Berks & Beyond Blog

Hiring decisions are critical to your company’s success.  Logically, you should do everything in your power to make sure your candidates are upstanding, law-abiding citizens with spotless criminal records, right?

Maybe, maybe not.

While it may be reasonable for you to not want to hire an axe murderer, you need to be careful about your company’s criminal background policies.  They could cost you dearly.  In fact, Pepsi Beverages recently agreed to pay $3.13 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over alleged discriminatory background screening practices.

The case centered around Pepsi’s policy to not hire applicants on a permanent basis whose background checks revealed an arrest that did not lead to conviction for positions at their factory.  The EEOC said that 300 black applicants were denied permanent employment due to arrests that did not lead to convictions.

The policy was deemed discriminatory because there was “reasonable cause to believe that the criminal background check policy formerly used by Pepsi discriminated against African Americans in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

Some experts predict that these types of enforcement actions will only increase with time.  So what’s a responsible employer to do?

In some cases, criminal background checks are a necessary part of business.  Too often, candidates give incomplete – or downright false – information, because they know that certain facts about past actions may disqualify them from consideration.  If you do choose to conduct a background check to get more information about an applicant, use these common-sense tips:

• Get the applicant’s consent in writing – before you check anything.  Explain clearly what you plan to check and how you will gather information.  This gives candidates the opportunity to remove themselves from consideration before embarrassing details are discovered, and it prevents applicants from later claiming that their privacy has been violated.
• Make sure your inquiries are relevant to the job in question.  If you are hiring a security guard who will carry a weapon, it’s reasonable to want to check for past criminal convictions.  If you’re hiring an administrative assistant, however, a criminal background check may be unwarranted.  As a reminder, Pennsylvania only allows employers to consider felony and misdemeanor convictions to the extent that they relate to the applicant’s suitability for a specific position.
• Apply your policies consistently.  Conduct the same checks for every candidate who makes the “final cut” and is being considered for a certain job.
• When in doubt, consult with your attorney.  It’s smartest and safest to work with an attorney when reviewing and/or changing your criminal background check policy.

Minimize Your Employment Risks with Berks & Beyond. 

As our temporary and contract employees’ employer of record, we assume all employment-related risks.  When we send you temporary employees, rest assured they are thoroughly screened and authorized to work for your organization.

To make staffing safer and simpler for you, Berks & Beyond chooses to participate in E-Verify.  Since 2007, every employee we’ve placed has been screened with this system.  Want to learn more?  Contact Berks & Beyond today.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  effective interview methods significantly increase your odds of hiring a top performer.

But just how, exactly, do you do this?

A few months back, I posted Five Tips to Help Improve Your Hiring Process to get you started.  As promised in that post, here are a few more strategies to help you eliminate interviewing biases, inconsistencies and inefficiencies – and ultimately hire better:

1. Minimize interviewer inconsistency.  If you can’t personally conduct every interview, you should train interviewers to enhance consistency.  Interviewing styles and effectiveness vary greatly, depending on personality, confidence and amount of formal training.  Some interviewers excel at asking questions; some are great ambassadors for your company; some are very detail-oriented and systematically process responses.  But unfortunately, few are strong in all these areas.  To improve consistency, require interviewers to cite specific candidate statements to back-up their evaluations and/or conclusions.  Train them to support their ratings with examples – rather than recording opinions, impressions or hunches.
2. Ask the recruit why he wants the job.  Our current job market is flooded with the type of applicant who indiscriminately shoots off résumés in response to any posting that matches his keyword search – all in desperate hope of landing any type of interview.  If a recruit can’t tell you why he wants to work for your organization, you probably don’t want him on your team.
3. Make a good first impression on the candidate.  While you are evaluating a candidate, the candidate will be sizing up you and your company.  Increase the likelihood that a top performer will accept your job offer by making a positive first impression:  respect the candidate’s time by being on-time and prepared for the interview; supplement the interview with written or on-line information about the company and/or position; allow time for follow-up questions (a candidate needs to learn about your organization, culture and the available position at the same time you’re learning about him).
4. Plan multiple interviews.  Always conduct at least two interviews (three for higher level positions).  Why?  Recruits may be able to fool you in one interview, but the chances of them misrepresenting themselves successfully across multiple interviews are greatly diminished.  In addition, a more rigorous process will help weed out those candidates who are apathetic and/or unreliable.
5. Hold a post-interview review meeting.  Establish a formal process for finalizing the interview process and making a hiring decision.  Provide a form interviewers can use to summarize each candidate’s interpersonal skills, cultural fit, competency evaluation and technical knowledge.  Give each interviewer equal time to share feedback and make recommendations.  The primary decision maker/hiring manager should give the last report, after which you can begin open discussions about a hiring decision.

