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 Message from our President, Chuck Smith
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Chuck Smith
President of New Office/NewHire™ |
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Effective use of temps – When to request them…and when to keep them.
Temps are not “just temps” anymore. Many of our clients here in Chicago have realized the value of using temps as a resource for a variety of staffing challenges.
- One software development client deploys groups of highly-effective and intelligent people for short bursts of intensive work. These workers are assigned to data enter complex statistics into an ever-growing database. The company keeps the most effective performers for the duration of the project. In this situation, hiring specialized temporary staff is much more cost effective than hiring a full-time employee.
- A magazine publishing firm in Chicago requires long-term part time administrative help. Hiring a temp for the position moves the recruitment and management burden away from busy executives and onto our temp agency.
New Office recommends employing temps as a solution for:
- Seasonal hiring needs
- Administrative coverage ranging from reception to executive support
- Coverage for maternity leave or short-term disability
- Specific and well-defined project work including mailings, proofreading, translations, graphic design and the updating of contact management software
- Tradeshow or special event staff
- IT projects such as Microsoft Access database development
Read on to find out how to make the most of temps, including information on what to expect from your temp agency, what to expect from your temps, and details on implementing temp-to-hire strategies at your company to “test drive” potential employees before hiring them.
More than just reception: Temp agencies are able to provide more than just an administrative assistant for the week. Many firms maintain specialty temp pools to provide your company with everything from proofreading and editing services to IT jobs and translation services. Ask your temp provider what types of specialty temps they employ and make the most of them whenever it makes sense to do so.
What to expect: Characteristics of good temps should mirror those of any good employee – they should be prompt, highly capable and highly motivated individuals with good work attitudes. It is the responsibility of your agency to assure the quality of the temps they are sending out on assignment. Like most agencies, New Office conducts a battery of business skills assessments on every candidate. No company should accept a temp who does not meet company standards for skills, appearance and professionalism. Also, keep the lines of communication open with us and your other temp providers. Let us know if the temp we placed on site is not a good match and we'll work to quickly resolve the issue.
How to prepare: Communication with your agency is essential to ensuring you receive a qualified temp. When you place the order, the more information you give regarding the assignment you wish to fill, the more specific the agency can be with the placement. For example, if you need help with a mailing you should request “someone who has a working knowledge of the mail merge functions in Microsoft Word to help us with a 1000 piece mailing,” don’t just ask for “someone who knows MS Word.” Also remember that the temp is only onsite for a few days and won’t necessarily be autonomous enough to figure out what needs to be done unless you have a plan to keep them busy.
When you wish to hire: Temp-to-hire strategies are ideal for a number of situations. First, temp-to-hire gives companies the opportunity to “test drive” potential employees. This can be an effective way to get to know a person before offering full-time work. “Test driving” can be especially effective when hiring entry-level staff or when hiring someone making a significant career change. Finally, some companies use temp-to-hire as an active recruitment strategy.
When you have a temp that brings unexpected talent to your company, you may wish to offer them a full-time position at your company. This is an excellent opportunity, but be aware that there are fees involved when converting a temp to a full-time employee. Contact your temp agency to find out what rates are charged for temp-to-hire conversions. Also, when you make the offer of full-time employment, sometimes the temp will decline the offer. Certain temp workers are happy with a temp position for a variety of personal reasons and will not pursue full-time opportunities.
Any or all of the above strategies can be used at your company to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your recruiting process.
For over 20 years, New Office Temps has provided temp and temp-to-hire services to the greater Chicagoland area. From our office in downtown Chicago, we use innovative recruiting strategies, followed by on-site skills testing and interviews, to identify high-quality, professional individuals with a variety of skill sets. Whether you work with us to fill your short-term or full-time staffing needs, our goal is to identify top-notch talent and place the right person in the job as quickly and efficiently as possible.
If you are located in the Chicago metro region and you are interested in information about our temp services, please contact Gordon Dixon at (877) 923-0054.
