Before you click the “Submit” button to upload your next job posting, consider the following:

1. Make sure the title accurately describes the position.  Consider including common keywords qualified applicants are likely to use when searching for an opening.
2. Provide a comprehensive list of skills and qualifications.  Differentiate between those that are required, as opposed to desirable.
3. To reduce the submission of unwanted résumés, be clear about:  salary range; start date; years and type of experience necessary; essential certifications; and required tests and/or background checks.
4. The Internet has created a global workforce.  Make sure you supply details about where the job is located, and whether or not telecommuting is possible.
5. Provide clear instructions for application.  Give candidates multiple methods of applying.  Be sure to list e-mail address, fax number, mailing address and the contact person’s name and job title.
6. Include preferences or equal opportunity statements.
7. When posting to multiple sites, assign unique job codes for tracking leads.  This step will help you monitor the quantity and quality of leads coming from each site.
8. Keep in mind that if you send an announcement to an e-mail list or newsgroup, it will likely be picked up by any number of websites and forwarded, re-forwarded, etc. – and you will have no ability to control the accuracy or content of these listings.
9. Don’t use all caps in your posting online.  It is the printed equivalent of YELLING. (See?)
10. Copy and paste from a simple text editor, and avoid special codes or characters used in word processing software.
11. Always, always proofread for content and check your spelling.

As you know, it takes substantial time and effort to post a job correctly.  And even the most carefully crafted posts don’t always yield the best candidates.  So why do it on your own? 

Priority Personnel’s direct placement services save you time, increase your focus and deliver only candidates who accurately match the available position.  We offer this service to San Marcos, Texas employers on a contingency-fee basis; in other words, you will not be charged until you hire the right person for your company.  Contact us today to learn more.

Test Your Knowledge
Co-employment laws are those that govern any situation in which two legally distinct employers (typically a staffing firm and their business client) have employer-employee relationships with the same person.  Over the past several years, co-employment law has rapidly evolved in response to the increased use of temporary and contract staff. 

So how up-to-date is your legal knowledge?  Find out by taking the American Staffing Association’s Staffing Smarts Quiz on Co-Employment Law.  This quick 5-question quiz tests your knowledge of the legal issues involved in temporary and contract staffing arrangements.

Tips for Making Co-Employment Work
When co-employment problems occur, they often stem from situations in which a client company unnecessarily assumes employment responsibilities over temporary or contract workers.  To maximize the effectiveness of your co-employment arrangement, while minimizing the potential for problems, use these practical tips:

• Let the staffing firm do its job.  When you pay a temporary or contract employee’s hourly bill rate, included in that rate are the services the staffing firm provides – recruiting, interviewing, testing and selecting candidates.  To head-off potential problems, allow the staffing service (who is the employer of record for these workers) to perform these tasks.
• Take advantage of on-site coordinators.  If you have a large temporary workforce, ask your staffing service to provide an on-site representative.  This individual can reinforce the staffing service’s role as employer, by carrying out administrative functions, handling performance counseling and addressing disciplinary action.  Although there may be a charge involved, the benefits usually far outweigh the costs of an on-site coordinator.
• Give the staffing firm specific feedback on their employees’ job performance.  If performance issues arise, it may seem natural for you to speak directly with the temporary or contract worker assigned to you.  But to steer clear of potential co-employment problems, you should instead speak with your staffing representative about your concerns.  That way, when the individual is subjected to disciplinary action, the staffing service will be able to provide him or her with the performance-related reason for the action – making the individual far less likely to consider the action to be discriminatory, or to file a charge.
• Allow the staffing firm to handle employee termination.  If you are dissatisfied with a temporary or contract worker, ask your staffing provider to handle disciplinary action and / or termination and replacement.  Provide information about the individual’s work performance to your staffing representative, and then allow them to handle the rest.
• Review your benefit plan descriptions.  Ask an expert to make sure that the language in your benefit plan effectively excludes temporary employees.  To guard against lawsuits that stem from ambivalent wording, be sure to incorporate exclusionary language that makes benefit entitlement dependent upon your employment classifications – regardless of common law definitions.

