We’re covering the candidate experience this month on the COATS blog: how to improve the service you offer to your candidates and attract stronger candidates in the process. This post and the previous one deal with handling the potential negative outcomes that can come in the people business.

Sometimes, you do everything you can to find a match for a candidate, but it doesn’t happen. Maybe they have a great attitude and professional demeanor but not enough experience; maybe they have the opposite situation; maybe they have a criminal background or maybe there just aren’t jobs available right now.

These situations don’t just cause distress among candidates; placement specialists get depressed by them, too. But there are a few things you can do to help unmatchable candidates. Trying these tactics will not only help your candidates and placement personnel feel better, they’ll give candidates an excellent impression of your company.

When they don’t have enough experience: You can help them by offering training. Some training can be offered at your location in the form of a seminar (such as banquet server training). Some can be offered online, through a testing and tutoring software company. You can also look into partnerships with local community colleges or trade schools to offer training for job candidates.

When they don’t have a professional demeanor: You can help them by offering a different kind of training. Offering regular classes in interviewing, resumes and dressing for success not only shows that you care about candidates; it improves the candidates you already have so they can land better assignments.

When they have a criminal background: If your client has policies that prevent them from hiring applicants with a criminal background, there are still some actions that can help. One easy possibility is to suggest other staffing companies that are more likely to hire applicants with a criminal background. Another possibility is to suggest an ex-offender re-entry program. Many areas have partnerships to provide mentorship, job training and other forms of support; search for “ex-offender re-entry” and your state or locality to see if such a program is available nearby.

When there just aren’t jobs: This one hurts the most, because it affects us as much as it does our candidates. First, express genuine sympathy that there’s nothing to offer them right now, and let them know that your job orders are client-driven. You can also have a sheet of information or a collection of brochures for sources of interim help: medical care, child care, transportation, counseling, etc. Your state’s department of human services is a good place to start to find these resources.

What kinds of situations have you encountered when you just couldn’t help an applicant, and what actions have you taken? Let us know in the comments!

We’re covering the candidate experience this month on the COATS blog: how to improve the service you offer to your candidates and attract stronger candidates in the process. This post and the next one deal with handling the potential negative outcomes that can come in the people business.

Social media isn’t the only forum for people to let you know what they think of you. Review sites are also extremely popular, both for researching companies and sometimes for letting off steam. Sites such as Yelp, Google Places and Yahoo let people talk about their experiences with a company, and sometimes their experiences weren’t great.

Bad reviews are, simply, going to happen at some point, so it’s best to be prepared for them. Here are a few steps for handling a bad review:

• Understand the candidate’s perspective. Remember, unemployment is one of life’s top stressors so candidates already aren’t at their best. Chances are, they aren’t being malicious or unfair; they’re simply frustrated and need to make their concerns known.
• Use what’s useful. If the review includes feedback on processes that don’t work, resumes that are emailed in but then lost to cyberspace, receptionists who seem to hang up rather than transfer calls, etc., that’s actually very useful information to have, because it means you can improve the problem and make it better for everyone.
• Respond to the criticism, but do so from a perspective of customer service:
• Acknowledge that the candidate did not have a great experience and that you understand what they’re saying.
• Apologize, either for actual wrongs or for their feeling of being wronged.
• Do not argue with them. Saying “you shouldn’t feel the way you do” is not only counterproductive, it’s obnoxious.
• Offer a way of making it right. If their feedback helped you identify a problem that has since been fixed, let them know and encourage them to try your company again. Consider offering them some complimentary training or resume coaching to help improve their chances of getting a job.
• Finally, thank them for their feedback.

What kind of experiences have you had with review sites? Let us know in the comments!

We’re covering the candidate experience this month on the COATS blog: how to improve the service you offer to your candidates and attract stronger candidates in the process. This time, we’re looking at social media as a force for helping candidates.

