If you have worked as a Print Production professional for any length of time, you have faced a dilemma.

The dilemma? Finding, training and keeping qualified help.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Finding Qualified Production personnel:

• The most obvious is an ad in the local and national newspapers. With this method, you try and cram all of your needed qualifications in a small space.

• Today, you can also use an Internet job-posting site. If you have not investigated this method, either in looking for a job, or trying to find qualified help, you will be shocked by the number of sites available. The best known is monster.com (advertising on the Super Bowl helps!).

• You can contact a job placement firm and list your opening with them.

• You can pick up the phone and call some of your qualified vendors and tell them what your needs are and ask for their assistance in locating personnel.

How does each of these methods work? Having used each of these methods, I will tell you my experiences:

• Newspaper ads – the old reliable. The cost can be expensive depending upon which newspapers you use and the length the ad runs. You will get a ton of resumes and about 60% of them will have nothing to do with the qualifications you listed.

• Internet Sites – the new reliable? You have more space to list your position than a newspaper ad. As I have always had my human resources department post these (after giving them the job description), I believe the costs are about average compared to newspapers. You will, once again, receive a ton of resumes. As you had more space to post qualifications, figure only 40% of them will not match your specifications.

• Job Placement Firms – I have found there are only a few firms, which actually understand what we do for a living, but when you find them they can be a wealth of information. From a hiring standpoint, the fees can be a bit steep, but if they do the job, paying the fee is not so tough.

• Vendor Recommendations: The method I have found works very well. The vendor knows you; they know your needs, the way you work and your personality. They obviously want to make you happy, so will not recommend someone who will not fit into your culture

You interview, negotiate and hire the right candidate. Unless you hired for a high management position, you will need to train your employees.

Training can be as basic or as complex as the skill levels of your employees.

• Many vendors will come into your office and give seminars. You can also set up trips to their plants for tours.

• Many industry associations hold classes. In the New York area, I know the AGC and the Print Production Club have seminars for print production people. Look into the industry associations in your area.

• Rochester Institute of Technology also has many seminars. They range from one day to three days and delve into the mechanics of the printing industry. Many other colleges also hold classes.

• Of course, the most basic training comes from you. Sitting with your staff, giving them time to learn from your past experiences is the best instruction anyone can have.

One real tough thing is keeping qualified staff. Especially after you invest money and time in their training. Let’s admit to a basic fact. People leave jobs more for an increase in pay more than for any other reason. They also like to know what their career path is within their current company.

By putting together a plan they can follow, it will help to make them more comfortable. Letting them know what the requirements are to move from Assistant Production Manager to Production Manager to Senior Production Manager to Production Supervisor (put in your own job title structure here), allows them to strive for the next level.

To begin, you must have complete, accurate job descriptions. The job descriptions should be detailed in their scope. What role does the position fill within the organization and the department? What functions is each level responsible for? What are the job skills? Once you have put these together, you have to remember to update them as the job functions change due to reorganization or technology changes.

Next, it helps to have a list of required stepping stones needed to move up to the next level. I have noticed recently that new staff feel after a year they should be elevated to the next level. When asking why, the response I have heard most is "well, I have been here a year, so I should get promoted."

Assigning a minimum number of hours of on-site press approval and on-site letter shop approvals needed to move to the next level is one idea. For me, an Assistant Production manager can only become a Production Manager after they have been on-site for 4-color plus work a minimum of 100 hours. After this length of time, they should have a comfort level to allow them to handle this responsibility on their own. Yes, that is correct, I do not believe that someone at this level should ever be on-site alone. It is putting too much pressure on them and, I believe, will open the door to potential errors.

I have also used a basic quiz. The quiz gives certain situations, which can occur within our day-to-day duties. There are no right or wrong answers to this quiz. What I want is to see how they solve the situation and why they used their particular method to get to the final solution.

Other ways to keep your employees is to treat them correctly. This sounds simplistic, but I have seen and spoken to many people who feel they were not treated fairly and that is why they moved on. A good employee gone.

Some ideas:

• Comp time. If one of my staff is on press later than midnight, they are aware they are not required to be in the office at 9:00am. They can arrive a few hours later. A sleep-deprived staff member is not a functional staff member.

• "Thank you" and "good job": Think about how many times you have not said these four little words. They go a long way to making a staff member not respond to the ad they saw this past weekend.

• Treats: I always have Tootsie-pops and candy in my office. A little afternoon pick-me-up is always appreciated.

• One firm I worked for allowed managers to give "spot-bonuses". These ranged from $50.00 to $300.00, and were given when an employee went above and beyond. I know this type of thing is not available to all, but how about a lunch at the local burger joint for a staff member who did something special?

What methods do you use to keep your staff and keep them happy? I would love to hear from you.