Berks & Beyond Blog

Any staffing service can claim they’re the best, or that they’ll find you the right job opportunity.  But we’re not just “any staffing service.”  So, we thought we’d go straight to the source – and show you what our employees have to say about their experiences with Berks & Beyond:

York

“Berks and Beyond has been the primary force of my success in finding and maintaining employment.  Not only did they professionally jump right in and find the right job, but continuously kept me updated on better opportunities.  Each and every client has a personal relationship with Berks and Beyond.  I can respectfully say Berks and Beyond has treated me like family from the start.  Thank you Berks and Beyond!”

Sincerely,

Haile Danzler

York

“Dear Bonnetta:

I just wanted to once again say thanks for everything.  You really followed up and worked hard to find a job/career match for me.

You made it happen.

I want you to know that although you may think it is part of your job, you did go above and beyond.  Most agencies would not continue to follow up as you and your team of professional employees did.  I know that God will continue to bless you and your family for your kind heart and caring personality.  You have made a difference in my life, when I thought there was no where else to turn you and your team opened up the doors of opportunity for me and for that I am truly grateful…

I just want you to know I appreciate it so much and may God Bless you for that.   Have a nice day and stay sweet.”

Thank you,

Kenneth Lund

Pottstown

“At a previous employer, I did not feel like I was part of a team.  Working at Berks & Beyond focuses on excellence and teamwork.  Their approach is friendly, flexible and a very can-do attitude.  The staff is very nice and helpful, and I enjoy working with them.  In my position, no day is exactly like the day before and my job is not boring.  I have never worked for a staffing agency before, but I really enjoy it and have broadened my horizon.  Thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity.”

Michael Houck

Write Your Own Success Story with Berks and Beyond

Contact a Berks & Beyond recruiter today.  We’ll match your skills, experience and interests with the perfect job opportunity in the York, Pottstown, Allentown, Reading or Harrisburg areas.

These days, with a greater number of candidates vying for the same openings in your company, you may find yourself having to say “No” more often.  Needless to say, writing rejection letters can be an unpleasant and stressful part of the hiring process.

But even when you can’t offer a job applicant the position, you can still end the interview process on a positive note.  Here are some quick tips for writing candidate rejection letters in a constructive way, to build good will with candidates and position your company as an employer of choice:

• Send out the rejection letter promptly.  If you’re certain you will not be hiring the individual, let him know that he was not selected as soon as possible.  Even when the news is bad, your timely follow-up will convey a high level of professionalism.
• Always use formal company letterhead for a rejection letter and never handwrite it.
• Address your candidate by name.  Further customize the letter with the position for which he applied, as well as a supportive comment about the applicant’s qualifications, experience or enthusiasm.  Although a rejection letter is basically a form letter, your candidate shouldn’t feel as though it is.
• Be direct, but gracious.  Make it clear that there were other candidates more qualified for the job, but do so in a respectful way.
• When appropriate, encourage further action.  If the candidate is a good culture fit, and may be qualified for other openings with your company, say so.  Encourage him to stay in touch and apply again.
• Always end on a positive note.  Thank the candidate for applying and interviewing.  Wish him good luck in his career development.  Remember, this may be the final impression this individual has of your company – make sure it’s a favorable one.
• Close the letter formally with “Sincerely,” or “Best wishes,” and sign your name.

Don’t want to write rejection letters? 

Call Berks & Beyond, a leading Central and Southern PA staffing firm, with your direct placement needs.  We’ll handle every step of the process – from recruiting to testing and initial interviews - and only present you with the most qualified candidates.  If you decide not to hire an individual we refer, just let us know and we’ll take care of the rest.

Looking for a tinsel-free way to celebrate July 25th right here in Berks County?  Check out Incendio, who will perform this Sunday at the Gring’s Mill Amphitheater in Wyomissing:

Berks County 2010 Summer Concert Series – Incendio

Back by popular demand, this LA-based Latin guitar world fusion group (that’s a mouthful) features a unique alchemy of composition, technique and performance.  At the heart their music is the bold, romantic Spanish guitar, its timeless sound recast in powerful modern arrangements.  This concert is FREE and open to the public.  Bring your lawn chairs and blankets.  Refreshments will be available.  No rain date.  Click here for more information on Berks County’s 2010 Summer Concert Series.

