 The desire for increased productivity is one of the reasons that a company or organization hires employees in the first place. They want to increase productivity so they can also increase profitability, which will (theoretically) be good news for everybody.
The bad news is that productivity is often difficult to increase and easy to lose. In fact, even if you don’t lose an employee, you can still lose productivity, depending upon what is happening within your company’s workplace. Below are five big danger signs of decreasing productivity: #1—Messy and/or disorganized work environment A person’s workspace is often, although not always, a reflection of what is happening inside of their mind. Some people are just naturally untidy. However, if it appears that most or all of your employees appear to be disorganized, it might be a warning sign that productivity is being lost because obviously, the environment is not as efficient as it could (and should) be. #2—Frequent complaining Having no complaints is probably not a realistic goal. Every once in a while, somebody is going to say something. Once again, if it appears as though complaining is a frequent occurrence, it presents two problems. First, if an employee is complaining about something, then they’re not actually working, and if they’re not working, then they’re not being productive. Second, complaining is a possible sign of greater discord within the team or department, which can also negatively affect productivity. #3—An apparent lack of structure Structure lends itself to systems, and systems often lead to more productivity. Structure is required in the workplace for employees to operate more efficiently and more effectively and ultimately reach their full potential on the job, especially in terms of productivity. #4—Too much “busy work.” Just because an employee or worker is busy does not necessarily mean that they are also being productive. It’s not enough to work hard; you also have to work hard on the right things. It’s true that productivity is a precursor to profitability, but that is only the case when that productivity is centered upon those things that lead most directly to profitability. #5—All work and no play Finally, a workplace in which nobody is having any fun is a workplace in danger of experiencing decreased productivity. It might seem counterintuitive to suggest that promoting the idea of fun in the workplace is a way to increase productivity, but that suggestion is accurate. If people don’t have any fun at all where they work, then they will be less motivated to work hard and be productive. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact Time Staffing today to find out more about our placement services for employers! Welcome to a new series of blog posts at Time Staffing dealing with job search tips. It’s been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic started, and the employment marketplace and the job market are well on their way to recovery, as uneven as it has been.
The good news is that employers are starting to hire again, and in fact, hiring has been quite brisk in some industries. These include the manufacturing and light industrial industries. However, while this is certainly good news, it does mean a couple of important things:
This is why job seekers and other professionals in the employment marketplace must not only be proactive, but also vigilant in what they do during the hiring process. Any mistake they make can be magnified, and as a result, it can decrease the chances that they’ll be hired. Considering all of this, it’s important to be as informed and as prepared as possible so that every time you apply for a position, you’re seriously considered by the employer that is looking to fill it. And the first step in doing this—and the first blog post in our series—deals with customizing your resume to every job opening to which you apply. It’s definitely easier to send out the same resume and same cover letter for all of the job openings that interest you. However, the easy way is not always the right way, and that is the case in this situation. After all, a hiring manager or hiring authority is only going to spend an average of five seconds looking at your resume. You might be asking yourself: “Why only five seconds?” The answer is that the hiring manager or hiring authority knows what they’re looking for, and what they’re looking for are the same words that exist in the job description. They’re looking to match up what is in the job description with what is in your resume. And that is why it’s a good idea to customize your resume to the job description for which you are applying. If you don’t, then you increase the chances that your resume will be overlooked and your candidacy will be dismissed. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service and quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! In our most recent series of blog posts on planning for your job satisfaction and career growth, we’ve addressed a couple of important topics:
1.“Questions for Reflection and for Evaluating Your Job Situation” 2.“5 Steps for Short-Term Career Planning” The third and final part of our series deals with long-term goals. If you remember, short-term goals include anything less than a year. Long-term goals, on the other hand, are anything over a year. Once again, this is subjective and can change, depending upon the person involved and their specific goals. You’ve probably heard people talking about their “five-year plan.” You might even have been asked this question by a hiring manager: “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Five years is certainly one standard by which you can measure the length of your long-term goals. Other common time frames include three years and 10 years. It’s important to reiterate that these goals depend upon the person who is setting them and trying to achieve them. What one person thinks is a sensible, long-term goal, another person might not. Preferences and personalities are part of the equation. It’s also important to note that a person’s long-term goals should be an extension of their short-term objectives. At the very least, they should connect to each other in some way and make sense from a big-picture perspective. It’s not very useful to set a series of short-term goals for job and career growth and then set long-term goals that are not in any way