Incorporate these suggestions with the tips in my last post, and you’ll be well on your way to better hires in 2012.

Ensure Great Hires with Berks & Beyond

If you lack the time, resources or desire to hire on your own, Berks & Beyond is here to listen and help.  Our direct placement services quickly and cost-effectively deliver candidates with skills, experience 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.

Looking to climb the corporate ladder in human resources?

It turns out that “soft skills” – things like leadership ability, cross-cultural competence and interpersonal expertise – are now just as essential as traditional skills and experience for HR professionals looking to advance their careers.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to get a promotion, follow this link to a March Harvard Business Review article titled “The New Path to the C-Suite.”  The article, which examines the evolving roles of seven executive-level positions (including chief human resources officer), shows that forward-thinking companies are increasingly seeking HR officers from nontraditional backgrounds.  To find individuals with the “balanced skill sets” they need (including understanding of commercial models and change management), organizations are filling the CHRO role with candidates from business functions like operations and marketing.

Here are the “new requirements” CHRO candidates will need to possess to adeptly juggle the changing needs and contributions of diverse employees, including boomers, millennials and professionals from emerging economies:

• Commercial acumen;
• Understanding of cultural differences and shifting demographics;
• Change management skills;
• Facility with cultural change initiatives;
• The credibility needed to act as an internal adviser to the CEO and the board;
• Ability to work with the board to manage succession;
• Technology savvy;
• Expertise in building compensation and performance into governance structures;
• Skill at marketing the CHRO position to the rest of the organization.

In summary, the skills needed for top jobs in human resources is changing with the times.  Functional and technical expertise, while still important, has become somewhat less critical than understanding business fundamentals and strategy.  To be upwardly mobile in HR, you must grow and develop the soft skills needed to engage a diverse workforce, and find pragmatic solutions to complex human capital issues.

Upwardly Mobile in HR?  Berks & Beyond Can Provide the Support You Need

Berks & Beyond can provide the administrative, clerical and HR support you need to be even more successful in your job.  Contact us today to learn more.

“To train or not to train?”

That is certainly not the question when it comes to your staff.  To remain competitive, ongoing employee education is important for many reasons:

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

So when it comes to your staff – especially knowledge workers – the question isn’t so much, “Do we need to train,” it’s, “How are we going to afford it?”  Here are a few effective ways to 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 Berks & Beyond a call.  Throughout Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania, we rapidly deliver temporary, contract and direct staff to keep your business competitive.  Contact us today to learn more.

Discrimination on the job occurs every day.

It’s a harsh reality, but factors such as age, race, gender, sexual preference and religious affiliation still influence hiring, promotion and daily interaction in the workplace.  For these reasons and others, promoting diversity in the workplace is a vital endeavor:

• It helps organizations actively identify and remove barriers to equal opportunities in all aspects of employment, from recruiting to retaining and developing professionals.
• It improves workplace cultures and team performance, by helping employees and managers alike to overcome long-held stereotypes and misconceptions.
• It encourages employers to develop and retain diverse, competitive workforces that draw on the talents of all parts of our society.

