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Vol. 23, No. 1/Fall 2001

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Marcia MacVaneSmall Libraries:
Hiring new employees - When to train and when to let go
By Marcia MacVane

In small libraries, job openings are few and far between. When we are able to hire, often the hours are minimal and are sprinkled throughout the week at the times when our regular employees are not anxious to work. Trying to attract talented employees in situations like this is often tricky and difficult to manage. Although we pride ourselves on our ability to locate and hire the best possible candidates for job openings, there is that very rare occasion when the new hire is not exactly what we had hoped for and we are faced with the very delicate situation of either continuing to train them in their current position or replacing them before too much time has been invested.

When hiring for part-time employment, be sure you clearly define what the new employee’s job will be. Do you expect that he/she will be able to do everything in the library job description, or do you anticipate someone who can step in to take care of a specific task and then learn other duties as they become familiar with the job? In most small news libraries, you won’t receive applications from anyone who has ever worked in a news library. During the interview, it is important to try to discover what jobs were done in the past that were similar to what you will be asking them to do for you. One of my best hires was a person who typed fast and "loved reading the newspaper every day." She had a variety of experiences in other jobs and her reference checks indicated that she was a quick learner.

One suggestion I received on hiring for small libraries was to be absolutely clear on your minimum requirements – and stick to them. For instance, if your new hire will be heavily involved in typing, be sure you know how fast and accurately they can type. Don’t settle for less than these minimum requirements; doing so puts you behind immediately. Often, the human resources department has computerized typing, spelling and grammar tests available so you can at least garner that information. So before hiring anyone, make a prioritized list of the most important abilities and traits you want in a new employee.

So now you have a new employee: how do you monitor his/her progress – or lack thereof? Many libraries have "guidebooks" which explain the job process in minute detail. These explanations are used to supplement the hands-on training as well as to provide back-up when the new hire is asked to do a job alone. You should have a clear idea of how long you feel it should take to learn new tasks. Some managers will train new employees and then leave them alone to work through the tasks independently, checking in on them occasionally. I find this method works well because it provides me with a good sense of how well a new employee understands the system as well as how quickly they can "catch on." It is important to monitor their work quite closely; if bad habits are started during this time, they may never disappear. One manager described to me a new employee’s independent method of archiving photos – they got the job done accurately but took twice the amount of time as anticipated. Not until the manager sat down with the new employee and watched each step of the process was she able to identify the numerous unnecessary and time-consuming steps the new employee had built in to her work process.

Most managers I've talked to recommend teaching new tasks individually as much as possible. However, it is important to note that news librarians need to be able to handle multiple jobs – some of them unfamiliar – at a moment’s notice. They recommended that training should be complete and intensive. If a new employee has difficulty or resents handling new tasks, you should probably think twice before putting them in a permanent position.

Many newspapers have probationary periods ranging normally from three to six months. At any time during that period you can release your new hire if he/she does not measure up to anticipated skill levels. This is probably the LAST thing anyone wants to do, but at some point, it might be necessary to either fish or cut bait. I call it my tolerance level: if I leave work at night irritated at the amount of time I am spending training someone after they have worked here for a month or more, I put MYSELF on notice. I set a specific amount of time (and this amount of time must fall within the probationary period) in which I will work with the new employee. After that time, if the new hire is still requiring too much from me, he/she is gone. It is not a pleasant thing to do and fortunately does not happen very often.

The last recommendation is to keep an EXTENSIVE paper trail on new employees. It can be as simple as hand-written notes dropped into the personnel file you should be keeping. The notes should explain what was covered, when, and why. You can follow up these notes with email, repeating what you wrote in your notes in a more formal manner. These notes will also serve as a training reminder to both you and the new employee. Some managers have noted to me that the care and details put into the front end training (although time-consuming and often tedious), resulted in a focused, prepared employee who required far less follow-up work later on.

Be sure you are aware of your newspaper’s requirements on retention policies. If there is a probationary period, use it to your advantage. Don’t hold on to an unproductive new employee because it is unpleasant to let them go. Problems like this will not disappear on their own and you will be wasting your own time trying to make a marginal employee better.


Marcia MacVane is Library Director at the Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram. You can contact her at mmacvane@pressherald.com.