Organize All Available HR Resources – Whether you have a solo HR manager or an entire team of HR professionals on staff, you will need to put together a plan for using all your resources to their fullest. This includes any outsourced recruitment, screening, or assessment services. Draft a checklist of steps to take with each candidate, including these resources to ensure compliance and efficiency. Set up an online application and a central candidate database.

Use a Candidate Screening and Assessment Product – While the application process may be hammered out in your company, the actual screening and assessment may not be as consistent. An integrated model that works seamlessly with your online application works best. Alternatively, you may also choose to outsource this particular aspect to better narrow down eligible candidates and keep this part of the process objective.

Create an Accurate Candidate Experience – Every aspect of your hiring process should accurately reflect the staffing needs of your company. This means all job descriptions and adverts must be complete and updated. There should be regular checks to make sure that assignments are presented correctly to candidates. The application and screening process should be simple and easy to navigate.

Set Continuous Improvement Goals – As an HR department, you have to set internal metrics to gauge success of your processes. This means you may want to work with a recruitment firm to provide you with the reports and analytics that can help you identify areas of weakness and strength. Take the time to periodically review your progress to make improvements and changes throughout the year.

Running an effective human resource department takes ongoing work and a commitment to excellence. When it comes to your recruiting, screening, and hiring practices, a professional recruitment agency like Portico Staffing can support these processes to reduce costs and improve results. 

The post 4 Tips for an Optimized Candidate Screening and Hiring Process appeared first on Portico Staffing Blog.

So why is it so hard to find great managers? 

In First, Break All the Rules…What the Word’s Best Managers Do Differently, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman of the Gallup Organization present the remarkable findings of their massive in-depth study of great managers across a wide variety of situations. Some were in leadership positions. Others were front-line supervisors. Some were in Fortune 500 companies; others were key players in small, entrepreneurial companies. Whatever their situations, the managers who ultimately became the focus of Gallup’s research were invariably those who excelled at turning each employee’s talent into performance.

Buckingham and Coffman the best managers select an employee for talent rather than for skills or experience; how they set expectations for him or her — they define the right outcomes rather than the right steps; how they motivate people — they build on each person’s unique strengths rather than trying to fix his weaknesses; and, finally, how great managers develop people — they find the right fit for each person, not the next rung on the ladder. And perhaps most important, this research — which initially generated thousands of different survey questions on the subject of employee opinion — finally produced the twelve simple questions that work to distinguish the strongest departments of a company from all the rest. This book is the first to present this essential measuring stick and to prove the link between employee opinions and productivity, profit, customer satisfaction, and the rate of turnover.

Offer!  We thought this book was great so we bought ten copies for our clients.  Send me an e-mail with the words “break all the rules” in the subject line and we will deliver a copy to you while supplies last.  First come, first served!  Thank you for your business! 

Katie Roth, Owner

Katie@porticostaffing.com

The post First, Break All The Rules…What the World’s Best Managers Do Differently appeared first on Portico Staffing Blog.

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When is the last time you’ve carefully looked over your resume from the perspective of a hiring manager? In today’s very competitive job market, it’s important that you take the time to update both the content and the format of your resume. This can help hiring managers quickly identify what makes you unique as a candidate, and get you into more interviews.

Tips for Creating an Attractive Resume

• Use a professional format.  Your resume should be designed on an updated resume template, which is available through your word processing software library. Transfer your employment data to the new format, and update the achievements you have made

• Keep it simple.  In the past, resumes were long detailed documents that listed every aspect of a candidate’s qualifications. However, today the average recruiter spends all of 30 seconds looking each resume over, so make it count. Stick to the basics and leave the details for the interview.

• Focus above the fold.  It’s long been understood that readers start at the top of the page, then their glance travels down and to the right. Advertisers call this area “above the fold”. Take advantage of this and make sure you highlight your best accomplishments and buzz words on the top half of your first page.

• Use white space and page organizers. Go easy on the hiring manager’s eyes by using space in between sections, and using bulleted lists sparingly to include career achievements. This looks better than a bunch of information all crammed into one space.