While it’s true that today’s typical workplace may be generally more welcoming and accepting than one of generations past, many employers and workers still struggle with the issue of diversity.  Employees continue to feel excluded from certain occupations – regardless of their qualifications and experience.

The good news is, you have the power to change this reality.  In addition to providing diversity training for your employees, use these ideas to help improve and promote diversity in your workplace:

Formalize anti-discrimination policies. Make it clear to all employees that discriminatory hiring, promotion and other practices will not be tolerated.  If you haven’t already, formally introduce, implement, enforce and update clear anti-discrimination policies.  Countless resources are available online, such as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s website.  Their site provides guidance to help you add anti-discrimination policies to your employee handbook.

Reach out to local organizations. Take a look at your existing workforce.  Does it resemble the communities in which you operate?  If not, develop a hiring strategy that allows for greater inclusion and representation.  Talk to community leaders from churches, cultural institutions and colleges.  Ask them to help you better connect with potential candidates who are under-represented in your workforce.

Establish responsibility and accountability. Diversity promotion and training usually falls to HR.  If no such department exists, create a committee to help implement the policy you develop.  Encourage members to continually develop new ideas on how to attract more diversity to your company.

Ask employees for referrals. Your current staff may have peers in the industry or know qualified candidates who may be looking for work.  The referring peer can help your new employee more easily adjust to his new work environment, especially if he is part of an under-represented group.

Expand your reach. Appeal to a wider audience by participating in job fairs and career expos.  Make available postings more attractive to diverse job hunters by emphasizing details that will attract them.

Offer benefits that appeal to a diverse workforce. Demonstrate your willingness to hire from all segments of the workforce by offering programs such as:

• onsite daycare
• flexible work schedules
• job sharing
• childcare subsidiaries
• religious holiday accommodation
• diversity-friendly (but office appropriate) dress codes

Support new hires. As you develop a more diverse workforce, make sure the new employees you hire feel welcomed and valued.  The first few weeks can be challenging for a new employee, so do what you can to help him get acclimated.  Pair him with a mentor to help him develop new working relationships, and clearly communicate opportunities for advancement.  Show him that he has a future in your company and he’ll be much more likely to stay.

Berks & Beyond understands and promotes the value of diversity in the workplace.  We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, helping all job seekers find rewarding employment opportunities.

It’s open season – open enrollment season, that is.

An uncertain economy, increased end-user costs and a renewed corporate focus on wellness are all driving the need for better open enrollment benefits communication.  More than ever, employees are having to “find their own ways” when it comes to making good benefits decisions.  The stakes are high, and your staff is relying on you to provide the information they need to make wise choices.

According to Jennifer Benz, Founder and Chief Strategist of Benz Communications, a leading HR and benefits communication strategy boutique, “Employers have a responsibility to educate employees about making good short-term decisions and helping them see the longer-term picture of how health and financial security stack up.”

Although you may have been providing benefits information throughout the year, here are a few tips for improving communications during the 2011 open enrollment campaign:

Be purposeful. While neither your company nor its employees can solve the systemic problems related to health care, there are concrete, simple actions you can take to help control costs.  Use enrollment as an opportunity to promote programs your company invests in that may be unnoticed or underused by employees.  Focus on the tangibles behaviors that impact employees’ wallets, such as:

• getting preventative care
• participating in biometric screenings and other wellness programs
• enrolling in more cost-effective plans
• switching to generics
• using prescription mail order programs
• taking advantage of health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs)

Be personal. Whether explaining a new program or re-engaging employees with existing benefits, focus on their needs and provide meaningful examples.  For instance, give dollars-and-cents scenarios to illustrate how family deductibles work, or offer free preventive medicine samples for individuals with chronic conditions.

Keep it simple. Employees don’t use or understand benefits jargon, so use everyday, real-life language.  Define terms.  Repeat concepts.  Use visuals.  Keep in mind that bullet points, graphics, charts and Q&As are helpful.  This is especially important as benefit plans become more complex.  A results-based wellness program or value-based plan design needs to be communicated in a way that makes sense to employees without raising their suspicion or fears.

