This is the 4th Guest Expert podcast in the series. Bill Noll contributed to Chapter 5 of Onboarding: titled Evaluate Candidates Against the Recruiting Brief While Pre-Selling and Pre-Boarding.

"Bill Noll has developed an excellent way to screen candidates. His behavioral profiling process utilizes a structured interview format of open-ended questions and can accurately predict an individual's future performance in a specific position by identifying 20 work behavioral traits/tendencies in the areas of management, sales, and support services." Onboarding, P 76.

Even if it is referred to as a "party," work-related events are rarely the place to "let your hair down."

Office parties are an extension of the work place and its culture, said Cheryl Samusevich, corporate etiquette and international protocol consultant for Etiquette Solutions.

"The same rules that apply in the office, apply at the party," she said.

"Employees should treat these occasions as if they are at work, because for all purposes, they are," said Peggy Noll, executive vice president of Noll Human Resources. "Coworkers and supervisors, as well as owners or executives, are interacting with you and forming opinions about your maturity, character, judgment and sophistication."

A rich background brought the Noll's to Omaha and the firm. Peggy Noll has a bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois and her first career was in social work. After about seven years she left, "realizing I was much better suited to business where urgency was an asset instead of a trait that drove you crazy." She joined Bill Noll in the business 20 years ago, after they were married. At the time she left her position in human resources as employment manager at what was then Commercial Federal Bank. Bill Noll has advanced degrees in architecture and engineering from Kansas State University. He advanced to become a partner in an architectural firm before joining Selection Research (now Gallup) after becoming a big fan of the company's behavioral profiling system.

He then became a franchise office for Selection Research, eventually breaking off as Noll Inc. The company's marketing name later became Noll Human Resource Services.

In 1987, Noll Human Resource Services launched an Executive Search program to aid clients in finding more difficult to locate management and executive level employees. Seven years later temporary and permanent staffing for clerical, customer service, accounting and other office positions were offered. Here's how Peggy Noll describes some of the company's offerings.

• Selection Consulting - Using a structured interview process, a profile is created on candidates for employment prior to hire to determine if they are a good fit for the company and the position. It also helps in evaluating personnel during downsizing.
  
  
• Executive Search - Using Employee-sourcing methods (head-hunting) candidates are found to fill management and executive positions for Noll's client companies. Positions are filled nationally.
  
  
• Local Staffing - Filling positions primarily under $50,000 a year in the Omaha area in most office positions, but specializing in clerical, customer service, accounting, laboratory, human resources, legal support and medical clerical.
  
  
• Human Resources Consulting - Assisting businesses that do not have a human resources specialist build some structure that will minimize their risk in hiring employees.

The Noll staff now numbers around 20, and the company's Nebraska roots run deep. Bill's father, C.P. Noll, owned an insurance agency in McCook where Bill grew up. The name of that company was The Noll Company. The first marketing name and logo for the current company was also The Noll Company, with Bill's first logo and sign resembling that of his father's company.

Now based near 129th and West Dodge Road, Noll Human Resource Services can provide a company with as many as 150 temporary employees. There is also support for companies looking at long-term employees.

According to the Noll's, it's all based on their basic values of honesty, integrity, respect and loyalty. It's a philosophy that has served the firm well during more than three decades that have seen multiple recessions and business slow downs.

That philosophy is demonstrated in a testimonial from a client, Cheryl, that is now featured on the company's website: "I want to thank your entire office staff for making time for me when I just stopped in with no appointment. I was not expecting to get anyone's attention for more than five minutes that day - if that. I happened to be in your area that day. Your office spent a couple hours with me that day. This really made a great impression with me. Thank you again."

That kind of service has led to what Noll Human Resource Services can proudly claim as many "long long-term relationships with clients."

