A.R. Mazzotta - Connecticut Employment Specialists

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 ($19.23/hr., based on a 40 hr. work week), 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 provide a hassle-free way to lower costs, reduce burnout and improve the productivity of your direct staff.

A.R. Mazzotta Employment Specialists – Connecticut’s Staffing Economics Experts

Need help assessing the cost of a staffing strategy?  Contact A.R. Mazzotta today.  Our experts will work with you to determine the most productive and cost-effective ways 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.

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 A.R. Mazzotta.  Avoid the pitfalls of salary negotiations by using our Recruiting Services for Direct Hire.  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.

According to a worldwide survey of senior managers, years of staff cutbacks have undermined trust in the workplace.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s new report, titled “Companies at the Crossroads,” recommends that to restore that trust, companies must put their employees first  – or risk experiencing deep talent erosion and sustained underperformance as the global economy recovers.

Here are some key statistics from the December 2009 report:

• 29% of business executives surveyed said employee engagement is low – and that they expect to lose key people as talent demand grows.
• 41% of respondents cite a shortage of talent in their organization.
• 44% of executives surveyed said they find it increasingly difficult to recruit talented employees.
• 50% of respondents plan to ramp up recruitment in 2010, with only 18% freezing headcounts.

The survey found that while executives understand the need to focus on their talent, greater action is needed to develop sound talent management strategies for the future.  Low trust among mid-level employees, coupled with low graduate recruitment and an ongoing demand for senior executive talent, is creating a “perfect storm” for businesses:  the most talented employees may be headed out the door, with fresh talent not yet recruited.

Bottom line, these trends can have a serious impact on your business as the economy recovers.  A.R. Mazzotta Employment Specialists is prepared to help.  We proactively recruit to ensure you always have immediate access to the skilled, talented and reliable individuals you need – especially when that talent becomes hard to find.  Visit our website to find out what we can do 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

A.R. Mazzotta Employment Specialists can deliver the talented office, professional, technical and industrial staff you need to create an empowered workplace.

“I’m sorry, but all I can do is verify this person’s name, title and dates of employment.”

Sound familiar?

These days, getting an honest and reliable reference can be a real challenge.  HR is cautious.  Supervisors are too busy.  And often, the references a candidate has provided are afraid or unwilling to give honest feedback.  So how can you improve the results of your next reference check?

Beyond the standard length of employment/position/job responsibilities questions, here are a few unexpected ones you can try asking.  Designed to start conversations, these open-ended questions may entice a reference to “drop his guard,” and help you solicit more candid feedback:

1. Did the candidate ask your permission to be a reference for him?
2. What was his greatest strength?  Weakness?
3. What circumstances frustrated him the most?
4. How well did the candidate manage time?  Pressure?  Crises?
5. What did he learn during his time with your company?
6. If you could give him a single career suggestion, what would it be?
7. What was his biggest accomplishment while working for your company?
8. Would you rehire this person?  Why or why not?
9. Is there anything else I haven’t asked that you would like to share with me?

Thankfully, you don’t need to ask questions like these when you work with A.R. Mazzotta Employment Specialists.  You can rest assured that every candidate we refer has been carefully screened, tested and reference-checked for you.  To learn more about the measures we take to ensure candidate quality, please visit our website.

We at A.R. Mazzotta Employment Services send you wishes for a safe, happy, healthy, and prosperous 2010.

Happy New Year!

The current economy has driven down revenues dramatically.

This is not a newsflash, of course, but a harsh reality that has triggered sweeping changes to workforce plans – plans to increase capabilities, reduce costs, and survive the economic chaos that’s likely to linger into 2010.

If your company is struggling in the current economy, here are five key action steps you should consider adding to your workforce plan:

1.  Reduce labor costs and/or headcount. 

Identify which key positions, key individuals, and key skill sets will have the most business impact during the next two years.  Once you prioritize, you can then focus on retention, redeployment, and development efforts for the most impactful positions.

