Essentials
Your Definitive Guide to
Hiring Top Talent Essentials
creativegroup.com
to Help You Find and Retain the Best Creative Candidates
Table of Contents
Introduction
3
Your Definitive Guide to Writing Job Descriptions
4
Your Definitive Guide to Evaluating Digital Portfolios
5
Your Definitive Guide to Building the Best Creative Team
6
Your Definitive Guide to Retaining Top Talent
7
Your Definitive Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Creative Staffing Agency
9
Conclusion
10
creativegroup.com
2
How to Get the Most Out of This Guide A Note from Diane Domeyer, Executive Director of The Creative Group
If you’re like me, you continue to read about how hot the creative job market is, especially for design and digital roles. In a market this competitive, chances are you’re having a difficult time finding the best candidates, let alone keeping the ones you already have. The Creative Group is here to help with Your Definitive Guide to Hiring Top Talent. Whether you need a full-time designer or a freelance project manager, this guide will help you navigate the tricky world of attracting and retaining the best creative talent. While there are no shortcuts when it comes to hiring, use this guide to help you throughout the process – from the initial candidate search to wrapping up that final interview. Best of luck,
Diane Domeyer
creativegroup.com
3
Writing Job Descriptions Between the overly casual and the dense, dry and daunting, there’s a balance to strike when writing job descriptions. Here are five tips to help you get it right. How do creative hiring managers write job descriptions that are both informative and inspiring? Remember, if the job you’re describing doesn’t intrigue, you may not get the applicant pool you’re hoping for.
How to Write a Job Description That Strikes the Right Balance A well-written job description can mean the difference between a trickle or a flurry of qualified applicants. Conversely, a poorly written job description can significantly expand the quantity of unqualified applicants. Writing a good job description requires an ability to prioritize essential skills and qualities while also “selling” your company to job seekers. In other words, hiring managers must strike a balance when writing job descriptions – they must understand how to not only describe the position and its necessary skills, but also sell that position and the company to qualified candidates. Recent TCG research revealed that creative and marketing executives struggle almost equally with the following when hiring: 1. Identifying the necessary interpersonal and soft skills (28 percent) 2. Identifying duties that are essential versus “nice to have” (24 percent) 3. Accurately describing job duties (24 percent)
To combat this job description dilemma, here are five tips to keep in mind:
1. Update. Most creative jobs are far different from what they were a few years ago. Job descriptions, therefore, should take into account the expanded skill sets now required. Think about what the job should entail based on your company’s current needs and long-term objectives.
2. Prioritize. Don’t scare off a potential top candidate by overdoing the “musthaves.” A laundry list of duties gives little insight into what is most important to the employer and can make strong candidates shy away. Focus on the five or six most crucial qualities for the position. You may also consider consulting high-performing employees in the same role for help developing this list.
3. Don’t hunt for unicorns. You may want a rock-star-of-all-trades, but settling only for this will hold you back. Make sure your job description is realistic for the role – seeking out a creative director who can also write press releases and sell advertising will greatly limit your pool of qualified applicants.
4. Be you. Show some personality! While you want to use clear and concise language, you also should give applicants a sense of your company’s culture (read: fun side). Turn to your creative team or a copywriter if you need help choosing the right tone.
5. Check out sample job descriptions. Developing a job description from scratch? You can find sample job descriptions, like those featured in The Creative Group 2014 Salary Guide, that outline basic requirements and responsibilities, which you can then customize to fit specific roles.
creativegroup.com
4
Evaluating Digital Portfolios Use our digital portfolio checklist to ensure the cream of the creative crop rises to the top. Just as when reviewing a job candidate’s resume, when you’re assessing their digital portfolio, there are three main bases you should find covered: 1. Have they included samples of their best work? Best being the operative word. Strong candidates should understand not just which is their superlative work, but which examples of it are most suited for the position. 2. Are those samples recent (within the last five years) and relevant (meaning they’re tailored to your specific job description)? They may have excellent samples of their print work, but if the position you’re filling is 100 percent digital, they’re probably not your most logical choice. 3. Have they categorized their samples intuitively? Whether chronologically or by medium, a strong digital portfolio should showcase a candidate’s skills in a way that makes sense and is easy to follow.
