If you're trying to grow your business and add additional talent, you must find a way to find and locate those top producers and convince them to come to work for you. In a recent survey conducted by InfoTrends entitled “Staffing for the Digital Age,” the biggest challenge identified by respondents was recruiting the right people. When graphic communications company owners were asked about their most critical recruiting challenges, verbatim comments were as follows:

A good recruiting process starts with a clearly-defined job description. You must have a crystal-clear idea of what you're looking for. In InfoTrends’ recent staffing survey, graphic communications service providers were asked if their firms had formal job descriptions. Of the 18 firms surveyed, only four had formal job descriptions in place. If organizations focus their staffing efforts less on “time to hire” and more on quality of hire, good job descriptions are essential. The first—and most critical—step is to accurately define and prioritize those factors that constitute superior performance in the subject position. The job description needs to delineate the key responsibilities and outputs of the position. It should also identify the behavioral characteristics of the ideal candidate.

If the print service providers interviewed had job descriptions, they typically focused strictly on the responsibilities—they did not identify desired outputs or focus on the behavioral dimensions that were essential to being successful in the graphic communications service company environment.