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Posts Tagged ‘small business hiring’

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Small Business Hiring Is Up, Study Shows

April 19th, 2012 ::

By Maria Valdez Haubrich

Is your small business getting ready to hire? Looks like plenty of them are. Small business created about 65,000 new jobs in March—the highest single-month growth rate in more than two years, according to the Intuit Small Business Employment Index, which measures employment trends among businesses with 20 or fewer employees.

The March Index showed small business employment increasing at an annual growth rate of 3.8 percent. The average monthly hours worked also rose by 0.5 percent, or 36 minutes, and average monthly compensation increased by 0.7 percent, or $18 per worker, to $2,785 in March or about $33,400 per year.

“This is the strongest small business employment report we have had in a long time,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who works with Intuit to create the Index. “Yet at the same time, the hiring rate has remained flat at just above 5 percent since May 2009.”

Woodward says this indicates that small business employees are staying with their current employers, rather than leaving for bigger firms. In the typical economy, the turnover at small firms is higher than at larger ones because small companies usually pay less. But Woodward says the turnover rate is still lower than normal, indicating “we are not out of the woods yet.” The compensation figures, too, indicate many employees at small businesses are still working only part-time.

Still, the positive numbers continue a trend that Intuit has been seeing for several months. February’s small business job growth rate was 0.4 percent, or 75,000 jobs added at small businesses that month, and January also saw 0.4 percent growth. In fact, jobs, hours worked and compensation have all been climbing steadily since last July.

Overall this month, job growth was strongest in the Mountain, West South Central and East South Central regions of the country, along with the Pacific Northwest. Woodward says hiring is also beginning to pick up in New York.

Image by Flickr user bpsusf (Creative Commons)

 

 

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Posted in Small Business, small business, Uncategorized, Workforce | No Comments »

Small Biz Resource Tip: JobPoacher

February 21st, 2012 ::

JobPoacher

Sometimes the best employees for your small business are already working somewhere else. They may be looking to get out of their current job situation but don’t want their boss to know. Now you can find them (and they can find you) through the JobPoacher website. Job seekers can post their job skills and resume information without exposing their identities, and you can list your job openings (free) with a simple format that covers what you have to offer, where the job is located and what you’ll pay. That cuts down the search time and effort for both parties. JobPoacher also monitors the listings for any inappropriate postings.

 

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Posted in Resources, Small Business, small business, Workforce | No Comments »

Small Biz Resource Tip: Jobvite

January 25th, 2012 ::

Jobvite

Job recruiting by social media is the latest trend, and social media tool Jobvite allows you to source and weed through referrals, social networks and the Web to find your perfect candidates. The Web-based structure also allows you to do things such as check and track referrals from your smartphone so you don’t miss out on a prime prospect. Search hundreds of sites for potential employees, post job openings on your company’s Facebook page, and make it easy to allow current employees to refer their friends and associates. Then check your personalized dashboard to see what recruiting methods are working the best for you.

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Posted in Resources, Small Business, small business, Workforce | No Comments »

3 Tips for Internship Programs That Work

December 1st, 2011 ::

By Maria Valdez Haubrich

Does your small business need more hands to handle all the work coming your way, but you don’t want to hire a full-time employee and deal with payroll taxes, paperwork and all the red tape that goes with it? Or maybe you don’t have the budget for a full-time worker, but you still need help. One option is hiring a student intern.

Hiring interns can be complex, however, because there are a variety of laws regulating internship programs that vary from state to state. To help small businesses create internship programs that work for all involved, the National Association of Colleges and Employers has put together a list of tips for creating good internship programs. Here are some that I thought were especially interesting and useful for small business owners:

  1. Offer flexible hours or other nontraditional opportunities. Many surveys in recent years have shown that young people want, and expect, flexible hours, the ability to work from home and other perks that help them balance work and life. College students definitely have the tech know-how to work virtually, so if you’ve got tasks they can handle at home, why not let them go for it? You’ll make your internship more appealing.
  2. Involve younger workers on your team. NACE suggests holding brownbag lunches or other gatherings where the newest hires on your staff talk to interns about their experiences at your company and their backgrounds. A small business may not have that many new hires, but it’s still good practice to let entry-level employees on your team mentor the interns and show them the ropes.
  3. Expose interns to senior management. One big perk of an internship is the chance to learn about a business from the inside out. At a small business, that’s easy. Take the intern/s out to lunch or set up some other informal session where you and the key members on your team talk to them about the business. How did you start it, how did you grow it, what are your goals? How can the intern play a role?