"Some have been with Bill for 20 years or more," Peggy Noll said. "Staffing is a newer business but we have many that we have served for 10 years or more." With their Midwestern background, Bill and Peggy feel right at home here. "[We] love the friendly, sane business climate in Omaha," she said. They are in their second marriage and have six children, plus one of Bill's nephews that Peggy says he treats like a son. The couple has nine grandchildren, plus the nephew's two children. Two of their children and four grandchildren call Omaha home, but the family has branched out to Chicago, Cincinnati, New York and Denmark.

"So, quite a collection and a big job to stay in touch by visiting and commuting," Peggy Noll said. The couple is enjoying their business now more than ever by not "trying" to grow it. Instead, the focus is on high quality attention and care for all of its stakeholders – including the business clients, staff and from 150 to 350 temporary employees on assignment.

"We are less concerned with growth and more concerned with practicing excellence as managers of our own employees and as professionals providing needed services to the business community," Peggy Noll said.

She credits the firm's "high integrity" with separating Noll from its competition. "We are as flexible as we can be with clients, have very smart experienced recruiters and staff, pay staff extremely well resulting in very low turnover, resulting in high customer care."

It's no secret that businesses are in challenging times, but Peggy Noll said the company came through the last recession and built its brand and is staying strong because of that.

"I believe we will gain market share again as newer, less stable competitors go out of business due to tough times," she said. "We do everything we can to educate and encourage candidates even if we cannot place them."

When asked about the best part of their job, Peggy is quick to say that it's changing peoples' lives for the better. That may mean relieving an over-worked manager by finding them a good employee, placing an employee in a position where they are happy and can use their talents, identifying raw talent in a young person helping a manager to develop that individual, or helping a company improve its human resources challenges and avoid lawsuits.

And one more thing: "Best of all, developing our own employees and creating a great place to work." That, in a few words, is what keeps the Noll's coming to work.

"We feel that our work is a way to love people all the way down the line. It's also challenging, fun, and fulfilling."

"We serve companies from national and regional Fortune 500s to small local businesses. We can locate difficult-to-find employees and engage them with a company. We can provide temporary employees, as many as 150 at a single company. We can identify who is the best employee to hire, fire develop or promote," explained Bill Noll.

Noll Human Resource Services launched its Executive Search service in 1987 to help clients locate harder to find management and executive level employees. In 1994, Noll added temporary and permanent staffing for clerical, customer service, accounting and other office positions. That diversification has helped the company survive three recessions and a number of business slow downs over the last 33 years. It also credits its longevity, in large part, to its adherence to a set of core values, including honesty, integrity, respect and loyalty.

It's one thing to say those are their values and another to have clients agree. "I haven't had anyone tell me that they are not, and I keep asking," said Peggy Noll. She joined her husband in 1989 in the management and development of the company. She currently serves as executive vice president and manages the company's staffing and human resources consulting divisions.

How they do business has led to success, but the Nolls said where they do business has also been instrumental.

"Even in business downturns when compared to other cities and areas of the nation, Omaha fairs above average," said Peggy.

The Nolls applauded the Chamber for the key role it plays in helping the city and businesses like theirs grow and prosper.

"We have greatly appreciated the Chamber's successful efforts at lobbying for business, attracting new businesses to the city, and in general, supporting business in every way. For our industry, the Chamber's good sales and promotional materials that we can use to attract people to Omaha is a great service," said Bill. "We personally know employees at the Chamber and have very high regard for the quality of their staff and their dedication to people and business like ours."

Noll's own staff is comprised of about 20 people right now, a dip from the usual 30 it employs in a more growth-oriented economy. Except for support personnel, the staff is made up of college educated, experienced professionals in human resource services.

"We use our selection instrument to screen for people with a high value system and high work and customer orientation," said Peggy. "We have unusually long employee longevity for our industry due to our environment and sensitivity to good management practices. Covered parking and private offices doesn't hurt either! We really try to practice what we preach in treating people as the valued assets that they are."

"First, we look at our motivation for giving," she said. "We want it to be a sincere thank you with no agenda for further business. We have given gifts to clients who have ended their contracts with us to thank them for past business. How it feels to receive a gift has a lot to do with one's intention in giving it.