• Save resume as a PDF file.  While you may have your resume saved in a standard Word format, this can become warped during email and certain application system transmittals. Instead, save it as a PDF format so that it comes out on the other end looking the way you intended it to appear.

During your job search, you may be tempted to create several different versions of your resume, for different job types. Keep your resume simple, clear, and to the point. You’ll have plenty of time to talk about your wonderful skills when you meet with the recruiter in person. 

If you are looking for a boost in your job search strategy, contact the experts at Portico Staffing today!

The post Appearance is Always Important | Even on Your Resume appeared first on Portico Staffing Blog.

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Even if the sailing has been smooth so far, chances are good that you may be making one or more of these common management mistakes with your employees.

1) Complacency

No matter how good things have been going or how great you’re doing as a manager, the worst thing you can do is stop moving forward by getting too comfortable. You must always strive to learn new management techniques and strategies, new ways to build your team, and ways to be a better manager. Otherwise you’re just treading water. Don’t fall into the trap of complacency or you may find yourself quickly replaced.

2) One-Size-Fits-All Management Philosophy

People are different. The people you manage are all unique individuals who require something different from you as a manager. A one-size-fits-all philosophy means you’re not adequately rewarding those who stand out above the rest. It also means you could fail to make accommodations for some employees that would increase productivity because the same accommodations for other employees diminish productivity.

3) Providing Too Little Information to Employees

The flip-side of sharing too much information is providing employees with too little information. Failing to provide any information at all can really lead to rumors that are not only unproductive, but may also lead to unnecessary stress and/or fear among rank and file employees. A little bit of information from you can prevent any unnecessary concerns from taking over the workplace and eliminate rumors.

4) Closed Minded Approach to Management

It’s important to invite open dialogue from your employees. If you aren’t receptive to their input and ideas, it’s easy to miss out on the innovations that are necessary for businesses to grow and succeed. Never ridicule or put down brainstorming efforts of employees and find new and creative ways to award feedback and discourse. Even though what you say ultimately goes, allowing employees to feel as though their contributions are heard and appreciated goes a long way towards building employee morale. More importantly, it will improve your relationship with the people who work for you by creating a team atmosphere.

Mistakes happen along the way. The dividing line that separates good managers from great managers is the willingness to learn from those mistakes so you, and your business, can move forward. If you are looking for any assistance in landing top talent for your organization, contact the staffing experts at Portico Staffing. Portico has the experience and resources to help you land top talent that will contribute to your organization. 

Follow Portico on Facebook for management and HR advice. 

The post 5 Management Mistakes You Might be Making with Your Employees appeared first on Portico Staffing Blog.

• Make a list of your achievements and goals – The purpose of an employee performance review is to go over the projects and tasks that you’ve done well, and those that need some improvement. Take the time to prepare a list of the achievements and projects you’ve completed, and your goals for the coming year.

• Know your shortcomings, but have a plan to succeed – Everyone fails at some things throughout the year, but these can be times for learning and planning for future successes. Write a list of these experiences and have a plan of action for the year ahead. This can include what you will learn and the resources you need to get there.

• Ask for a challenging project to shine – During your review, you will want to be focused on ways to improve your skills and challenge yourself at the same time. If you are ready, ask for a new project that will allow you to bring out your best talents and abilities; a move that will help you impress your manager and add value to your work experience.

The post Performance Review | Tips and Tricks to Prepare appeared first on Portico Staffing Blog.

• Branded profiles – The first rule of mobile recruitment is to make sure you are carefully representing your corporate brand across all channels. Whether you tap into social networks, develop a career directory, or use mobile recruitment apps to post job openings, make sure that the company is displayed in a positive and productive light through branding.

• Video interviews – A great feature of many mobile recruitment technology is the ability to connect with and interview candidates using videos. Try using an app like trying HireVue, which allows face time via all smart phones. This can be a very effective way to screen candidates and then set up virtual interviews with members of your management team who want to learn more about candidates before offering face-to-face interviews.

