UNITEMP Blog

The use of credit checks has grown over the last several years.  According to a 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 60 percent of employers used credit reports for some or all of their background checks.

Employers use credit reports as a screening tool for a number of reasons:

• They believe it allows them to predict future behavior based on a candidate’s financial history.
• They are trying to prevent employee theft and assess the applicant’s trustworthiness.
• They want to reduce legal liability and negligent hiring.

But checking a job applicant’s credit is not without its potential drawbacks:

• An applicant who has been unemployed for a long period of time may have no choice but to incur inordinate amounts of debt and fall behind in paying bills.  If the candidate has been out of work for months, that doesn’t necessarily mean he should be disqualified for employment.
• Credit reports fail to provide context.  For example, if debt problems are the result of expensive medical procedures, a low credit score may not indicate anything about future job performance.
• Credit reports are not perfect.  Ambiguous, dated, inaccurate and/or redundant data create the potential for credit score errors.  While these errors are generally minor, employers should be aware that they exist.
• Credit reports may not be relevant for the job in question.  Unless the person you’re hiring will have access to sensitive financial information, make financial decisions or handle money, a candidate’s credit report may be of little significance.

Given the potential benefits, as well as the potential drawbacks, are credit checks a legitimate screening tool?  It depends on whom you ask.

According to Christine Walters, a representative for the SHRM during last October’s EEOC public hearing on the practice, effectiveness and impact of credit checks as a screening tool, “SHRM believes there is a compelling public interest in enabling our nation’s employers – whether that employer is in the government or the private sector – to assess the skills, abilities and work habits of potential hires.”

She and other hearing panelists pointed out that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) of 1970 restricts employer use of credit reports to employment purposes.  Under the law, the employer must give a job candidate the right to defend himself against (including refuting, explaining or correcting) any collected credit information that might weigh against him.

Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney with the National Consumer Law Center in Boston, expressed a different opinion.  Given the state of the economy, she said that using credit history as a screening tool is “a practice that we believe is harmful and unfair to American workers.  The use of credit history for job applicants is especially absurd when you are looking at an unemployment rate of 10 percent and have many workers looking for a job.”

As an employer, you are within your rights to check a job candidate’s credit.  Before you do so, you should consider:

• how relevant the information you’re collecting is to the available position;
• the cost involved versus the benefit to be gained;
• whether or not your internal staff is trained in how to interpret the complex information contained in today’s credit reports;
• whether or not there may be potential adverse effects to checking an applicant’s credit.

Ensure Staffing Success with UNITEMP

Finding the perfect temporary and contract staff for your organization requires experience, in-depth market knowledge and a comprehensive screening process.  UNITEMP combines all of these to ensure staffing success.  Partner with UNITEMP today and connect with New Jersey’s top temporary and contract talent.

How’s business?  The ASA Staffing Index can help you answer this question.

The ASA Staffing Index, developed by the American Staffing Association, provides a current measure of staffing industry employment trends.  Published weekly, the index estimates the weekly changes in the number of people employed in temporary and contract work.

Index numbers are reported just nine days after each work week ends, making it a virtual real-time measure of staffing employment trends.  ASA research shows that staffing employment is a coincident economic indicator and leading employment indicator – especially when the economy is emerging from a recession – making the index especially relevant right now for businesses across the nation.

The ASA Staffing Index also serves as a valuable resource for economists, journalists, analysts, researchers and policy makers who are interested in current trends in staffing employment.  Participants account for more than one-third of industry sales offices.

Two numbers are reported weekly.  The first is the weekly percentage change in staffing employment.  The second is the index itself, which shows staffing employment trends over time.  Both numbers are normally posted on the ASA web site on Tuesday mornings.

This Week’s Staffing Index:

Follow this link to view current ASA Staffing Index data.

Monthly Report – April 2011

Staffing employment in April is 7% higher than in the same month last year, according to the ASA Staffing Index.  The index for April is 92, up one index point from 91 in March, suggesting that U.S. staffing employment has increased 1% over the past month.  Staffing employment is typically lowest during the first few months of each year and grows during the subsequent months.

UNITEMP – In-Step with New Jersey Employers’ Changing Needs

UNITEMP delivers customized temporary and contract staffing solutions to help companies like yours achieve sustained business success as the economy recovers.  What can we do for you?  Contact UNITEMP today.