Writing a Job Description and Job Posting
The first step in an effective recruiting process is to clearly define who you need to hire. The easiest way to achieve this is to create a job description for the open position. Simple enough, right? What you may not know is that many job descriptions leave out key information which could save money, time, and resources during the recruiting process.
Remember that a job description is an internal document to guide you throughout the recruiting and hiring process. It need not follow our guidelines word for word, nor should it be used as a classified ad.
Drawing on over 20 years of recruiting experience, we offer the following guidelines to ensure that you're taking the proper first step in creating a complete job description:
- Job Title – Make the title clear and reflective of job duties. Be sure to use a accepted title for this type of position. That way, people outside of your organization who may not be familiar with your corporate language will still understand the person's role.
- Basic Functions – Write two sentences describing why the job exists. If you cannot completely express the key functions of the position in only two sentences, you may have more than one position to fill. On the flip side, if you cannot create two sentences about the key functions of a position, you may not have enough duties that require a position to be filled.
- Reporting Relationships – Explicitly state with whom this person will be working and to whom this person will be reporting.
- Authority – Provide examples of decisions which the person in this position can make without any outside authorization (for example, hiring, firing, pricing, check signing, etc.)
- Responsibility & Principal Duties – Draft these in the form of a charge: “The (Job Title) is responsible for…” Be sure to also include a detailed list of specific primary and secondary duties.
- Job Requirements, Past Work History, Education and Software Competencies – Indicate the requisite level of education, any required experience and any necessary software knowledge.
- Criteria for Measuring On-the-Job Success – This is possibly the most important part of the job description. Define the specific goals or targets which will define success by using the SMART method:
Specific
Measurable
Actionable
Reasonable
Time-bound (deadlines)
- Physical activities and requirements of this position – if applicable.
- What makes this an attractive job opportunity? – Describe why this is a great job. Write a few sentences highlighting the most alluring aspects of the position, including location, office environment, benefits, pay range, exciting responsibilities, or even perks like a cell phone or company car.
- Compensation range – Include hourly wage or salary information, as well as information about employee benefits.
Many of these aspects will also be featured in the job advertisement. However, it is important to remember that the job description is an internal document to guide you through the recruiting and hiring process. It should NOT be used verbatim as a classified ad. When you write the job advertisement, you need to sell the company and the job to job seekers.
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Identify the best candidates |
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Manage & share candidate information |
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Reduce your time-to-hire |
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Did You Know?
Show Me the Money
There’s a big gap between why employees say they’d consider leaving an employer, and why employers think they leave. |
Top-performing employees say: |
Pay |
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71% |
Promotion opportunity |
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33% |
Work/life balance |
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26% |
| Employers say: |
Promotion opportunity |
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68% |
Career development |
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66% |
Pay |
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45% |
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Note: Respondents could list three reasons.
Sources: Watson Wyatt Worldwide; WorldatWork; Harris Interactive
Read the Story |
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| Calendar of Events: Upcoming Webinars |
Building Blocks for
Better Hiring |
NewHire will present a series of webinars titled “Building Blocks for Better Hiring.” This presentation will define what an effective recruiting process looks like as well as how the NewHire™ software can make your recruiting process more manageable and efficient.
Tuesday,
March 6, 2007
10:00a.m. Central Time
Register
Thursday,
March 15, 2007
1:00p.m. Central Time
Register
Friday,
March 23, 2007
1:00p.m. Central Time
Register
Monday,
April 2, 2007
2:00p.m. Central Time
Register
Thursday,
April 12, 2007
11:00a.m. Central Time
Register
Friday,
April 20, 2007
9:00a.m. Central Time
Register
Wednesday,
May 2, 2007
12:00p.m. Central Time
Register
Monday,
May 14, 2007
1:00p.m. Central Time
Register
Tuesday,
May 22, 2007
2:00p.m. Central Time
Register
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