Trial by hire: simple suggestions for hiring, training and retaining design and production pros can make a big difference

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, April 15, 1997 by Kass Johns

Simple suggestions for hiring, training and retaining design and production pros can make a big difference.

It's hard enough to hire new staff, but how do you train them, or keep them trained, or just keep them? During my experience as an in-house desk top publishing trainer, I've developed some tips and suggestions that won't squeeze your budget.

Put it to the test

Set up a test project for job applicants. Although interviewees may be nervous, their work habits can be informative. For example, does an applicant claim to be an expert, yet his work habits suggest he doesn't know his way around the application? Does he use command keys to move quickly through the task at hand, or does he rely on the mouse? If an applicant asks to see the user's manual (make it readily available), does he know what to look for and can he go right to it? (If he's familiar with the manual, chances are he's self-taught--from enthusiasm and a strong desire to learn.) Does an applicant's resume list his "expertise" in enough different software packages to fill a MacWarehouse catalog? If the applicant is truly an "expert," he is worth a million dollars a year and can get a job anywhere on the planet. (Yes, I am being sarcastic.)

Go back to school

If you're having trouble finding entry-level hires, get involved with your local community college graphic design programs as an advisory member. Advisory committees review curricula and programs. All vocational-education programs require advisory committees in order to receive state funding; state-funded institutions have been known to accommodate businesses that can demonstrate a need to hire a determined number of newhires from school programs in a given period of time. So contact an instructor. Get involved.

Avoid know-it-alls

Do you have a plan to train those who may come into your organization with some skills? I always like the new hires who say, "Even though I feel I know the program, I would like the training. I can always use the practice and maybe learn something new." This tells me they are willing to learn and willing to go back and learn again. I look for that when hiring. It's the "I know it all. I can save you!" crowd I avoid.

Once you've hired someone, it's incumbent on you to provide resources to keep your staff informed and up to date. Encourage (and pay for) them to take courses. Software is constantly being upgraded. If you want your staff to work at maximum productivity, you've got to make sure they have the proper tools.

Here are some simple (read "cheap") ways to share knowledge and foster the right kind of atmosphere:

* Create a style guide. This helps new hires or transferred employees acclimate to your workflow, techniques, standards and procedures. Don't rely on someone in your organization who "has it all in his head." What if that person should get mowed down by a bus?

* Create a library. Subscribe to relevant magazines, and order books for employees to use for reference.

* Create an in-house user group. I know of a group in which each person takes one magazine, reads it and reports relevant information to the rest of the employees. It beats everyone trying to find the time to read and digest all the dtp magazines out there.

The training guru

If you don't want to outsource training, try to hire someone with "guru potential." In my experience, true gurus almost never are a product of the classroom. Every one I've met was self-taught. They read (and reread) every book. stay late at the job, come in early and work through lunch just to be able to access equipment. They like to find new ways of doing things to save time and then use that time to learn even more. Most have much of their own equipment at home because they can't get enough of it.

Gurus are a highly desirable commodity in publishing. Recognize them and treat them well so they don't leave at the first offer of more salary. Some ways to reward them: Send them to conferences, have them evaluate classes for the rest of your staff, give them an R&D budget, have them help interview prospective hires, ask for (and consider) their opinions and ideas.

Gurus are what I look for in new hires. But don't think you can have a whole department of them--gurus aren't that common. Find them at a service bureau or printer, where many are born. They have had trial by fire with every nightmarish client file you could imagine. Or look for them under your nose. You may already have one or two. And remember, if your gurus are happy, I cannot steal them--salary isn't everything.

KASS JOHNS is a Colorado Springs-based consultant. She can be reached at kassj@wookie. colospgs.co.us.