Today, hiring and keeping talented and high performing people in your company is an economic imperative.

It starts at the top with the company leadership.  Your rising stars want to know that the leadership has a direction they want to take the organization, and clear cut goals they want to reach.  The plan does not have to be a complicated one, but it should lay out where you are gong.

To spot rising stars, you have to know your employees.  You have to know if you’ve got the right people in the right place.  They really cannot reach their full potential if they are in a job they’re not suited for.

Spotting high performance people begins with the interviewing process,  When you look to hire employees, take a hard look at what you really need for the job.  Do you have a good insight into the skills, knowledge and abilities that are needed for the position?.  If you’re just going on instinct, it’s time to do a job analysis to determine exactly what is needed to do the job before you start interviewing candidates.

Also, many employers are in too much of a hurry when hiring.  You need to take the time to use an in-depth process for new hires.  There is, of course, the interview process, but also the process should include an assessment of capabilities and a job fit analysis.

To evaluate employees well and so enable managers to spot their rising stars, both managers and employees need to know going into the process what the expected outcomes are.

There are a number of ways to evaluate your employees performance.

One method is called the critical incident technique, where managers use a daily log to keep track of employee performance.  It enables the manager to record specific events and helps them to keep a record that extends back for a considerable length of time.

The checklist method uses specific standards for performance.  It usually includes about 10 to 20 different items that are evaluated.  These items are designed for the specific work situation being evaluated.  This type of assessment can be used to give a more quantifiable evaluation, where the manager assigns a numerical value to each performance standard.

Finally, another evaluation method is the  management by objective.  In this system, employees meet with their supervisors to set up specific objectives that they intend to achieve in a certain amount of time.  These objectives coincide with the organizational goals of the company.

Are you a New York City area employer looking to bring in some high-level talent into your organization? Winston Resources can help. We provide top-notch workers for you within temporary, temp-to-hire or direct-hire assignments. Contact us today!

If you want your business to grow, you want to get the most from your employees because it’s their productivity that will lead to growth.

What stands in the way of generating greater productivity, and what can you do about it?

Employee productivity can be tied to one thing – motivation.  What motivates your employees to work their hardest and work their best?  It’s not the same for everyone.

Each employee is different and may have different barriers to productivity.  For some, their skills may not match the job. Some may be dissatisfied with their job for some reason, while others,  may have difficulty with a manager.  So, clearly, what you must do is identify the cause of the behavior that is affecting productivity.

You need to find what motivates your workers, what gives them satisfaction from their work.  Some are motivated by performance-based bonuses, some by the chance of getting a promotion, some by flexible working conditions, others by additional time off.

Having rewards for productivity will go a long way toward improving performance.  Challenging employees to achieve a certain task with a reward attached will get the best from your workers.  And rewards don’t have to be extravagant – even small rewards will spur motivation.

One way of learning more about your employees is through assessments.  Employee assessments can help you determine what motivates your employees.  These assessments can also be used to better match people with the type of work they do.  By determining what the important factors are that make the difference between success and failure in a certain job, you can make sure you get the right person into the job.

Another productivity killer is not having clear expectations in the first place.  Often without clear goals and targets to shoot for, employees aim for the minimum.

Also, when looking for ways to spur productivity, don’t forget about your training programs.  It has been shown that the better, more thorough the training programs, the higher chance of retaining employees, and of enhancing employee satisfaction and morale.

Ongoing training is important for two reasons – first, it allows you to keep your employees up to date on trends in the industry, and second, it enables you to work in better internal work processes.  These training programs should be done on a quarterly or twice yearly basis and last no longer than two or three days.

If you’re a New York City area business and you need help with your assessing your employees’ skills, contact Winston Resources. We can offer you skills assessment services so that you’ll be able to place the right employee with the right skills in the right job.

Is this your situation? Job seekers desperate for work — any type of work — apply willy nilly to just about any job opening you have, whether they are qualified for a position or not.

Are you receiving hundreds of resumes for a handful of positions? Are you wondering how you’re going to cull through the pile, let alone find a few top candidates to invite in for an interview?

Winston Resources’ employee/resume screening services can help.

Our pre-employment screening service can go through all the resumes you receive for any position. We’ll use screening criteria you provide and will then go through the resumes  to certify candidates, making sure they are who they say they are and that they possess the skills and background you deem required for the position.
Only those candidates who meet these criteria will be forwarded on to you.

But wait, there’s more….

Winston Resources also can provide application and reference check services. We can send each candidate who passes screening an extensive written application, one that requires that they detail their full employment and education history.

We also check and confirm each reference given. If you need us to, we can conduct background and criminal checks, which can include SSN verifications, credit report and motor vehicle reports, as well as state and local criminal records.

Even though the recession is waning, the job market is taking too long to improve  and many unemployed or underemployed people are willing to work anywhere for anyone doing anything. As much as we — and you — would love to see full employment once again, too many desperate job seekers are making your job of finding great employees difficult, if not virtually impossible.

If you’re a Manhattan area company, let Winston Resources take that too-tall resume pile from off your desk (or e-mail in-basket). Contact us today. We look forward to serving you.

Having the right tools at your disposal can make hiring a lot easier—and a lot more successful.  Here is a quick overview of different assessments tools you can use, beyond the basic job interview:

• Qualifications Screens – simple questionnaires determine if an applicant has the minimum requirements to perform a job (availability, minimum age, years of related experience, etc.).
• Job Simulations / Work-Sample Tests – These require the candidate to actually demonstrate or perform job tasks. Simulations may be conducted: as written tests, as role-playing exercises, on a computer, or even in real-life conditions. By design, they generally show a high degree of job-relatedness.
• General Abilities Tests – Generally used for entry-level jobs or for applicants without advanced degrees. They measure broad mental abilities such as reasoning, quantitative, verbal, and spatial abilities.
• Specific Ability Tests – Test for distinct mental and physical abilities, such as typing speed, reading comprehension, strength, and mechanical aptitude.
• Knowledge and Skills Tests – Determine how much an individual knows about a very specific, advanced subject area such as software programming or mortgage laws. Knowledge tests are similar to specific ability assessments, but examine more sophisticated skills.
• Talent Measures / Personality Inventories – Measure a candidate’s natural personal characteristics like: leadership and management skills; problem-solving ability; motivation; self-confidence; and communication styles.
• Culture Fit Inventories -  Assess how well an applicant will fit into your corporate culture and work environment, to help ensure organizational commitment.
• Background Investigations – Gather information from outside sources, such as former employers and police records. Employment, criminal record, and reference checks all help employers avoid potentially catastrophic hires.
• Drug Screens – Use a physical specimen from the candidate (hair, urine, etc.) to determine past drug or alcohol use. Employers use drug screens to prevent industrial accidents, work-related injuries, and excessive absenteeism.

If you would like more information about any of the above assessments please contact our offices today.