Digital Portfolio Review Checklist: Beyond the Basics Now that the digital portfolio before you has passed an initial assessment, make sure it has what it takes to impress the rest of your team – and help you make the best hiring decision. Here are four beyondthe-basics elements to include on your digital portfolio checklist:
1. Is it creative? This may seem like a no-brainer, but there is a skill to balancing form (creative design) and function (ease of presentation). Those who do this best truly represent the finest of the digital portfolio medium.
understand the importance of a simple, elegant process. Regardless of the candidate’s background (let’s say he’s a copywriter), a top applicant’s digital portfolio should still navigate flawlessly.
3. Do you get a sense of who they are? A strong representation of self is nearly as important as a strong representation of skills. When reviewing a digital portfolio, you’re gauging cultural fit, too. Exemplary portfolios will showcase a sense of who the candidate is, including style, interests and passions.
4. Do you get a sense of their strengths? A digital portfolio is nothing if it cannot represent one’s true abilities. The best of the best will not only let their work speak for itself, but also provide insight into their levels of skills and expertise. For example, are they an expert in HTML5 but merely proficient in Dreamweaver? This is useful information to have when weighing nice-to-haves versus need-to-haves.
Digital Portfolio Examples If you’re looking for top digital portfolios, take a look at TCG’s portfolio examples. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find examples of portfolios by region.
2. Is it easy to navigate? User experience (UX) is a hot topic in the creative industry and may very well be a position you’re hiring for. Even if it’s not, you
creativegroup.com
5
Building the Best Creative Team Building an effective team is part art, part science. Here are five must-haves to help you strike the perfect balance. 1. Right People: In order to build the best creative team, you need the best people and the right number of them. Three ways to assess if you have the right people is by evaluating technical skills, cultural fit, productivity and team size. • Skills. With any team, you need to begin with the right intellectual assets. This is the science part of team-building. Your job is to ensure the individuals on your team have the right technical skills and expertise (like software knowledge) as well as the right level of experience. • Corporate culture fit. Can you define what makes a good match for your team and organization? This is the art of teambuilding. After all, there’s a job description and there’s the right fit. The right fit needs more than the rote skills to execute the tasks associated with the job; he or she must also have the personality and work style to fit in with the corporate culture of the team and company. • Team size. Integral to team-building success is making sure you have the right staffing level. Do you have the flexibility to staff up or down during peak times? Will you be able to maintain your core skill set regardless of slowdowns or busy seasons? Allow yourself the opportunity to staff up or down to meet business needs.
2. Right Process: For teams to be productive, you need clearly defined expectations. Effective teams have a leader who sets tangible targets - such as deadlines, production schedules and scopes - in order to achieve team goals and expectations, with checks and balances along the way. Creative teams can be brilliant, but you can’t overlook the need for defined process, direction and focus to keep that brilliance on target.
3. Right Leadership and Leadership Approach: Without a doubt, your creative team leader must have the technical expertise to communicate with the team, but that’s not what will
make them an effective leader. The best leaders need to identify and communicate a vision and inspire others to create. They must also be humble, approachable and decisive. A strong team leader should know when to be open to the team’s thoughts and when to stand firm and make a decision. Avoid being too rigid. Instead, focus on: • Having open communication between team members and management. While there should be rules of engagement, it should also be understood that there are no dumb questions. • Using team-based approaches to solving problems. Don’t just tell; ask how others would handle problems or setbacks. • Fostering a safe-to-fail and safe-to-risk environment. Creativity can’t thrive if risk and failure aren’t an option.
4. Right Environment: Find opportunities in your team’s physical environment to inspire creativity. That may mean using a conference room as a collaborative work environment. It may mean structuring desks like a bull pen, with all team members working in open space. The right environment might also mean access to proprietary tools and software, even when team members are away from the office. Flexibility to work from home and access information whenever creativity strikes – even in the middle of the night – means your creative team can be effective and productive anytime, anywhere.
5. Right Vision and Strategic Direction: It’s integral that your creative team understands the bigger purpose of the project, department and company. What’s the mission of each? How do each of those individual missions come together to serve one greater goal? For example, if you are building a website, every team member, from the UX designer to the copywriter to the web developer, needs to be unified on mission, goal and purpose, not just for their roles, but for the final deliverable.
creativegroup.com
6
Retaining Top Talent Every manager wants to avoid employee turnover – particularly when it comes to top performers. Do you know what signs to watch for? If standout team members feel unchallenged creatively, underappreciated or stuck in one position for too long, they’re apt to pursue greener pastures. As reported in TCG’s 2014 Salary Guide, professionals with specialized skills are finding that they’re in great demand. Further, nearly one-third (32 percent) of advertising and marketing executives said it’s challenging to find skilled creative professionals today, according to a TCG survey.
