to be sure they are asking allthe right questions.

It’s easy to find candidates who have basic skill sets. What you want isfor the recruiter to find people who fit into your environment, Fyock says. Arecruiter needs the information that comes with regular discussions about yourrequirements, and with feedback on why the candidates they provide either workout or fail. “Every time you give them feedback, they can translate that intotheir screening process,” she says. “That means the next time you needsomeone, they will be able to respond faster, with better people.”

Workforce, July 2002, pp. 74-77 — Subscribe Now!

Recognizing the fallibility of interviews, an increasing number of recruitershave added pre-employment assessment tests to their hiring process. These testsrate the personality and motivation of potential employees, allowing recruitersto choose candidates according to how they will fit into the existing corporateculture.

Evaluating candidates’ personalities as well as job skills greatly improvesrecruiters’ odds of making successful hires, which reduces their corporateturnover rates, says Tom DeCotiis, managing partner of DeCotiis Erhard, aconsulting firm in Colorado Springs, Colorado. That can have a huge impact onthe bottom line. When you add up the money spent on recruiting, hiring time,lost productivity, orientation, and training, turnover costs are about 150percent of an employee’s annual salary. If the average salary in a companywith 1,000 employees is $50,000 and there is a 10 percent turnover rate, theannual cost of turnover is $7.5 million, he says. And a 10 percent turnover rateis considered low for most industries.

Personality assessments give you an unemotional evaluation of a candidate’s character and attitude — qualities that are difficult to judge in an interview alone.

The primary reason for high turnover is bad hiring decisions. When the wrongcandidate is put in a position, the company pours time and money into someonewho will likely leave within months and may cause irreparable damage in themeantime. In a position where teamwork is critical, a bad hire can affect themorale of the entire staff. “A major cause of job dissatisfaction and thedesire to quit is the quality of the people you work with,” says DeCotiis. Ifyou can zero in on the best candidates for the job, you have a much betterchance of keeping them and the rest of your staff, which drives down the cost ofturnover. The tricky part is knowing which candidate is the best fit for yourorganization’s culture.

“You’ll always find someone with the right credentials, but if they don’thave the right attitude, they aren’t going to work out,” says Robert Fox,executive vice president of marketing at MindData Systems, a provider ofWeb-based evaluation tools, located in Dallas. Unfortunately, most people arepoor judges of character, especially when the only contact they have is in aninterview. “Anyone who’s bright can phrase their responses according to whatyou are looking for.” It’s not until they are on the job that their truecharacter shows through.

Personality assessments give you an unemotional evaluation of a candidate’scharacter and attitude — qualities that are difficult to judge in an interviewalone. These tests don’t rate a person’s skill level, but rather how he willbehave on the job. They evaluate traits such as aggressiveness, motivation,sensitivity, and the ability to handle stress. Using the test results, arecruiter can determine how a person will interact with the existing staff andhow well she will perform on the job.

To make the most of these tests, you have to benchmark your existingemployees by giving them the tests, says Putt Fleming, sales manager at MindData.”All business cultures are unique. It is necessary to benchmarkhigh-performers in order to take full advantage of a profiling tool.”

Applying your own knowledge of who the top, bottom, and middle performersare, you can use their test results to create a custom profile of what the idealcandidates will look like. “When you validate test results against yourhighest performers, you increase your chance of making a good hire,” Flemingsays.

Each position will have a different profile of success. For example, the bestsalespeople generally rate low on compassion and low on sensitivity, whereas thebest managers rate high on compassion and low on sensitivity, he says. You mayinterview someone for one position and realize that his assessment results makehim a perfect fit for a completely different job. “The more data you have onyour existing people and positions, the more useful the tests will be.”

But the tests alone, like interviews alone, are not enough to make asufficient assessment of a potential candidate. “It’s a mistake to rely ontest scores alone,” says Randy Lucius, research director for FitabilitySystems, an online interview and assessment company based in Atlanta. “Theyaren’t foolproof.” But if you use them in conjunction with the rest of yourhiring techniques, including behavioral interviewing, skills tests, and your ownintuition, you make a better hiring choice.