Develop ways to reduce labor costs and headcount in lower priority positions.  Ideas include:  mock or temporary layoffs; designating lower priority positions as “contingent labor” positions; labor wage arbitrage; and flexible outsourcing.

2.  Redeploy key employees.

Create a proactive redeployment process to move your top performers and highly skilled individuals into the units and jobs where they can have the greatest impact.  You should strive to have your best and brightest:

• doing what they do best;
• with the right skill set for the job and business unit;
• with the right tools, resources, and motivators;
• with the right manager; and
• with the right teammates.

3.  Retain key employees.

Tough times will not automatically cause your top employees to value security over external opportunity.  And just because you’re not hiring, it doesn’t mean your competitors aren’t targeting your very best.  So make retention a priority even during a downturn.

First, identify the things that excite and frustrate your key workers.  Then provide a plan for increasing their level of excitement, challenge, learning, and opportunity within the firm.  Finally, develop a “bad manager identification program,” because bad managers are the number one cause of employee turnover.

4.  Reinvigorate your succession plan.

If your firm has experienced hiring freezes or layoffs, it has made itself vulnerable to a future talent pool gap.  By failing to hire and develop talent, there may not be enough internal talent to fill future leadership positions once growth begins again.

The best course of action in this case is to maximize your talent pool, hiring top performers while simultaneously releasing below-average employees.  This approach will foster employee development and minimize the potential for a future talent gap.

5.  Prepare to “explode out of the box.”

Ensure you have sufficient talent to capitalize on the upturn by retaining your best recruiters and having them focus on:  developing Web 2.0 recruiting tools; maintaining employee referral programs; updating your employment branding.

Develop a “boomerang” program that maintains relationships with the very best employees you’ve had to release during the recession.  Staying in touch may allow you to rehire some of the proven talent you’ve lost once business improves.

Free Workforce Planning Consultation

During times of uncertainty, workforce planning is absolutely essential.  Be prepared – not surprised – by contacting A.R. Mazzotta today to schedule a free workforce consultation.  Our employment experts will:

• forecast your talent needs;
• examine your talent supply;
• help HR align the two by providing the right staffing and support services;
• prepare your business to “explode out of the box” once the upturn hits.

As managers, we intuitively know that giving and getting honest feedback is essential to our professional growth.  It’s also integral to building successful organizations.  So why is it that many of us put off giving feedback to our employees?  Maybe it’s because we’re afraid of negative outcomes.

Here are some common feedback mistakes:

• Speaking out only when things are wrong.
• Providing generic praise without specifics or an honest underpinning.
• Waiting until performance or behavior is substantially below expectations before acting on it.
• Giving negative feedback in public.
• Criticizing performance without giving suggestions for improvement.
• Not conducting regular performance reviews.

Clearly, giving and receiving constructive feedback is a skill that must be honed.  Developing proficiency in this area is essential to building good relationships with, and motivating peak performance from, your team.  To help get you started, here are four tips for providing feedback that produces more positive outcomes:

1. Be proactive.  Nip issues in the bud and avoid messy interpersonal tangles that result from neglected communication.  If you meet with employees regularly to give feedback, it conveys that their success is important to you, and that you want to be accessible to them.
2. Be specific.  Although it’s not easy to provide negative feedback, it’s important to be as clear as possible by giving specific examples that illustrate your point.  Instead of saying, “Your attitude is bad,” say, “When you miss deadlines, then cross your arms and look away when I discuss it with you, it gives me the impression that you don’t care about the quality of your work.  Can you help me understand this?”
3. Develop a progress plan.  Be clear about the specific changes in behavior that you expect in a specific period of time, and follow up as scheduled.
4. Link employees’ performance to organizational goals.  Reinforce the value of your employees’ contributions by giving specific examples of how their work and positive behaviors serve the organization and its customers.

At A.R. Mazzotta, we understand and appreciate the value of constructive feedback.  So we’d like to hear from you.  Please contact us with your questions, comments, and suggestions.