"Secondly, we recognize that some companies have rules about receiving gifts," Noll said. "For example, some procurement departments can't accept even the smallest gifts. Other companies may have a limit on the price of the gift they can accept.

"Finally, we don't give people gifts with our logo on it," she said.

"We take a personal approach to gift giving and have great fun with it," she said. Noll staff members often deliver food gifts, like cookies, to a small business or a department within a larger firm with the idea that this is something everyone can share.

In recent years, Integrity Staffing has started to make donations to community service organizations in the names of clients and staff, said the firm's president, Ann Kelleher.

"There are so many people in need today," she said. The gift of a donation in another person's name is appropriate and appreciated, she said.

"We generally give simple gifts, like food items, to our top clients," she said. "We have a nice open house with food and some small gift employees can take home with them. We like to keep it simple."

Products made or grown in Nebraska are a popular choice as corporate gifts for clients, said Connie Mahaney, owner of From Nebraska Gift Shop in Lincoln. The stores products include food items, wine, Husker clothing and paraphernalia and local art, toys and clothing. Nebraska foods include Bakers' chocolates and candies, Dorothy Lynch dressing, Grama's top ten butters, jams and jellies and Mill Coffee from Lincoln's Haymarket.

"I give credit to our legislature for passing the Nebraska Advantage Act, which gives tax incentives to businesses that come to our state to create new jobs and stimulate economic growth, she said. "The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce has worked diligently to help businesses get up and running."

Local employers are taking a cautious, conservative approach to new hiring, said Doug Bergman, branch manager at Manpower in Omaha,

"I don't perceive either a particularly negative or an aggressively positive attitude on the part of employers," he said. "They're just neutral and patient." He said he sees a slowdown in the manufacturing arena, but "office and clerical jobs are holding steady."

Manpower operates 80 branches globally.

"Both coasts in the U.S. are experiencing substantially more economic challenges than we are facing in cities along the I-29 corridor north of Omaha and south to Kansas City," he said.

"The biggest problem faced by employers and employees is the cost of health insurance, he said.

"Costs are expected to increase by 9 percent again in 2009," Bergman said. Low to middle income workers are finding it very difficult to deal with higher deductibles and paying a greater percentage of premiums, he said.

A higher unemployment rate doesn't necessarily mean companies can always attract the qualified candidates they need to fill jobs, said Tracy Porter, president of the Greater Omaha chapter of the Human Resource Association of the Midlands and director of human resources at Resource Residential, a national recruiting firm.

"We're struggling to find candidates for blue collar jobs across the country," she said. "Younger people are motivated differently from previous generations," Porter said. "They tend to look for constant recognition and have less loyalty to a company." This has been difficult for older workers, who have different values in relation to work, she said.

"I think when the younger people in school, it wasn't just the most valuable player on the team who was recognized," she said. "Everyone got a award. Employers have to adjust to that."

In the Greater Omaha area, demand remains strong for highly skilled professionals, such as architects, engineers, business analysts in the technology fields and auditors in the accounting field, Thompson said.
Demand for unskilled and less skilled workers has decreased, he said.

"There are also more qualified middle managers looking for jobs than there were a year ago," he said. "Employers can be much more specific in their demands."

Recent college graduates without solid work experience are struggling to find jobs in today's economy, Kiviranta said.

"They are getting frustrated and distraught," she said. Recent graduates need to understand that "networking is the key. They have to take proactive steps and be flexible."
"I give credit to our legislature for passing the Nebraska Advantage Act, which gives tax incentives to businesses that come to our state to create new jobs and stimulate economic growth, she said. "The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce has worked diligently to help businesses get up and running."

Local employers are taking a cautious, conservative approach to new hiring, said Doug Bergman, branch manager at Manpower in Omaha,

"I don't perceive either a particularly negative or an aggressively positive attitude on the part of employers," he said. "They're just neutral and patient." He said he sees a slowdown in the manufacturing arena, but "office and clerical jobs are holding steady."