“It comes down to money,” Fleming says. “By knowing more about theperson that is being considered for a position, you can reduce turnover,increase productivity, and increase the quality of your corporate culture. Allof this leads to a more favorable bottom line.”

Workforce, April 2002, pp. 66-69 — Subscribe Now!

 

In a weak economy, it can be especially challenging to motivate employees.Fewer dollars are earmarked for bonus or incentive programs, and management isloath to support any cash giveaway, even when a program is directly tied tobottom-line results. But that doesn’t mean you have to throw away the idea ofrewarding employees for improved behavior. Small gifts that symbolize yourappreciation can have a surprising impact on employee satisfaction andperformance, carrying more weight even than cold cash.

Even if you have a big budget for recognition programs, cash is rarely thebest motivator, says Andrew Perlmutter, cofounder of InMarketing Group, anincentive company located in Mahwah, New Jersey. “You never want to confuserecognition with compensation,” he says. “When you pay people for doing agood job, it becomes part of their salary expectations.” A gift, however –whether it’s a trip to Cancun or a coffee mug — is a luxury separate fromcompensation that shows respect and commends accomplishment. “Buying anemployee dinner for two may only cost you $40, but the acknowledgment of a jobwell done has significant value,” Perlmutter says.

If your budget is limited, inexpensive gifts delivered with fanfare may bejust the push you need to improve performance. “If you create a recognitionprogram that is fun and makes a big deal of successes, people will get excitedabout it,” says Pat Zingheim, cofounder of Schuster-Zingheim and Associates,Inc., a pay and reward consulting firm in Los Angeles. It doesn’t have to beabout the value of the gift; it’s about the celebration and recognition thatgo with it. It shows employees you appreciate them and gives them a symbol ofthat recognition.

Giving gifts instead of cash as incentives can also help employees setphysical goals for improved results on the job. For example, a 25 percentincrease in sales is a nebulous aim, even if a monetary commission is attachedto it, but a goal of winning a family trip or a new set of golf clubs issomething employees can visualize, Perlmutter says. “It helps them paint apicture of their goals and what they need to do to accomplish them.”

The promise of gifts alone, however, doesn’t guarantee an incentive orrecognition program’s success. There are several issues that should beaddressed. Otherwise, the program will be a waste of money and can actuallydiscourage employees.

Making a big deal of the winners inspires employees to work harder and keeps the program in the public eye.

First you must establish a clear-cut goal for the program that is directlytied to the company’s value system, says John Farrell, senior director ofclient strategy for Carlson Marketing Group, in Minneapolis. “What is thebusiness objective you hope to accomplish?” It can be increasing sales,improving customer satisfaction, or building employee loyalty. “Not allyingthe program with the corporate mission is a common mistake.”

If the goal requires a change or improvement in behavior, training may be anecessary component of the program, he adds. For example, if you want yourcustomer-service team to manage call volume more effectively, along withoffering prizes for closing more calls per day, put them throughcustomer-support and product training. “Incentives alone won’t improveproductivity if employees don’t have the skills or knowledge to change theirbehavior.”

Choosing the wrong incentives can also affect the success of the program,says Perlmutter. The gifts have to be appealing, varied, and worth the change inbehavior. Give employees a selection and make it easy to get small rewards forsmall changes in behavior, while building toward something bigger. If the barfor achievement is set too high or the payoff is too far away, employees can getfrustrated at their inability to see short-term success, he says.

Communication is another critical element. A program needs a title and themeto identify it, a big launch to kick it off, and constant reminders of the goalsthrough posters, articles, and celebrations of success along the way. “Amessage has to be delivered 10 times before it’s completely absorbed,”Farrell says. “The more you reach out to people, the more successful yourprogram will be.”