In addition to these tips, I have one more: Seek interns through an official internship program at a college or university. These organizations can help you understand what laws and regulations govern internships, such as whether interns in your state can be unpaid, hours worked and more.

Need more help? The NACE even sells a guidebook on the topic that covers issues such as supervising and evaluating interns and how to measure the effectiveness of your internship program.

Image by Flickr user Bart Everson (Creative Commons)

 

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Posted in Small Business, small business, Workforce | 1 Comment »

Why Overqualified Job Candidates May Be Your Best Bet

October 27th, 2011 ::

By Karen Axelton

If you’re looking to hire employees right now, you’re probably finding a plethora of overqualified candidates in the job market. Before you throw away another resume, stop to consider the results of a new study that shows that overqualified candidates might actually be the best people for the job.

BusinessNewsDaily.com cites the study by Aleksandra Luksyte, a professor at the University of Western Australia, who found that giving overqualified job candidates challenging assignments can greatly benefit a business.

While past research has typically shown that overqualified workers are the most dissatisfied and are likely to seek other jobs as soon as they can, Luksyte found something different. She discovered that when employers gave overqualified employees assignments that allowed them to make their own decisions, coordinate projects, lead others, or be responsible for the outcome of their work, those employees were more likely to put increased effort into both their own performance and promoting the overall welfare of the business.
“When overqualified people are placed into challenging jobs, they seem to be motivated to utilize all their under-realized potential into becoming excellent employees,” Luksyte told BusinessNewsDaily. “Our results suggest that by placing overqualified employees in complex jobs, employers may be able to influence the most important work behaviors of their overqualified incumbents.”

When overqualified employees received challenging assignments, Luksyte found, they not only handled the jobs but also went above and beyond to assist co-workers with both work-related problems, such as helping with a heavy workload, and personal problems, such as making them feel better when they were discouraged.

Luksyte told BusinessNewsDaily that study suggests hiring overqualified people could actually give a business a competitive advantage. She suggests that overqualified workers could benefit from tasks such as mentoring other employees or leading teams. Any work given to them should allow for making decisions and taking responsibility for the outcomes of work.
Image by Flickr user bpfusf (Creative Commons)

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Posted in Small Business, small business, Workforce | 1 Comment »

Small Business Employment, Hours and Pay All on the Rise

October 19th, 2011 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

The small business hiring trend that started in October 2009 continued this past month. The most recent Intuit Small Business Employment Index found that small business employment grew by 0.3 percent in September, adding up to an annual growth rate of 3.3 percent. Hours worked and compensation increased as well.

Based on these numbers and revised national employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Intuit revised its previously reported growth rate for August from 0.18 percent to 0.3 percent, or 65,000 jobs added in August. Since October 2009, Intuit reports that small businesses have added 720,000 new jobs.

“After all the uproar over the threatened European financial meltdown, [this] good news is very welcome,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the index. “We have some distance to go to make up for growth that didn’t happen during the recession, but this is a good start.” Woodward believes the strong numbers could be due to increases in residential property prices for the past five months in a row. “There are all kinds of small businesses linked to property, such as construction contractors, real estate agents and brokers,” she notes.

The number of hours that hourly small business employees worked increased as well, to an average of 110.4 hours (or a 25.5 hour workweek) in September. This was a 0.3 percent increase from the revised August figure of 110.0 hours.

“In this recession, these smallest businesses have tended to cut back on employee hours rather than lay people off, so it’s good to see hourly people working more,” added Woodward.

In addition to hours, average monthly pay rose as well. Average monthly pay for all small business employees was $2,694 per month in September, Intuit found–a 0.3 percent increase compared to the August revised estimate of $2,685 per month. The equivalent annual wages are about $32,300 per year.

