ABR Blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

5.  Register with ABR Employment Services. As a leading Wisconsin staffing and placement service, we connect thousands of individuals with rewarding employment each year.  Launched in March 2011, our new ABR JobConnect™ is a career resource to help guide and support you in your job search.  It empowers you to:

• Access over 1,000 Job Boards on one site
• Prepare a resume or receive a resume critique
• Utilize the career advisor
• Participate in weekly webinars covering job seeker “hot topics” and receive job search advice
• Take advantage of job assessment tools
• Receive information on continuing education opportunities

Best of all, it’s FREE!  Register today for access to additional career information on this topic.

One of the biggest challenges facing HR and other hiring managers is finding candidates who are the “right fit” for their respective organizations.

But just what, exactly, is the “right fit”?

For many employers, it means finding a candidate who shares the same belief systems and values as the company, and who meshes with the corporate culture.  To identify this type of individual, these employers often turn to values-based recruiting.

Values-based recruiting goes beyond examining competencies and experience.  It’s about creating a values match by building a model that outlines behaviors associated with corporate values, and then assessing candidates for those behaviors.  The process typically yields hires whose thinking, values and ways of doing business closely match those of the employer.

But what if your company needs a proverbial “shot in the arm” to fuel its success – a new direction, fresh business perspective or innovative ideas to re-energize your organization?

In a case like this, the right fit for your organization will be an individual who, by definition, is not a perfect values-based match.  Rather, this candidate should be selected based on a model that outlines behaviors associated with leading your company in a new direction.  To begin this process, your company must first determine new goals, create a list of competencies and values for the available position that will support those goals, and then recruit and select accordingly.

Which type of recruiting is right for your business needs?

ABR Employment Services’ recruiting experts will work with you to determine how to find the right fit for your company’s needs.  Whether you require an individual whose values closely match your company’s, or someone who will bring fresh ideas and perspective to your business, ABR will deliver candidates who exceed your expectations.

We hold all our employees to the highest standards of quality and ethics – our Expectations of Excellence – and only present those who are:

• Trustworthy – honest, reliable, loyal, ethical and obey all rules and regulations.
• Respectful – demonstrate consideration for others, respect for authority, tolerance of differences and an appreciation of diversity.
• Responsible – demonstrate self control and self discipline, deal peacefully with anger and disagreement, and positively with criticism, and be accountable for their actions.
• Reliable – have a proven work history, demonstrate sound attendance and punctuality, and exhibit strong work ethic.
• Professional – present themselves in an appropriate manner.

Contact us today to find out how our Expectations of Excellence can create successful hires in your organization.

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

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

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

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

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

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

ABR Employment Services – Driving Wisconsin’s Recovery

As businesses throughout southeast Wisconsin begin to staff-up again, ABR is driving the recovery.  We deliver complete human resources services to help companies like yours Comprehend, Fulfill and Achieve their business goals.  What can we do for you?  Contact ABR Employment Services today.

On-Site Staffing, also known as Vendor-on-Premise (VOP), is exactly what it sounds like – a vendor (in this case, a staffing service like ABR Employment Services) provides an on-site representative to manage and coordinate on-time (temporary) employees at your company.

On-Site Staffing is an outsourcing management program, which encompasses every facet of coordinating, ordering, planning and tracking of contingent employees.  This program is managed by an ABR On-Site Manager, who acts as the central contact for hiring managers, coordinates recruiting activities, and handles a multitude of personnel related issues.

If you’re a high-volume staffing user, an On-Site Manager can greatly simplify staffing for you.  In essence, he acts as an extension of your HR department to streamline your staffing function.  Here’s how:

Increasing Efficiency

An On-Site Manager can:

• Handle the daily deployment of on-time (temporary) workers to get them on-task quickly.
• Make daily rounds to ensure on-time (temporary) workers stay productive.
• Provide detailed, customized reports like: staffing usage, cost analyses, attendance and tardiness.
• Evaluate personnel needs to plan for peak and non-peak periods, and handle worker reassignment.

Reducing Headaches

An On-Site Manager can:

• Manage daily work issues, like problem resolution and worker injury reporting.
• Handle scheduling to ensure departments are adequately staffed.
• Resolve payroll and administrative issues.
• Recruit new on-time (temporary) employees directly at your site.
• In some cases, even manage more than one facility so you can stay focused on core duties and responsibilities.

Managing Other Staffing Functions

An On-Site Manager can:

• Screen, interview and skill-test candidates before they’re approved to work for you.
• Check references, and if required, drug test applicants.
• Distribute paychecks.

Ensuring Safety

An On-Site Manager can:

• Provide facilities tours and customized safety orientations for your new on-time (temporary) employees.

