Madden Industrial Craftsmen Incorporated

How do you retain your employees after you hire them and prevent high employee turnover?

These are problems faced by all sizes of business.  You need to anticipate what kind of turnover you might have, but it’s a hard thing to do.  For that reason, the recruiting process should be ongoing.

Turnover also has its advantages – new people bring in new and innovative ideas.  But you need to keep in mind that excessive turnover is usually a sign of some fundamental problem with the business and so steps should be taken to address the problem.

Turnover also has a financial cost to the company – estimates of the total cost of employee turnover range from 50 percent to 150 percent of an employee’s annual salary.

Turnover is usually more of a problem with blue-collar and younger employees.  One way to reduce turnover is to offer incentives to stay with the company.  These can include such things as  more vacation time, flex time, job sharing and wellness time.

It’s also important that company leaders share with employees the vision and direction of the  company and communicate with employees the benefits of staying with the company.

It’s also important for the company to understand the reasons for turnover.  Companies have set up different ways of doing this, including exit interviews for employees leaving the company, employee surveys, employee focus groups, and post-employment interviews.

To reduce the amount of turnover, some companies have modified their compensation packages, while others have made changes to their interviewing process.  They are focusing on the fit between the person and company.  Does the candidate share the values and goals of the company?  Some companies are emphasizing career development more.  They have ongoing career development programs, tuition reimbursement programs and skills training to try and retain workers.

Other businesses have become more employee oriented in an effort to retain workers.  They actively try to engage employees and get them involved in ideas for improving the company.  They let employees know they have a voice within the company.  In addition, the companies emphasize recognition of employees.

Also, companies are working on compensation packages that include long-term incentive compensation and bonuses.  They are being more creative with their compensation to retain employees.

If you’re on the lookout for top-notch talent in carpentry, welding, machinery, production, HVAC/facilities maintenance and other skilled technical trades in the Pacific Northwest, contact Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Incorporated. We can fill your temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hire staffing needs with excellent workers who meet — and exceed — your expectations. We look forward to hearing from you.

There is an extensive array of regulations and laws in the United States designed to protect people from discrimination in employment.  Because the laws are so numerous, it may be confusing as to what questions are acceptable to ask during an interview.

When interviewing, it is important to keep in mind that questions should pertain only to the candidate’s ability to do the job in question.

Here are some brief guidelines to follow regarding the areas to avoid when interviewing job candidates:

First, questions about an applicant’s age should be avoided because the laws prohibit discrimination based on age.  The only pertinent information is whether or not an applicant is old enough to do the job.

Questions involving an applicant’s family situation are also not allowable.  For example, questions about a person’s marital status, living companions, and children are off limits.

Concerning race or ethnic origin, the only legitimate question to ask is whether the applicant is legally authorized to work in the United States.

Also, to prevent discrimination based on past criminal activities, questions regarding past arrests are prohibited as well.  However, the employer can ask about criminal activity if it relates to the job opening.  For example, an employer is entitled to know about past record of embezzlement if a person is applying for a job at a bank.

All questions relating to an applicant’s racial or religious background are illegal.

Also, it is not permissible to ask about an applicant’s affiliations with any organizations.  However, an employer may ask if an applicant belongs to any organizations that the person considers relevant to their ability to perform the job.  This usually concerns professional groups.

Personal questions involving height and weight should also be avoided – unless they relate  to the applicant’s ability to perform the job in question.

Another area that an employer needs to be aware of is the legal guidelines relating to disabilities. Any questions about a person’s disability, health, or worker’s compensation history are illegal on their own.  So, for example, you cannot ask if a person has a disability or if they have had any recent illnesses or operations.  You cannot require them to fill out a medical questionnaire.

But you can ask about the applicant’s ability to perform the job in question adequately or specific functions of the job.  And you may test the applicant to see if he or she can perform the job, with or without any special accommodation.

You may also require the person to take a medical exam, but only after a job offer has been made.

If your company is located in the Pacific Northwest and you’ve a need for highly skilled welding, HVAC/facilities maintenance, carpentry, production, welding and machinery personnel, contact Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Incorporated. We can find skilled workers for you quickly and easily. Contact us today.

Ah, the performance review. Few like giving them; fewer enjoy receiving them. Still, objective performance criteria can go a long way toward achieving your company’s business goals.

Here are some tips to help you create performance objectives which will help make the performance review process go much more smoothly and happily for everyone.