“Compensation is up by a healthy amount and equivalent to an annual growth rate of more than 3 percent,” said Woodward.  “This is very good considering that over the last 30 years real income has grown at a rate of about 1.5 percent per year. We have some distance to go to make up for growth that didn’t happen during the recession, but this is a good start.”

The Intuit Small Business Employment Index is based on online employment data from some 70,000 small business employers with fewer than 20 employees.

Image by Flickr user Dave Bleasedale (Creative Commons)

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Posted in Small Business, small business, Workforce | 1 Comment »

Small Biz Resource Tip: CheckToHire

October 7th, 2011 ::

CheckToHire

Whether you’re hiring a new driver, salesperson or company executive, you need to make sure you know who you’re hiring and delve into the prospective employee’s background. Checking references is the first step, of course, but you never know if the references are honest. Going a bit further and oing a background check doesn’t have to be cost-prohibitive with a new service from CARCO, whose CheckToHire service is tailored to small business needs. CheckToHire can be used on a case-by-case basis and you can check depending on the responsibilities of the new hire. CARCO is an online solution that can check driver’s licenses, past criminal records, validity of professional licenses and more.

 

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Posted in Business Law, Compliance, Resources, Small Business, small business, Workforce | No Comments »

Entrepreneur Starts Program to Stimulate Job Growth

October 6th, 2011 ::

By Karen Axelton

How is your small business tackling the ongoing recession? Are you hoping for a government bailout, taking a wait-and-see approach, or taking matters into your own hands? Lynn Sarkany (shown here), a professor of Marketing and Public Relations and the founder of Market Finders, a full-service marketing consulting firm in the Los Angeles area, decided to take charge and not only help her business, but other businesses and communities as well. Sarkany founded Entrepreneurs Professionals, an organization dedicated to helping small business owners survive in a tough economy.

Sarkany saw firsthand how the economic downturn devastated small business communities and decided she wanted to help. Through Entrepreneurs Professionals, she works to create synergy between local chambers of commerce, city business development program, educational organizations and the business community to provide an ongoing support venue that helps the community thrive.

Entrepreneurs Professionals chapters are groups of like-minded business professionals who:

  • Want to be the strongest business professionals that they can be
  • Want to get to know and contribute to their fellow group members
  • Have a sense of community service

Each local chapter allows only one member of each business type. Members can be business owners or decision-makers in a business, practice or nonprofit organization. Each chapter chooses a charity benefactor for community service. Members participate in networking, Business Development™ Meetings, friend-building and community service opportunities where they get a chance to meet new business contacts, grow their businesses, make new friends and participate in community service.

  • Weekly meetings at a location and time of the chapter’s choosing
  • Bi-weekly Business Development Meetings, at a location and time of the chapter’s choosing, where members can discuss issues and best practices that will help them to grow their business and become more savvy business managers
  • Social events where members will get to know one another and form friendships.
  • Community Service/Fundraiser events where members will not only get to know one another and form friendships, but also have an opportunity to support their chapter benefactor.

“If Main Street is to survive, we must create our own safety net,” Sarkany explains about her inspiration for creating Entrepreneur Professionals. “Joining together to share best business practices and ideas will enable us to create jobs and to get back on our feet again.  America is a country of innovation, and we need a new and vibrant generation of innovators and entrepreneurs to make this happen.  We also need to strengthen our communities.”

To learn more about Entrepreneurs Professionals or about starting a chapter in your area, visit the Entrepreneurs Professionals website. It might just inspire you to start your own job stimulus program.

Image courtesy Lynn Sarkany

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President Challenges Business to Hire Military Veterans

August 25th, 2011 ::

By Karen Axelton

Is your business looking to hire? Well, consider these numbers:

  • Some 1 million military veterans are unemployed.
  • Among veterans who joined the military post-9/11, the jobless rate is 13.3 percent.
  • More than 1 million more service members are projected to leave the military between 2011 and 2016.