Could your on-time (temporary) workforce benefit from an On-Site Manager?  Contact ABR Employment Services to find out more about our On-Site Staffing Solutions and determine if they’re right for you.

There go the Boomers.  Here comes Gen Y.

Just when your need for talent is on the rise, here comes a new slew of tech-savvy workers to save the day.  But while it’s tempting to think you can simply substitute one generation with another, things are not that simple.  Diverse, demanding and socially aware, millenials are creating a major paradigm shift in the workplace.

So how do you attract and keep the best and brightest, without turning your organization upside down?  Here are some great strategies for recruiting and retaining the best talent the next generation has to offer:

Recruiting

• Take a viral approach.  Develop online Flash videos and other materials (think interactive, entertaining and hip) that young people will want to share with their friends.  A viral approach can enhance awareness, properly position your organization in millenials’ minds and increase job referrals.
• Leverage industry blogs, forums and social networks. The best Gen Y workers stay on top of their game by constantly seeking out new information.  Become a trusted source they turn to, by writing and posting articles that are ahead of the curve in your industry.
• Use your current Gen Y employees. Millenials are particularly peer-influenced.  Turn your current young employees, who are already devoted members of your staff, into company ambassadors – at job fairs, online or when interviewing candidates.  Your Gen Y staff can tell potential employees what life will be like “in the trenches” and address their individual questions and concerns.
• Work with a staffing and direct placement firm. Services like ABR Employment have the resources, networks and expertise to recruit and screen Gen Y talent for your organization.  With an extensive database, progressive social media recruiting strategy, robust website and comprehensive screening process, we can quickly provide talented workers with cutting-edge skills for your on-time (temporary), try-before-hire and direct hire staffing needs.

Retention

• Give them what they want. Millenials have a strong desire to learn new skills and use bleeding-edge technology.  If you can, meet them halfway.  Keep tabs on your millenials’ technology needs and, whenever fiscally appropriate, allow your Gen Y employees to spread their wings by testing and integrating new technology tools as they become available.  If you have trouble justifying the cost of the technology your Gen Y talent wants, keep track of whether a lack of such technology is prompting talented people to leave, or hindering your ability to attract the candidates you need.
• Offer flexible work schedules. Gen Y workers want to control their own schedules and work from home.  If you don’t provide this generation with these core benefits, one of your competitors surely will.
• Understand their needs. Instead of trying to change Gen Y, bend to their needs.  If necessary, educate your company leaders about what makes Gen Y tick.  Explain their need for job control, desire for more flexibility, craving for reassurance and hunger for new technology.  The more willing your staff is to accommodate millenials’ needs, the higher your rate of retention will be.

Not getting the response you want from your résumé send-outs?

Want employers to view you differently this year?

Try these 10 tips to shake things up and get your résumé noticed in 2011:

The BLS Employment Situation Summary continues to paint an anemic economic picture.

Economists continue to talk about a “jobless recovery,” with many employers focusing on productivity gains, as opposed to hiring, to manage any increases in business.

What’s the upside?

Well, if your company isn’t focused on hiring right now, it may be the perfect time for you to review and improve your employment screening process.  Doing so could help you:

• increase compliance;
• reduce theft, fraud and accidents;
• prepare you to make even better hires when the time comes.

As experts in employment screening, ABR Employment Services recommends taking the following steps to reduce the potential for negligent hiring and discrimination:

Consult with your attorney. If you hire on your own, you should have your legal counsel review your screening process to ensure you’re complying with all current legislation and hiring regulations.

Be consistent. Your screening process should be the same for all candidates within comparable job descriptions.  If you do a background check on one manager, you should also conduct the same background check with candidates for all similar positions.  In addition to preventing anyone from “slipping through the cracks,” a uniform process helps minimize your exposure to litigation.

Use social media carefully. Social media has made access to candidate information fast, easy and free.  But if you intend to use this publicly available information to screen candidates, make sure that you obtain written permission and follow all EEOC and FCRA provisions.

Formalize and document your process. If you don’t already have one in place, now is the time to standardize, formalize and document your background screening policies and procedures.  Creating a formal policy makes screening more effective, efficient and consistent.  Furthermore, should a problem arise, your ability to show that you applied fair, consistent and documented screening processes will limit your legal exposure.

Reduce your risks and make better quality hires with ABR Employment.

Hiring top talent – honest, hardworking individuals who do what they claim they can do – is critical to your organization’s continued success.  ABR Employment’s Direct Hiring Services can help ensure that success.  Here are just a few of the benefits our comprehensive, accurate screening process provides:

• transfer employment screening risks such as discrimination and negligent hiring;
• create a safer work environment;
• build a more productive workforce;
• save time and eliminate process bottlenecks employment screening creates;
• hire the best talent available – pre-screened, reference-checked, skills-verified and ready to perform for you.

