| 5/26/2008

Finding and keeping good employees is an issue that Patience Dhliwayo knows all too well. She and her husband, Batanai, own Motto Pharmacy, and this year, with her brother, James Chikwanha, she opened Afrocenter Ltd. The shop, on West Palm Beach’s trendy Clematis Street, sells sculpture from Zimbabwe, jewelry from Kenya and South Africa, handwoven baskets from Botswana and other items from around Africa.

Patience Dhliwayo struggled to find the right workers for her West Palm Beach shop, Afrocenter Ltd. [Photo: Michael Price]

In addition to her brother and husband, who help out at the shop when they can, Dhliwayo has two employees. “It’s actually very difficult to get good help,” she laments, adding that she had several employees come and go before she found the right talent. Dhliwayo and her husband also have had mixed results filling positions at the pharmacy, particularly entry-level jobs such as drivers. She says, “When the right people come, they will stay.”

In today’s web-focused employment marketplace, it’s often difficult for businesses to know where to look. Online “help wanted” sites have revolutionized recruiting, but they aren’t the right solution in every case.

Put together a hiring strategy before you begin.

Recruitment Websites General Employ Florida Marketplace EmployFlorida.com WorkforceFlorida, Regional Boards WorkforceFlorida.com/boards Industry-Specific Advertising/Marketing/PR TalentZoo.com Drivers JobsInTrucks.com Call Center CallCenterJobs.com Finance/Accounting JobsintheMoney.com Health/Science Jobscience.com Human Resources Jobs4HR.com IT Professionals Computerwork.com Insurance GreatInsuranceJobs.com Manufacturing JobsInManufacturing.com Logistics/Transportation JobsInLogistics.com Retail Management/Hourly AllRetailJobs.com Telecom/Wireless TelecomCareers.net

Consider Casting a Wide Net. To fill nonspecialized accounting, sales and healthcare positions, a good place to start is a local online recruiting site. Most Florida newspapers have set up their own sites or teamed up with national online job networks. The St. Petersburg Times, for example, has signed a co-branding deal with Monster.com, offering employers the option to advertise both in print and online, online only or to search resumes locally or nationwide.

CareerBuilder, another online recruiting site, is owned partly by Microsoft and partly by the Gannett Co., Tribune Co. and McClatchy Co. newspaper chains, which own the Pensacola News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, Florida Today, the News-Press (Fort Myers), Miami Herald, Bradenton Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Orlando Sentinel.

Employers also can search the state-sponsored Employ Florida Marketplace database of 550,000 resumes on EmployFlorida.com. The database can be segmented by specific job title, education level, salary level and the date the resume was posted.

Seeking a Younger Demographic. Craigslist has jobs boards in 19 separate metro areas and regions in Florida. Employers are able to post jobs for free.

Experience Required. When you want to fill light industrial jobs, skilled trade positions or seasonal work, it’s often a good idea to put an ad in the newspaper classifieds instead of or in addition to online. If you are looking for a senior citizen employee, a print ad may draw more candidates, also.

Special Skills. If it’s important to hire someone who has worked in a specific industry, there are many industry-specific recruitment sites (see above). Trade associations also may have their own proprietary job boards for industry professionals.

Tags: Florida Small Business, Entrepreneur