Make sure your objectives are measurable. Just about every objective can be measured, either by quantity or quality. Decide how you will measure your objectives. For quantifiable (countable) objectives, what kind of “numbers” will you use? are the benchmarks you will use? For the more esoteric (quality) objectives, decide on the different types of benchmarks you’ll use to measure performance. You’ll need to decide what kind of data you will use to measure employee performance and you’ll want to be sure it will provide you and your employees ongoing feedback regarding their performance.

Be specific. What do you really want your employees to achieve? Look beyond actions and focus on results. Being specific makes your objectives clear to your workers and helps keep confusion and disputes to a minimum. If your objectives are complex, aim to break them down into specific sub-objectives. This helps employees focus their efforts on achieving the specific results you seek.

Who is accountable for your performance objectives? Some objectives may be the responsibility of managers, who then should set objectives for line workers. For example, if a foreman is responsible for making sure so many widgets are produced in three months, he’ll want to be sure he creates performance objectives for his team members that  include seeing that those widgets are produced.

Are your objectives realistic? Taking the example above, can your employees make X number of widgets in three months? Efficient businesses know that performance objectives link back to the company’s strategy and business plan. You should set objectives that make your employees stretch and keep them challenged, but your objectives should be attainable.

Speaking of strategy, be sure your performance objectives relate to your company’s business plan and overall goals. Good performance objectives start with the “end in mind.” That is, they create a link between what individual employees are expected to do with the ultimate goal of the company. All objectives should be alignment with at least one other.

Deadlines are gold. Set time frames in performance objectives; deadlines help employees focus.

Contact Madden Industrial Craftsmen Incorporated for top-notch employees eager to meet your objectives. Whether you need industrial workers on a temporary, temp-to-hire or direct-hire basis, we will meet or exceed your objectives every time.

If you’re having a hard time getting employee buy-in of your company’s or even department’s mission, here are some tips to help you do so.

First of all, understand that humans pretty much abhor change. Most of us like our lives to remain as they are; it comforts us and makes us feel secure. Even if a change will be good for us, we still balk and dither.

So understand that your mission is a change to your staff and handle your rollout of any changes that will take place due to the new mission slowly and carefully.

Understand that not everyone in your department or company thinks like you do. Don’t start thinking your employees “should” see things your way. Don’t try to force the new mission and consequent changes down your staff members’ throats — you’ll encounter terrific pull back and you may never see the changes you seek. In addition, morale will suffer tremendously whenever you work to “strong arm” your employees into thinking as you do.

Also, understand that human nature automatically asks “what in it for me?” As you craft your new mission and start planning for company changes, be sure to let your staff know the benefits of the changes and how their working lives will improve.

That improvement/benefit must appear relatively quickly, not years down the yard. Many employees today don’t see themselves staying with a business for more than a few years; promising terrific stock options in five years if all goes well may not inspire many of your staff members.

Understand also that no change benefits everyone; some employees will see their jobs, their career, etc. evolve in a way they don’t like (for example, perhaps your goal to streamline processes results in not needing so many employees, meaning some people will lose their jobs). Be sure you can see all the “benefits” and “negatives” from your employees’ point of view, not just from management’s. Extreme empathy is called for if your mission and its subsequent changes does result in negative outcomes for some of your workers.

If your company is located in the Pacific Northwest and you’ve a need for highly skilled welding, HVAC/facilities maintenance, carpentry, production, welding and machinery personnel, contact Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Incorporated. We can find skilled workers for you quickly and easily. Contact us today.

As more and more businesses use more and more temporary employees for short- and long-term assignments — as well as in positions critical to a company’s success — managers and human resources departments in businesses throughout the country are learning the importance of motivating these new additions to their workforce.

Here are some tips to help motivate temporary workers.

First of all, treat them with respect. Nothing says “you’re nothing to this company but working fodder” than just throwing them into their new position without so much as a “Hello, I’m Bob, this is Janice who will show  you around. Good luck!”

Instead, aim to introduce the temporary employee around your company. Show him the breakroom, where the bathrooms are. Tell him a bit about your company and his roll within it.

As you introduce your temporary worker, don’t introduce him as “the temp.” A much more professional introduction — and one that will help the individual feel a part of your team — is to tell those to whom you introduce him his name and the position he’ll be filling at your organization.

Work hard to treat your temporary employees as much as possible just as you do your “regular” employees. Keep them apprised of your company’s goals, challenges and how their work fits your vision for the company. Invite your temporary employees to staff and department meetings and share your organization’s announcements and memos with them.

