Images Digital Edition March 2019

KB MARKET INTELLIGENCE MARCH 2019 images 37 Action oriented The best companies have problems solvers on their team. When something isn’t ready or maybe isn’t going right, a quality employee will take action to resolve the challenge. You don’t need finger pointers or excuse makers on your squad. The decorated apparel industry thrives on action, regardless of the department that person might hope to work in. So when you look for people to work in your shop, try to find people that have demonstrated success with action. That trait makes a quality employee. Look for doers What to look for: ■ Someone who took a chance. When they say “I tried this and it didn’t work out”, that isn’t necessarily a strike against them, it’s proof that they took action. What was learned? ■ Action people are ambitious too Look for proof of that when you talk to them. What leadership roles have they had previously? Are they moving up? ■ Can they get the job done without hand-holding? Action-oriented people will step up. Talk about those experiences. ■ Proof of execution. Maybe they had a big job or project in their past. What hurdles did they have to overcome to build that? ■ What are they passionate about? When you really like to do something, you will dig down and drive success. Nothing can stop you. Skill to pay the bills Of course, you would rather have a trained and skilled person apply for the job. However, in this industry shops are constantly looking for people that are already trained. If you want a production manager, press operator, embroiderer or someone else that has years of experience to apply for a job with your company, get in line. Skilled veterans of this industry are in high demand. Many people who might normally jump at the chance to work in your shop get lured away by another shop because they are willing to fork over more money to solve their hiring problem. Put skills to the test What to look for: ■ Length of service – how long has someone been doing a particular role? The higher you go in the shop food chain, the more experience you need to be sure they can handle that task in your shop. ■ V ocabulary test – an easy way to see if they have the skills is simply to talk about the job. “Describe for me what you do when you set up a job”, is a great question to ask over the phone with a would-be press operator or embroiderer. Can they describe accurately the process? Do they know the lingo? Be sure to ask some follow up questions about what happens when things don’t go as planned. What did they do to resolve the challenge? ■ A sk what they want to learn. Where does their education stop? Do they know how to run a water-based ink or discharge job? Can they do appliqué or puff embroidery? Can that artist build an underbase plate in both Illustrator and Photoshop? ■ B e sure to ask why are they leaving. Their answer can indicate why they would leave you too. ■ W hat do they struggle with? When they start working for you this will come out, so let’s get it out in the open now. Maybe it’s registering a job or mixing ink. What’s their fear? Quality employee recruitment Finding great employees is a lot like finding a new customer. You need to ask yourself why anyone would want to work for you. That ‘why’ is a huge question. You might start with your current employees. What’s their ‘why’? This industry is hard work. Sometimes it is hilarious fun, but often it is backbreaking, sweaty and really messy. What is going to drive people to your door so you have a thick folder of CVs of quality people to comb through? Here are some thoughts you might try: Start with your own employees Do you have anyone on staff now that you could train and promote? You need a cross- training programme that has a feeder system built in so you can insert well qualified and trained people into roles should a vacancy appear. Map out the route from the lowest entry job to your top manager. What does it take to do everything in between? If you do this correctly, it is almost the best way as you are in control. But let’s say you still want to bring in outside people for the position. Your employees can be a fantastic resource for that. They might know someone who www.images-magazine.com could be the right fit or someone that might be perfect for the role with some training. Offer a bonus to anyone that brings in a new hire and they make it to the 90-day review. £100 will work okay, £300 will work better. Use your website Do you have a ‘We’re hiring’ page on your website with a tool that a potential candidate can use to apply or simply send in a CV? You want candidates to be familiar with what you do, and your website is built to show off your company, so that’s a win all around. Bonus points if you have photos or videos of your crew actually doing the job you are trying to fill. Use a section to post the job description, compensation range and anything you want people to know before taking any action applying for the job. Social media Yep, just like with recruiting customers, finding the right person to work for you can start with a social media campaign. Except instead of marketing your value to your customers, you want to tout how great your company is and how it’s stocked with happy employees. However, be sure that what you market rings true with reality: if you promise awesomeness and all they get is mediocre, don’t expect people to stick around for long. LinkedIn is great for professional recruiting, but unless the position involves executive level opportunities you might want to try more socially accessible platforms like Instagram or Facebook. Make your post easy to share and be sure to include a call to action link: ‘Send your CV here!’ or ‘Schedule a call with Betty here!’. If you are feeling creative, get several of your current employees to help you by filming a short video with them talking about how great it is to work at the shop. Splice that together and post it. Try job boards T here are plenty. Monster. Zip Recruiter. Glassdoor. Your local newspaper. Not to mention the Images Buyer’s Guide – you can be sure that every prospective employee reading your Situations Vacant advert will be knowledgeable and familiar with this industry. WEʼRE HIRING You better be taking care of the folks that work for you