Back filling an existing position is usually easy.  Hopefully the person leaving the position took the time to write up a complete job description along with instructions on his or her regular tasks.  In this case you have a clear blueprint of the type of skills and experience required for the job.

The situation gets tricky when you’re filling a new position or when the last person got fired for incompetence.  In either case, you may not be quite sure what this job requires.

To write a job description, follow these three steps:

1. Start with the bottom line – what is the product you want this person to produce?  Is it sales revenue  or number of assembled products?  Define exactly what you want along with the metrics of the position.  For example, if you hire a new salesperson, you can easily work out the revenue he would have to bring in within 6 months to justify his salary.  That would be a minimum.
2. Once you have the product fully worked out, make a list of the actions he would have to perform to obtain that product.  Then describe your ideal employee for that position, even if you think that person would be out of reach for your company. At this point you should be able to easily list out the skill sets, experience and education that would be required for your ideal candidate.
3. Finally, think of the soft skills and your company culture.  What type of person would fit in well with your other employees and customers?  Get this all stated and written down.You may need to get some of your staff to weigh in on this position or at least agree with what you have written.  It’s important to take the time to work this out before you start your hiring process.

Once you have it all worked out and written down in a concise manner, you have a blueprint for the ideal employee and you can start looking for candidates that match what you need.

If you would like to avoid these kinds of pitfalls altogether, Continental excels at finding you the right person for the job, with the skills you require and the personality that fits your corporate culture. Cut your risk with new hires and call Continental.

Some markets pay higher wages than others.  Our same accounting clerk in 1990 working in New York City may have been paid $12.00/hour.  A small town may have lower wages than a large city, even if it is nearby.

It is important when setting compensation to have an accurate job description for the position and then to compare salaries of others in that position in your market.

2. Amount of responsibility of the position: It is common that wages follow responsibility.  The President of the company gets paid more than the accounting clerk.  Often a new hire is started in a position of lower responsibility, but is given the opportunity to increase his pay as his responsibilities increase.

3. Technical skills and education: Advanced technical skills will require a salary that is commensurate with the skills.  Usually an employee with more education, if relevant to the position, will command a higher salary.

4. Experience: Experience usually translates to more skills and better performance.  However, this is not always the case and you must make sure the experience is relevant to the job you are hiring for.  A good, experienced engineer may not make a good salesperson.

There is a final factor that can turn salaries upside down – anomalies in the job market.  For example, when the dot com boom was in full swing, even the weakest programmers were being offered six figure salaries.  After the dot com bust the best programmers had to take massive salary cuts just to get a job. Same employees, but different economic times make very different acceptable wages. But watch out, as these great programmers will jump ship as soon as the market heats up.

Continental routinely performs wage and salary surveys in Central Indiana and assists clients in establishing and negotiating competitive wages for new hires.  Contact us today to learn more about this service (765-778-9999).

Unfortunately Sam did not have the experience or qualifications to be an executive. Harry found himself spending most of his time coaching Sam and doing Sam’s job along with his own. Needless to say, this situation could not go on. Harry soon left to start his own company and Sam was left to flounder in his job. This story is repeated in countless companies around the world.

On the other hand, there are numerous success stories of children stepping into executive roles at their family firms (i.e. Mars Candy) and many firms rely on the work of generations of families to keep their business going.

Nepotism is defined as “favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)”. It is often looked upon as a negative because it is implied that these people got their jobs because of their connection to the employer and not because of their skill or experience.

However, in many family businesses, nepotism is the standard way of hiring and often a son or daughter is groomed for a position in the family business from a young age. Hiring family is not always a bad thing, especially if they have an ownership position or hope to inherit the business some day. The employer often gets a loyal and hard working employee with a vested interest in the business succeeding. Also, many employers know that a relative of a productive employee often has the same work ethic and will look favorably at hiring within the same family. In many cultures this is very common and the employer finds that the family will handle any employment issues with an errant relative way before the employer has to intervene.

Negative situations occur when the employee brings family conflicts into the business or has an attitude of entitlement. This and many other issues can create a bad employment situation.

Therefore there are no hard and fast rules about hiring relatives and friends. The key is to hold the relative to the same rules and standards as the rest of the employees. Ensure they are truly qualified for the job they are assigned to and help them improve their skills and knowledge so they can take on even more responsibility.

