Every day and in a growing number of ways, Roslyn Wapnish confronts the hard reality of human resources management as it exists today in most small- to medium-sized companies. In hiring, promoting and retaining workers, she knows that “What have you done for me lately?” often is followed by a second question: “What can you do for me now?”

Wapnish is Southeast regional human resources manager for Stantec, the Canadian company that bought out Raleigh-based DSAtlantic a few months ago. The knowledge company provides solutions to infrastructure and facility needs. Her bailiwick extends from the Raleigh office where she's based, with 105 employees, to eight other offices in the Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee with another 300 workers.

Since Stantec bought DSAtlantic, “I'm still doing the same thing,” says Wapnish, “but there's just more of it to do. With all the different needs that employees have these days, plus now the merger, it can be overwhelming.”

Not only is she having to guide employees through a merger, she's also having to satisfy the ever-increasing needs of Stantec's diverse workers, all while attracting new talent to what's been a small company that is now expected to think and act big.

“The professional working world is not like it's ever been before,” says Lynn Daniel of The Daniel Group, a strategy and research firm in Charlotte. “The professional, educated workers are definitely in short supply.”

Ann J. Willson, president of Human Resources Directions, a Raleigh consulting firm, says the priorities of employees have changed. “They still want the same thing,” she says, “but they look at it in a different way. Employers have to be creative when it comes to benefits and stock options, but they also have to be creative and aware of other sources of an employee's happiness.”

In today's economy, small businesses are learning that as they grow, human resources becomes less and less about the traditional methods of hiring and managing employees. Because skilled workers can leave most anytime they want for another job, successful human resources today requires a new mindset. Some who have successfully made the transition, and whose advise is presented below, say they think of HR as how best to motivate highly compensated volunteers. In no certain order, here's what they say today's skilled workers are looking for in a job.

A sense of worth

“Workers want to feel like they're going to be a part of something,” says Daniel. “Can I make a mark, can I contribute? These are the questions they want answered.”

Willson believes an employee's sense of worth runs deeper, extending to that person's immediate boss. “They want a supervisor and manager who they can respect,” she says. “To that employee, that person is the company. The employee wants to have input, and he wants to know that the manager cares.”

Libba Evans, who has owned several small businesses in Winston-Salem and today runs the West Third Street Management Co., sold a tech-based business in 1999 and remembers its employees being cut from another mold. “It's just a different group of people,” she says. “They don't operate in the traditional management style, and they are most productive when they can work when they want to work rather than regular hours.”

More paid time off

Studies show that more people take vacation than ever before, and it's not just because frequent flyer miles can be accumulated at a rapid rate. Workers are putting a premium on taking time off, and employers are feeling the crunch.

Lou Bouvier, who founded the Greensboro advertising firm of Bouvier Kelly in 1974, has witnessed many trends in the past 26 years, but he says few have been as eye-opening as today's demand for time off. “It is no longer a shock to hear, `And I will require three weeks a year or four weeks a year,'” he says. “It's truly become a specification, not a request.”

Workers want other days off as well. Many employers have gone away from the tradition of offering a certain number of sick days per year, and instead describe those days off as “personal leave.” It's a softer term with added flexibility, and increases the amount of trust between the employee and the employer.

“If they're good, responsible people, they'll get their work done and not abuse what you give them,” says Bouvier. “I don't blame (employees) for wanting more time off. People should spend more time with their families.”

More flexible benefits

There was a time when small businesses could stick out their chests about a 401(k) plan that absorbed 100 percent of the operating expenses and offered a decent company match with full vesting after five years. That, coupled with reasonable insurance offerings, made for an attractive benefits package.

No more. Today, the 401(k) or a similar savings plan is expected with shorter vesting restrictions. And employers are having to offer additional enhancements for workers who aren't as interested in deferring for the future.

“Employees had been moving for stock options,” says Willson, “until recently, when it hasn't been as much of a draw. Small businesses have to be very creative with their benefits and stock options. The small startups, they have to trade on the excitement of being new.

“Many of the young workers are very savvy, because they're looking at how portable their retirement is. What I'm seeing now is that people are negotiating for better situations.”

Employers are more apt to offer stock options and other incentives that tie directly to the company's profitability than enhancements to their healthcare benefits, particularly when it comes to cost.

Indeed, healthcare premiums are expected to soar this year, and companies say they plan to share the additional cost with their employers, according to a recent story in the Raleigh News & Observer.

Citing a survey of 3,300 businesses nationwide conducted by the consulting firm of William M. Mercer, the paper reported that about 40 percent of the companies expect to increase employee contributions in 2001, up from 21 percent a year ago. Further, 17 percent plan to raise deductibles, co-payments or out-of-pocket maximums, compared to 9 percent a year ago.