Talk to the temporary employee about his background. Sure, you hired him to work as a draftsman, but if you speak with him you may find that he recently was laid off from a position as an engineer — could you possibly use some of that expertise?! Ask his opinion when appropriate — he may have some terrific ideas and, at the least, you certainly could get a different perspective on how you do your drafting projects.

Basically, the best way to motivate temporary employees is to view them — and use them — as important and valuable assets to your business. Treat them as you treat your “regular” employees and watch the magic happen.

If you’re on the lookout for top-notch talent in carpentry, welding, machinery, production, HVAC/facilities maintenance and other skilled technical trades in the Pacific Northwest, contact Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Incorporated. We can fill your temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hire staffing needs with excellent workers who meet — and exceed — your expectations. We look forward to hearing from you.

Even though the recession is on the wane and the job market is showing signs of recovery, unemployment remains high and is expected to stay high for several months.

Which means that employers will continue to have many hard-working, talented applicants from which to choose.

That’s a good thing, of course, but many desperate job seekers have been applying for just about any position they “feel” they can do, whether or not they truly have the background and skills to do it.

In addition, a resume and interview often can be poor predictors of a candidate’s ultimate ability to perform well in a position and fit in well at your company. As you undoubtedly know, many hires are made by the “heart,” and not the “head,” sometimes resulting in a poor hire.

There are tools that can help you better assess a candidate’s “rightness” for a particular position.

For example, assessment tools exist that can help you match your most talented candidates to the position’s exact requirements. Such a tool allows you to find these top candidates via a job benchmark, thus removing bias and guesswork from your hiring decision.

In addition, many companies offer candidate assessment tools that assess potential employees’ personalities and candidates’ sales and customer service skills. You also can purchase tools that will help you perform pre-employment screenings and background checks, perform 360-degree employee performance evaluations, job simulation tests (in which candidates demonstrate the actual skills needed to perform a position well, and more.

Assessment companies generally will complete an easy-to-understand report and comparison on how a potential employee scores against values, critical thinking skills and top competencies that have been identified as important — or even critical — to success within the position.

When you need terrific technical professionals such as carpenters, electricians, engineers, draftsmen and project managers for your Pacific Northwest company, contact Madden Industrial Craftsmen Incorporated. We have a broad-based employee pool with terrific skill sets for just about any light or heavy industrial need.

Here are six questions you should never ask a job candidate (and 10 ways you can still get the information you need:

1) Are you a U.S. citizen? Citizenship legally has no bearing on whether someone can work in the U.S. Instead, ask: Are you authorized to work in the U.S.?

2) What religion are you? A candidate’s religious beliefs also have no legal bearing on their ability or ability to do a job. You legitimately may be wondering if their religious practices may preclude them from working nights or weekends, so instead ask: What days are you available to work?

3) What clubs or social organizations are you a member of? Again, this question has absolutely no bearing on a candidate’s ability to do a job and it can reveal too much about a person’s political or religious affiliations. If you were to decide not to hire a candidate based on his or her political/religious membership, you could be sued. A better question to ask is one that’s work related: Do you belong to any trade or professional groups relevant to our industry?

4) How old are you? This question is bad for so many reasons, particularly because you’re setting yourself up for an age-discrimination lawsuit. A better question to ask: Are you over the age of 18?

5) How many years do you have before you plan to retire? Another loaded question. Even if someone appears old to you, she may have 20 years or more before she plans to leave paid work. In fact, she may be planning to never retire. Instead, ask: What are your long-term career goals?

6) Do you have children? Do you plan to have children? Again, what does this question have to do with a candidate’s ability to do the job? How he handles his childcare situation is his responsibility. Far better to ask: This position requires some/considerable travel and overtime. Is that a problem for you?

Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Incorporated provides skilled carpenters, welders, machine and production workers, HVAC/facilities maintenance personnel and other skilled tradesmen to companies doing business in the Pacific Northwest. As a leading staffing agency, we can help you develop a strategic staffing plan to help ensure your company’s fiscal success.

If your company assigns workers jobs in a warehouse of manufacturing facility, here are some safety issues with which you should be concerned:

You should be sure to conduct regular staff training. Warehouse staff tend to do many different types of jobs, rotating among them constantly. Are your staff members certified to handle certain tasks and equipment, if required? Are your forklift and pallet jack drivers tested regularly to ensure they know how to work these machines? Are  your staff members maintaining equipment for safety issues and filling out the necessary  paperwork that proves the equipment is being maintained? What if OSHA were to come calling tomorrow? Would your business be ready?

All of your staff members should know what procedures to follow in case of fire. Do they know the proper evacuation routes and the places outside your building where they are to congregate during an evacuation? Are all of your staff members trained in how to use fire blankets and fire extinguishers? At the very least, do they know where to find these tools?