Ensure Successful Co-Employment with Priority Personnel

As a leading staffing firm in San Marcos, Texas, Priority Personnel’s staffing experts can work with you to develop effective co-employment procedures from both a legal and operational standpoint.  Give us a call to learn more .

At Priority Personnel, we regularly recognize both our internal employees and field associates (temporaries on assignment) for their responsibility, integrity and work ethic.  Why?  Because showing our employees how much we appreciate their hard work and service to the company is a great way to raise morale (and profits, too).

So what does your company do to motivate employees?  Looking for some new ideas?

Beyond straightforward cash incentives (which are great, but not always financially feasible), here are a few thoughts and tips on how to effectively show your appreciation:

• No occasion is necessary.  You can tell others how much you value them and their contributions any day of the year – really!
• Ask employees what’s important to them.  The more closely your incentives align with employees’ wants and needs, the more effectively they will motivate.
• Find opportunities to recognize employees at all levels.  While you’ll logically want to reward top sales performers, don’t forget about the less visible employees who facilitate their success.  Make sure that your incentives send the message that all employees in your organization are valuable.

Five Ways to Show Appreciation

• Say “Thank you.”  Do you hear these two words enough?  If not, start a new trend on the job.  Remember, this simple phrase is extremely powerful – and it’s free to share.
• Provide new opportunities.  Give your employees chances to learn more (via training or cross-training), use their talents, attend association meetings, or represent your organization at civic and philanthropic events.  In addition to motivating your staff, you’ll wind up with more well-rounded employees.
• Distribute coupons for a paid hour off.  For many employees, knocking off an hour early, or coming in an hour late is a huge morale booster.
• Create and celebrate a fun holiday or seasonal tradition.  Schedule the celebration at the end of your busiest or most stressful time of year, to give employees something to look forward to.  Get creative with your ideas and ask for employee input.
• Offer flextime.  Permitting flex time allows employees to work the same total number of work hours, just at different times or locations.  This gesture lets your employees know that you respect their lives outside of work.  And during stressful economic times, facilitating healthy work/life balances for employees is a huge motivator.

Need to motivate a staff that’s stretched too thin?

If you or your staff is working too hard, Priority Personnel can help.  Use our staffing services to offload non-essential activities, reduce overtime, minimize burnout, and reduce turnover due to overwork.

Admittedly, it may be a little early to light a Yule log. 

But if you’re in the customer service, administrative/clerical, hospitality, shipping/delivery, inventory or technology/finance industries, you’re probably headed for a busy – if not your busiest – time of year.  If you’re going to require extra help this holiday season, it’s definitely not too early to plan for your staffing needs.

Here are just a few reasons why:

• Prevent rash hiring decisions.  If you wait until the last minute to recruit and hire, you may find yourself “up against a wall” when business suddenly surges.  Waiting until your needs are urgent may force you to make hasty hiring decisions.
• Get a jump on your competitors.  Many companies will wait until next month to gear-up.  Why not start your efforts now and reach the most qualified candidates before other seasonal employers get them?
• Avoid being overwhelmed.  This year’s seasonal job market will be flooded with applicants.  With so many job seekers competing for positions, the sheer volume of résumés and applications may bog you down.  Give yourself as much time as possible to find the best candidates by starting the search process early.

If just reading about seasonal hiring makes your stomach churn, relax – you don’t have to do it alone.  Staffing firms specialize in helping companies like yours effectively manage the highs and lows of business cycles.  Plan your workforce needs now with your staffing partner to:

• Get the flexibility you need.  Seasonal temporaries can handle surges in demand without impacting fixed expenses.
• Say “goodbye” to post-holiday layoffs.  Since the staffing service is the seasonal employees’ employer of record, you can avoid the hassle and expense of letting workers go once things slow down.
• Access the talent you need, right when you need it.  Planning your workforce needs now gives your staffing firm time to locate the most qualified staff for you, especially when you require a large number of workers – so they’re available right when you need them.
• Shorten learning curves.  Your staffing provider will recruit seasonal workers with the specific skills and experience you require.  The provider can also, at your request, develop customized orientation materials to help reduce training costs and get workers up-to-speed more quickly.
• Eliminate additional administrative and legal burdens.  By using temporary employees, you avoid the social security, payroll and other tax and legal burdens associated with seasonal employees.  Freedom from these hassles will give you more time to focus on other important priorities.
• Cut back on overtime.  Temporary employees help you minimize the additional cost and burnout overtime causes.

