Hiring, retention of employees challenges businesses

"Finders keepers, losers weepers." When you were a kid you probably heard this taunt lots of times; most likely from the school bully.

You thought you'd never hear it again, once you matured.

But you didn't count on the current labor market, where it takes a lot of work to find qualified applicants for your jobs, and even more work to make sure that you keep the employees that you found (and trained) at great expense.

Here are some books and Web sites on hiring and retention available at the Springfield-Greene County Library.

Books @ The Library

A strong sense of loyalty and determination; a corporate structure built on a foundation of trust and able to weather storms; a commitment to corporate mission designed to produce a substantial impact on the financial bottom line.

"Thirty Days to a Happy Employee," 658.314 G, gives a step-by-step plan that managers can implement immediately to achieve these human resource goals and retain those employees best able to achieve them.

"Work Naked," 658.3 F, has little to do with a dress code or the radical lack thereof and everything to do with eliminating outdated corporate rules and trappings. It is based on eight principles that the author considers to be essential for peak performance in the workplace.

Where and when to work receive the most attention and are buttressed by case studies of well-known companies (such as Merrill Lynch, GeneraLife and Ernst & Young) that have implemented creative changes.

Did you know that at the end of each "For Dummies" book you will find at least one "10" chapter? "Recruiting and Retaining Employees for Dummies," 658.3111 M, has three such chapters: "10 Keys to Being a Successful Re-cruiter," "10 Biggest Interviewing Mis-takes" and "10 Great Referral Ideas."

Pertinent Web sites

business.lycos.com/hr/empman tools.asp

These employee management tools help you create an absentee policy, track phone calls, design a disability policy, establish an electronic funds transfer program and much more.

www.doleta.gov/employ.asp

The Department of Labor's Employ-ment & Training Administration de-scribes its programs and services for school-to-work transition, dislocated workers, hiring tax credits, enterprise zones, work opportunity tax credit, and other recent and established initiatives.

stats.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/04/art3abs.htm

Small businesses employ slightly more than half the private-sector work force; in many ways, such as education, race, origin, age, and part-time status, these employees differ from the large-business work force.

Understanding these differences may have an impact in areas such as compensation, health benefits and pension benefits.

(Mike DePue is the business librarian at the Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell.)