Value-added services.  Perks.  Extras.  Whatever you call them, they really make a difference in today’s changing job market.  Here are a few key ways the benefits we offer our temporary and contract employees directly benefit you and your organization:

• Attract the best candidates. Today’s job seekers are savvy.  Most know to choose a reputable temporary staffing firm that provides extras like referral bonuses, direct deposit, vacation pay and free online software training.  UNITEMP’s value-added services help us attract, recruit and retain New Jersey’s top talent – and put them to work for you.
  We also realize that talented people usually know other talented people.  For this reason, we also offer unlimited referral bonuses – rewarding our employees for referring other skilled candidates who prove themselves on the job.
• Keep the best candidates. Some staffing services are plagued by extremely high turnover rates, which translate into a “revolving door” of temporaries for their clients.  The value-added services and free online training resources we provide not only attract top candidates, but keep them working for us.  When temporary and contract employees stay with us, they’re much more likely to stay working for you, delivering greater continuity throughout your assignments.
• Ensure workers stay focused and productive. Our employees can qualify for new employee, hours worked and vacation pay bonuses, motivating them to earn the time off they deserve.  When our employees are able to achieve a healthier work/life balance (by earning paid time off), they have better attendance records and stay more focused on the work they do for you.
• Access highly skilled workers. Free online computer training allows employees to develop their software skills – improving their confidence, proficiency and value to your organization.

UNITEMP Value-Added Services – The Right Thing to Do

Admittedly, UNITEMP offers benefits to gain a recruiting advantage and deliver the best results for our clients.  But honestly, the main reason we do it is because it’s just the right thing to do.

Still on the fence about using social media?  Consider these statistics from the recent Cone Business in Social Media Study:

• 93 percent of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites.
• 85 percent believe that these companies should use social media to interact with consumers.
• 60 percent of Americans regularly interact with companies on social media sites.

The truth is, social media can help expand your business network, enhance your career, recruit employees and more.

According to HR expert Susan M. Heathfield, About.com Guide, HR professionals need to participate in social media for career success – and she should know.  She is a management and organization development consultant who specializes in human resources issues and in management development to create forward-thinking workplaces.  Susan is also a professional facilitator, speaker, trainer and writer.

Heathfield’s About.com article “10 Reasons Social Media Should Rock Your World” details the rationale behind making social media time investment mandatory for every HR professional:

1. Stay in touch with colleagues and friends. Social media makes it easier than ever to re-connect with former colleagues, classmates, teachers and other professional contacts.
2. Make it easy for others to find you. Maintain both individual and company profiles to make it simple and convenient for customers, employees and candidates to reach you.
   
3. Find potential job candidates. For example, you can e-mail social media contacts with job requirements and ask them for referrals.
4. Investigate potential career opportunities. If you’re interested in finding a new job, social media sites like LinkedIn can be invaluable in your search.  You can use the site to network, garner recommendations and learn about new job openings.
5. Establish your online brand. You can use social media to promote your career progress by establishing an online presence that defines who you are professionally and what you want to be known for accomplishing.
6. Join groups that share your professional interests. As a group member you can give and get information about recommended reading, industry trade shows or other professional meetings/events.
7. Develop social connections. Sites like Facebook are rapidly gaining mature professional members.  Unlike LinkedIn, Facebook is ideally suited to having fun and developing social contacts over time.  A word of caution:  carefully manage your Privacy Settings and critically examine content – before you post or upload – to make sure it’s compatible with your professional image.
8. Provide a space in which users of your products/services can interact with you. Use social media to expand your customers’ opportunities to discuss their wants and needs – with you or with other customers.
9. Build community around your products or services. The people who are the “face” of your company should leverage social media opportunities to build relationships with consumers.  Forums and blogs on your company website (and within your HR Intranet), as well as fan pages, can help you build this sense of community.
10. Finally your company, in addition to individual employees, should establish a company presence on major social media sites to stay in step with the changing interests and needs of consumers.  The Internet has opened up worldwide communication.  Why not use its social media components to make you and your company more successful?

UNITEMP- Leveraging Social Media for Recruiting Success

UNITEMP leverages social media to locate the talented, experienced and hard-working individuals you need.  Contact us today to learn more about our temporary and contract staffing services for New Jersey employers.

Here are a few interesting statistics for you, from a February 2011 press release issued by small-business social network MerchantCircle:

• Facebook is becoming an increasingly popular way for merchants to market their business, with 70 percent using the social network for marketing, up from 50 percent one year ago.
• Facebook has now surpassed Google (66 percent) as the most widely used marketing method amongst local merchants, and is almost tied with Google search (40 percent) as one of their top three most effective marketing methods, with 37 percent rating Facebook as one of their most effective tools.

