Berks & Beyond Blog

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.

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.

Tips for Successful Salary Negotiations

Congratulations!  You’ve found a superstar with the ideal skills, personality and experience for the position.

But you still have one hurdle to overcome – salary negotiations.  Landing the cream of the crop without blowing your personnel budget can be tricky.  To help, here is a quick list of strategies for negotiating salary with high performers:

1. Have the right mindset.  Negotiation is a process, not a war.  At all costs, avoid the pitfalls of the “us vs. him/her” mentality.  Instead, enter the salary negotiation process open-minded, with the ultimate goal of hiring the best possible candidate for your company.
2. Do your homework.  Rest assured your candidate will have done his.  Before heading into negotiations, prepare yourself by:  reviewing the candidate’s salary history; consulting relevant salary surveys; knowing what your competitors are paying; understanding current market and economic conditions; factoring in cost-of-living differences; and developing a comprehensive compensation package.
3. Use a negotiating point person.  In multiple interview situations, a candidate may ask salary questions of more than one interviewer.  Be prepared.  Prevent potentially catastrophic communication errors by designating a single person to discuss and negotiate salary with a candidate.
4. Never lowball a candidate if there is a good fit.  A top candidate knows what he’s/she’s worth.  If you lowball him/her in an attempt to save a few dollars, he/she will likely be insulted and reject the offer without even countering.
5. Sell the intangibles.  Identify a candidate’s “hot buttons” – intangibles which are just as important to him/her as money.  Leverage these intangibles (e.g. company culture, stability, challenging work, opportunity for advancement, flexible hours, etc.) to sweeten the deal when your pay range is maxed out.
6. Be up-front if you can’t negotiate.  If your initial offer is not negotiable (because of budgetary or other constraints), tell the candidate when making the offer.  If possible, provide an explanation.  The candidate will understand that your base salary offer is firm, and will then move on to negotiating other parts of the compensation package.

Work with Berks & Beyond Employment Services.  Avoid the pitfalls of salary negotiations by using our direct hire staffing services.  We can handle every step of the process from initial screening through salary negotiations, to ensure you land a top performer without breaking the bank.

Have you ever bought something on impulse?  Ever wonder what attracted you to the item in the first place?

Whatever the reason, something about the way that product was marketed created a strong attraction in you – strong enough to make you act.

In many ways, job postings are a lot like the impulse items we all buy on occasion.  As a manager, you must ensure that the announcements you write compel the candidates you seek to take action – even if they aren’t actively seeking new jobs.

To help you in this arena, use these tips for creating irresistible job postings that are magnets for talent:

1. Tell a story to stir emotions.  Rather than beginning with dry job requirements, focus on the ways your company’s products or services impact customers’ lives, or draw from client testimonials.  Write about the way your business makes people feel, and use this to create a compelling image of your company and the available position.
2. Approach the posting from the job seeker’s perspective.  Top candidates are more interested in what a position offers them personally – high earning potential, intellectual challenge, recognition, etc. – than in your company’s business strategy.  Ensure your job posting addresses these needs by first highlighting the rewards of the position.
3. Emphasize your company’s strengths.  Everyone wants to work for a successful organization.  Put your company’s best foot forward by identifying strengths such as: organizational growth, industry track record, competitive advantages of your products/services, positive corporate culture, financial stability, awards and/or recognition.
4. Convey a sense of optimism.  Potential candidates are quick to form judgments about your company based on the tone of your listing.  Use positive language to turn downsides into opportunities (e.g., a decline in profits signals a need for innovation).
5. Keep it short.  Details are great, but a passive job seeker won’t take the time to read a lengthy listing that drones on and on like Charlie Brown’s teacher.  So as a general rule, limit job postings to two or three pages.
6. Avoid overused buzzwords and transparent euphemisms.  For the savvy job seeker, buzzwords do little to differentiate your company – so use them sparingly (balancing the need for SEO when postings are online).  Likewise, steer clear of inflating job titles (e.g., listing a coffee gopher as a Beverage Production Manager) that will only rob your company of both clout and credibility.
7. Use your in-house writing talent.  A job posting is a marketing piece.  If you’re not a Twain or Grisham by nature, enlist your marketing department’s help.  Provide them with the nuts and bolts of the job (as well as this post) and let them craft a compelling posting for you.

