Hiring staff is one of the most important decisions we make. We trust our staff with our customers, our money, and the reputation of our business. A break in trust in any of these areas will have a major negative impact on our business. In some instances the wrong person can literally bankrupt a company.

The Lord gave us the following model for hiring staff.  “In those days, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in praying to God. When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles.” (Luke 6:12-13, NIV)

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that 2.3% of workers tested positive for drug use, according to a survey by Quest Laboratories, the largest drug testing facility in the country.

As marijuana becomes legal in more states for medical reasons or simply recreation, the reality is that usage will likely increase. The study indicated a 10% growth in workers who tested positive to drugs over the last year. If the sample predicts a 10% a year increase in the years to come, the problem will clearly intensify.

I believe that drugs of any kind should be prohibited from the workplace. Businesses will benefit by instituting a zero-tolerance policy. While marijuana may be legal at state levels, there are still federal laws against marijuana usage. Additionally, I have never seen anybody’s work improve while on marijuana, alcohol, or other illegal substances.

I've written a number of times about the decline of print newspapers magazines and other media, the chart, from Wikipedia tells the story requiring very few words:

Attracting, recruiting, and retaining quality employees remains a challenge for many employers.  A key element in meeting this challenge is posting the position and a job description.

Most of us tend to focus on what we want. We use the communication to prospective employees entirely from our point of view. However, in today’s environment many qualified applicants have choices concerning which opening to pursue. We need to understand how this reality impacts how we write the post. 

When I started out in an office job, I had the responsibility to input customer information to be processed by a computer. My number of processed transactions was quite high. However, my error rate was also high. One day my supervisor showed me how every error had to be manually retyped. In those days it created quite a bit of additional work for colleagues. Seeing the reality of the extra work and the consequences of my mistakes made a lasting impression.  I began to focus more effectively and slowed down my speed to eliminate errors.