Whether you’re one of the millions of today’s social media junkies, or you consider them to be the world’s biggest waste of time, social media are having a huge impact – on individuals, and of course, on organizations.

Regardless of your personal preferences, your business needs a proactive social media strategy.  Why?  Doing nothing is akin to management by abdication.  It’s a guaranteed recipe for gossip, disinformation, lack of innovation, loss of talent and even loss of competitive advantage.

If you’re still new to the world of social media, or struggle to use it effectively, here are some ways to use resources like LinkedIn and Facebook to keep your company strong and healthy:

Focus your efforts. Create a system to make sure your social media activities align with your business objectives (e.g., If you use LinkedIn for client prospecting, develop and formalize a company-wide strategy and list of accepted practices.)  Likewise, resist the urge to join every available network.  Do your homework up-front to determine which sites are likely to be the most beneficial for your business.  Otherwise, these sites can wind up being a tremendous waste of time and effort.

Position yourself (and your company) as an expert. Whatever your area of specialization, you can use online networking to showcase your talent and expertise:

• Be a leader, not a follower. Develop thought leadership in your industry by posting articles that identify trends, cite the latest research and are generally ahead of the curve.  Timely, relevant information is extremely valuable to your clients, prospects and other contacts.
• Attract top talent. True professionals stay on top of their fields by constantly seeking out new information.  Become a trusted source they turn to.  Write and post articles about the topics most important to these individuals, and you’ll attract the top performers you need.
• Answer a question in your field to attain expert status within your network. If you’re selected as providing the best answer to a particular problem, it will show up on your LinkedIn profile.  Providing answers is also a great way to strike up an online conversation with a new contact and begin building a relationship.

Draw traffic to your website and blog. Link these to your LinkedIn and Facebook profiles and reference them in your tweets to get more people reading about you and your company.  If you adjust your LinkedIn settings, it will automatically send a notice reminding your contacts to come see what’s new.

Expand your networks. Networking is the number one way small businesses find employees, suppliers and strategic partners.  Make it easy for others to connect with you.  If you haven’t already, place links to all your social media accounts prominently on your website and blog to encourage more people to friend you, follow you or join your network.

Get active and stay active. You may get some minimal value from passive participation, but you have to be at least moderately involved on a site to derive any real business value.  So don’t be a social media couch potato.  Focus on growing your network.  Post.  Blog.  Refer.  Recommend.  Follow-up.  The more effort you put into your social media activities, the greater the results you’ll see.

UNITEMP uses a number of social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, to strengthen our business relationships and recruit New Jersey’s top talent.  How are you using social media to drive your business?  We’d love to know.  Please leave your comments below.

Admittedly, business is not quite “booming” again, yet.

But if your business is like most in New Jersey, you’ve probably maxed out the productivity of your existing workforce.  Budget cuts, layoffs and uncertainty about the recovery have forced employers to stretch their core workforces to the limit.  If increasing productivity of core staff isn’t feasible for you, you have to look for other ways to drive profits in this economy.

Temporary employees can be a great way to enhance profitability – even in times like these, when you may be hesitant to hire staff directly.  Here are just a few of the ways temps can drive profits in your organization:

• Fill-ins: Keep your operations running efficiently by using temporary employees to fill in for employees on vacation, medical or military leave, jury duty or other short-term absences.
• Seasonal support: Control personnel costs by using temporaries to supplement core staff during your peak work periods.
• Job Shifting: When capacity constraints occur, move your core staff to focus on your most critical work functions and use temporaries to back fill the easier administrative and support tasks.
• High Turnover Positions: Some job functions have inherently high turnover rates.  Using temporaries can alleviate the stress and expense of constantly finding replacements.
• Project Expertise: Temporaries are not just for clerical and industrial situations.  Professional and technical temporaries can offer the expertise you need to successfully implement critical projects – and you only have to pay for the expertise as long as you need it.
• Capitalize on New Opportunities: Ever forgo an opportunity due to a lack of resources?  Use qualified temporaries to evaluate new opportunities without adding overhead, or to free your staff to work on the new projects.
• Pay Only for the Skills You Need: As your temporary staffing needs change, pay close attention to the skill sets of your existing contingent workers.  When appropriate, switch out overqualified temporaries for less expensive ones, whose skills more accurately match your needs.

UNITEMP:  Boosting 2011 Profits for New Jersey Employers

There is virtually no limit to the ways in which UNITEMP’s temporary and contract employees can be used to enhance your profits.  For more ideas, we invite you to schedule some time to sit down with us and discuss your goals, challenges and opportunities.  Together, we will help you brainstorm the most cost-effective means of managing your staffing requirements.  Call UNITEMP today.