related. All of this might sound like common sense, but it is information that you should keep in mind while thinking about your goals and planning for them. With all of this firmly in mind, below are examples of three long-term goals for job satisfaction and career success: #1—Obtain any and all professional certifications in your field. You might already have some certifications and licenses. However, do they represent all of the ones available to workers in your field? Conduct some research to discover which ones you don’t have and create a plan for obtaining them. #2—Position yourself for a leadership role. Promotions and raises are fine and dandy, but what about a leadership or management position? This definitely falls into the three, five, or 10-year time frame necessary to qualify as a long-term career goal. #3—Reach a certain level of compensation. Or perhaps you have a financial goal in mind. This certainly applies, as well. However, as with any goal, you must be specific about what it is you want to achieve (in this case, a certain amount of money or other compensation) and the steps involved in getting there. If you have long-term goals at this point, one or all of these might already be included in them. Or perhaps none of them are. What’s important is that you do have long-term goals for job satisfaction and career success and that you’re working steadily toward achieving them. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! Finding and hiring great workers is difficult enough, but finding, hiring, and then keeping great employees for the long haul is even more difficult.
It has been proven time and again that when you have the right employees in the right jobs doing the right things, that’s when productivity increases quickly. (And when productivity increases, so does profitability.) However, great workers and employees want certain things from their employer. Yes, they recognize the fact that their employer has made an investment in them and expects a certain return on that investment. However, they also recognize that they do provide a tremendous return on the investment that their employer has made in them. As a result, they want a few things in return. The good news is that these are not outrageous things. In fact, they’re perfectly sensible and practical, and every employer should be able to provide them. Below are five big things that workers want from their employers: #1—Fairness What employees do not want to see, especially your top workers, is somebody receiving preferential treatment from management (for whatever reason.) Being treated fairly is extremely important to employees. #2—Respect Being treated with respect is also very important to your employees. And of course, when you don’t treat them fairly, they’re going to believe that you don’t respect them. (You can see how this can “snowball” out of control rather quickly.) #3—Honesty This falls in line with the first two items on our list. Being honest with your workers shows that you respect them. After all, if you expect them to be honest with you, then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t expect you to be honest with them. #4—Transparency Workers want to know what is happening at their place of employment, especially with anything that might affect their job or their employment situation. Communication is at the heart of transparency, and that is why you must strive to over-communicate with your workers whenever possible. #5—Empathy You don’t have to go overboard here, but workers want you to at least empathize somewhat if a situation arises that calls for it. They know the bottom line is that they must produce and be productive, but if we’re talking about your best workers and employees, then they should already be doing that. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! In a previous blog post, we examined questions for reflection and for evaluating your job situation. That represents the starting point in terms of achieving job satisfaction and career success.
What are the next steps? We’re glad you asked, because we have the answer! There are two more steps. They are focusing on short-term growth and success and planning for long-term growth and success. In this blog post, we’re going to discuss the steps involved with the former. We’ll tackle the steps associated with the latter in a future blog post. You might be thinking, “What exactly is short term?” Well, the short answer is anything from a year to less than a year. The long answer is that it’s up to you. It could be a month, it could be six months, or maybe it is a whole year. Below are five steps for creating short-term goals for job and career success: #1—Start your day earlier. You know how it goes . . . “early to bed, early to rise.” Even if you start your day early by just one hour, it can make a difference over time. #2—Make an effort to get to know your co-workers better. Job satisfaction and career success are all about relationships. The better your relationships, the better your chances for success. The people who are in your immediate circle are your co-workers, so it makes sense to build and cultivate relationships with them. #3—Identify your productivity markers. By what standard is your productivity measured at work? In other words, which numbers is your boss interested in the most in terms of your productivity? These are the things on which you should focus the majority of your daily efforts. #4—Improve your performance. Now that you have your productivity markers, what must you do to improve them? Are there certain steps you can take or additional things that you can do? Implement a plan for impacting these numbers in a positive way. This will increase both your productivity and your value as an employee. #5—Try to learn something new on a daily basis. If you’re truly serious about growing your career, then you should also be serious about the idea of continuing to learn new things. Continuous training and education is a must, and it can be as simple as learning a new skill or even a piece of new information. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! The past year has been a tumultuous one, that’s for sure. The coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic have affected the job market and the economy tremendously. Perhaps you have been affected on a personal level, a professional level, or both.
