CASE STUDY

CASE OF FINDING GOOD HELP

You just can’t find good help these days. But of course we can. I know it’s not easy. It never has been. But today we have more tools than ever, and communication is easier. However, one thing is truly different. We must act quickly and put on a happy face.

We used to put an ad in the paper, collect resumes for a couple weeks, sort them, call for interviews and then, in a few weeks, make a job offer.

That’s changed, especially when we’re fishing in the $10 to $15 an hour pool. These candidates are also being recruited by businesses who will call them for an interview this morning, see them this afternoon, and start them tomorrow. Those willing to work in graphics usually are willing to take more time for their job search, but they won’t wait forever. Speed is of the essence.

What we really want is to post an ad for someone experienced with our equipment or with our software and have three perfect candidates tomorrow. Rarely does this happen, and rarely did it ever before.

So, instead of hiring the first “close enough” candidate and hoping for the best, we need to break down the recruiting process, streamline it and speed it up. Then we must dedicate our time to it instead of waiting until all the jobs are done.

We need to organize our people around functions so you may recruit for a recognized job. Customer service representative, prepress operator, digital press and more.

Search for recruiting pools before you But you have to act fast.

need them and use contacts other employees may have. A recruiting pool could be a local arts store with a help wanted bulletin board. Your employees may have leads on people they previously worked with. Equipment service people and other friendly printers may also supply you with leads. Pick up the phone and reach out to these folks.

Most often we run an ad. Today, we have good success with Indeed.com. But here’s a trick. Act fast. Post the ad on Indeed.com the same day you’re told they’re leaving.

Paint a happy place to work. “Come join this engaged owner in Smith county’s fastest growing digital printing company. Use our latest equipment and updated software.” If it’s positive, sell it.

Also, put a specific pay rate in the ad as well as your benefits. No, not $15 to $20 an hour. List $17. If you put in a range, then you assume they’ll start at the low end and work up. They assume, they can get the top pay and maybe more, so you’re inviting negotiation. List a rate and it’s almost yes or no. If you don’t get what you want, increase the rate.

As for benefits, feature your paid holidays during the year as well as vacations. I recommend two weeks after one year of employment or its equivalent if the state requires you to accrue vacations monthly.

Of course, feature other benefits that you have, such as health insurance and disability. Pretty soon you will see that it sounds like a real job.

And do this as your most important job. That means getting in touch with the candidates on nights, weekends and holidays. And hire the first one who meets all your qualifications. Don’t hesitate. Holding out for the “perfect” candidate will lose you a lot of perfectly good candidates.

Oh yes, we’ve placed a new employee as quickly as 10 days. ● Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21115658

Tom Crouser can be reached at tom@cprint.com for more information on how CPrint International can be of help to you in your business or call his cell 304.541.3714.

this is over. Business travel will bounce back as all— or at least some—of the events that were cancelled or postponed take place. Retail stores with seasonal inventory will take a hit, but those that benefi ted from quarantined shopaholics’ e-commerce sales will come back more quickly.

For people still receiving a paycheck, this has been a good time to save and when they are allowed out again, that will probably be the biggest economic stimulus.

But—not everyone is receiving a paycheck. As businesses have had to close, many have had little choice but to lay off or furlough their staff—and the initial unemployment claims numbers give us an idea of the number of these folks. These recently unemployed can cope with not going out to restaurants, but they do have other bills—rent/mortgage, car payments, utilities, and of course food. Without some kind of assistance, these people are going to have a hard time making it to August, let alone splurging when it’s over. This is all without even mentioning any medical expenses that may be incurred as a result of contracting the virus. This is why the cash payments included in the CARES Act were so important, although for many it will not be enough, especially if the crisis lasts beyond the summer. An important part of the legislation—and, let’s be honest, it should be thought of as disaster relief, not economic stimulus—is that it allows freelancers and gig workers to apply for unemployment. It also expands unemployment benefi ts.

Helping individuals get through the crisis was one of the two biggest priorities of any governmental response to the COVID-19 crisis, as it will allow them to pay their essential bills until they are able to go back to their jobs.

The second big priority is helping businesses, especially small businesses, survive so that those employees have jobs to go back to. Restaurants, bars or any other closed businesses (like printers) have no customers and are receiving no income— and they, too, have bills to pay. So the CARES Act also includes loans to small businesses. Said Forbes: [The] Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the CARES Act increases the government guarantee of loans to 100 percent through Dec. 31, 2020, for SBA 7(a) loans. The loans are available to companies with not more than 500 employees and those which have below a gross annual receipts threshold in certain industries. Under the legislation, 501(c)(3) nonprofi ts, sole-proprietors, independent contractors, and other self-employed individuals are eligible for loans. 2

When the PPP was launched in early April, there were some problems, which hopefully have been resolved by May.

The keys to the best-case scenario happening: 1. The CARES Act keeps individuals and businesses afl oat until the crisis passes. (A big “if.”) 2. Or, if more relief turns out to be necessary, the government acts in a timely manner to address the problem. (Yeah, you probably did a spit-take there.) 3. And, we don’t jump the gun, attempt to return to normal too soon, and thus trigger a second wave à la 1918. Quarantining is working. 4. On the other hand, we can’t get so fearful that once the threat does appear to have passed, we keep quarantining and refrain from economic activity. 5. A treatment becomes readily—and affordably— available. A vaccine is not likely to be available in less than a year, even though a potential vaccine is about to go into clinical trials. What is more likely is that something mitigates the symptoms of the disease. At present, nothing has been conclusively proven to treat COVID-19 symptoms, despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary. 6. We listen to actual medical and science experts.

Striking the balance between three and four is the tricky part, and six would be a nice change from science à la Twitter.

We are in for a rough ride, but we as an industry are used to rough rides. We’ll ride out the bucking economy (that’s bucking with a b), but we just might be walking funny for a while. ● Read More… Find article at PrintingNews. com/21127064

also proven to be effective.

“It has a very high recall,” Kiss said. “People have never seen a perfect photographic image of a beer bottle on a sailboat sailing past within 50 feet or 50 yards or even half a mile. Done right, and in the right marketplace, like New York, L.A., Miami, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St Louis, San Diego, San Francisco and all the spring break places you can think, these billboards are able to target their audiences wherever they are.”

And it’s not just sailing randomly up and down the coast. PhotoSails can target specific events—and even do a bit of guerrilla marketing. For example, a Coors boat repeatedly sailed past a Heineken-sponsored music festival on the Hudson River, much to the show organizer’s chagrin. PhotoSails also offers businesses the ability to use sponsored boats to entertain clients, hold contests on radio or elsewhere—enter to win a ride on the Coors

Light boat—as well as other promotional opportunities.

“We’re a multifaceted tool, unlike most outdoor advertising signage,” he said.

PhotoSails is able to advertise in any major city that is close to navigable water. And since most cities in the world were originally founded as ports, that’s just about everywhere. And even though sign codes can be fairly strict—and New York City has been unsuccessfully battling floating electronic billboards— PhotoSails has never run afoul of the authorities.

“We have never been challenged legally,” Kiss said.

“People seem to like it. Even when the Coast Guard comes flying up to us at 55 miles an hour and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, we’re about to be boarded for safety,’ what do they do? They pull right up to us, come running out on deck, and start taking selfies.

“We’re a niche media. The worse the economy got after 2008, the better we did. I never understood that, but somebody finally actually explained it to me: when a company is having trouble advertising, they tend to work a little harder to look for something that they can claim to be their own. It’s not just a newspaper ad or an internet ad or a TV commercial. They look for something that can stand out from everybody else.”

In the near future, there might be a lot of people in that boat. ●

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