• Integrate and connect – The great thing about using mobile apps for recruiting is that they are generally hosted on a cloud server, making it easy to use on both the web and mobile devices. Use your apps to build a recruiting network between your career portal and your mobile recruiters. Integrate your social profiles into your mobile job ads. For example, LinkedIn allows recruiters to include a direct link for candidates to apply using their profiles vs. a traditional resume, allowing for more insight.

• Better sourcing – If you are hoping to go after more passive candidates, who fall into the category of being desirable for your company and clients, then using the mobile tool beamMe to introduce yourself to these folks may make sense. Use mobile recruitment tools to search for candidates by keyword, and then reach out to them in a virtual meeting.

• More personalization – As a recruiter, you may be continually trying to find more ways to stand out from the competition. In addition to branding your company, you will want to add personalization of the process so that candidate and clients will learn what you stand for. A great mobile option is JobSpeek which is a free mobile app that allows recruiters to record a 60-second audio message and images that tell others more about them.

The post Mobile Recruiting is Here – Maximizing Mobile Recruiting Tools appeared first on Portico Staffing Blog.

Here are the correct answers:

1. You kiss the Blarney stone for the gift of gab, not good luck.
2. St. Patrick came to Ireland as a slave.
3. If a black cat cross your path by moonlight, watch out for epidemics.
4. If you find a four leaf clover, carry it with you for good luck.
5. St. Patrick’s Day is the luckiest day of the year to get married.

And now for our April contest.  Remember, you can’t win if you don’t play!

1.  A “Monday Morning Surprise” refers to what?
    a.  A claim of injury on the previous Friday
    b.  Your office chair is missing
    c.  A visit from OSHA

2.  What could be slowing down your company’s connection during the last two weeks of March?
    a.  Spring online shopping
    b.  The NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament
    c.  Apprentice re-runs

3.  The U.S. Supreme Court’s first Class Action Fairness Act decision held that:
    a.  A class action must contact at least 200 members
    b.  A class action must have some relation to a perceived abuse
    c.  A class representative cannot prevent removal of a class action by
         agreeing to seek less than $5 million in damages for the class.

4.  According to Mercer’s new Talent Barometer Survey, what percentage of organizations worldwide reported increasing their investment in talent in recent years?

  a.  60 percent
  b.  30 percent
  c.  10 percent

Send your answers to porticocontest@gmail.com.  Correct answers will be put in a drawing and the winner will be announced in our next newsletter.  Happy Spring!   

The post April Contest! appeared first on Portico Staffing Blog.

• 88 percent of all job seekers have at least one social media profile used for career purposes.
• 23 percent of job seekers have been asked to provide their social network profile information in an interview.
• 86 percent of recruiters are likely to research candidates on their social profiles.
• 73 percent of recruiters have successfully hired a candidate they found using social networking.
• 38 percent of job seekers use LinkedIn strategically for job searching reasons.

1. Create a professional LinkedIn profile.  Start with a well-written summary of your key skills and credentials, add a professional photo, and you have the makings of an excellent LinkedIn profile.
2. Add your resume and portfolio. Include your last three jobs, your educational experience, and any special projects you’ve completed. Add a link to any online portfolio items published.
3. Get endorsed by other professionals.  Ask for recommendations and endorsements from your networks, and be sure to return the favor by writing them for others too.
4. Join industry and job seeker groups. Put yourself in the right place by joining LinkedIn groups that are in your area of interests as well as job search groups, where companies frequently look for new talent.
5. Contribute excellent content. A good way to stand out from other job seekers is to take the time to write insightful articles or blog posts on a weekly basis, then post them to your LinkedIn profile for comments.
6. Research jobs and hiring company pages.  The great think about using LinkedIn as part of a job search strategy is that you can use the job boards to look for new assignments, then research each hiring company further on business pages.
7. Get introduced to recruiters.  Take the time to look within your networks to identify possible connections with recruiters at the companies you want to work for, then politely ask to be introduced by a colleague. Be prepared to pitch yourself well to make a good impression.

The post LinkedIn for Job Search | Optimize Your Social Profile appeared first on Portico Staffing Blog.