A recent Reuters article by Kristina Cooke shares some good news:

“The pace of temporary job creation after the most recent recession – an average of about 25,000 per month – has been faster than the past two, potentially a good sign for a labor market struggling with a jobless rate of 9 percent.”

This Reuters graphic of BLS data illustrates why experts look to the staffing industry for signs of recovery:

If you compare temporary employment to overall employment, you can see how the number of temporary workers declines faster heading into a recession and rises more quickly in a recovery.

In fact, research from the American Staffing Association indicates that temporary help employment is a strong coincident economic indicator when the economy is emerging from a recession.  Overall, temporary hiring rose steadily through 2010, with U.S. employers adding more than 300,000 temporary jobs (about a quarter of the 1.17 million in overall job growth last year).  Translation?  The sustained upturn in temporary staffing is good news for the economy.

But Cooke goes on to temper this enthusiasm, noting that a faster pace of temporary hiring hasn’t yet translated into significant full-time job creation – a critical piece of the recovery puzzle.  Experts such as Peter Capelli, professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, say that because employers are now using temporary assignments to try out potential employees on the job, the increase in temporary hiring could be masking direct hiring.

UNITEMP – Driving New Jersey’s Recovery

As businesses throughout New Jersey begin to staff-up again, UNITEMP is driving the recovery.  We deliver customized temporary and contract staffing solutions to help companies like yours achieve sustained business success in a volatile economy.  What can we do for you?  Contact UNITEMP today.

Smart work/life balance tips to reduce stress and give you more time

Meetings.  Soccer practice.  Long hours.  Project deadlines.  Yard work.

Given all the responsibilities you have both on the job and at home, you may feel that a healthy work/life balance is unrealistic right now:  spending more time at work may cause you to miss out on a rewarding personal life; but effectively managing the challenges of your personal life (such as coping with an aging parent or marital stress) may make concentrating on your job difficult.

So how do you strike a balance?  Implement just three or four of these ideas to make a measurable difference in your life.  They will help you lower your stress level, free-up more time, and put you on the path to a healthier work/life balance.

Drop unnecessary activities. Make a list of what really matters to you.  You may find out that you’re devoting too much time to activities that aren’t a real priority.  If at all possible, drop commitments and pursuits that don’t make the top five on your list of priorities.  Doing so will greatly focus your efforts and simplify your life.

Realize that time is often more valuable than money. The time you spend away from meaningful relationships in your life is time you can never get back.  With this in mind, consider hiring a lawn maintenance service, a handyman, or a babysitter (but always have a contingency plan in place).

Get enough sleep. Few things are as stressful and potentially dangerous as working when you’re sleep deprived.  Aside from feeling awful, you’re also more likely to make costly mistakes and be less productive.  So while you may be tempted to burn the midnight oil, it makes more sense to hit the sack and tackle your work with a fresh pair of eyes in the morning.

Plan fun and relaxation. Given the frenetic pace of our lives, nurturing ourselves just doesn’t happen by accident – but it’s still an essential part of maintaining a balanced life.  So set aside space in your weekly calendar for activities that are fun and relaxing to you.  Plan what you’re going to do and make necessary arrangements – reservations, childcare, etc. – to ensure you’ll be able to keep your commitment.

Use e-mail effectively. Use e-mail, as opposed to voicemail, to send detailed messages.  Try to respond to your incoming messages in groups – just a few times a day.  This way, you will interrupt your train of thought less frequently and stay more focused.

Learn to say “No.” Whether it’s a co-worker asking you to spearhead an extra project, or your child’s teacher asking you to be the head room parent, remember that’s okay to respectfully say “No.”  Once you quit doing things out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you’ll make more room in your life for activities that are meaningful and important to you.

Exercise your options. Find out if your employer offers flex hours, a compressed workweek, job-sharing or telecommuting for your role.  These options may afford you greater flexibility to alleviate stress and free-up more of your time.

Master software packages. Learn the tips associated with the software packages you use most frequently.  They can increase your productivity.

Organize. If your insides are churning, create order outside.  Some people find that cleaning, organizing and reducing clutter actually reduce stress – both at home and at work.

Get a system. Develop a routine for tackling recurring tasks both at home and work.  If you drive by the dry cleaners and grocery store on your way to and from work, make a habit of bringing your shopping list and dry cleaning with you to take care of those stops en route.

Ask for help. Are you overwhelmed because you don’t have the support or tools you need to get your work done?  If so, don’t be a hero.  Approach your boss or loved ones and ask for the help you need to be more productive at work or at home.

