In March 2011, the unemployment rate in our area was 7.8 percent. This represented a .4 percent decrease from the month before. Additionally, compared to both Florida and the rest of the nation, our area shines in comparison.

Additionally, online labor demand rose in Gadsden, Leon and Wakulla by 637 jobs. That is a 16 percent increase over the month. Most online jobs vacancies were for registered nurses, retail salespeople and customer service representatives.

This translates into positive evidence that the local workforce development boards are doing all that they can to lower the unemployment rate and their efforts are paying off, unemployment is and has been improving.

The fact that the number of online "Help Wanted" ads is increasing shows that more employers are hiring. As such, job seekers are becoming more positive about their employment outlook. Because the throng of job seekers looking for work is still relatively large, employers are able to find an employee that fits their corporate culture the best and matches the needs of the position description the most.

In addition to having a wide pool of job seekers from which to choose, there are a variety of tax incentives available to employers for hiring employees from specific categories. For example, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit provides an incentive for employers to hire strategically from one of these nine groups:

1. Qualified Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Recipients


2. Qualified Veterans/Disabled Veterans


3. Qualified Ex-felons


4. Designated Community Residents residing in an Enterprise Zone


5. Vocational Rehabilitation Referrals


6. Qualified Summer Youths


7. Qualified Food Stamp Recipients


8. Qualified Supplemental Security Income Recipients


9. Long-Term Family Assistance Recipients

Hiring a new employee may seem like a simple process on the surface, but recruiting and selecting the perfect employee for your business can be challenging. Consider that hiring a new employee requires research, selecting skilled applicants, interviewing and then finally selecting the best candidate.

Taking all that into consideration, some employers find hiring a new employee to be both timely and expensive. The intricate process and the time requirements alone are enough for most employers to consider securing professional help with hiring. Add to that the inherent cost of turnover makes getting third party professional assistance an investment for you and your business.

Finding a new hire requires research. You must have a clear picture of the open position and describe that position's essential functions and required qualifications. The second thing hiring requires is the process of selecting skilled applicants. You may receive dozens of resumes and you must thoroughly prescreen them all. Remember, the point of hiring a new employee is not to fill an empty position: it is to grow your business, and your staff is a huge part of that. Failing to choose strategic hires will only cripple your own business, and when hiring is done with little thought, often the new hire does not work out, resulting in you, the employer, having to start the entire process all over again.

Once you've selected a pool of skilled applicants, it is time to interview. The interview component of the hiring process greatly contributes to the cost of turnover - the process of replacing one employee with another. This is because the person or team doing the hiring is distracted from their normal tasks, whose work would normally be a source of revenue for the company. If you are doing the interviewing with a team, the team must be the same each time you interview, and the interview process must be guided by the same standard set of questions each time. This ensures that all of the decision makers in your hiring team are on the same page and are scrutinizing the job seekers in the same light. Also remember, your interview questions must offer opportunities for the applicant to speak about both their hard skills and their soft skills to assess their ability to fit in with your company culture.

If applicants do fit in with your company culture and meet your position requirements, conduct a group meeting with the decision makers in your organization to discuss and select the right candidate for the position. Once yo'u've selected your job applicant, extend the conditional offer of employment based on successful completion of required steps such as a background check and a drug test.

As mentioned earlier, the process of finding the right candidate can be quite challenging, especially to small businesses. This is why WORKFORCE plus offers Business and Employer Services at no cost to you! If you need to publish a vacancy, WORKFORCE plus can handle job posting and referrals for you. If you need to find skilled employees, WORKFORCE plus will recruit, asses and screen applicants for you. You will also be provided with advice on how to conduct the interview and what questions to ask. Hiring may be a large task, but WORKFORCE plus can help!

WORKFORCE plus is giving employers an opportunity to provide free training to their current employees in Microsoft Word and Excel. Through the Tech Challenge Professional Development Series announced in November 2010, these workshops provide relevant and useful tools to assist businesses in addressing technology training needs.

The Microsoft Super User workshop will provide the framework needed to improve performance linked to daily tasks while expanding the user's knowledge in Microsoft Word and Excel. Much like the workplace, this workshop is fast paced and supports the outcomes needed to ensure that the employee is well versed and able to perform their assigned job duties. As a value-added benefit, WORKFORCE plus will provide each attendee with a no-cost reference guide.

The workshops are delivered in two part segments with attendees choosing either one or both. Total training time should not exceed 4.5 hours with Word beginning at 8:30 am, followed by Excel at 11:00 am. Also, the training is available at each of the WORKFORCE plus offices located in Gadsden, Leon and Wakulla counties. Training will be held at the WORKFORCE plus Leon office, 2525 South Monroe Street, on June 3rd, the Gadsden office, 1140 West Clark Street, will take place on June 10th, and the Wakulla Office, 3278 Crawfordville Highway, will be held on June 17th.

Interested businesses who would like to sign up their employees are encouraged to register today as seating is limited!