Attracting top talent is both time-consuming and expensive – so why do it on your own?  Call Berks and Beyond with your job specifications, and allow us to find the best temporary and direct placement candidates for you.

As a manager, you know that empowered employees:

• have the authority, and take the initiative, to make sound business decisions;
• are energetic, passionate and committed to doing a great job;
• are creative and innovative problem solvers;
• continually strive to improve quality, productivity and morale;

all because they feel personally rewarded for doing so.

But while the benefits of empowerment are clear, the steps to creating an empowered workplace may not be.  Use these quick tips to get your business started on the right path:

1. Understand what empowerment really is.  Empowerment isn’t something you do to people.  It’s an environment you create by giving employees goals, information, feedback, training and positive reinforcement.
2. Identify an opportunity for empowerment.  Start small.  Create a work team by selecting a few key employees who have the right skills, knowledge and resources to complete a small test project.  This project should be challenging enough to allow your staff to grow and take on additional responsibilities.
3. Set clear expectations.  Let your employees know what to do and how to do it.  Factors to consider include:  deadlines, channels for sharing information, methods for delegating authority, and ways to check progress / measure success.
4. Provide decision-making guidelines.  Provide clear instructions for when and how to make good decisions.  Explain when it’s okay to the take initiative and when employees should check with team members first.
5. Encourage open communication.  Information sharing is a critical component of an empowered workplace.  Create an atmosphere in which employees feel comfortable expressing concerns and sharing new ideas.
6. Establish accountability.  Provide the advice, perspective and guidance your team needs, but require them to create and manage their own solutions.  If mistakes are made, do not step in and fix them – use them as opportunities for employees to learn.
7. Let go.  Tough as it may be, don’t micromanage.  Once you’ve established clear expectations and guidelines for the project, it’s time to take your hands off the wheel.
8. Provide positive reinforcement.  For empowerment to permanently take hold in your organization, your employees have to want to do it.  So celebrate the successes (however small) your employees have while working on the test project.  Provide the feedback they need to feel respected and valued in their efforts.
9. Review results, then take it to the next level.  Once the project is complete, assemble your team for a debriefing.  How did the group do?  What worked?  What didn’t?  Use the lessons learned to develop a more comprehensive plan for getting your whole company on the road to empowerment.

An Empowered Workplace Starts with Great People

Berks & Beyond can deliver the talented office, industrial, professional, technical and skilled trades employees you need to create an empowered workplace.

Complaints.  Conflicts.  Crises.

As managers, we all have days when we want to just close the office doors and shut ourselves off from our employees.  But as tempting as it sounds, adopting a “do not disturb” management style comes at a price.  Over time, isolating yourself from your staff can lead to disconnected and resentful employees, lowered productivity and a toxic corporate culture.

Fortunately, you can easily avoid management pitfalls like these by staying approachable.  Use the following quick tips to keep your team happy, motivated and working for you:

• Leave your door open.  A manager who does most of his or her work behind closed doors can leave employees feeling alienated and cut-off.  So even if it means additional distractions, try to keep your office door wide open whenever possible.
• Chat up your staff.  Create an environment where workers feel you take an interest in them beyond the work they do.  A simple “Good morning, how was your weekend?” will make employees feel like you care.  If they believe you care, they’ll regard you with more respect and perform better for you.
• Set your staff up for success.  As much as possible, give employees sufficient lead-time to complete projects or tasks.  Ensure that all assignments are explained carefully.  Specify what needs to be done, by whom and within what time frame.  Make yourself available for guidance when needed, and answer employees’ questions in a way that will help them accomplish the goals you have set for them.
• Don’t punish the messenger.  Let your staff members know that they can come to you with potential problems, as well as suggestions on how to improve their processes.  Show them you realize that because they’re the ones on the front lines, doing the day-to-day work, they have valuable insights into what’s really going on.

Our Door is Always Open

Do you have a staffing question or concern?  Contact us today.  At Berks and Beyond, you can always approach us for the expert staffing advice and information you need.

Question:  What’s the one thing you can do to motivate employees, build camaraderie, and strengthen leadership – all while helping your staff understand company goals and vision?