Lighten up. Don’t take everything so seriously.  Nobody and nothing is ever perfect, so drop your shoulders and learn to laugh!

Reduce on-the-job stress with UNITEMP. Our services can reduce headaches, eliminate process bottlenecks and free-up more of your time.  Contact us today to learn more about our temporary and contract staffing services for New Jersey employers.

There go the Boomers.  Here comes Gen Y.

Just when your need for talent is on the rise, here comes a new slew of tech-savvy workers to save the day.  But while it’s tempting to think you can simply substitute one generation with another, things are not that simple.  Diverse, demanding and socially aware, millenials are creating a major paradigm shift in the workplace.

So how do you attract and keep the best and brightest, without turning your organization upside down?  Here are some great strategies for recruiting and retaining the best talent the next generation has to offer:

Recruiting

• Take a viral approach.  Develop online Flash videos and other materials (think interactive, entertaining and hip) that young people will want to share with their friends.  A viral approach can enhance awareness, properly position your organization in millenials’ minds and increase job referrals.
• Leverage industry blogs, forums and social networks. The best Gen Y workers stay on top of their game by constantly seeking out new information.  Become a trusted source they turn to, by writing and posting articles that are ahead of the curve in your industry.
• Use your current Gen Y employees. Millenials are particularly peer-influenced.  Turn your current young employees, who are already devoted members of your staff, into company ambassadors – at job fairs, online or when interviewing candidates.  Your Gen Y staff can tell potential employees what life will be like “in the trenches” and address their individual questions and concerns.
• Work with a temporary and contract staffing firm. Services like UNITEMP have the resources, networks and expertise to recruit and screen Gen Y talent for your organization.  With an extensive database, progressive social media recruiting strategy, robust website and comprehensive screening process, we can quickly provide talented workers with cutting-edge skills for your temporary and contract staffing needs.

Retention

• Give them what they want. Millenials have a strong desire to learn new skills and use bleeding-edge technology.  If you can, meet them halfway.  Keep tabs on your millenials’ technology needs and, whenever fiscally appropriate, allow your Gen Y employees to spread their wings by testing and integrating new technology tools as they become available.  If you have trouble justifying the cost of the technology your Gen Y talent wants, keep track of whether a lack of such technology is prompting talented people to leave, or hindering your ability to attract the candidates you need.
• Offer flexible work schedules. Gen Y workers want to control their own schedules and work from home.  If you don’t provide this generation with these core benefits, one of your competitors surely will.
• Understand their needs. Instead of trying to change Gen Y, bend to their needs.  If necessary, educate your company leaders about what makes Gen Y tick.  Explain their need for job control, desire for more flexibility, craving for reassurance and hunger for new technology.  The more willing your staff is to accommodate millenials’ needs, the higher your rate of retention will be.

The BLS Employment Situation Summary continues to paint an anemic economic picture.

Economists continue to talk about a “jobless recovery,” with many employers focusing on productivity gains, as opposed to hiring, to manage any increases in business.

What’s the upside?

Well, if your company isn’t focused on hiring right now, it may be the perfect time for you to review and improve your employment screening process.  Doing so could help you:

• increase compliance;
• reduce theft, fraud and accidents;
• prepare you to make even better hires when the time comes.

As experts in employment screening, UNITEMP recommends taking the following steps to reduce the potential for negligent hiring and discrimination:

Consult with your attorney. If you hire on your own, you should have your legal counsel review your screening process to ensure you’re complying with all current legislation and hiring regulations.

Be consistent. Your screening process should be the same for all candidates within comparable job descriptions.  If you do a background check on one manager, you should also conduct the same background check with candidates for all similar positions.  In addition to preventing anyone from “slipping through the cracks,” a uniform process helps minimize your exposure to litigation.

Use social media carefully. Social media has made access to candidate information fast, easy and free.  But if you intend to use this publicly available information to screen candidates, make sure that you obtain written permission and follow all EEOC and FCRA provisions.

Formalize and document your process. If you don’t already have one in place, now is the time to standardize, formalize and document your background screening policies and procedures.  Creating a formal policy makes screening more effective, efficient and consistent.  Furthermore, should a problem arise, your ability to show that you applied fair, consistent and documented screening processes will limit your legal exposure.

Hiring still slow?

If your company isn’t ready to add direct staff, UNITEMP can help.  Our stringent screening and skills testing yields the highest quality temporary and contract employees, who are ready to perform for you.  You can get work done, keep service levels and productivity high, and evaluate our talent on-the-job – for when you are ready to hire.