A change in attitude. When a positive, team-oriented employee starts complaining about the organization or butting heads with coworkers, it’s often symptomatic of job dissatisfaction. Continued on next page >
If a key team member is thinking about jumping ship, indicators will likely appear well before you receive a resignation letter. Here are some potential warning signs:
Increased absenteeism. Unhappy employees tend to miss more workdays than their colleagues. Pay attention when an individual starts using up personal or vacation days because it could be a sign he or she is burning out or interviewing for other jobs.
Social withdrawal. Avoiding the more social aspects of work – like team-building activities or office parties – is common among employees who are considering leaving. Previously outgoing staff members may suddenly seem quiet, skip voluntary group outings or hole up in their office or cubicle.
RESUME
A decline in work habits. Uncommon errors, missed deadlines and an overall decrease in productivity can indicate that a once-passionate employee is now just going through the motions.
creativegroup.com
7
Retaining Top Talent
(Continued)
To prevent losing a valued employee, take action as soon as you see sufficient evidence of the person’s intent to leave. Here are four tips:
1. Ask questions, listen attentively. Meet one-on-one with the employee and candidly ask if he or she is dissatisfied. When faced with a direct question, many people will respond truthfully. If the individual says yes, ask why, listen attentively and explore possible remedies that would work for both parties.
2. Show you take the concerns seriously. If the employee is looking for more challenging work, consider offering new responsibilities that will stretch his or her skills. In addition, provide training opportunities to support the employee’s ongoing professional growth.
3. Review compensation, perks and benefits. Perhaps salary or work-life balance is the concern. Strong performers who gave it their all during the downturn may feel that modest salary gains in recent years haven’t kept pace with the increased value of their contributions or expanded workloads. Consult the aforementioned 2014 Salary Guide to make sure your salary offerings are on par with (or better than) competitors in your area.
4. Say thanks. One of the easiest and most cost-effective retention tactics is remembering to recognize employees for their good work. Offering a simple “thank you” for a job well done can be surprisingly powerful. Prompt, sincere and specific praise provides an emotional lift and shows staff that you’re paying attention to their efforts and appreciate their contributions.
10 Top Perks and Benefits Benefits – as in employee benefits – are a form of non-wage compensation. If not offered by the employer, employees would likely have to fund them themselves. Perks – as in perquisites or corporate perks – are nice-to-have additions to an employee’s salary and benefits package. We define perks as above-and-beyond offerings that may sway an employee to value one position greater than another. Think icing on the cake.
5 Top Benefits 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Healthcare / employee wellness programs Paid time off Retirement plans Maternity / paternity leave Transportation reimbursement
5 Persuasive Perks 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Work from anywhere Paid or subsidized gym / health club membership Free food Concierge services (e.g. free dry cleaning) Tuition reimbursement / paid training
creativegroup.com
8
Getting the Most Out of a Creative Staffing Agency You’re busy, you’re short on time and you need to fill a position, immediately. It might be time to ask for help. Here are five reasons why you shouldn’t go the hiring process alone. Creative staffing agencies provide immediate access to skilled professionals – all of whom have been interviewed and evaluated before they get to you. This allows you to more easily choose the best candidate for your freelance projects or full-time staffing needs. Here are five reasons why a creative staffing agency can make staffing a job easier:
1. Industry and local market expertise. Creative recruiters understand the industry inside and out, not to mention the local markets they serve. In fact, many of TCG’s creative recruiters used to work in the industry as designers, writers, marketers and more. This background gives our creative recruiters unparalleled insight into candidates’ abilities as well as how those skill sets can meet your specific business needs.
2. Access to a breadth of top candidates. Creative recruiters focus on building extensive pools of creative talent. You may write the best job description, but are you certain it’s reaching the best candidates? With a creative staffing agency, you have access to a wide range of potential hires that may otherwise never see your job opening. In addition, creative recruiters reach professionals who aren’t actively looking for a job, but may be interested if the right opportunity is presented to them.
