Impressions - February 2010 - (Page 39)

By Greg Kitson, Contributing Writer you. Need an extra person to help in shipping? Just call the agency and they’ll have someone at your shop right away. Plus, the agency handles unemployment, social security and so on, making it painless to go this route for temporary help. True, you’re paying perhaps $13 to $15 an hour for a $10-an-hour position, but it’s often worth it. Agencies also offer temp-to-hire services, which allow you to try an employee on a temporary basis and offer him a fulltime gig if things go well. We’ve used such a service successfully and if things hadn’t worked out with the placement, we could’ve just called the agency and asked for a replacement. Another big plus: Local and state governments have regulations about what you can and can’t do in terms of hiring and ﬁring, something you don’t have to worry about as much when using an agency. They assume the responsibility of asking the right kinds of questions during the interview process. A strong word of warning: Make sure you understand the fees and timelines involved with conversion of a temp placement to a full-time employee. THE INTERVIEW PROCESS Once you’ve narrowed your search to a few strong candidates, it’s time to start on the interviewing process (assuming you’re not going through a stafﬁng agency). Our shop’s ofﬁce manager or production manager does the ﬁrst interview, where they outline the overall responsibilities, expectations, pay, beneﬁts, scheduling and so on. They also ask the candidates some basic questions, such as whether they can read a tape measure and if they have reliable transportation. (You’d be surprised at how many people apply for jobs without actually having a way of getting to the job on a daily basis.) After the ﬁrst round of interviews with the candidates, we determine who to bring in for a second interview, which I generally participate in, along with the manager. We spend time again reviewing our scheduling policies, making sure that the candidate understands the need for ﬂexibility in work hours — something that’s actually a plus for many candidates. For instance, many younger workers — especially teens and college kids — appreciate the fact that they won’t work nights and weekends. We also pay more per hour than our competitors in this market for entry-level labor, which helps attract good help. During our ﬁrst and second rounds of interviews, we’re also frank about some of the less-than-optimum work conditions, such as the fact that it gets awfully hot in a It’s critical during the interview process that a potential employee is made fully aware of less-than-optimal working conditions, such as a hot production environment with no air conditioning. Use Info•Action #24 at impressionsmag.com/infoaction See us at ISS Orlando impressionsmag.com February 2010 << Impressions http://www.smartdesigns.com http://www.smartdesigns.com http://www.impressionsmag.com/infoaction http://www.impressionsmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - February 2010

Impressions - February 2010
Contents
First Impressions
FYI
Product Gallery
Working Wearables
On Design
Buying Equipment on eBay
Finance New Equipment the Right Way
Less Stitches = More Money
How to Find Good Employees
Online Directory
How to Create Textured Ink Effects
Business to Business
Classifieds
Ad Index

Impressions - February 2010