Are your data sheets from the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) up to date? Cleaning chemicals, forklift gases and engine oil all qualify for assessment. Are your records up to date?

Are your traffic routes in your warehouse or manufacturing facility kept clear at all times? Do you have policies and procedures for keeping your routes for both equipment and people clear of obstruction?

Do you train — and re-train — your employees in the proper way of lifting items? Whenever possible, do you have pallet jacks, fork lifts and other mechanical tools do the heavy lifting for items of 50 pounds or more?

How thorough is your signage? Do you have the proper signs for your employees, visitors, and outside contractors? Do you have enough restrooms as well as break areas for the people who work at your site? Is your warehouse/manufacturing area clean, well-lighted and well-ventilated?

If your company is located in the Pacific Northwest and you’ve a need for highly skilled welding, HVAC/facilities maintenance, carpentry, production, welding and machinery personnel, contact Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Incorporated. We can find skilled workers for you quickly and easily. Contact us today.

If you hire people full time who were unemployed or working only part time and Uncle Sam will reward you with a terrific payroll tax incentive.

President Obama signed the Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment (HIRE) on March 18. If your company qualifies, under the HIRE Act you could receive payroll tax incentive and a general business tax credit.

Just about every business in the U.S. could qualify. All your company needs to be is a “non-governmental entity.” If you’re a U.S., Federal, state or local government organization, you’re out of luck, although even state colleges and universities qualify for the incentive/tax credit.

Hire someone who starts working for you after March 18 but before December 31, 2010 and you may be exempt form paying the 6.2 percent social security tax on wages to paid to qualified employees. Those qualified employees are those who

Payroll Tax Incentive
Under the Act, employers that hire new employees this year may be exempt from paying the 6.2 percent social security tax on wages paid to qualified employees through December 31, 2010. An employee is “qualified” if she: starts work after February 3 and before January 1, 2011; signs an affidavit that he wasn’t employed for more than 40 hours during the previous 60-day period (which ends the date she starts working for you) ; wasn’t hired to replace another employee (unless that other employee left of his own accord or was terminated for cause; and isn’t one of your family members.

You may claim your payroll tax exemption on your federal employment tax return.

As for the general business tax credit, the HIRE Act allows you to receive this tax credit if you retained the employee for at minimum of 52 consecutive weeks and her wages during the last half (26 weeks) of that 52-week period  were at least 80 percent of her wages of the first 26 weeks of the period.

If the employee stays with you for just 50 or even 51 weeks, you cannot claim the general business tax credit.

The credit is equal to the lesser of either $1,000 or 6.2 percent of the wages you paid to the retained worker during the 52 weeks mentioned above.

If you’re on the lookout for top-notch talent in carpentry, welding, machinery, production, HVAC/facilities maintenance and other skilled technical trades in the Pacific Northwest, contact Madden Industrial Craftsmen, Incorporated. We can fill your temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hire staffing needs with excellent workers who meet — and exceed — your expectations. We look forward to hearing from you.

We’re sure you’re aware of the changes the Obama administration and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has implemented regarding its shift to a focus on auditing businesses’ I-9 records instead of raiding workplaces to ensure companies are complying with the law.

Just in case you aren’t: it is true — ICE now concentrates on auditing your I-9 forms rather than using workplace raids to ensure all of a business’ employees have the legal right to work in the U.S.

As you know, penalties can be steep; you definitely don’t want to find that you have inaccurate records regarding your employees’ right-to-work documentation.

However, on March 31, ICE announced it’s giving employers a 10-day window to correct minor errors that are found on the I-9 forms during an audit. Minor errors are considered to be small mistakes such as an incorrect birth date or home address.

Still, you would be well advised to check all current employees’ records, as well as records of former employees (those who left less than a year ago), to make sure there are no “substantive errors.” Examples of these are an incorrect citizenship status of an employee or a missing — or incorrect or forged — signature. Penalties for these mistakes can be quite substantial.

So start checking your employee I-9 forms now. You should complete these forms with your employees when they start working for you and you should keep them on file for three years, or for one year after an employee leaves your firm, whichever comes later.

Do you have a question regarding I-9 compliance? Contact Madden Industrial Craftsman Incorporated today. We stay on top of all compliance requirements that ICE, OSHA and other U.S. agencies continually present to companies. In fact, we are the ones required to keep the I-9 forms of the temporary employees we send you because we’re their employer; you don’t need to worry about ICE audits at all.