Once you have identified the skills needed for the positions you want
to fill, there are many sources that can help you recruit job applicants.
Public Services
Each State has an employment service (often called Job Service, Public
Employment, Unemployment Bureau, or Employment Security Agency). All are
affiliated with the
United States Employment Service, and local offices are ready to help
businesses recruit employees. The employment service will screen
applicants with aptitude tests if they are available for the skills you
specify.
Fee-Based Searches
Employment agencies specialize in finding industry or skill-specific
employees. The primary advantages are the professional screening services
provided by such agencies, including background checks and aptitude tests.
Employers typically pay a considerable fee to the agency for its services.
Online job sites such as Monster.com
are still the fastest growing method for employer-employee matchmaking.
These specialized sites, along with the online classified sections from
major newspapers, often provide the largest pool of prospective employees.
However, most online sites do not offer the professional screening
services offered by employment agencies. Additionally, businesses
advertising on such sites are often inundated with applicants.
Interns
Colleges and universities usually have a distributive education
program in which students work for you part-time or volunteer as interns
while they learn about your business. Interns typically expect to learn
skills or useful information relevant to their chosen field of study.
Prior to contacting a school regarding interns, make sure that you have a
clear idea of how an intern will benefit from working with you. If you're
looking for someone to do clerical work with little or no opportunity for
learning on the job, it's generally best to hire low cost help instead.
"Help Wanted"
If you have a traditional storefront and are seeking generalists, one
of the oldest and most reliable recruitment tools is a simple sign in your
window. The most obvious advantage to this recruitment method is that it
is free. There are serious disadvantages, however, including attracting
unqualified applicants with a vast variety of skill sets, and the
difficulty of talking to prospective applicants while conducting business.
Alternative Staffing Solutions
How do you cope with unexpected personnel shortages? Many businesses
face this question because of seasonal peaking, inventory, special
projects, several employees simultaneously on sick leave, or an unexpected
increase in business.
Entrepreneurs must also cope with the rising costs of employee
benefits, as well as all the payroll record keeping required by local,
state, and federal government. This section discusses alternatives
available to meet these staffing challenges. Options include temporary
help services, employee leasing, professional employer organizations, and
service contracting.
Temporary Help Services
Most businesses need extra help sometimes, and temporary shortages are
especially difficult for smaller businesses. A temporary personnel service
hires employees and assigns them to companies requesting help. The service
is responsible for payroll, bookkeeping, tax deductions, workers'
compensation, fringe benefits, and all other employee costs. Most national
temporary personnel companies also offer performance guarantees and
fidelity bonding at no added cost.
Workers supplied by a temporary service firm are quickly available.
Usually they can start the day after a request is made, and sometimes the
same day. Although the rate paid to a temporary service firm is higher
than that paid to a permanent employee, the costs of recruiting,
record-keeping, training, overtime, and idle periods are much less.
Evaluate temporary personnel services using these factors:
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Reliability: Is the service well established,
with a history of success and financial stability?
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Recruiting: The firm with an aggressive
recruiting program is more likely to have the most skilled and
reliable employees.
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Testing and evaluation: How does it test and
evaluate personnel?
Training programs: Does the company train personnel in modern office
methods, word processing, records management, and other important
skills?
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Quality control: Does the company check the
quality of work of its temporary employees?
A temporary service will ask for information about the department the
employee will be working in, duration of the assignment, working
hours, dress code, smoking rules, and other important information. If
possible, send samples of the work. Be sure to give the exact location
of your business, transportation available, parking information, and
the name and title of the person to whom the temporary employee will
report.
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Temporary help services are not appropriate for all needs. Businesses
needing a temporary worker for six months or longer should hire a
full-time employee. For jobs that require extensive supervision, it may be
cheaper to pay overtime to a regular employee than to use a temporary
worker.
Employee Leasing
Employee leasing is sometimes confusing because it may refer to
activities similar to employing temporary personnel or it may be similar
to the co-employment arrangement of professional employer organizations
(see below). If you are depending upon the leasing company to provide
personnel, (including identifying, skill sorting, hiring and assigning
them to your business) and these workers would return to the leasing
company for reassignment should your need for them end, then the service
is basically the same as temporary services. If, on the other hand, you
are depending upon another company to supply the management of human
resources, employee benefits, payroll and workers’ compensation for all
of your work force, then this is a co-employment or professional employer
organization arrangement as described below.
Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) or Co-employment
In a professional employer organization arrangement, the PEO will
co-employ your existing work force and will become a legal employer
responsible for payroll, record-keeping, benefits and services, and
participation in hiring, evaluation and firing. In the PEO arrangement,
employer responsibilities are shared or allocated, with the PEO focusing
on the management of human resources, employee benefits, payroll,
workers’ compensation and related employment-related issues, while you
focus on the core operations of your business.
Advantages:
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Savings of time that was formerly spent on employment-related
paperwork and meetings with various outside agents (health insurance
agent, payroll company and others).
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Improved access to employee benefits.
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Help with employment law compliance issues, personnel policies and
employee handbooks.
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Records that are uniform and easily audited.
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Claims management for workers’ compensation and unemployment.
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Professional advice on human resource issues.
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Disadvantages:
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Employer retains responsibility for productivity and conduct.
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Certain labor union contracts or state laws might keep certain
employers from using co-employment arrangements.
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Co-employers require the value of one full payroll in an escrow or
trust account in addition to regular payroll costs.
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Additional federal protections may be available to workers as part
of the PEO’s large labor force that is co-employed by multiple small
businesses. This can impose new requirements and costs on the small
business.
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Service Contracting
Because of the infrequency of the need or the specialized nature of
the work, many business needs are better met by contracting for the
service rather than hiring permanent employees.
Services often contracted include:
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Security
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Janitorial
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Waste management
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Equipment/mechanical maintenance
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Merchandise delivery
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Payroll accounting
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Printing
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Data processing
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Messenger
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Grounds upkeep
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Interior decorating
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Building upkeep (remodeling, roofing, painting)
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Specialized services (installation, servicing and cleaning of
appliances, carpeting, and furniture)
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In these situations you enter a contract with a business to perform
specific services, during a specific period or at a specific time, for a
specific price. The terms of the contract cite responsibility for
providing any materials or equipment necessary to perform the service and
other requirements for successful completion. It is the contracting firm's
responsibility to provide staff, pay them, and supervise them.
When contracting for services, it is wise to require:
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References from other companies that have used the contractor and
will comment on the quality of contract performance.
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Certificates of insurance demonstrating that the contractor has
adequate liability and other coverage for its employees.
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Copies of required licenses for performance of certain services.
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Appropriate warranty or guarantee on the quality of the work.
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Clear payment schedule including possible retainage (holding back
of a portion of payments) pending satisfactory completion of a
project.
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Proposals for services usually are presented and detailed on standard
forms designed by the contractor. It is wise to have your legal counsel
review the terms of the documents before you sign them, to avoid any
misunderstanding of your obligations. Such a review also may suggest
amendments benefiting you that are also acceptable to the contractor.
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