Answer:  Hold a team-building event.  It’s a great way to boost the morale and spirit of any group.  And (despite the collective groan I can hear echoing through cyberspace) they CAN be fun.  Just follow these seven simple steps to make sure that your event is a success and not a flop:

1. Get out of the office.  If each day looks pretty much the same for your employees, shake things up a bit.  Conduct your event off-site.  A change of scenery will refresh, recharge, and reenergize your staff (and minimize distractions).
2. Generate excitement before the event.  Encourage full buy-in by using internal communication to get everyone interested.  Use e-mails, memos, your website, bulletin boards, etc. to arouse curiosity and generate enthusiasm.
3. Mix it up.  To stimulate interest and involvement throughout the day, divide your program into several sessions including work, play, and socializing.  End the day with a mealtime activity, awards ceremony, or happy hour.  Remember to include activities that are fun and relaxing, as well as frequent breaks, so your staff can recharge.
4. Get up and move around.  Games and outdoor challenges are an excellent way to encourage team cohesiveness.  They will allow your team to burn off some energy while building trust and respect among members.  Try a ropes course, a hike, or other trust-building games.
5. Record your memories.  To make a lasting impression and extend the program’s impact, document your day.  Hire a photographer, make a video, or take pictures yourself.  After the event, hand out pictures or highlight the event in your company newsletter or on your website.
6. Allow time to process and reflect.  Throughout the day, discuss new learning and how it applies to specific jobs as well as the company.  Games and activities will be of better use if you allow your team to reflect on the purpose and meaning behind each.
7. Solicit feedback.  At the end of the day, ask participants to complete a simple survey.  It’s a great way to find out what employees liked (and didn’t like) and garner recommendations for the next event.

Let Us Help You Build a Better Team

At Berks and Beyond, we have the resources and staffing services to make your team even stronger.  Contact us today to learn more.

Here’s an attention-grabber for you:

According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, on average, every time a small-business owner gets taken to court – win, lose, or draw – the cost is more than $100,000.

Not interested in that hit to your bottom line?  You’re not alone.  In fact, entrepreneurs place fear of litigation near the top of their list of business worries.  And rightfully so – we live in a sue-happy society.

So what’s a responsible executive to do?  Well when it comes to employee litigation, an ounce of prevention can go a long way.  This list will help you head-off the managerial mistakes that commonly lead to employee lawsuits.

1. Make better hires.  Nip personnel problems in the bud by ensuring marginal employees and perpetual complainers are never hired.  Train hiring managers to interview aggressively, asking questions that will bring out potentially “toxic” traits (e.g., lack of respect for authority).  Consider including integrity and personality tests to ensure a good culture fit; or, hire a recruiting or staffing service to conduct behavioral hiring assessments for you.
2. Put it in writing.  From employment contracts to performance evaluations to disciplinary actions, documentation is invaluable.  Protect yourself by mandating a written record policy, requiring all documents to be signed by both employer and employee.
3. Take employee complaints seriously.  While it’s important to hit numbers and meet deadlines, it’s equally critical to hear out a complaining employee.  So encourage your employees to come forward with complaints without fear of retribution.  Address problems early to prevent them from festering.
4. Train managers.  Conflicts between employee and manager are among the most common causes of employee lawsuits.  To protect your company, make sure managers are formally trained on ways to avoid and investigate sexual harrassment, workplace discrimination, and other employment quagmires.
5. Take a walk in your employee’s shoes.  When a serious problem arises, it’s human nature to assume you’re in the right.  But to head-off trouble, take a step back and try to view the situation from the employee’s point of view.  What is he feeling?  What are his motivations?  You may gain a new perspective on the problem and find a way to resolve it – without going to court.
6. Keep employee feedback objective.  Relate praises and criticisms, rewards and disciplines to the job and not the person.  Praise an employee for hitting sales targets, not for being young and aggressive.  Criticize an employee for failing to meet a deadline, not for being lazy.  Feedback that characterizes the employee, rather than evaluating performance, may become fodder for a lawsuit.
7. Be prepared for the inevitable.  Despite your best efforts, a litigious employee may still find something to sue you about.  So be ready for him – and carry good insurance.  Meet with an attorney to review your company’s risks, identify coverage gaps, and recommend appropriate insurance.  While these measures may not keep an employee from suing you, they may save you thousands of dollars in legal costs and judgments against you.

Learn more.

Contact Berks & Beyond today to find out how our temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct hire services can further reduce your risk of employee litigation.