FOLLOW THESE TIPS TO HIRING
When a new employee starts at your facility, how do you know they’ve got what it takes to stick around? Follow these tips to keep the good working and the bad from working.
• Implement a probationary period for all new hires. 45, 60 or 90 days are common.
• Use staffing agencies. They help screen candidates, and agencies often will employ them during your probationary period.
• Perform a post-offer, pre-employment drug screen and physical includ- ing functional screening. This will determine if the candidate is physically capable of performing the require- ments of the job.
• Perform full background checks, especially if the job has security or management responsibilities.
• Use a skills assessment to determine if the candidate is qualified.
• Be sure the candidate takes a tour of your facility. All too often, candidates have no idea what to expect.
• Utilize new employee orientations that cover safety training and introduce the company.
• Recognize the value of the orientation
the right kinds of workers. Recently, the Manufacturing
Institute, a sister organization of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), partnered with the American Foundry Society and its Institute in an attempt to bring education and train- ing of future employees to light. Te objectives of the partnership are aimed at recruiting the younger generation into manufacturing roles and encour- aging the use of new certification programs with the NAM-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System. As the metalcasting industry continues to experience growth, it is necessary to have a strong workforce pool, backed by the education and training needed to succeed. “We are working with high schools
and local community colleges in a multi-faceted approach,” Zellers said. “And, to be honest, it’s an investment. We’ve seen some positive results already but we are hoping for much bigger and better things as time goes on.” While working on the younger,
32 | MODERN CASTING October 2012
student generation is a step in the right direction, it does not quickly solve a recruitment problem facing many metalcasting facilities. “We hire experienced employees
through newspaper ads, job websites and word of mouth,” Kurek said. “We have appeared in a number of newspaper stories recently and typi- cally see an increase in job applica- tions after the story runs.” Waukesha also turns to temporary
staffing agencies to fill jobs requiring a lower skill set. However, according to Kurek, the real problem is finding a candidate that has both the right atti- tude and skills for the position available. “Te combination of the two (attitude and skills) has been almost impossible to find,” Kurek said. “We have focused instead on hiring for atti- tude and training for skills, which has created a situation where we need to have good training programs. We have made good progress, but we still have some work to do on the training end.” Kurek goes on to say that metal-
process and make it worthwhile for your candidates.
• Use current employees to act as mentors to new employees. They can show them the ropes and help provide a better chance of success. • Do not throw new employees “to the wolves.” Let them ease into the job and allow them time to observe and perform portions of the job before being required to do it on their own.
• Utilize performance reviews during the orientation period and tie pay increases into the results.
• Check the candidate’s references; do not just say you will.
• Clearly define and communicate all company rules and policies.
• Ensure all training is well documented. • Clearly define the job duties and expectations.
—AFS Human Resources Division (14)
casters need to do a better job selling themselves and the profession in order to attract better candidates. “Tis is especially true for younger
employees under the age of 35, since they grew up hearing about manu- facturing jobs going offshore,” Kurek said. “Tey need to know that they can make a good living and that the job will be there in the future. Chang- ing that perception will take a lot of promotion by all of us.”
Working With a Younger Pool of Workers
Waupaca Foundry offers sum-
mer internships, tuition reimburse- ment programs and an active summer program for college students. It also recently began working with local high schools to offer internship opportuni- ties to sophomores, juniors and seniors. “Our feeling is that if we wait until students are seniors in high school, we are probably too late,” Zellers said. “Now we are reaching out to sopho- mores and juniors, to where they live—
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