3. Cost. Employee turnover costs can be high. Did you know that the cost of a bad hire can equal 30 percent of that person’s initial-year salary? Knowing how much a bad hire can set you back financially makes it worth your while to ensure the candidates you do bring on work out.
4. Time. Time is money, especially when you think about the opportunity cost of evaluating resumes and portfolios, and then comparing candidates’ skills and experience levels. Save yourself this time. Instead, spend it on leading your team and focusing on business initiatives.
5. Flexibility. Quick access to creative freelancers allows you the flexibility to staff up or down to meet business needs. Maintaining that perfect equilibrium on your team is tricky, but it’s that much easier when you rely on a creative staffing agency to help you bring on temporary workers when project demands require it.
5 Desperate Hire Warning Signs Avoid making a desperate hire. Get help if any of these warning signs ring true: 1. You’re beyond busy – too busy, in fact, to even look at the resumes in your inbox and on your desk. 2. And when you do look at resumes, you’re overwhelmed. How are you going to assess each candidate’s skills, expertise and experience? 3. Because you’re short-staffed, you and your team have been working long hours to compensate. 4. Subsequently, team members are showing signs of low morale. 5. Stress and exhaustion are shortening everyone’s fuse. You’re this close to hiring the first person who walks through the door.
creativegroup.com
9
Happy Hiring Now that you’ve got all the hiring information you need – from writing job descriptions to avoiding employee turnover – you’re set to keep calm, hire on and retain those you do. It’s our pleasure to help all our clients achieve their staffing goals, regardless of company size or hiring needs. Visit our website or contact one of our branches to begin your candidate search with The Creative Group.
About The Creative Group The Creative Group, a division of Robert Half, specializes in placing highly skilled interactive, design and marketing professionals on a project and full-time basis. Our staffing experts are trained to make efficient matches to help you get the job done with minimal downtime. Since 1999, TCG has developed and refined our ability to read the job market in all kinds of economic conditions to offer sound advice and outstanding candidates. For additional hiring and management resources, check out our blog and visit our Salary Center to download our 2014 Salary Guide. Contact TCG at 1.888.846.1668 or creativegroup.com to learn more about how we can help with your staffing needs.
Connect With Us
© 2014 The Creative Group. A Robert Half Company. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. TCG-0314
creativegroup.com
10
Hiring Top Talent Essentials
creativegroup.com
to Help You Find and Retain the Best Creative Candidates
Table of Contents
Introduction
3
Your Definitive Guide to Writing Job Descriptions
4
Your Definitive Guide to Evaluating Digital Portfolios
5
Your Definitive Guide to Building the Best Creative Team
6
Your Definitive Guide to Retaining Top Talent
7
Your Definitive Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Creative Staffing Agency
9
Conclusion
10
creativegroup.com
2
How to Get the Most Out of This Guide A Note from Diane Domeyer, Executive Director of The Creative Group
If you’re like me, you continue to read about how hot the creative job market is, especially for design and digital roles. In a market this competitive, chances are you’re having a difficult time finding the best candidates, let alone keeping the ones you already have. The Creative Group is here to help with Your Definitive Guide to Hiring Top Talent. Whether you need a full-time designer or a freelance project manager, this guide will help you navigate the tricky world of attracting and retaining the best creative talent. While there are no shortcuts when it comes to hiring, use this guide to help you throughout the process – from the initial candidate search to wrapping up that final interview. Best of luck,
Diane Domeyer
creativegroup.com
3
Writing Job Descriptions Between the overly casual and the dense, dry and daunting, there’s a balance to strike when writing job descriptions. Here are five tips to help you get it right. How do creative hiring managers write job descriptions that are both informative and inspiring? Remember, if the job you’re describing doesn’t intrigue, you may not get the applicant pool you’re hoping for.
How to Write a Job Description That Strikes the Right Balance A well-written job description can mean the difference between a trickle or a flurry of qualified applicants. Conversely, a poorly written job description can significantly expand the quantity of unqualified applicants. Writing a good job description requires an ability to prioritize essential skills and qualities while also “selling” your company to job seekers. In other words, hiring managers must strike a balance when writing job descriptions – they must understand how to not only describe the position and its necessary skills, but also sell that position and the company to qualified candidates. Recent TCG research revealed that creative and marketing executives struggle almost equally with the following when hiring: 1. Identifying the necessary interpersonal and soft skills (28 percent) 2. Identifying duties that are essential versus “nice to have” (24 percent) 3. Accurately describing job duties (24 percent)
To combat this job description dilemma, here are five tips to keep in mind:
1. Update. Most creative jobs are far different from what they were a few years ago. Job descriptions, therefore, should take into account the expanded skill sets now required. Think about what the job should entail based on your company’s current needs and long-term objectives.
