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HIRING IMR, July 19, 1999 Recruiting talent is a challenge. This issue of the Independent Management Report includes several articles detailing innovative approaches distributors use to find top employees, advice about the importance of defining company roles before you consider hiring staff and interviewing tips to help you cull the best candidates. Michigan Distributor Reinforces Troops In today's marketplace, distributors trying to maintain a competitive edge may feel like they're marching onto a battlefield. RBF Inc. in Lansing, Mich., hopes to claim a victory by offering electronic documents to customers in the health care and financial industries. To conquer the electronic document market, the distributorship has armed itself with a special troop of Spartans-Michigan State University Spartans, that is, and a few Wolverines from the University of Michigan. Although RBF has two full-time employees well-versed in e-forms, sometimes it needs extra help completing projects. In the past 18 months, RBF has hired three students from MSU and the University of Michigan. The students, majoring in computer science, work about 10 to 20 hours a week. RBF pays them an hourly fee. "This younger generation is exposed to all the latest technologies," says Dan Siadak, CDC, president of RBF and treasurer of DMIA's Board of Directors. "They're a great resource with a lot of expertise." Account managers at RBF oversee electronic document projects. First, they perform process analyses to determine where clients can streamline and consolidate paperwork and automate documents. They might discover, for example, that a bank uses four forms that can be combined into one, then converted to an e-form. Account managers design e-forms using Informs and JetForm software, then often hand over programming responsibilities to a student. RBF selected its young talent by posting job openings at the two colleges on bulletin boards and online job directories. When students responded, RBF followed its standard recruiting process: interviews and a skills test. Siadak says the students have solved a problem for RBF. When the company began selling e-forms, it didn't need full-time staff to handle projects. The students work on a project-by-project basis. When students begin working for RBF, they usually start on easier projects, such as print-on-demand applications. But the students have done more than simply finish grunt work. "Quite frankly, you can learn a lot from students," says Siadak, "if you keep an open mind." One of the student employees, who is earning a master's degree in computer science, helped RBF link data from a financial customer's branches to its main database. "The master's student brought a lot of knowledge about that technology to us," says Siadak. "As we get more into electronic documents, our plan is to continue building a network of students," says Siadak. In addition, the students provide a pool of potential full-time employees to RBF. The distributorship foresees a full-time opening related to electronic document business, and one of the students may fill that spot. It Takes a Village to Find an Employee Last summer, Nancy Ewen Visio followed some basic steps when she decided to hire another customer service representative for Executive Data Control. Visio, director of operations for the Springfield, Mo.-based distributorship, ran classified ads in the local paper. She sorted through 30 resumes and interviewed eight candidates. But then, rather than select the employee herself, she enlisted the help of Executive Data Control's five other CSRs. Two candidates were asked to partake in a second interview conducted by the CSR team. Many of the customer service reps had never conducted an interview, so Visio helped them prepare. Together, they looked through interview books and selected questions appropriate for peers. The group interviews, which lasted about an hour, were held in the distributorship's conference room. The CSRs sat around a table with the interviewees, and Visio remained in the background as an observer. The reps asked questions to determine which interviewee would fit better in their group. Questions included: How do you react when you see co-workers disagree? When have you gotten your feelings hurt at work, and how did you handle it? How do you handle written instructions that aren't clear? After the interviews, each CSR and Visio cast a vote. The decision was unanimous. Visio has held group interviews one other time since last summer and is a proponent of including peers in hiring decisions. "When everybody helps hire an employee, then everybody buys into the success of that person," she says. She proves her point with this anecdote: A few months after Executive Data Control hired the new CSR, she quit to work for a firm that offered her $5,000 more in annual salary. Visio says the distributorship simply couldn't compete with that salary. But the CSRs, who felt connected to the person they helped hire, kept in contact with her. They met for drinks and chatted on the phone. Several months later they convinced the rep, who missed such camaraderie, to return to Executive Data Control at her initial salary. Employees Succeed When Roles Are Defined EAGLE, a distributorship in Orange, Calif., has more than 70 employees, all of whom know exactly what's expected of them. That's because the company has detailed written job descriptions for all employees from the receptionist to the president. "It's really important for employees to know what's expected of them," says Tim Smith, president of EAGLE. "I don't feel I can expect something of an employee if I haven't put it in black and white." The company established job descriptions about 15 years ago, but they are always changing. "Job descriptions aren't set," says Smith. "We constantly rewrite them as jobs change." The descriptions are one to several pages long, with bulleted lists of expectations and duties. They are included in EAGLE's employee manual so all employees know their roles as well as others' duties. Smith wrote the descriptions for top executives, but other employees have helped pen some descriptions. For example, the plant manager and operations manager wrote job descriptions for employees under their authority. Smith says there are several reasons why distributors should draft job descriptions. First, it helps hold employees accountable. EAGLE uses descriptions during reviews. Supervisors discuss where