Social media is full of folks looking for jobs. An estimated 86 percent of job-seekers have a profile on at least one social media site, and 31 percent are active on the “big 3″: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Of course, social media is a great way to get your job listings out there, especially considering that most of your potential audience is already on social media. We even offer a value-added option that lists job openings on job aggregate boards as well as Facebook and Twitter.

However, your job openings aren’t the only content you can offer on social media. Here are some other ideas:

• Posting advice on job-hunting shows candidates you care about their success and want them to find work, even if it isn’t with you.
• Congratulating candidates who have gone temp-to-hire not only shows appreciation, it proves to others that candidates do get hired through your company and it could happen to them, too.
• If you need to put out the call for a major job order, social media is one way to increase the reach of your request. (Text-blasting works, too.)
• Posting humorous quotes or pictures from life around the office humanizes your company and makes it more approachable by candidates.

Also, one thing that makes social media unique is that it’s not just for telling, it’s for listening. Ask your candidates on social media for feedback on what you’re doing well and what could use improvements. Ask them if they have any questions about the company and answer them publicly. Show them that you truly care what they think and that you genuinely want to improve their candidate experience.

How do you use social media to reach out to candidates? Let us know in the comments!

We’re covering the candidate experience this month on the COATS blog: how to improve the service you offer to your candidates and attract stronger candidates in the process.

Of course, not all candidates have their first experience with your company in your reception area. Many of them encounter you first through your online application process, and their impression of that can strongly color their impression of your company as a whole.

Online applications are a great thing to have; they save time, energy and lobby space. We’re such fans of online applications, we offer them through our partner Haley Marketing in a value-added option that integrates with COATS. However, an online app that doesn’t serve your candidates may be worse than no online app at all.

Whether you’re just setting up an online application or you’ve had one for years, take time at least twice a year to go through the online application process as a candidate would. Make sure the technology itself works and that the “you’ve completed the app” messages are properly worded and going to your candidates automatically.

If possible, ask friends who don’t work in staffing to try the process and let you know how it works for them; lots of times, phrases and steps that make perfect sense to us in the business make no sense to a job-seeker whose primary experience is in, say, warehouses or Microsoft Word.

Also check those automatic messages to make sure that the information contained in them (your locations and phone numbers) are correct, and that they include further directions for candidates to complete the application process, if necessary.

Perhaps most importantly, make sure everyone in your company knows how the online application process is supposed to work and who to contact if it isn’t working. A candidate whose application doesn’t go through isn’t going to know to contact you; he or she is most likely to tell the receptionist or placement specialist.

What kind of experiences have you had with online applications? Let us know in the comments!

We’re covering the candidate experience this month on the COATS blog: how to improve the service you offer to your candidates and attract stronger candidates in the process. We start at the same place many of your candidates start (and some of them stop): your reception area and the people in it.

This is your first impression on candidates (and vendors and clients too, if they visit you), so try to view it through fresh eyes. How does your lobby look? Would you want to spend time there, or would you be counting the seconds until you could leave?

Make sure your chairs are comfortable, that you have enough of them and that there’s something for candidates to do or read while they’re waiting. (Once they’ve finished filling out the application, of course.)

If you have policies against cell phone use, accompanying family members, etc., be sure to post those policies in your lobby area. Some staffing agencies even have flat-screen TVs mounted in their lobbies with a slide-show presentation of company policies, resume tips, interviewing hints and dress code pointers.

Also consider the people who greet your candidates, whether over the phone or in person. Give them scripts for handling difficult candidates with responses that match your company’s policies and protect you legally. Also, let them know when it’s okay to transfer a difficult call to you or one of the other managers.

And consider your receptionists as people themselves, people in a tough job. Be sure they have a chance to take a break regularly, as well as after a draining experience. They’re dealing with people in a high-stress situation, and some of that stress is bound to rub off on them.

Also let your receptionists know that you appreciate what they do, and give them any training or additional equipment they might need to do it even better. Your reception area is one of the most important parts of your company, especially as far as candidates are concerned. Treat it accordingly.