Work with ABR Employment Services and your hiring decisions can be made with confidence – guaranteed.

Ever play “whisper down the lane”?

Also known as ”telephone,” this popular children’s game provides a simple, yet critical illustration of how important information can get lost in translation.

Great fun if you’re just playing around, but not so great for business.

When it comes to ordering on-time (temporary) personnel, many clients call in their job orders.  Sure, it’s quick and convenient, but did you know that placing your order verbally is not the most effective way to work with us?

The reason is simple – verbal job descriptions can change as they’re transmitted from person to person, resulting in a “whisper down the lane” effect.  Consider, for example, how many people are potentially involved in the “lane” of communication when a job order is placed.  A department manager contacts HR with a need; HR contacts a staffing service coordinator with the order; the coordinator speaks with the staffing firm’s recruiter; the recruiter then communicates the job description to an employee.

See the potential problem?  While a verbal approach may seem easier, challenges can arise when duties get added or subtracted, or if job titles change over time.  As a result, the staffing provider may not send you the best match for the assignment.

At ABR Employment Services, we highly recommend that you submit or approve a written job description to which everyone in the line (or “lane”) of communication can refer.  Doing so will eliminate miscommunications, misunderstandings and confusion, and ensure that you get the best employee for the assignment.

Improve your staffing success with ABR Employment’s complete Human Resource solutions.

Have you recruited a new employee with great potential, but want a trial period to evaluate him on the job?

Are you trying to work around a hiring freeze?

Would you like a more efficient way to manage seasonal help, interns, retirees or contractors?

These are just a few of the reasons Wisconsin employers like you use payroll services.  This flexible outsourcing solution helps them reduce the cost and simplify the process of payroll administration.  Here’s how the service works:

1. You transfer an employee or candidate you’ve sourced onto the staffing firm’s payroll.
2. The staffing firm handles all required paperwork and becomes the individual’s employer of record.
3. The staffing firm then manages the entire payroll process, from payroll taxes to W-2’s.  Additionally, they are responsible for unemployment and workers’ compensation.
4. You keep control of your employees by setting pay rates, assigning jobs and managing their activities.

Payroll transfer services are a simple solution with a variety of benefits:

• Save time, money and work by offloading employee payroll processing.
• Mitigate employment risk.
• Lower employment costs such as workers’ compensation insurance, unemployment insurance and benefits.
• Reduce the hidden costs associated with hiring and termination.

Are payroll services right for your business?

Learn more about the features and benefits of ABR Employment’s Payroll Services by contacting one of our Wisconsin staffing service branches directly.  Our staffing professionals will help you assess your workforce challenges, to determine if payroll services make sense for you organization.

In the wake of historic employment litigation (e.g., Vizcaino v. Microsoft), some companies have adopted policies limiting assignment length for on-time (temporary) and contract employees from staffing firms.  Why?  These employers view assignment limits as a way to protect themselves from the kind of “retro-benefits” claims Microsoft faced back in the 1990s.

Unfortunately, these assignment limit policies have downsides.  They can cause economic harm to on-time (temporary) or contract employees whose assignments are terminated prematurely, and they can disrupt your company’s business operations.  To better protect your organization, you should closely examine its staffing policies to ensure that such limits are truly necessary – and not based on misinformation.

If you have questions about co-employment law, as it relates to assignment limits and associated benefits, here is a great resource with the answers you need.  The American Staffing Association’s Staffing Smarts Intelligence Report:  Assignment Limits and Concerns About Benefits Liability, by Edward A. Lenz, Esq., General Counsel, reviews the basic principles of law that apply to employee benefits plans, and then describes steps employers can take to avoid retro-benefits exposure:

Create a plan that expressly excludes staffing firm employees. The report suggests template language (that your legal counsel should review)  you can use for the purpose of excluding staffing firm employees from participation in your Erisa plan.

Use employee waivers. In addition to amending benefits plans, you may be able to achieve additional protection through agreements in which the staffing firm’s employees expressly waive their right to the company’s benefits.

Allow the staffing firm to handle employment related functions for on-time (temporary) and contract staff, such as:  recruiting, screening, determining wages, hiring, firing, assigning, resolving disputes, disciplining, etc.

Keep the lines between direct staff and contingent staff clear. The report includes several other steps (such as channeling social invitations through the staffing firm) you can take to avoid blurring the distinction between your core staff and on-time (temporary) employees.

Make Co-Employment Work with ABR Employment Services. Read our tips for successful co-employment, or contact ABR Employment with your staffing questions.  Our goal is to help you use staffing to achieve more.