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.

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.

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.

Jim – Procurement/Buyer – Jim recently completed an assignment with a large, international manufacturer where he was responsible for purchasing raw materials, parts, and supplies.  He has an extensive background in the procurement field having worked for a number of large, well-known companies in the past where he was responsible for determining the appropriate vendor, negotiating the costs, and overseeing logistics.  He has good work history and is looking for a long-term or contact position currently. 

 Walt – Civil Engineer –  Walt has an extensive background in civil engineering and holds the Professional Engineer designation.  Walt has experience with wastewater collection, treatment and disposal, design of storm water systems for quality and quantity, and he has done computer modeling of hydrologic systems including reservoirs, drainage basins and localized drainage. He has also done land-use projects including both residential and commercial, as well as storm water quality and quantity analysis, water and wastewater system design, streets and sidewalks and utility systems design. Walt is available to start right away.

 Kathy – Human Resources Manager – Kathy has eight year’s experience as an HR Generalist having worked as a Human Resources Manager at two manufacturing companies in the past.  In her past positions, Kathy was responsible for all human resources functions.  She is experienced in creating new programs and improving existing processes.  If you are looking for an HR professional with a strong manufacturing background, please contact us to find out more. 

 Paul – Pipe-welder/fitter – Paul is an experienced pipe-welder and fitter.  He is certified in a number of different processes and has a strong background in shipyard welding.  He has run crews of up to 20 people.  Paul can get results for you day-one – give us a call to find out more about his skills.

 Jeff – HVAC Installer – Jeff has a strong background with residential and commercial HVAC installation and maintenance.  He has done new construction as well as retrofit.  In addition, he has experience working with radiant heat systems.  He also has been the lead person in a number of his past positions.  Jeff is looking for a new opportunity and would be a great addition to a company.