employees are exceeding, meeting or falling short of duties listed in the descriptions. Even Smith has a review, performed by EAGLE's vice presidents. "I don't think anybody is totally self-motivated and can keep focused without someone to be accountable to," he says. "I can learn and grow, and I need to know when I need to improve." The descriptions provide a goal for employees-including Smith-to attain. Job descriptions also are critical during hiring. When EAGLE writes a classified ad, it refers to the descriptions. During the interviewing process, it's simple to describe jobs to candidates because interviewers can reference the written descriptions. Finally, when new employees are hired, they receive copies of their job descriptions. Job expectations are clear from the onset, which makes it easier for EAGLE to train employees and helps employees succeed in their positions. Tips for Creating an Interviewing System Ideally, the interviewing process should uncover the best candidate. Too often, however, you interview a few candidates and are unsure about which to hire. No one stands out as the ideal employee, and you don't have a sense of the interviewees' real personalities, but you feel pressured to get somebody-anybody-to fill the position. "People don't do a good job of interviewing because they don't have a system in place to do it," says Debra Thompson, president of TG & Associates in Tucson, Ariz. Thompson, who consults on hiring and retaining employees, offers several interviewing tips to help distributors find the best employees. But before you set up interviews, you must perform some legwork. Thompson says it's critical to gather certain data prior to searching for an employee, including the following: Complete Data on Positions. In addition to carefully written job descriptions, make sure you have established a pay structure and benefits plan for each position. In addition, prior to interviewing candidates, decide the hours of work, where employees will be stationed, who their supervisor will be and who their co-workers are. Although this sounds simple, many companies don't think through these details prior to hiring. Employee Manual. Just as you should have information about job positions, so too should you have an employee manual. The manual should include company-wide procedures about business hours, dress codes, vacation and sick days, employee reviews, benefits, firing protocol and more. Training Program. Have a set program in place to train all new employees. Be sure you know who will train employees, how long the training will last, what it will entail and how much time you'll give new employees to learn their jobs. A Company Mission Statement. Believe it or not, this is integral to solid hiring, says Thompson. You want employees who buy into your firm's vision. "A lot of times we just hire the wrong people," says Thompson. "They have a different vision of business than we do." Thompson says these elements must be in place before you consider hiring to ensure that employees understand their roles and your company's goals and policies. "These people have to be excited to join the team," she says. "And they need to know they'll succeed." Having the four elements mentioned will help them to thrive. Now you're ready to start looking for employees, says Thompson. She encourages distributors to write classified ads that seek personality types rather than skills. "You can find out about skills in the interview," she says. "But you want to design ads to bring in fireballs-people who are energized and fired up." Use phrases such as "Are you a self-motivated person who wants to earn more money?" In addition to newspaper ads, Thompson suggests other avenues for seeking employees, such as college job postings, employment Web sites and professional newsletters. An excellent source for new employees is existing employees. Thompson urges distributors to set up referral programs. Pay employees escalating bonuses if they refer an employee, if the person is hired and if that person stays with the firm six months or a year. "Nobody will bring in a referral that they don't like," says Thompson, so it's a great way to find quality staff and reward current employees. Once you've received resumes and selected candidates, Thompson suggests performing a short prescreen phone interview. By doing so, you may filter out some candidates, thereby avoiding a time-consuming personal interview. Ask basic questions, such as what the person's salary requirements are. If you're hiring a customer service rep, ask candidates if they would have a problem being on the phone most of the day. Ask potential press operators if they would also be willing to perform bindery duties. After screening out undesirable candidates, you're ready for the face-to-face interview. Here are a few of Thompson's interviewing tips: Listen to the candidate. "People need to really listen," says Thompson. Although you'll need to inform interviewees about the position and your company, make sure you don't do all the talking. Interviewers who make this mistake learn very little about candidates. Ask every interviewee the same question. Many interviewers let conversations wander with candidates and ask questions based on responses. While some of this is OK, be sure to ask every interviewee a certain amount of set questions. This way, you can compare candidates on the same issues. Give candidates time to think about questions. It's not easy to sit in silence, but if you chatter to fill silence, the candidate tends to give short answers. Some of your questions require thought. Let candidates think, and give them plenty of room to talk. Good questions include the following: What are your personal strengths and weaknesses? What are you looking for in a company? What would you like to avoid in a job? What type of people do you find difficult to work with? Use skills and personality tests. Depending on the job, you may want candidates to take a math or writing test. In addition, consider personality profiles. (DMIA members receive a discount on personality assessment tests from Lee Resources. Call Lynn Schwarz at 800-277-7888.) If you use personality tests, be sure to profile existing employees first so you know what type of person will fit with the group. Take interviewees on company tours. Introduce interviewees to key employees, and let them tour your office. This helps them get a feel for your company's environment and whether they would fit in. Back to Personnel -- Hiring