Communicate frequently. The gap between how the rest of the world communicates and how companies communicate about their benefits is growing wider.  To remedy this, use social media to communicate year-round.  Tools like benefits blogs and Twitter benefit feeds are easily implemented with little risk.  If you’re not sure what to say, countless resources are available online to get you started.

Acknowledge uncertainty. Quite frankly, there are too many things influencing the health care and retirement systems to make short- or long-term predictions or promises, even though employees might ask for them.  An honest acknowledgement of this tension and a commitment to regular communication can help employees to feel that their concerns are being heard.

(Source:  Benz Communications)

Berks & Beyond can provide the administrative, clerical and HR support your organization needs throughout open enrollment season and beyond.  Contact us today to learn more.

If you’ve watched the news lately, or followed the markets, you’ve probably found the economic data as puzzling and disconcerting as I have.  Up one day, way down the next.  One economic analyst talks about a slow recovery, the other warns us of the next recession.  The roller coaster we’re on isn’t showing any signs of smoothing out, thus leaving companies – and employees – wondering what’s next.

The honest answer is that nobody knows.  And for the people who work in your organization, that may be the most stressful part.  Uncertainty breeds fear.  And fear breeds discontent.  When people are unsure of their futures, they fill their minds (and waste their time) with irrational fears and “what ifs.”

During hard times, companies rely on their employees to help pull them through.  But unfortunately, that’s precisely when top performers are most likely to quit.  Watching others get laid off, chronic overwork and nagging uncertainty can all drive your best people out the door.

When your staff is worried, it’s up to you to control the outcome.  Now is the time to motivate, retain and even re-recruit your top employees, using the following ideas:

• Be honest. When times are tough, there’s a natural tendency to buckle down, work harder and avoid others.  This is a deadly mistake.  Without good information from you, your employees will draw their own (possible incorrect) conclusions.  In general, it’s far better to be forthcoming – even about bad news – than to withhold information.
• Involve top performers in developing solutions. Talk about the problems facing your organization and challenge your best employees to help create the solutions.  With a vested interest in the company’s success, and control over the ways problems are tackled, your staff will be more likely to stay through difficult times.
• Invest in one-to-one management. Layoffs, customer attrition and other sources of bad news tend to create a turbulent workplace.  Calm the waters by scheduling one-on-ones with each of your key team members.  Review the improvement plans being enacted, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead.  Outline clear expectations for each employee’s performance and the outcome that will occur if that performance is achieved.  If layoffs are likely, clearly delineate the situation that will trigger the cuts and what must occur to avoid them.
• Offer market pay. While this may not be the ideal time to consider increasing personnel expenses, don’t short-change yourself by under-compensating your staff.  Evaluate your pay and benefits package to ensure it’s competitive.  While money alone typically won’t drive high performance, a compensation package that is perceived as being unfair will create resentment – and drive employees out the door.
• Actively re-recruit top performers. Your company surely invests in marketing to existing clients.  Why?  Because it costs five times more to get a new customer than to retain an existing one.  The same is true of employees.  Top performers are incredibly expensive to replace.  Rather than take chances, be proactive about keeping them satisfied.
  Ask your employees to help keep the team together, by identifying those they feel are at risk of leaving.  Tell your employees how much you value them – regularly.  Find out what frustrates your best employees and develop ways to alleviate the sources.  Help top performers define career paths within your organization.  Bottom line, do whatever you can to keep your best and brightest inspired to continue working for you.

During times of crisis and uncertainty, true leaders emerge.  Get out of your office and go invest in your biggest asset – your people.  Let them know that they are more than just survivors; they are the champions who will create your company’s future success.

Contact Berks & Beyond today to find out how our direct hire services for Central and Southern Pennsylvania employers can deliver the high performers you need to thrive in this tough economy.