What do you do to make your reception area and/or receptionist top-notch? Let us know in the comments!

Another busy month in employment law has ended. April’s news included rulings from federal agencies on background checks and COBRA policies, court cases on free speech and data theft and, as always, some facepalm-worthy actions from companies. Let’s dive in

The big news this month was that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released some new enforcement guidance on how to use criminal background checks during the hiring process. Employers are still free to use these checks, but not in any manner that furthers discrimination of any type. The EEOC also specifies that information about factors other than the arrest or conviction (such as race, education, background, etc.) can’t be used for any discriminatory action. The agency included some best practices for applying the ruling, too.

While we’re on the subject of federal agencies, there were several other developments in that area this month: The IRS is increasing its audits of COBRA practices; the EEOC has ruled that transgender discrimination is part of sex discrimination and thus illegal; and the EEOC has also issued new Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) requirements.

Free speech and worker opinions also featured in the news this month. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that First Amendment protections don’t apply to workers in the course of their job duties. The military took an even harder line, discharging a Marine for disparaging President Obama and saying that he would not follow Obama’s orders on a Facebook “fan” page.

On the wage front, several lawsuits from the entertainment industry are alleging that unpaid interns did the work of entry-level workers and not given any of the benefits (such as education and/or course credit) interns are supposed to receive in exchange for their labor. And on the other end of employment, a Virginia appeals court has ruled that the concept of equal pay applies to severance too, so don’t offer one gender a better severance package than the other.

A recent ruling on data theft has many employers worried. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act does not apply to theft of electronic data to which an employee had access as part of their job duties. A strong dissenting opinion was issued on the case, indicating that the court itself was split. Expect more developments on this issue.

In discrimination news, the New Jersey Superior Court recently ruled that an “accidentally hostile” work environment is still a hostile work environment. Employees of a construction company made anti-Jewish slurs against an employee they believed to be Jewish. He wasn’t, but the court held that a hostile work environment was still in play. It should go without saying, but still: any kind of bigotry on the job should be quashed, sharpish.

Elsewhere in the nation, Oregon has barred the use of “no-unemployed” language in job ads and Maryland has banned employers from asking for Facebook passwords.

We conclude, as we often do, with cases that make you shake your head for one reason or another. A federal court charged a company with $35.2 million in fines for investing its employees’ 401(k) money in a fund with higher fees so that the fund company would charge the employer less for other services. And finally, a Manhattan nail salon lost big-time when it tried to claim that its employees weren’t covered by Fair Labor Standards Act rules governing overtime pay… because the employees were illegal aliens. Needless to say, large fines and further investigation ensued.

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Because our product is people, staffing firms handle a lot of payroll items: wages, garnishments, taxes, etc. And because so much of our money can be tied up in things like payroll taxes, it might be tempting to dip into that reserve in times when cash is low.

But please, please, please don’t do it!

This article from Flexible Funding outlines the many dangers of using payroll taxes as operating capital. From that article:

When agencies delay tax payments, IRS notices start arriving in the mail, though many basically ignore them figuring they have a loan from the U.S. government until the day they show up on the doorstep. Some agencies will stop paying taxes for a while, then start paying again in small amounts when feasible.

It’s a big mistake to start paying again after a skipped payment and think, “the IRS won’t file a tax lien as long as I keep throwing them bones.” And it’s a big mistake to think you can deal with the IRS yourself.

When money is sent without clearly specifying what quarter it is to be applied to, somebody at the IRS will apply it to whatever quarter they want, which usually makes the situation worse. If you or a naive bookkeeper sends a check to the IRS indicating that it is for a specified past quarter(s), you may also be making the situation worse.

Beyond the costs of interest and penalties, you need costly expert help to guide you in applications. Don’t let the IRS apply payments to whatever they want to, and money should not be haphazardly applied to past quarters at the expense of keeping current. If you are not current, the IRS won’t work out an installment deal with you.