Keeping your résumé current is important to your continued career development.  But unless you’re actively looking for a job, the daily demands of life, home and work can easily push this updating process down on your priority list.  If you haven’t reviewed your résumé in over a year, here are just a few good reasons why you should take a fresh look at it:

• Even if you’re currently employed, you never know when an attractive job opening may present itself.  A current résumé can help you capitalize on an unexpected opportunity – before someone else has the chance.
• Over time, your important achievements and contributions may be forgotten.  Regular updating ensures that critical, measurable accomplishments are accurately recorded.
• In many cases, your résumé creates a first and lasting impression on a potential employer.  Make sure it’s a good one.  By periodically reviewing and honing your résumé, you can create a more powerful marketing tool that accurately and favorably represents you as a professional.

Use these tips to make your résumé update simple and comprehensive:

1. Review personal information (address, e-mail, LinkedIn URL, etc.) to ensure everything is up-to-date.
2. Review your oldest job.  If it’s no longer relevant, and you have at least 10 years of documented work history without it, remove it.
3. Update your responsibilities and accomplishments.  Consider the following:  special projects; new expertise developed or job responsibilities awarded; knowledge or skills enhancement from special training or professional development; awards or other recognition; challenges you faced and solutions developed; measurable results you helped achieved (e.g., eliminating process inefficiencies, increasing productivity or sales, improving staffing or operational performance, etc.).
4. Revist your objective statement.  If it is not in line with your current career aspirations, rewrite it.  The statement can be general, but should show some direction toward the field in which you want to work.
5. Reevaluate your references.  Verify that these individuals still work where you have noted and that contact information for each is correct.  If you have developed new contacts who can attest to your recent achievements or heightened responsibility, consider replacing them with outdated references.
6. Update your résumé format.  Check online sample résumés to see if yours looks outdated and revise accordingly.  Additionally, you should create an electronic version of your résumé if you don’t already have one.
7. Proofread everything.  Sloppy spelling, grammar and punctuation may take you out of the running immediately.  If you’re not proficient in proofreading, ask a trusted friend or associate to help.

Looking for a better career opportunity in Southern or Central Pennsylvania?  Contact a Berks & Beyond Recruiter.  We have a wide variety of temporary and direct hire opportunities in the office/clerical, light industrial, accounting / finance, engineering, human resources, management, agricultural and skilled trades sectors.

The Problem:

An Allentown manufacturing firm was using three staffing agencies to supply general warehouse laborers for a specific number of positions.  The company was experiencing high turnover in these positions and their staffing suppliers were not consistently checking their employees’ criminal backgrounds as promised.

Despite communicating the vital role criminal background checks played in this manufacturer’s organization, as well as the problem turnover was causing, the manufacturer was not getting what they needed from their current staffing firms.

The Solution:

Berks & Beyond worked under a 30-day trial period, allowing this customer to evaluate the way we serviced their account.  We consistently completed criminal background checks, according to the client’s specifications, for every candidate who accepted an assignment with them.  We also let this customer know they could audit us at any time to verify our process.

The Results:

Now that the trial period is over, this client definitely gets what they need from Berks & Beyond.  Every candidate is routinely screened according to the manufacturer’s specifications, and turnover has gone down.  In fact, since we began placing our employees there, we have had only one person turnover!

“Berks & Beyond has served our needs in a timely manner and completed everything as promised.  Turnover is under control, which is what we needed, as well as background checks being done finally the way we needed them.  Berks & Beyond is professional and I would recommend them to anyone looking for consistency.”

–Shipping Manager

Write Your Own Staffing Success Story

Contact Berks & Beyond today to find out how we can deliver real Results at Work for your organization.

You’ve just won a three-month contract with a major new client – congratulations!  Now, you need to figure out how to get the extra work done. 

Should you pay your current employees overtime, or bring in temporary help?  Consider the following sample cost analysis.  It is based on an annual salary of $40,000 ($20.51/hr.), vs. time-and-one-half overtime, for one employee:

Cost Analysis

Although this is just a sample exercise for illustration purposes, it clearly demonstrates the economic rationale for using temporary employees.  When you need additional productive hours on a temporary basis, staffing services can lower costs, reduce burnout and improve the productivity of your direct staff.