See: 3 Keys to Hiring Relatives for more information on hiring relatives

Learn How Continental Can Help You Avoid Hiring Mistakes

Want to avoid costly hiring mistakes. Continental Professional Staffing and Services can help. Click here to get started.

WBENC’s national standard of certification implemented by the Great Lakes Certification Committee is a meticulous process including an in-depth review of the business and site inspection. The certification process is designed to confirm the business is at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by a woman or women.

Judy Nagengast, CEO of Continental Inc., said, “We are very excited to receive the WBENC certification. Continental has been servicing manufacturers in the Midwest for almost 25 years. Of course we have been a women-owned-business all of that time, but it great to get that official national recognition of our status.”

By including women-owned businesses among their vendors, corporations, and government agencies demonstrate their commitment to fostering diversity and the continued development of their supplier/vendor diversity programs.

“We are pleased to see that many corporations and governments are striving to include WBE’s in their diversity efforts. Being a WBE does not guarantee success, but we hope it will open some doors for us and let us prove to new customers how we can help them succeed in this tough economy.” explains Judy.

To learn more about Continental Inc., please visit http://www.continentalinc.com.

About Continental Inc.
Continental Inc. provides resources for our clients that enhance and expand their core business competencies. Our customers leverage Continental’s expertise to augment their own technical foundation, providing enhanced quality and maximum efficiency. In today’s complex business world, Continental’s just-in-time resources provide a competitive edge. Continental’s services are organized into four distinct divisions: Design and Engineering, Quality Engineering, Manufacturing, and Professional Staffing Services.

About WBENC
The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council is the nation’s largest third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States. WBENC is a resource for the more than 700 US companies and government agencies that rely on WBENC’s certification as an integral part of their supplier diversity programs.

With most companies being forced to strip down to a skeleton staff, everyone is having to pull more than their own weight, and having the right people doing the pulling can make the difference between surviving and thriving in this rocky business climate.

You know that to grow your business you need to grow and develop your product. But the trained professionals needed for any kind of research and development comes at a high cost. I am not just talking salaries, but also the actual process of hiring. Advertising you job search, screening applicants, background checks, drug screens, interviewing, taxes and that is not including the training and your personal man hours that could have been spent working on your business and not in it. Sound expensive…well, it is.

But fear not, because there is hope. Simply outsource your staffing. A great staffing company can save you hundreds, if not thousands in money and time. And we all know that saving money, any way you can, is very important in this economy.

So, how can a staffing company help you? Well, it is simple. Staffing companies already have the correct avenues and contacts to promote you staffing needs, and many times the staffing company already has a huge database of more than qualified applicants ready and willing to come work for you. The staffing company will then take care of the initial interviews and screening so you only sit down with the best of the best.

When you do hire the employee, the staffing company then takes over all the benefits, human resource needs, and accounting for that employee allowing you to continue to operate with a skeleton staff, but still expand and develop your business.

So whether you need a highly skilled engineer for R&D or a dependable labor worker for short or long run projects, a staffing company can keep your business operating the low cost you need to, while keeping you flexible enough to expand at a phone call.

For more information on Staffing and Professional Services, please feel free to contact Continental at 765-778-9999 or visit www.continentalproservices.com.

1. 1. Employees: When the economy turns around, how are you going to re-staff your company? Using a staffing agency, you can take advantage of their large databases of already screened candidates, saving you time and money. Today, 89% of companies in the U.S. use temporary staffing. For most companies, temporary staffing represents a chance to control costs. For example, a company can save 20%-35% of salary they pay for permanent employees in taxes and benefits.
2. 2. Employee Benefits: The world of employee benefits can be quite confusing as there are many options, costs and laws in this area. Continental HR Specialists dedicate their time to understanding and administering this area, so you don’t have to. We review and compare Health Insurance Plans, 401(k) plans and other types of employee benefits annually to ensure that our contract employees get the best plans for their money. Also, benefits keep employees happy, giving you less turnover.
3. 3. Human Resources: Benefits administration is time consuming and expensive. Continental’s customized HR packages are tailored to your unique staffing needs. Our services include a menu of employee related functions, such as recruiting, hiring, managing employee benefits, and processing payroll. Our goal is to make it easy for you to recruit and manage top-quality employees, allowing you the time to concentrate on your core activities.

