Hiring Picks Up! - But it is Pickier!

We are seeing significantly more activity to fill positions. The demand to fill managerial positions has increased which is a sure sign that subordinates will be hired soon. This indicates that jobs that had been left vacant during the economic slowdown are now going to be filled. The demand for sales professionals has also picked-up, as companies strengthen their capacity to bring in new business. The numbers are not dramatic yet, but the trend is steady. That signal is positive compared to the fluctuating numbers we have seen in the past.

After several years of little or no new hiring, companies are beginning to expand their staffs and replenish their management and sales forces, but they are doing it different this time around. They are being picky, picky, picky. Employers are being more selective than ever before, and this time they are very focused on specific talents they seek and are targeting desired individuals.

A few years ago, companies may have had five critical elements they sought in a new hire, now its 10 or 12. All of the companies that we are currently conducting the hiring process for have raised the bar. They are no longer willing to be satisfied with a marginal candidate. The profitable, leading-edge companies have figured out that in order for them to have the competitive advantage in their market, they need a higher caliber of employee on board and they are willing to take their time and follow the process to find the right candidate for the position.

Hiring managers today are doing far more due diligence, such as checking a candidate's references and conducting personality profiles before agreeing to meet him or her. They are insisting on rounds of interviews with a variety of people within the organization, testing their cognitive ability and testing actual hands-on experience if appropriate for the position.

Companies that scaled back in the recession don't want to get fat again. They want the best candidate for a specific position and are willing to continue the hiring process until they find that right person. Many hiring managers have also realized that they need to hire people who can run circles around current employees. They are looking for "A" players, but "A" players won't come on board if they think there is inherent risk in a new situation. "A" players will only work for "A" companies. Period. Therefore, the hiring process will take additional time as the "A" player wants time to explore the business and also investigate other options. For these top performers to leave a current position, they want to trade up.

Bottom line: Do you have your hiring process in place to hire an "A" player? Is your company a place where an "A" player would want to work?

If you need assistance with the hiring process, we can help!
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Performance Evaluations
By Shari Moore

One of the most important yet most challenging activities that any business can pursue is the "Annual Performance Appraisal." It is viewed by many managers as a painful exercise in writing and discussion, and it is viewed by many employees as a waste of their time. Yet if properly accomplished it can be beneficial to the company and to the individuals. It can also help to improve productivity and relationships and foster retention of top performers.

A recent study by Watson Wyatt, a human resourses consulting firm, found that annual performance evaluations, as most companies have them in place, really are wasting time and providing little benefits to employers or their staff. According to the survey of 1190 employees from various industries, a mere 30 percent of employees in the study said that their company's evaluation process helps them improve performance while less than 40 percent said the process provides clear goals and feedback.

This phenomenon occurs when the performance evaluations are seen by managers as a requirement for the employee's file versus as a valuable training tool. When managers fail to see the value in taking the time to genuinely and honestly evaluate an employee's performance, they are perpetuating the idea of the evaluation as an obligation rather than as an opportunity. In this same study, 54 percent of employees stated that the companies set high performance standards, but only 44 percent said they were held accountable. When managers see the evaluation as just another task they are less likely to set appropriate goals for employees and more likely to rate everyone about the same to avoid conflict.

Instead of compromising evaluations to avoid conflict with coworkers, managers should make it clear that the performance evaluations are objective by setting clear goals and standards at the onset of the year. If employees are all held to the same standards of achievement, and to goals that are appropriate for them, it will be less likely that a conflict will occur over misinterpretation of the evaluation and comments. By using the evaluations as a tool to measure growth and to set future goals, rather than simply as a means to reward workers with bonuses or raises, it becomes a vital part of the training process. Incorporating performance evaluations into training programs for new and old staff will boost your company's total performance by ensuring a strong infrastructure and a competent, steady, well-led workforce - leading to an overall surge in your competitive advantage.

More information on Performance Evaluations and Training:

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Educating Students about Graphic Communications Careers

Everyday there is more information being published that focuses on the impending labor shortage. It is estimated that we will have ten million fewer workers in the workforce in the next decade. And to further aggravate the shortage, the new people coming into the workforce will not possess the technical education required to fill the new high-tech jobs.