The average total cost for an employee's health coverage in North Carolina was $4,171 last year, up $447 from 1999. According to Mercer, that was still below the national average of $4,430. But last year's percentage increase statewide was 12 percent, compared to the national average of 8.1 percent.

“Health insurance is one of the things I get asked about the most,” says Wapnish. “It's a very real issue to employees today.”

A pleasing work environment

This encompasses a variety of things and in some ways rides sidesaddle to a sense of worth. It goes beyond good lighting, comfortable chairs and free coffee — and translates into different things for different companies.

At MCI Worldcom, for example, it's OK for an employee to bring a scooter to the office and ride it in the hallways. And at some companies, ping-pong and foosball tables are as standard in the breakroom as soft-drink and snack vending machines.

Wapnish says when a team completes a project at Stantec, the group might be treated to lunch out as a celebration. “Our surveyors,” she says, “sort of do their own thing, and they took off one afternoon to shoot pool.”

Stantec likely will continue offering such job-enhancers, Wapnish says. “We have barbecues right on site and invite the families. You get to relax and relieve the stress level. We have picnics off site during the summer, and we take people to Durham Bulls games.”

Casual Fridays were the rage just a couple of years ago. Now, many companies also are less stringent with how an employee dresses Monday through Thursday. “We trust our people to know what's appropriate and what's not appropriate,” Bouvier says. “If they're meeting a client, they'll dress accordingly.”

More perks in the paycheck

First, know that there is an assumption of a certain level of earnings from an employee consistent to the job in question. Second, know that, all things being equal, a couple of thousand dollars annually can be the difference in retaining or hiring an employee.

“Money is not the most important thing as it used to be,” says Willson. “There are creative ways for companies to enhance an employee's salary — through bonuses and commissions, for example. Packages are being designed in very elegant ways.”

Wapnish says her company pays special attention to the going rate for salaries. “We try to be competitive,” she says, “because (workers) know what's out there. There's so much information available today and so much competition that we have to be progressive. There might be a sign-on bonus, for example, if that's what it takes.”

Flexible schedules

Ralph Cramden came home from work each night just a few minutes before dinner. So did Ward Cleaver, Mike Brady and Rhoda Morgenstern. Just like the shows their TV characters appeared in, the 9-to-5 workday is outdated.

“I always thought flex time should be part of the workforce,” says Evans, “and it's sort of expected today. You pretty much let them go when they need to go. We encourage people to give their time to the schools with their kids.”

Wapnish says the request for flex time extends beyond that. “Some of these people looking for jobs are interested in being able to work at home on a project,” she says. “That's a real fine line, so we try to be flexible without going overboard. You have to treat everybody the same.”

Bouvier says it's not uncommon for his employees to take off in the middle of the day and come back to the office at night. “The bottom line is, you trust them to get their work done,” he says. “Interestingly enough, the more flexible we've become, the more productive we've become.”

Make the right hire

Even if you grade out well in all of the above, an employer has no guarantee of retaining a worker. Willson says that's because the willingness of an employee to leave at the drop of a hat often runs below the surface.

“When you're dealing with a young workforce, which many small businesses are, there are other factors,” she says. “Many young employees have watched their parents get laid off and have seen the trauma associated with that. `My loyalty is to myself and my profession,' they say. They're simply not afraid to walk, nor do they feel the need to have lifetime employment.”

So the best advice for the small business owner, says Rich Ruhmann, a Raleigh consultant specializing in employee selection, is to make the best possible hire. Low turnover means fewer disruptions, increased productivity and higher morale.

It also saves money. According to Ruhmann, government studies have placed the cost of a bad hiring decision at two to three times annual salary for computer programmers. The average cost for employee turnover in non-management positions is $12,000 to $17,000 for a 90-day period, those studies show.

“Employers really can't afford to make mistakes,” says Ruhmann. “Putting the wrong person in the wrong place adversely affects everyone.”

In Building a Winning Team, Harris M. Plotkin writes that “90 percent of all hiring decisions are made by interviews.” Yet the interviewing process often fails badly, Willson notes, because “small employers many times are organizations that were started by people who were very expert in the field, but not adept in other ways.”

Ruhmann contends that interviews are less than 50 percent effective because employers haven't determined who they're hiring. “Most job candidates are more skilled than the interviewer at the interviewing process. If you do not use a structured interview process, you are merely having a conversation,” he says.

He advises the interviewer to pose questions that will reflect the candidate's attitude, the belief being the person with a good, positive attitude but average talent will be a better hire than the person with a bad attitude but great talent.

The premium on finding — and keeping — the right employee has never been greater. Today, there are 160 million people over the age of 30, but only 70 million under the age of 30. Competition is keen for the top talent that will run companies in the next generation.

“More than ever, you really have to be on your toes and aware of what's going on in your field,” says Wapnish. “The challenges you face with all of the new innovative ways of doing business require flexibility and vision. You have to have an eye on both the present and the future, because both are constantly changing.”

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