2. Prioritize. Don’t scare off a potential top candidate by overdoing the “musthaves.” A laundry list of duties gives little insight into what is most important to the employer and can make strong candidates shy away. Focus on the five or six most crucial qualities for the position. You may also consider consulting high-performing employees in the same role for help developing this list.
3. Don’t hunt for unicorns. You may want a rock-star-of-all-trades, but settling only for this will hold you back. Make sure your job description is realistic for the role – seeking out a creative director who can also write press releases and sell advertising will greatly limit your pool of qualified applicants.
4. Be you. Show some personality! While you want to use clear and concise language, you also should give applicants a sense of your company’s culture (read: fun side). Turn to your creative team or a copywriter if you need help choosing the right tone.
5. Check out sample job descriptions. Developing a job description from scratch? You can find sample job descriptions, like those featured in The Creative Group 2014 Salary Guide, that outline basic requirements and responsibilities, which you can then customize to fit specific roles.
creativegroup.com
4
Evaluating Digital Portfolios Use our digital portfolio checklist to ensure the cream of the creative crop rises to the top. Just as when reviewing a job candidate’s resume, when you’re assessing their digital portfolio, there are three main bases you should find covered: 1. Have they included samples of their best work? Best being the operative word. Strong candidates should understand not just which is their superlative work, but which examples of it are most suited for the position. 2. Are those samples recent (within the last five years) and relevant (meaning they’re tailored to your specific job description)? They may have excellent samples of their print work, but if the position you’re filling is 100 percent digital, they’re probably not your most logical choice. 3. Have they categorized their samples intuitively? Whether chronologically or by medium, a strong digital portfolio should showcase a candidate’s skills in a way that makes sense and is easy to follow.
Digital Portfolio Review Checklist: Beyond the Basics Now that the digital portfolio before you has passed an initial assessment, make sure it has what it takes to impress the rest of your team – and help you make the best hiring decision. Here are four beyondthe-basics elements to include on your digital portfolio checklist:
1. Is it creative? This may seem like a no-brainer, but there is a skill to balancing form (creative design) and function (ease of presentation). Those who do this best truly represent the finest of the digital portfolio medium.
understand the importance of a simple, elegant process. Regardless of the candidate’s background (let’s say he’s a copywriter), a top applicant’s digital portfolio should still navigate flawlessly.
3. Do you get a sense of who they are? A strong representation of self is nearly as important as a strong representation of skills. When reviewing a digital portfolio, you’re gauging cultural fit, too. Exemplary portfolios will showcase a sense of who the candidate is, including style, interests and passions.
4. Do you get a sense of their strengths? A digital portfolio is nothing if it cannot represent one’s true abilities. The best of the best will not only let their work speak for itself, but also provide insight into their levels of skills and expertise. For example, are they an expert in HTML5 but merely proficient in Dreamweaver? This is useful information to have when weighing nice-to-haves versus need-to-haves.
Digital Portfolio Examples If you’re looking for top digital portfolios, take a look at TCG’s portfolio examples. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find examples of portfolios by region.
2. Is it easy to navigate? User experience (UX) is a hot topic in the creative industry and may very well be a position you’re hiring for. Even if it’s not, you
creativegroup.com
5
Building the Best Creative Team Building an effective team is part art, part science. Here are five must-haves to help you strike the perfect balance. 1. Right People: In order to build the best creative team, you need the best people and the right number of them. Three ways to assess if you have the right people is by evaluating technical skills, cultural fit, productivity and team size. • Skills. With any team, you need to begin with the right intellectual assets. This is the science part of team-building. Your job is to ensure the individuals on your team have the right technical skills and expertise (like software knowledge) as well as the right level of experience. • Corporate culture fit. Can you define what makes a good match for your team and organization? This is the art of teambuilding. After all, there’s a job description and there’s the right fit. The right fit needs more than the rote skills to execute the tasks associated with the job; he or she must also have the personality and work style to fit in with the corporate culture of the team and company. • Team size. Integral to team-building success is making sure you have the right staffing level. Do you have the flexibility to staff up or down during peak times? Will you be able to maintain your core skill set regardless of slowdowns or busy seasons? Allow yourself the opportunity to staff up or down to meet business needs.