Plan Your Workforce Needs with Priority Personnel

If your business has frequent or predictable surges in demand, a planned staffing option may be right for you.  Planned staffing is the strategic use of temporaries to accommodate workloads known to vary in seasons or other cycles.

First, a Priority Personnel staffing expert will work with you to examine year-round fluctuations in workload and identify peak demand periods.  Next, we will create a customized staffing plan for your business that: provides temporary employees to handle your busiest times; reduces or eliminates your need to lay off employees during slow periods; frees you to focus on the most critical parts of your job.

Remember, the early bird gets the worm – it’s never too early to discuss your staffing needs with Priority Personnel.

You’ve just won a three-month contract with a major new client – congratulations!  Now, you need to figure out how to get the extra work done.

Should you pay your current employees overtime, or bring in temporary help?  Consider the following sample cost analysis.  It is based on an annual salary of $40,000 ($20.51/hr.), vs. time-and-one-half overtime, for one employee:

Cost Analysis

Although this is just a sample exercise for illustration purposes, it clearly demonstrates the economic rationale for using temporary employees.  When you need additional productive hours on a temporary basis, staffing services can lower costs, reduce burnout and improve the productivity of your direct staff.

Priority Personnel – Central Texas’ Staffing Economics Experts

Need help assessing the cost of a staffing strategy? Contact Priority Personnel. Our experts will work with you to determine the most productive and cost-effective way to get your work done.

Cost Analysis Assumptions

* Temporary staffing rates vary by market, but the relationship (ratio) between pay rates remains the same.

** Fringe benefits include:  holiday pay, sick leave, vacation pay, personal days, insurance, F.I.C.A., S.U.I., F.U.T.A., worker’s compensation, etc., based on a national average of 31%.

*** Based on U.S. Chamber of Commerce national average statistic of 12%, which includes firms that pay no benefits.  For small firms with moderate benefits programs, this cost is typically 40-45% of payroll, and for larger firms with extensive benefits programs, the cost can be up to 100% or more of payroll.

Most of us today are conditioned to look for the best possible price.  In most cases, this makes good economic sense.  But when it comes to staffing services, the company offering the lowest prices isn’t necessarily going to deliver the best value.

Here are a few good reasons why shopping around for the lowest-priced temporary employees might not be the wisest use of your staffing dollars:

• To offer you the lowest price, a staffing service may be forced to cut back on the quality and amount of service they provide.  They may not be able to afford the same depth of recruiting and screening.  As a result, they may have more difficulty finding the right candidates for your specific needs.
• Because of simple supply and demand, the staffing agencies that offer better wages to their temporary employees will most likely get the more talented, skilled, reliable and experienced applicants.  Any staffing firm can find a “warm body” to fill your position.  But finding a quality employee that truly fits your organization may be too crucial to risk – especially for what may boil down to a few cents per hour.
• Not getting the right person for the job can have very costly ramifications.  For example, a temporary employee who is less than qualified for the position can cause the following unforeseen expenses:
  - additional time (money) up front to adequately orient and train the temporary
  - increased supervision for a less qualified temporary
  - mistakes and reworks – the time, money and materials involved in re-doing the work of a less qualified temporary
  - poor productivity – the amount of work a sub-par employee fails to complete (compared to a qualified individual)

The bottom line is, many things in business aren’t worth risking.  The quality of your human capital is definitely one of them.

Priority Personnel:  the Best Staffing Value for Central Texas Employers
When it comes to the quality of Priority Personnel’s candidates, you get what you pay for – skilled, reliable, hard-working and experienced people who truly fit your needs.  Rest assured, we will always deliver the best value for your staffing dollar.