It is not wise to deal with the IRS yourself. You have to get to the right office at the IRS, and the right person, in the right time windows, regardless of what may be indicated in mailed IRS notices.

Over the years we’ve seen a number of staffing agencies receive liens out of left field, such as liens initiated from offices, divisions, managers, or supervisors that haven’t contacted the staffing agency before. IRS agents that were already in communication with the staffing agency were quite surprised themselves. At the IRS the right  hand doesn’t always know what the left hand is doing.

If you need additional operating capital or payroll funding, please contact our Integrated Partner Advance Payroll Funding. Just, whatever you do, don’t dip into the kitty marked “IRS.”

“Mag media,” or, as the rest of us call it, filing your state and federal taxes electronically is one of the business marvels of the electronic age. But because of the whole “50 states, and they’ve each gotta do it differently” issue, it can get a little tricky.

Each state has a specific format and list of data they need included in the electronic file that is sent. COATS has a unique program and screen for each state to accommodate these needs. Unfortunately, that screen doesn’t include information on where to send your data; you’ll have to contact your state’s agency for that.

Of course, at the end of the year, it’s time to file your federal taxes electronically. Fortunately, there’s a mag media for that, too. Under Year-End Processing, you can go to Mag Media for the tax year, click on Federal at the bottom of the list of states, and create your data from there.

Once you’ve created your federal data, you can create your state data with just one click – but be sure to create your state data from within that federal window rather than from within a state window, and be sure to create your federal data first. And if you operate in more than one state, you’ll need to create each state’s data independently.

With all these rules for data creation, it’s a good thing you can send this all in electronically. Imagine if you had to add in extra time for mailing it!

Four times a year, the seasons change (well, in most places, anyway). Four times a year, you should probably have your oil changed and your tire pressure checked. And four times a year, chances are you’re legally required to report your payroll information to federal and state governments.

Fortunately, COATS Staffing Software has a function for this: the Quarterly Cycle Report.

The Federal Quarterly Report in COATS is similar to the general payroll register that you print during each payroll cycle. The report prints each employee’s:

• Name
• Social Security number
• Gross wages
• Taxable wages
• Federal income tax withholding
• Eligible FICA wages and FICA withholding
• Eligible Medicare wages and Medicare withholding
• Eligible FUTA wages

The bottom of the report prints the company information relating to federal taxes and unemployment. All employees who have worked within the quarter will be included in this report.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the State Quarterly Report prints the same information, only state-based instead of federal-based.

You can also print IRS Form 941 and Schedule B directly from COATS Staffing Software. Next week, we’ll explore the thrilling world of transferring all this data electronically!

When you’re setting up COATS Staffing Software, taxes might be the farthest thing from your mind, but you’ll still need to take them into consideration. Taxes are a payable, obviously, so they’re tracked through Payable Accounts in COATS. Fortunately, as part of payroll payables, their transactions are automatically created whenever a payroll is appended.

Payable Accounts will need to be added for each of these items, as applicable:

• Federal Taxes – includes Federal, FICA, and Medicare.
• Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
• State Income Tax – one payable for each state in which your company withholds taxes.
• State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
• Local Income Tax – one payable for each locality in which your company withholds taxes.
• County Taxes – one payable for each county in which your company withholds taxes.
• School District Taxes – one payable for each locality in which your company withholds taxes.
• Local Services Tax – one payable for each occupational region in which your company withholds taxes.
• Unemployment Taxes – one payable for each state that requires employees to have unemployment funds deducted from their paycheck.
• Sales Taxes – one payable for each company from which sales tax is collected.

Good thing the number of payable accounts is limitless!

One word of caution: you must set up these payroll payable accounts before you attach the AP account to the General Ledger information (under Branch Preferences).

For detailed instructions on setting up a payable account in COATS software, visit our Customers Only site, where you can download the manuals.