Manpower operates 80 branches globally.

"Both coasts in the U.S. are experiencing substantially more economic challenges than we are facing in cities along the I-29 corridor north of Omaha and south to Kansas City," he said.

"The biggest problem faced by employers and employees is the cost of health insurance, he said.

"Costs are expected to increase by 9 percent again in 2009," Bergman said. Low to middle income workers are finding it very difficult to deal with higher deductibles and paying a greater percentage of premiums, he said.

A higher unemployment rate doesn't necessarily mean companies can always attract the qualified candidates they need to fill jobs, said Tracy Porter, president of the Greater Omaha chapter of the Human Resource Association of the Midlands and director of human resources at Resource Residential, a national recruiting firm.

"We're struggling to find candidates for blue collar jobs across the country," she said. "Younger people are motivated differently from previous generations," Porter said. "They tend to look for constant recognition and have less loyalty to a company." This has been difficult for older workers, who have different values in relation to work, she said.

"I think when the younger people in school, it wasn't just the most valuable player on the team who was recognized," she said. "Everyone got a award. Employers have to adjust to that."

In the Greater Omaha area, demand remains strong for highly skilled professionals, such as architects, engineers, business analysts in the technology fields and auditors in the accounting field, Thompson said.
Demand for unskilled and less skilled workers has decreased, he said.

"There are also more qualified middle managers looking for jobs than there were a year ago," he said. "Employers can be much more specific in their demands."

Recent college graduates without solid work experience are struggling to find jobs in today's economy, Kiviranta said.

"They are getting frustrated and distraught," she said. Recent graduates need to understand that "networking is the key. They have to take proactive steps and be flexible."
"I give credit to our legislature for passing the Nebraska Advantage Act, which gives tax incentives to businesses that come to our state to create new jobs and stimulate economic growth, she said. "The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce has worked diligently to help businesses get up and running."

Local employers are taking a cautious, conservative approach to new hiring, said Doug Bergman, branch manager at Manpower in Omaha,

"I don't perceive either a particularly negative or an aggressively positive attitude on the part of employers," he said. "They're just neutral and patient." He said he sees a slowdown in the manufacturing arena, but "office and clerical jobs are holding steady."

Manpower operates 80 branches globally.

"Both coasts in the U.S. are experiencing substantially more economic challenges than we are facing in cities along the I-29 corridor north of Omaha and south to Kansas City," he said.

"The biggest problem faced by employers and employees is the cost of health insurance, he said.

"Costs are expected to increase by 9 percent again in 2009," Bergman said. Low to middle income workers are finding it very difficult to deal with higher deductibles and paying a greater percentage of premiums, he said.

A higher unemployment rate doesn't necessarily mean companies can always attract the qualified candidates they need to fill jobs, said Tracy Porter, president of the Greater Omaha chapter of the Human Resource Association of the Midlands and director of human resources at Resource Residential, a national recruiting firm.

"We're struggling to find candidates for blue collar jobs across the country," she said. "Younger people are motivated differently from previous generations," Porter said. "They tend to look for constant recognition and have less loyalty to a company." This has been difficult for older workers, who have different values in relation to work, she said.

"I think when the younger people in school, it wasn't just the most valuable player on the team who was recognized," she said. "Everyone got a award. Employers have to adjust to that."

In the Greater Omaha area, demand remains strong for highly skilled professionals, such as architects, engineers, business analysts in the technology fields and auditors in the accounting field, Thompson said.
Demand for unskilled and less skilled workers has decreased, he said.

"There are also more qualified middle managers looking for jobs than there were a year ago," he said. "Employers can be much more specific in their demands."

Recent college graduates without solid work experience are struggling to find jobs in today's economy, Kiviranta said.

"They are getting frustrated and distraught," she said. Recent graduates need to understand that "networking is the key. They have to take proactive steps and be flexible."