To Speak to Someone at Continental about our Staffing and Professional Services call 765.778.9999 or simply complete the form below.
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After a few weeks of vacation in Hawaii, Tiger and Vijay become bored. They decide to take up a new “hobby” and learn engineering. Despite many hours of study and practice, they accept the fact that they will never make the “Engineering Hall of Fame” but they enjoy what they are doing and do see regular improvement in their skills.

Sound like a misuse of valuable talent? Though not seen in the golfing world, early retirement packages have been the favored cost-cutting strategy of a number of US based major manufacturers for the last two decades.

One example is Rick Taylor. Rick was a top R & D Engineer with over a dozen patents to his name. His products earned a great deal of profit for his employer over the last 25 years, but no more. Five years ago, at the young age of 51, Rick was offered an early retirement package. He accepted.

Where is he spending his time now?

He’s playing golf! And – by the way – he’s starting to get bored.

Unbeknownst to many employers, there are thousands of Rick Taylor’s out there. Many of them are bored. These talented professionals are interested in working either part-time or full-time. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience. Since they’ve landed with a golden parachute, they don’t need full-time employment. As such, they are willing to work for short periods of time to complete a project, often at a very reasonable salary. And best of all – they usually have fully paid medical benefits as part of their early retirement package, saving their new employer that large cost.

Recently Rick Taylor decided he’d had enough golf. He missed the challenge of creating new products. He polished up his resume and asked Continental Professional Services to find him a position. Rick is now working with a small start-up company creating new products. The company is thrilled they could afford to hire someone of Rick’s caliber.

Putting a talented “early retiree” back to work is a hole-in-one for the employer and the employee!

We at Continental Professional Services specialize in recruiting these top pros. We know where to find them and we know, for a fact, that the majority of these hard-working, technical experts are available and eager to offer their valuable talent to your company for short or long-term projects. They come to you with drive, based on years of on-the-job experience.

When you think about it, it’s obviously a win-win situation — especially when you can hire these pros at a reasonable rate, without all the red tape that usually accompanies full-time salaried employees.

Since 1985 Continental has provided design and engineering specialists as well as technical teams for projects large and small. Continental provides short-term expertise for your smaller projects or assembles complete teams for major projects, such as the implementation of a new assembly line.

Let’s keep Tiger Woods on the golf course and get these engineers back where they belong: making money for you.

To find out more, fill out the form below and we will promptly respond.

Tongue in Cheek

HR Professional Marc and his boss invested valuable time interviewing qualified candidates for a front office executive assistant’s position that required—among other skills—fielding phone calls. After narrowing the prospects down to four choices, Marc put in more time performing the necessary drug-screens, background and reference checks. Then he spent additional time conducting four final interviews before he offered the job to the person who seemed perfectly suited. He told her to report to work Monday morning 8AM, bright and early.

The new employee showed up on time, holding a compress to her mouth, unable to speak. It turned out she had decided over the weekend to have her tongue pierced. With the shiny metal stud inserted in her now swelling tongue she attempted to answer incoming customer calls: “Tank eww for ca-wing, oww may I elp eww. Ow.” Needless to say she lasted all of thirty minutes before Marc had to send her home. Then there he was on the phone, filling in for her while desperately calling the other three candidates to offer one of them the job.

Check that Tongue

Reaching the end of an extensive job interview for a small engineering firm, the Human Resources person asked the young Engineer fresh out of college, “And what starting salary were you looking for?”

The bright-eyed Engineer candidate confidently replied, “I’d like $175,000 or more a year,depending on the benefits package.”

The interviewer nodded and said, “Well, what would you say to a complete relocation package, plus six weeks vacation, sixteen paid holidays, full medical and dental coverage, a company matching retirement fund for 50% of your salary, and a company car leased every two years-say, a red Corvette?”

The Engineer sat up straight and said, “Wow! Are you kidding?”

And the interviewer replied, “Yeah, but you started it.”

Continental Professional Services would like to be “Your Easy Staffing Solution.” Continental provides you with quick and easy access to the employees and services you need. For more information on how we can help you, call Continental Professional Services at 765.778.999 or fill out the quick contact form below.