2. Right Process: For teams to be productive, you need clearly defined expectations. Effective teams have a leader who sets tangible targets - such as deadlines, production schedules and scopes - in order to achieve team goals and expectations, with checks and balances along the way. Creative teams can be brilliant, but you can’t overlook the need for defined process, direction and focus to keep that brilliance on target.
3. Right Leadership and Leadership Approach: Without a doubt, your creative team leader must have the technical expertise to communicate with the team, but that’s not what will
make them an effective leader. The best leaders need to identify and communicate a vision and inspire others to create. They must also be humble, approachable and decisive. A strong team leader should know when to be open to the team’s thoughts and when to stand firm and make a decision. Avoid being too rigid. Instead, focus on: • Having open communication between team members and management. While there should be rules of engagement, it should also be understood that there are no dumb questions. • Using team-based approaches to solving problems. Don’t just tell; ask how others would handle problems or setbacks. • Fostering a safe-to-fail and safe-to-risk environment. Creativity can’t thrive if risk and failure aren’t an option.
4. Right Environment: Find opportunities in your team’s physical environment to inspire creativity. That may mean using a conference room as a collaborative work environment. It may mean structuring desks like a bull pen, with all team members working in open space. The right environment might also mean access to proprietary tools and software, even when team members are away from the office. Flexibility to work from home and access information whenever creativity strikes – even in the middle of the night – means your creative team can be effective and productive anytime, anywhere.
5. Right Vision and Strategic Direction: It’s integral that your creative team understands the bigger purpose of the project, department and company. What’s the mission of each? How do each of those individual missions come together to serve one greater goal? For example, if you are building a website, every team member, from the UX designer to the copywriter to the web developer, needs to be unified on mission, goal and purpose, not just for their roles, but for the final deliverable.
creativegroup.com
6
Retaining Top Talent Every manager wants to avoid employee turnover – particularly when it comes to top performers. Do you know what signs to watch for? If standout team members feel unchallenged creatively, underappreciated or stuck in one position for too long, they’re apt to pursue greener pastures. As reported in TCG’s 2014 Salary Guide, professionals with specialized skills are finding that they’re in great demand. Further, nearly one-third (32 percent) of advertising and marketing executives said it’s challenging to find skilled creative professionals today, according to a TCG survey.
A change in attitude. When a positive, team-oriented employee starts complaining about the organization or butting heads with coworkers, it’s often symptomatic of job dissatisfaction. Continued on next page >
If a key team member is thinking about jumping ship, indicators will likely appear well before you receive a resignation letter. Here are some potential warning signs:
Increased absenteeism. Unhappy employees tend to miss more workdays than their colleagues. Pay attention when an individual starts using up personal or vacation days because it could be a sign he or she is burning out or interviewing for other jobs.
Social withdrawal. Avoiding the more social aspects of work – like team-building activities or office parties – is common among employees who are considering leaving. Previously outgoing staff members may suddenly seem quiet, skip voluntary group outings or hole up in their office or cubicle.
RESUME
A decline in work habits. Uncommon errors, missed deadlines and an overall decrease in productivity can indicate that a once-passionate employee is now just going through the motions.
creativegroup.com
7
Retaining Top Talent
(Continued)
To prevent losing a valued employee, take action as soon as you see sufficient evidence of the person’s intent to leave. Here are four tips:
1. Ask questions, listen attentively. Meet one-on-one with the employee and candidly ask if he or she is dissatisfied. When faced with a direct question, many people will respond truthfully. If the individual says yes, ask why, listen attentively and explore possible remedies that would work for both parties.
2. Show you take the concerns seriously. If the employee is looking for more challenging work, consider offering new responsibilities that will stretch his or her skills. In addition, provide training opportunities to support the employee’s ongoing professional growth.
3. Review compensation, perks and benefits. Perhaps salary or work-life balance is the concern. Strong performers who gave it their all during the downturn may feel that modest salary gains in recent years haven’t kept pace with the increased value of their contributions or expanded workloads. Consult the aforementioned 2014 Salary Guide to make sure your salary offerings are on par with (or better than) competitors in your area.