Berks & Beyond - The Lehigh Valley’s Staffing Economics Experts

Need help assessing the cost of a staffing strategy?  Contact Berks & Beyond.  Our experts will work with you to determine the most productive and cost-effective way to get your work done.

Cost Analysis Assumptions

* Temporary staffing rates vary by market, but the relationship (ratio) between pay rates remains the same.

** Fringe benefits include:  holiday pay, sick leave, vacation pay, personal days, insurance, F.I.C.A., S.U.I., F.U.T.A., worker’s compensation, etc., based on a national average of 31%.

*** Based on U.S. Chamber of Commerce national average statistic of 12%, which includes firms that pay no benefits.  For small firms with moderate benefits programs, this cost is typically 40-45% of payroll, and for larger firms with extensive benefits programs, the cost can be up to 100% or more of payroll.

The following top candidates are highly skilled, motivated and ready to go to work for you:

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Candidate Initials:  P. M.

Skills and Experience:  With over 20 years of experience in the food industry, this articulate, knowledgeable professional has documented success with increasing productivity, improving process management, managing labor costs and increasing sales.  Well-versed in occupational safety and worker’s compensation; willing to do whatever it takes to run plant operations more efficiently.

Certifications:  Coaching lift truck operators; Advanced Safety from the National Safety Council; OSHA and others.

Desired Pay:  $40,000/yr.

To learn more about this candidate, please contact Allison in our Reading office at Allison@berksandbeyond.com or call 610.376.9675.

CUSTOMER SERVICE PROFESSIONAL 

Candidate Initials:  J. O.

Skills and Experience:  Proven customer service abilities include:  handling inbound and outbound calls; accurately defining client problems; developing solutions with satisfactory response times.  Was responsible for the advancement of client-partner relationships, by providing clients with current data on all new promotional products to ensure sales growth and develop stronger business plans.  Strong computer skills.

Education/Licensing:  LCCC – Liberal Arts; Pasadena City College – Liberal Arts / Business; Pennsylvania State License for Accident & Health.

Desired Pay:  $11/hr.

To learn more about this candidate, please contact Katie in our Allentown office at Katie@berksandbeyond.com or call 610.435.9270.

An effective mentoring program provides a wide range of business benefits:

• Facilitated onboarding.  Mentoring speeds up the process of bringing on new hires as well as redeploying existing employees into new lines of work.
• Increased employee satisfaction and retention.  Research has shown that employees who participate in mentoring programs have higher job satisfaction and reduced turnover.
• Improved employee productivity.  When employees are mentored, they can get answers to common problems quickly – without wasting time on rediscovering or re-inventing solutions.
• Effective career growth / succession planning.  Mentoring programs help employees reach their full career potential, grooming them to fill key roles as part of an organization’s succession plan.
• Knowledge management and retention.  Mentoring promotes effective knowledge sharing, to reduce the risk of losing critical skills and knowledge when employees leave.

Obviously, mentors can play an important role in ensuring your company’s continued success.  But while identifying a budding protégé may be straightforward, identifying a potential mentor can be more complex.  Whether that person is you, one of your managers, or an outside expert, a mentor should possess the following professional and personal attributes:

1. Senior-level business experience.  To provide guidance, the expert should have several years experience working in senior corporate positions.  At a minimum, the expert should be a professional peer to the protégé.
2. Interpersonal and political “know-how.”  The expert ought to be proficient in handling all sorts of complex interpersonal dynamics within the context of office politics.  To be an effective trainer, the expert must be able to help the protégé navigate the tricky political waters of his organization.
3. Integrity and confidentiality.  Professional development involves discussing high-level, strategic, off-the-record information, as well as sensitive personal issues.  Honesty and discretion are essential when broaching these confidential topics.
4. Organizational and personal insight.  The expert must have an in-depth understanding of the company’s objectives, needs and hierarchy.  Equally, he must also appreciate the protégé’s strengths, weaknesses and goals.  To achieve professional development goals, the trainer must align both the company’s and the protégé’s interests.
5. Flexibility and ingenuity.  When egos, ambitions and agendas collide, sparks fly.  What works for an organization one day may be thrown out the window the next.  An expert trainer must be able to shift gears, develop solutions on the fly, throw out tactics that prove ineffective and come up with new ones – fast.  He must be comfortable dealing with uncertainty to navigate a corporate environment rife with change.