Once an incentive program has been launched, keep people abreast of who hasreceived rewards and remind them what they need to do to achieve their goals.”If no one uses the program, it will disappear,” Farrell says. Making a bigdeal of the winners inspires employees to work harder and keeps the program inthe public eye.

If it’s a peer-to-peer or manager-delivered recognition program, regularlyencourage people to acknowledge exceptional behavior and remind them of howvaluable it is, Farrell says. “Recognition is like oxygen to employees; theycan’t survive without it.”

Workforce, June 2002, pp. 86-90 — Subscribe Now!

Moen, Inc., takes an extremely formal approach to its third-party-recruiterrelationship. Unlike most companies, Moen works with only one recruiter, andit has a clearly defined set of guidelines about how the relationship ismanaged. Fortune Brands, the consumer-products company that owns Moen andseveral other major brands,requires all of its operating companies to work with Adecco to recruit allhourly temps.

SmallCompany

Name: Moen,Inc. Location: NorthOlmsted, Ohio Business: Producerof residential and commercial plumbing products Employees: 3,500

“It’s a partnership,” says Bart Rovins, HR manager at Moen’s NewBern, North Carolina, final-assembly plant. “We view Adecco as a key part ofour business strategy. The primary goal of the relationship is that Adecco doesa better job recruiting than we can,” he says. This goal is regularlyevaluated and rated to ensure that the partnership continues to be profitablefor both companies.

On any given day, the New Bern facility has between 175 and 200 hourly temps,all of whom are provided by Adecco. The recruiting firm keeps two of its ownfull-time employees on-site at the plant to oversee all of the human resourceissues for the temps, including benefits administration, training, and generalperformance management. The on-site people aren’t involved in recruiting, butfocus solely on managing their temps, Rovins says. “If a company is big enoughto have this many temporary employees, it should be able to leverage itsrecruiter relationship to require on-site management for them.” Thanks to theon-site support, Rovins is able to have two fewer people on his own HR staff,which saves the company about $200,000 per year.

Adecco provides the service and quality that Moen expects. Rovins meetsregularly with the Adecco recruiters and on-site people. Once a quarter hereviews a series of metrics designed to rate Adecco on its performance,including time to recruit and turnover rate. If the Adecco team isn’t up tohis standards, they brainstorm improvement activities. For example, in a recenteffort to step up recruiting efforts, Rovins and the Adecco team made plans tohost job fairs, provide radio ads, and increase their outdoor signage.

Adecco and Moen have also built a unique full-time placement program calledAdecco To Moen, which goes beyond the typical 90-day trial period. Every hourlyperson who gets hired at this plant begins as a temp and goes through theprogram.

“It starts with Adecco’s recruiting activities,” Rovins says. They havetheir own system of evaluation, and Moen added some steps to define specificcompetencies required for success at the plant. For example, employees should beteam workers, require limited supervision, and be flexible and deadlineoriented. “They need to be comfortable working in a high-pressure environment,”he says.

Once they are hired as temps, they receive points based on their performance, attendance, safety, anddiscipline. The on-site Adecco team keeps tabs on temps’ scores, and when theyscore high enough to be eligible for full-time employment, their names go into apool of candidates. When Rovins needs to hire, he looks at the score reports provided by the on-site Adecco team and selects the topperformers. “It takes the emotion out of the hiring process,” he says. “Ourchoices are based entirely on the point system.”

It also weeds out weak performers and reduces turnover. Temps who don’tscore well on the tests know that their chances of getting hired are remote, sothey usually quit before their assignment is over, he says. As a result, sincethe program was implemented a year ago, turnover has dropped 10 percent, from12.4 percent per month to 2.4 percent. While Rovins hesitates to attribute allof the reduction in turnover to the placement program, he feels it’s had asignificant impact. “It’s reasonable to assume the program has helped usmake better hiring decisions.”

Workforce, July 2002, pp. 74-77 — Subscribe Now!