4. Say thanks. One of the easiest and most cost-effective retention tactics is remembering to recognize employees for their good work. Offering a simple “thank you” for a job well done can be surprisingly powerful. Prompt, sincere and specific praise provides an emotional lift and shows staff that you’re paying attention to their efforts and appreciate their contributions.
10 Top Perks and Benefits Benefits – as in employee benefits – are a form of non-wage compensation. If not offered by the employer, employees would likely have to fund them themselves. Perks – as in perquisites or corporate perks – are nice-to-have additions to an employee’s salary and benefits package. We define perks as above-and-beyond offerings that may sway an employee to value one position greater than another. Think icing on the cake.
5 Top Benefits 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Healthcare / employee wellness programs Paid time off Retirement plans Maternity / paternity leave Transportation reimbursement
5 Persuasive Perks 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Work from anywhere Paid or subsidized gym / health club membership Free food Concierge services (e.g. free dry cleaning) Tuition reimbursement / paid training
creativegroup.com
8
Getting the Most Out of a Creative Staffing Agency You’re busy, you’re short on time and you need to fill a position, immediately. It might be time to ask for help. Here are five reasons why you shouldn’t go the hiring process alone. Creative staffing agencies provide immediate access to skilled professionals – all of whom have been interviewed and evaluated before they get to you. This allows you to more easily choose the best candidate for your freelance projects or full-time staffing needs. Here are five reasons why a creative staffing agency can make staffing a job easier:
1. Industry and local market expertise. Creative recruiters understand the industry inside and out, not to mention the local markets they serve. In fact, many of TCG’s creative recruiters used to work in the industry as designers, writers, marketers and more. This background gives our creative recruiters unparalleled insight into candidates’ abilities as well as how those skill sets can meet your specific business needs.
2. Access to a breadth of top candidates. Creative recruiters focus on building extensive pools of creative talent. You may write the best job description, but are you certain it’s reaching the best candidates? With a creative staffing agency, you have access to a wide range of potential hires that may otherwise never see your job opening. In addition, creative recruiters reach professionals who aren’t actively looking for a job, but may be interested if the right opportunity is presented to them.
3. Cost. Employee turnover costs can be high. Did you know that the cost of a bad hire can equal 30 percent of that person’s initial-year salary? Knowing how much a bad hire can set you back financially makes it worth your while to ensure the candidates you do bring on work out.
4. Time. Time is money, especially when you think about the opportunity cost of evaluating resumes and portfolios, and then comparing candidates’ skills and experience levels. Save yourself this time. Instead, spend it on leading your team and focusing on business initiatives.
5. Flexibility. Quick access to creative freelancers allows you the flexibility to staff up or down to meet business needs. Maintaining that perfect equilibrium on your team is tricky, but it’s that much easier when you rely on a creative staffing agency to help you bring on temporary workers when project demands require it.
5 Desperate Hire Warning Signs Avoid making a desperate hire. Get help if any of these warning signs ring true: 1. You’re beyond busy – too busy, in fact, to even look at the resumes in your inbox and on your desk. 2. And when you do look at resumes, you’re overwhelmed. How are you going to assess each candidate’s skills, expertise and experience? 3. Because you’re short-staffed, you and your team have been working long hours to compensate. 4. Subsequently, team members are showing signs of low morale. 5. Stress and exhaustion are shortening everyone’s fuse. You’re this close to hiring the first person who walks through the door.
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Happy Hiring Now that you’ve got all the hiring information you need – from writing job descriptions to avoiding employee turnover – you’re set to keep calm, hire on and retain those you do. It’s our pleasure to help all our clients achieve their staffing goals, regardless of company size or hiring needs. Visit our website or contact one of our branches to begin your candidate search with The Creative Group.
About The Creative Group The Creative Group, a division of Robert Half, specializes in placing highly skilled interactive, design and marketing professionals on a project and full-time basis. Our staffing experts are trained to make efficient matches to help you get the job done with minimal downtime. Since 1999, TCG has developed and refined our ability to read the job market in all kinds of economic conditions to offer sound advice and outstanding candidates. For additional hiring and management resources, check out our blog and visit our Salary Center to download our 2014 Salary Guide. Contact TCG at 1.888.846.1668 or creativegroup.com to learn more about how we can help with your staffing needs.
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© 2014 The Creative Group. A Robert Half Company. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. TCG-0314
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