As business owners and professionals, we have a responsibility to help get students ready for the "real world." Educating students in our local communities on careers in the graphics industry will give us the opportunity to shape the future workforce. Through job shadowing, shop tours and classroom visits, one can extend the impact of a simple pamphlet or business card by providing hands-on experiences to students. Allowing them to see firsthand what goes on in a graphics/print shop and meeting the people who make it all happen will go much further to peak their interest and inspire them to pursue a career in graphic communications.

The Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF) supports several programs that aim to educate students across the country on careers in graphic communications. These include Make Your Mark® in Graphic Communications, an annual grant program and PrintED®, a national accreditation program for graphic communications courses of study at the secondary and post-secondary school level based on industry standards. Through its grant programs, GAERF funds the industry's education web portal and a companion site for elementary age schoolchildren.

The Make Your Mark® campaign's website allows students to meet the people in the graphics industry, learn what they do and gives them resources on finding education and training in the field. There is a quiz on finding your career path and links to planning and searching for jobs.

Contact GAERF toll free by calling 1-866-381-9839 or 703-264-7200, or e-mail to Senior Administrator Eileen Cassidy at ecassidy@npes.org.

For more ideas and information on educating students in your community, check out these article links:

Already have some Gen-X'ers in the shop? Check out these articles:

Common Sense Test

TG & Associates provides personality profiling to make sure you hire the right person to fit the position and your team dynamic. We also recommend the Wonderlic© Personality Test to find out a persons' basic competency and ability to learn.

We recently had a client ask if we had a way to test for "good 'ole common sense." We don't have a validated test, but after some research we have come up with one test. It may not be very telling, but it is fun. We thought you might have fun taking it yourself!

See if you can get these challenging common sense questions.

Jot down your answers then click here to check them and see where you rank!

Monsters Amongst Us!

Well, Gila Monsters anyway. We thought that you might enjoy a peek at one of our local critters - the Gila Monster. This not-so-little fellow (almost 2 feet long) came up to pay us a visit about three weeks ago. Shari discovered him, much to her surprise on the front porch while arriving in the morning. Shari screamed and ran while calm, cool and collected Bill grabbed the camera to capture the beast on film.

Some interesting facts about this lizard: It is one of only two poisonous lizards in the world. (The other is its cousin the Mexican Bearded Dragon.) The poison is unique in that it comes from their teeth. This is the largest lizard known to the United States. A large adult lizard is normally 20-21 inches long. Gila Monsters tend to live 20 to 30 years. They spend 95% of their time underground - that's right, you're never supposed to run into one in the wild! This means we're lucky because he honored us with a personal visit! They are a protected species in Arizona and are native to the Sonoran Desert - so we had to just wait for him to meander home. You can learn more at http://www.gila-monster.org/

 

We are running quite the wildlife sanctuary here at TG & Associates, having also been visited by a bobcat, havelina and coyote lately and daily by roadrunner, quail, smaller lizards and rabbits. The excitement never ends here in the desert!

Vacation - Use it or Lose it!

Are you taking your vacation days off and catching up on life or are you forfeiting your days off?

A recent survey from Expedia.com, an online travel service, found that American workers give back on average 3 vacation days a year. That's up about 50% from last year, according to the sampling of more than 2000 adults nationwide.

Americans average only about 12 vacation days a year - far fewer than workers in places like Australia and Western Europe. People in the Western United States are the country's workaholics, according to the survey. Not only do 56 percent work more than 40 hours a week, but 27 percent forfeit more than a week of vacation. The most common explanation: too much work. Even when Americans take time off, nearly one-third say they still check their office e-mail or voice mail.

As we focus on having more balance between our work and our personal lives, it's important to make sure that we do take time away to relax and regenerate our body and mind to allow us to return to work eager and fired up. It's also important to encourage your staff and peers to do the same.

The end result will be much more happiness and wellness individually and much more productivity and profitability within the company.

For more on work/life balance visit our article and Ask Debra archives!

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Debra's Calendar through July 2004