"That is the reason attorneys and lawsuits have given us to conduct them - to protect ourselves," she said. "The real reason why they are necessary is that we expect our employees to grow. We tell them what to do, but so few of us really follow up to let them know how they are doing."

Benefiting both the employer and the employees, the review process provides a direct line of communication and allows the employee to be aware of individual accountabilities, they employer's exceptions and possible consequences, said Machael Durham, president of Durham Staffing.

The advantage for both parties is that status and expectations are made clear, Fuehrer said.

For the employee, reviews provide the opportunity to establish goals with a strategic road map or training plan. Specifically outlining how to accomplish objectives. With these plans established in writing, managers and supervisors are provided the opportunity to reflect on results over a certain time period, Fuehrer explained.

"As a side benefit to employers, managers will often learn of opportunities for process improvement or opportunities to be more effective in leadership roles as a result of the review process." Fuehrer said.

According to Pursell, conducting an effective performance review means management has constant conversations with employees as issues arrive.

"Nothing should be a complete surprise to the employee," she said. "An employer should request feedback from others the employee has contact with, such as co-workers and other top management."

Pursell said it is also effective to look over previous reviews, specifically noting the employee's progress and possible past issues. She stressed the importance of rating performance and behavior accurately.

"If you really cannot think of anything the employee can improve on in a certain section, grade it the highest," Pursell said. "Many reviews have a top grade of a four but yet hold it unattainable. That is not effective and is essentially telling people that no matter what they do they will never be able to be the best at that activity or behavior."

Being specific when preparing employees for what to expect in a performance review reduces anxiety, Fuehrer said.

"The first review is always the most stressful, but consistency in the review process should reduce stress levels for employees," she said.

Durham said to lessen the tension, always lead with a positive.

"Sharing with the employees the value they bring to a tem is a great ice breaker," she said. "This will allow them to realize they are an asset even if they have areas for improvement."

Pursell said a performance evaluation should include the assessment of two main parts, essential job functions and behavioral standards. Essential job functions and responsibilities are what the employee is expected to do, and behavioral standards are how the employee carries out those responsibilities.

"The 'how' is just as important as the 'what' to the overall culture and functionality of the company," Pursell said. "Just paying attention to the 'what' will only keep low performers in the building."

A review should lay out for the employee all areas of excellence and where there is room to improve, Fuehrer said.

"Both strengths and weaknesses discussed in a performance review should cite specific examples, and training suggestions should be included so the employee understands not only what's expected, but how best to accomplish it," she said.

When it comes to criticism, employers must be careful not to give it in a derogatory manner.

"There's no easy way to offer constructive criticism, but being direct and to the point is most effective," Fuehrer said.

"The best thing that an employer can do is to be open and direct," Pursell said. "The manager should focus on behavior and performance rather than a personal attack and should outline ways to perform that would be more successful."

Durham said negative issues and disciplinary action should be covered in a performance improvement plan signed by the employee.

"This allows the employee to understand specific weaknesses, how to correct the limitations, as well as the time frame to do so," she said. "They are provided a copy and will know their accountabilities and consequences."

When a review should be given is dependent upon the position and the time it takes to evaluate a new hire, Fuehrer said.

"Generally I would recommend a 90 day review, a six month review and then annual reviews, she said. "Informal reviews and updates should be monthly, weekly or even daily."

One of her most significant accomplishments, she said, has been maintaining a core group of customers since 1993 by practicing a customer care philosophy of open and honest communication and by constantly improving her own level of expertise. These practices have helped her to earn Noll's lifetime achievement award and excellence in sales award, which she has received every year since 2002. She also is the most tenured member of Noll's senior leadership team.

In her current position, Kiviranta is also involved in human resources and marketing, which often includes pursuing new clients or building upon existing business relationships.

Kiviranta donates to numerous charities and nonprofits including Disabled American Veterans, the Open Door Mission, McMillan Magnet Center, the Kidney Foundation and the Walthill Senior Citizen Center. She and her husband are active members of Marshall Drive Baptist Church and also sponsor two children from Bolivia through Compassion International.