Want to really improve the quality of your hires?  Then make like a Boy Scout and “be prepared.”

When it comes to interviewing, preparation is critical.  Failing to do so can lead to a host of interviewing problems, including:

• Biases - quick judgments can interfere with assessment quality and accuracy.
• Inconsistencies - lack of structure and process may compromise interviewers’ abilities to determine the best candidates.
• Inefficiencies - inadequately trained interviewers are likely to ask improper questions and use poor evaluation techniques.

The result?  Ineffective interviews that ultimately yield – you guessed it – 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.

Ensure great Hires with Berks & Beyond

Direct placement services like Berks & Beyond have the resources and expertise to quickly and cost-effectively deliver candidates with skills, experience 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.

Want to create top caliber performance in your organization?

Who doesn’t?!

Use these 10 tips to get people to stop making excuses and start delivering exceptional results:

1. Stop accepting excuses. Are you too tolerant of excuses?  Don’t be.  An excuse means the job didn’t get done and accepting excuses allows failure to persist.  When you stop tolerating excuses, you force people to develop solutions.
2. Think in terms of priorities. The next time you hear, “I didn’t have enough time,” require the person to instead say, “I’m sorry, it was not a high enough priority.”  By simply changing perspective, you will force employees to better manage their time and responsibilities and eliminate the number one excuse in business.
3. Make mistakes acceptable. As a rule, employees don’t like to report bad news because they fear the repercussions.  To get excuse-free behavior, make mistakes acceptable and treat them as opportunities for learning.  Instead of placing blame, focus problem discussions on “what” and “why” issues, as opposed to “who.”  Praise and recognize risk-takers, even when the outcome fails to achieve desired results.
4. Establish mutually defined expectations for job performance. Explore what success and failure look like for each position in your company.  Ensure that every job and project has specific, measurable goals.
5. Share the big picture with employees. People are more motivated to succeed when they understand why they need to do something.  As a leader, show them how their actions have a direct impact on the company’s success.
6. Acknowledge responsibility. Require employees to commit to their responsibilities in writing.  More importantly, follow-up to ensure commitments are met and to establish accountability.
7. Plan contingencies. Things can and will go wrong.  Take time to anticipate potential problems and set contingency plans.  A proactive approach to problem solving greatly reduces opportunities for future excuses while maximizing the probability of success.
8. Pay for performance. While it’s fine to recognize people for hard work, it’s important to reward them for results.  Structure reward systems to only provide tangible compensation based on achieving measurable results.  Ideally, offer rewards on an “all or nothing” basis.  Simply put, if the goal is not fully met, no reward is earned.
9. Create support systems. Let employees know where to get help when problems arise.  Failure most often occurs when employees don’t know how or where to get assistance, so make sure your staff has access to training, mentoring, internal “help desks” and/or any other resources they may need to do their jobs correctly.
10. Conduct post-mortems. At the end of every project, debrief employees.  If they succeeded, praise them and discuss why the project was a success.  If the employees didn’t succeed, turn the failure into a positive learning experience.

Quick Tips for Maximizing Temporary Employee Performance

Temporary employees can help you reduce stress on core employees, enhance productivity, control costs and manage risks.  And like your own employees, temporaries need to be held accountable for results:

• Provide clear expectations to your staffing vendor.
• Include measurable goals in each temporary’s job description.
• Provide an initial orientation, reviewing: company products/services, the department’s function, job responsibilities, performance expectations, available resources.
• Have supervisors closely monitor first day performance.  If a temporary fails to meet your expectations, replace him immediately.

Performance management is a vital component in your organization’s continued success.  Ensure that success with Berks & Beyond’s full complement of staffing solutions.  Whether you need to improve productivity, increase operating efficiencies or streamline your staffing function, we can custom design a solution to fuel exceptional performance throughout your company.  Contact us today to learn more.

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 Berks & Beyond).  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 Berks & Beyond 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.