Hiring Practices — Finding the Right Fit

CHOOSING THE right employees is a key decision for printing companies. Facing short deadlines and tight margins, the addition of a below-par performer can prove costly for a graphic arts provider.

“There is a lot of data which says that the cost of a bad hire is about two and a half times the person’s annual salary,” says Debra Thompson, president of human resources consulting firm TG & Associates in Tucson, AZ. “That is measured in terms of the wages paid, the cost of rework that was necessary, the cost of customers lost because of bad service, and even the cost of replacing good employees who got fed up with carrying the load for the bad performer and left.”

On the other hand, Thompson states that the benefits of having a top performer include:

• 40 percent improvement in productivity, meaning much higher sales-per-employee.

• 49 percent improvement in profitability because of better management skills and the higher sales-per-employee.

• 67 percent improvement in revenues due to better customer satisfaction leading to more sales.

According to Kris Lerdahl, human resources coordinator for Suttle-Straus in Waunakee, WI, finding workers with the right skills remains a challenge for printers. Suttle-Straus attempts to make itself more attractive to potential candidates by offering competitive benefits, a professional atmosphere and a great workplace, she notes.

“When we advertise for open positions, we sell our company and benefits first,” Lerdahl explains. “Informing potential employees what we’re all about makes them want to work here. We often have local high school and vocational school classes come through for tours to generate interest in our company and the opportunities that we provide. We try to generate local news stories that keep our name in the public eye. We also work closely with our temporary help agency to identify workers who can transition from temporary to permanent status.”

Michelle Waterhouse, director of personnel at Columbus, OH-based Hopkins Printing, has noticed that skilled workers are not moving around as much anymore. Employees are not leaving Hopkins Printing, and Waterhouse is not seeing as many people dropping by to fill out applications. To offset this trend, Hopkins Printing focuses on developing its own quality employees.

“Someone with a strong work ethic and desire to learn is a perfect candidate to be one of our future top performers,” Waterhouse asserts. “We don’t turn down a qualified or really experienced person who seeks an interview, even if we don’t have a position open. We give a tour and talk about the future. We get to meet them; they get to see what we are doing here and, hopefully, in the future we can all work together.”

Thompson agrees that the training route is a smart path to take.

“Clearly the goal should be to find the best combination of skills and attitude,” she remarks. “But the fact of the matter is that if one has to make a choice between skills and attitude, give the nod to attitude. It is a truism that we too often hire for skills and fire for behaviors. I definitely encourage revising that to hire for behaviors and train for skills.”

Thompson has developed a process that defines 13 steps for finding, developing and retaining top performers. It covers all of the actions that she believes are necessary to do the job right and involves the discipline of checking everything.

“The first steps involve defining what the position is all about and how it fits into both the structure of the company and its culture,” she points out. “Then turning that information into a solid job description that can be used for recruiting, training and managing the employee once hired.”

TG & Associates recommends both personality profiling and Wonderlic testing for potential employees. The firm has done a number of benchmark studies and knows that different profiles provide a better fit for many positions.

“Attitude and dependability are key indicators of how well an employee will do here,” adds Suttle-Straus’ Lerdahl. “I screen potential employees for this first. If they appear to have these traits, I set up a second interview with the hiring manager. They can then determine if the candidate’s skills match the job.

“Sometimes we have candidates with a terrific attitude and a great track record, but they might not be right for that particular job,” she continues. “That’s where a person who is focused primarily on recruiting can really play a key role. I can keep them in mind for other positions and eventually place them here.”

Company Culture

At Milwaukee-based Visual Systems Inc. (VSI), human resources manager Michelle Roloff, PHR, looks for a culture match, as well as a job match. Not only does Roloff look for workers with the right skills, education, experience and work ethic, but also people who will be comfortable at VSI.

“The candidate must enjoy working in teams, embrace ideas for continuous improvement, always put the customers’ needs first, be flexible in cross-training and work assignments, enjoy learning new skills and be open to having a little fun at work,” Roloff says.

To recruit quality employees, VSI uses several methods simultaneously. Typically, for skilled positions, Roloff places ads at local technical colleges, state- sponsored job boards and facilities, the Website for Printing Industries of Wisconsin, and one or two large Internet job sites. The company has also found it’s very effective to get referrals of good candidates through networking.

“We notify our partner employment agencies about our open positions and work closely with companies going through layoffs or facility closings in order to hire some of their displaced workers,” Roloff says. “But most important in our recruitment efforts is the fact that we provide an exceptionally attractive place to work.”

VSI recently was included in a “Top Workplaces” article in Milwaukee Magazine, and was credited for its extensive orientation program that “gives new hires deep exposure into every department.”

The company, however, sees a serious problem looming on the horizon—the lack of young people choosing the printing industry for a career. VSI is involved with a project called “CONVERSAcTIONS” sponsored by the Waukesha County Technical College and Waukesha County Economic Development Corp. The group discusses regional workforce objectives, including issues of skill shortages among the younger workforce and the lack of exposure young people have to possible career paths in the graphic arts.

Thompson concludes with some final thoughts on what printers should remember when hiring new employees:

• Employees must be smart and be able to learn all of the techniques and tools to handle the job.

• Reference and background checks are more important than ever. TG & Associates encourages substance abuse testing. OSHA released information that supports the fact that smaller businesses are the employer of choice for substance abusers because they’re not doing drug testing like bigger companies.

• Be an aggressive recruiter by using all of the venues for posting ads, including online resources Monster, CareerBuilder and Craigslist. Use your Website to establish an employment page.

• Use tests and assessments, including bringing applicants for production positions in for a day to see what they can do.

• Don’t just hire a warm body. Take the time to fully evaluate applicants and make sure you have found the person who best fits the position and your company culture before making an offer. PI