For Bill Jones, vice president of operations for Point2Point Global Logistics, choosing a recruiter is all about personality. “The relationship you build with your recruiter is an important thing,” he says. He has a primary contact at Randstad North America’s Houston office. The two talk regularly on the phone and occasionally go out for a beer. “We chitchat, talk about my hiring needs. I don’t get that from other recruiters.”

Small Company

Name: Point2Point Global Logistics Location: Houston, Texas Business: Video-game Distribution house Employees: 20 permanent and 2 to 30 temps, depending on the season

But the relationship is about more than just camaraderie. From the beginning, the recruiter, Kim Gearing, made an effort to understand his intangible needs. As a result, she makes better recruiting decisions. When they first met, she reviewed the company’s training courses and spent time in the plant to become familiar withthe environment. In exchange, Jones spent a lot of time letting Gearing know what he expects from his employees. He also gives her feedback on the candidates she sends so that she can make better choices in the future.

Jones recognizes that when he’s looking for $7-an-hour temps, he’s going to get people with basic skills. What Gearing does is to find people who fit Point2Point’s culture. “She understands my value system. We hire smart people who fit our mold,” he says. For example, the temps are always expected to be working, even if it means making boxes or sweeping the floor. And, says Jones, employees must have a thick skin. “We pick on each other. It’s a tough group.” So he doesn’t want lazy or overly sensitive people who won’t fit into the culture. “Those are intangibles.”

Jones also appreciates the time that Gearing invests in the relationship. Even though the company does most of its business in the eight weeks before Christmas, Gearing frequently calls just to say hello or stops by. “It shows that she’s thinking about me. She doesn’t just have a note in her calendar to call me in September.”

Because the company is rapidly expanding, Jones selects every temp with the goal of hiring the ones who fit the culture. Because of that, Gearing provides him with higher-quality people, even for low-paying positions. She often sends candidates who might get better assignments elsewhere, because she knows they have an excellent chance of getting a permanent position with Point2Point, he says. For example, she might place a dockworker, who could get $10 an hour somewhere else, in a $7-an-hour position at Point2Point. “She tells recruits what they can expect if they put the time in here.” If things work out, the temps who are hired can expect to get better-than-average pay, benefits and training, and 20 holidays per year, Jones says. “Once they are hired, they’ll never leave.”

And, Jones says, Gearing is willing to negotiate certain contract points for the long-term profitability of the relationship. For example, if a temp isn’t working out after 45 days, she might be willing to release Jones from the 90-day contract without additional fees. “Other recruiters will bill you whether you use the person or not,” Jones says. At the same time, she might let him hire someone who’s working out before the 90-day trial period is up.

“It’s a mutually beneficial relationship,” he says. “She’ll make concessions for me to keep the relationship, and she knows she’s the first person I call when I need someone.” Jones works with other recruiters on occasion, but none of them show the interest or flexibility that Randstad does. “Most recruiters come in telling you how great their companies are instead of listening to what you need. I don’t buy that.”

Workforce, July 2002, pp. 74-77 — Subscribe Now!

Five years ago, online recruiting was only good for filling specialized technical positions. Today it’s an integral part of the recruiting strategy for companies of all sizes and many industries. It’s a fast, convenient way to find potential candidates, and it’s cheaper than using newspaper ads or employment agencies. And because there are no space constraints, Web want ads can be any length, giving even the smallest companies the opportunity to craft clever ads that will capture the interest of prospective candidates.

“Online job postings should be tailored to entice applicants,” says Barbara Ling, president of Rise Internet Recruiting Services, an e-recruiting strategies firm in Holmdel, New Jersey, and author of The Internet Recruiting Edge and Poor Richard’s Internet Recruiting. “You should include testimonials from employees, benefits information, and what’s great about the company, as well as detailed information about the job and your expectations.” Online job ads also allow an employer to link the ad back to its Web site, so candidates can get further information about the company with the click of a mouse.

All of this works together to vastly improve a company’s visibility to the right people and gives them more value for their recruiting dollar. “Posting ads online brands your company,” says Marcel Legrand, senior vice president of products for Monster.com. “It puts your name in front of people who you want working for you.”