These numbers are the reason the White House has proposed new tax incentives for businesses that hire military veterans, and has launched other initiatives to help veterans find jobs. Here’s what President Obama has proposed:

Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits: Under the Recovery Act, employers who hired certain unemployed veterans were eligible for a tax credit of up to 40 percent of the first $6,000 of wages, for a maximum credit of $2,400. This credit expired at the end of 2010. The President has proposed two new tax credits:

1)    A new Returning Heroes Tax Credit for firms that hire unemployed veterans (maximum credit of $2,400 for every short-term unemployed hire and $4,800 for every long-term unemployed hire)

2)     A Wounded Warriors Tax Credit that will increase the existing tax credit for firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been unemployed long-term (maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran) and continue the existing credit for all other veterans with a service-connected disability (maximum credit of $4,800).

The White House estimates the cost of the tax incentive program to be $120 million over two years, depending on the number of hires.

A Challenge to the Private Sector: The President has challenged businesses to commit to hire hiring or training 100,000 unemployed veterans of their spouses by the end of  2013. Companies including Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Accenture, JP Morgan and AT&T have already announced new commitments to training or employing veterans.

A Career-Ready Military: The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs will lead a task force to develop reforms to ensure that every member of the service receives the training, education and credentials they need to transition to the civilian workforce or pursue higher education. This will include designing a “Reverse Boot Camp” that extends the transition period to better prepare veterans for private sector careers.

Transition to the Private Sector: The Department of Labor will establish a new initiative to provide better career development and job search services to transitioning veterans, and The Office of Personnel Management will create a “Best Practices” Manual for the private sector to help businesses identify and hire veterans.

With big business stepping up to the plate to help veterans transition back to civilian life, shouldn’t small business do the same? As President Obama noted in a recent speech, veterans gain a lot of skills that transition to the business world. And their leadership abilities can be especially valuable in a small business with a lean staff.

If you’re looking to hire veterans, the following job search sites are places to check out:

Image by Flickr user Denise Krebs (Creative Commons)

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More Employers Use Facebook to Search for Job Candidates

August 16th, 2011 ::

By Maria Valdez Haubrich

Are you getting ready to hire employees to ramp up your business after years of running short-staffed? Or maybe you just need to replace an employee who’s retiring or leaving for other reasons.

For small businesses, finding good sources of job candidates can be a big challenge. Listings on big job search sites may return too many unqualified candidates, costing you time wading through resumes of people who don’t fit your description (not to mention the cost of the listings, which can be fairly high for a small business). So maybe you resort to word-of-mouth, letting colleagues and customers know you’re on the hunt for a new staffer.

While word-of-mouth is often a great way to find new candidates, it doesn’t always work due to timing issues. Now there’s a new way to take advantage of word-of-mouth and spread the word even more widely to your friends’ and colleagues’ friends and colleagues using Facebook.

The Wall Street Journal recently took a look at the growing trend of using social media to find and advertise jobs. While LinkedIn, which offers job listings and is more career-oriented than Facebook, has dominated up till now, the Journal reports that Facebook is starting to catch up. One reason could be that people tend to be more closely connected to their Facebook friends, so they trust their referrals and recommendations more. One expert cited by the Journal says candidates are 50% more likely to apply to job openings they learn about through Facebook than through other means. Another is simply that people tend to visit Facebook more often than LinkedIn.

The Journal says that according to Jobs2Web, Facebook hires currently make up less than 1% of total new hires, but that could be changing: Jobs2Web says if Facebook hiring trends continue, the social network could rival traditional job boards as hiring tool by 2012.

How can you use Facebook to hire? One simple way is to post information about jobs on your business’s Facebook page, but some companies go so far as to search for comments people are making about job hunts or unhappiness with current jobs to sniff out potential candidates. This strategy can backfire, though, if candidates see it as “invasive” because they weren’t actively seeking jobs. By comparison, candidates who are active on LinkedIn tend to be more open to new job offers and opportunities because that site is focused on job-related networking.

You can get around this hurdle by accessing tools that are dedicated to Facebook job search. One Facebook app, BranchOut, boasts it enables job seekers to browse through millions of job listings. And job search site Monster.com has a Facebook app called BeKnown.

Have you tried looking for job candidates on Facebook? Will you next time you’re on the hunt?

Image by Flickr user Marc Falardeau (Creative Commons)

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