Need a promising protégé?  Looking for your next mentor? Contact us today.  As a leading Lehigh Valley staffing service, Berks and Beyond can provide the talented individuals your organization needs.

Do you need to reorganize your work space?  If you’re not sure, ask yourself:

• Do your employees have sufficient space to complete their work?
• Is your workplace healthy, providing clean air and water, enough light (natural or artificial) and an environment free of distracting noises and smells?
• Is the workspace flexible enough to quickly adjust to industry-related changes?
• Are workers able to maintain comfort by adjusting light, temperature, furnishings and acoustic levels to their needs?
• Are your technology and physical plant (heating, cooling, water, plumbing) systems reliable?

If you answered “No” to one or more of these questions, your workplace may benefit from an update.  Here are some important points to consider before you start:

• Define the Image You Want to Project.  What would you like employees, potential and current clients to think and feel when they step inside your workplace?  Use this as a backdrop against which improvements will be made.
• Size up your Current Space.  What really goes on in your workplace each day?  Take a step back and examine how your space is used right now:

Layout.  How well does your existing floor plan function?  Shadow different types of employees to determine whether the layout helps or hinders them in their efforts to get work done. 

Usage.  How evenly is your space utilized?  Stop by cubicles, offices and conference rooms every half-hour to uncover areas that are chronically empty or overcrowded.

Workarounds.  Do employees use their space, furnishings and equipment as intended?  Examine your environment to see if it supports or thwarts employees’ work processes.

• Involve Your Staff.  Getting employee feedback on dysfunctional workspace elements is vital to your efforts; however, asking employees what they want may lead to unrealistic demands (not everyone can have a corner office with a built-in coy pond).  Gather employee input throughout the redesign process, but remind them that the new design will beneficial (not perfect) for everyone.
• Look 5 or 10 Years Down the Road.  Do you have plans to expand, merge or move?  Any of these will impact the amount you invest in a current workplace redesign.
• Determine Your Goals.  Once you’ve identified your biggest issues, decide which ones you want to attack.  Choose four or five priorities to address, such as increased collaboration, improved productivity or more efficient use of space.

Need to Reorganize Your WorkFORCE?

Admittedly, we don’t specialize in commercial interior design.  But, we at Berks & Beyond are experts at helping you redesign your workforce.  We can show you how to use staffing to save money, improve productivity and run a “lean and mean” organization.  Contact us today to learn more.

The time and costs associated with recruiting, screening, testing and hiring employees are significant.  So why do it? 

If your personnel needs are short-term, seasonal or project-oriented, consider working with a staffing service.  A staffing firm can provide access to the talent you need, while eliminating many employment related expenses, including:

• Recruiting.  A staffing service can assume responsibility for advertising, posting positions online, screening résumés, interviewing and checking applicant references.  Most will also administer drug testing, when required.
• Training.  Temporary employees come to your firm armed with the skills and experience needed to do the job.  If necessary, many staffing firms will custom-design training and orientation programs to meet your needs.
• Benefits.  A temporary worker is an employee of the staffing firm.  As such, the staffing firm assumes responsibility for any benefits their employee may receive.
• Administration.  By using temporary employees, your HR department eliminates the added headaches associated with payroll processing.  The staffing firm handles all legal and administrative responsibility for payroll processing, paying workers’ compensation and unemployment premiums, and managing tax and government reporting.
• Bad hires.  If you aren’t happy with a temporary employee’s work ethic or performance, you have the right to end the assignment any time.  And if you need a direct hire, consider starting potential employees as temporaries.  This way, you can find out if a new employee has the skills and attitude you need before making a hiring decision.

For more information about our temporary staffing services for Central and Southern Pennsylvania employers, please visit Berks & Beyond’s website.