And as more and more people take to the Web — 94 million at the last U.S. census — recruiters are just as likely to find sales or administrative candidates online as they are to find programmers, Legrand says. According to a Search Tactics Poll from the Society for Human Resource Management, 96 percent of all job seekers use the Internet, making it their most commonly used search tactic, whereas 88 percent of recruiters use the Internet to get the word out about new positions.

But it’s not as simple as just posting an ad on a Web site and waiting for the flood of applications to come in, warns Ling. “Internet recruiting is only as successful as the quality of the information you put out there.” The biggest problem is getting recruiters out of the “shrunken want ad mentality.” Accustomed to the limitations of newspaper ads, they continue to use cryptic abbreviations and limit the job description to education and experience requirements. “They can write as much as they want, but they don’t include anything to make the job appealing,” she says.

As an example, Ling points to this ad for a Unix Solaris Administrator found at a job board online:

Unix Solaris Admin/Windows 2000

Exciting opporunity on ground floor project for telecom/internet venture – local candidates only at this time. ***Might also consider subcontract if candidate has over 6 years of Solaris admin exp. *** Solaris Unix Solaris SystemsAdmin. MUST have Windows 2000 Admin experience. MUST have at least 3-4 years plus of System Admin experience. MUSThave at least 3 solid years of Solaris exp. Looking for someone who has solid experience working with data storageand how it works in enterprise systems. (looking for experience like RAID) Also must have: Windows 2000 and lookingfor someone with specific Cisco switches and routers (5500 and 6500 series).

It is poorly written, uses unnecessary abbreviations, and has no information about the company or the expectations of the position, Ling says. “It has no details, no ‘what’s in it for me.'”

To get qualified candidates to respond to a posting, they first have to find the job, and then get excited about it, she says. “Even in today’s market, people are still looking out for number one.”

An ad that will get a lot of responses includes compelling key words in the title or body, such as “great,” “best,” or “exciting,” and describes what’s interesting about the position. It uses full sentences, it’s reader-friendly, and it appeals to the applicant’s ambitions.

The following ad for a salesperson, for example, came up on Monster.com from a search for “dream job.”

Work for the World’s Best Boss…YOU!

Now you can be in business for yourself, have your own office, schedule your own time, and advance to management within ayear. Add to that a six-figure income in the second year…and you have the dream career your talents deserve.

We have over 140 offices nationally with over 60,000 clients. Currently our office in Tampa seeks entrepreneurial, successdriven professionals who will welcome the independence and advantages of being a sales professional. You must have theinterpersonal/communication skills and highly professional image to promote our indispensable services to the business andmedical communities.

We offer:

• Excellent Commissions
• Proven Repeat Business
• Outstanding Training
• No Travel, Nights or Weekends

“This is the kind of ad that gets people’s attention,” Ling says.

However, even the best-written ads on their own are not enough. You can’t stop at putting up the ad. The best recruiters actively hunt for résumés in job board databases and at trade association sites, and they use automated agents to comb the Web for prospects. Most recruiters do daily searches online for potential applicants, often further networking with them for names of other possible prospects.

“Searching for candidates takes skill. You have to know what to look for and how to do it,” Ling says. She teaches clients how to do Boolean queries — such as “title:résumé* UNIX” along with a state or area code — to unearth the personal Web sites of qualified professionals in their area.

Even if you don’t know advanced search techniques, the Web is a valuable and inexpensive resource for even the smallest company. The experts agree that whether you are just posting an ad at your corporate site or scouring the Web for passive job seekers, recruiting online saves money. It costs half as much or less than a Sunday newspaper job posting and pennies compared to using an employment agency. And in a time when every warm body is expected to contribute to the bottom line, recruiters can’t afford to miss out on the wealth of talent that the Internet has to offer.

Workforce, December 2001, pp. 74-77 — Subscribe Now!