As we pass the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus appearing in this country, this might be a good time for reflection. Specifically, it could be an opportune time to reflect and evaluate your job situation, whatever that situation might be. Below are five questions for reflection and for evaluating your job situation: #1—What do I enjoy about my job? This should be a relatively easy question to answer. You could simply write down the reasons on a piece of paper. (Hopefully, there are reasons you like your job.) If you are currently unemployed, then think about jobs that you’ve had in the past. What did you enjoy most about them? Even if you are currently employed, you can draw upon past work experiences when creating your list. #2—What unique skills do I possess? There are probably certain skills that everybody at your employer possess. But what might you possess that others do not? These skills represent value, and if you have unique skills that others do not, that means you have value and can offer value that others can not. #3—What certifications or licenses do I have? Depending upon the industry in which you work, it may be important to have certain certifications. In fact, there are some certifications that might be mandatory. Do you have those and do you have any certifications beyond those, because once again, they represent additional value. #4—How would I describe my ideal job? Based on your past jobs and your current job, if you’re presently employed, what has been missing from those jobs? What are the things that you desire most in a job? Once again, if it helps, you can simply write down the answers to these questions on a piece of paper. Documenting your vision is an important first step toward realizing it. #5—How does my current job stack up to this ideal job? This is where “the rubber hits the road,” so to speak. While doing this comparison, you can get a better idea of where you are and where you want to be. The only thing left is to figure out how you’re going to get there. There’s an old adage that states, “You can’t get where you’re going if you don’t know where you are.” While that may sound quaint, it has real-world applications, including with your current job situation. This is why it’s important to ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly in the pursuit of greater job satisfaction and career success. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the United States and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely upon ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out more about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! If you’re not accustomed to working with personality assessments or aptitude tests, here is an example of what one can provide.
Let’s say that you have an assessment test that measures the following on a scale of one to 10 (with 10 being the highest): assertiveness, communication abilities, pace/sense of urgency, and attention to detail. In addition, it measures creativity, emotional control, and situational adaptability. By having this information on multiple job seekers, you can see which ones possess the traits that you desire the most. Assessment tests aren’t just for job candidates, though. You can also have your current employees take them and then use the results of your top performers in each role as a benchmark. Through the use of this strategy, you can improve upon your ability to hire more of the personality types that are successful. With all of this in mind, below are six tips for evaluating assessment tools for more hiring success: #1—Make certain the assessment is fair. Only use assessments that can provide a validation study that shows the assessment does not discriminate. Otherwise, you’re vulnerable to legal action. #2—Make certain you know how to read the results. Data without knowledge is useless. And of course, knowledge without the application of that knowledge is also useless. #3—Benchmark your team. Take the time to benchmark your team, or at least the top 50% of your team. That way, you can leverage the results of your assessment and use them to make better decisions about your personnel, including both current employees and job seekers you may hire. #4—Think about time and cost factors. Some assessment tests take hours, while others take less than 10 minutes. The results are not always proportionate. Think about how time and cost fit into your company’s hiring process (and budget) and use them as factors in determining which assessment test is the right one for you. #5—Don’t make the assessment a stand-alone pass/fail for being hired. An assessment test should be a vital tool in hiring. However, it should not perform the decision-making function. These are not fool-proof tools. #6—Do your homework! There are many good tools available, and by researching these on the Internet and taking samples of three to four, you should be able to make an informed decision. Assessments can help you to identify a person’s strengths, weaknesses, and aptitudes. However, it’s critical to do the necessary amount of work up front to ensure that the assessment you do choose to use helps you hire the best candidates available for your job openings. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact Time Staffing today to find out more about our placement services for employers! In a previous blog post, we discussed the importance of hiring in terms of a company’s success. And while the hiring of top workers is paramount for employers, there is something else that is nearly as important as that.
The continued hiring of and retention of top workers. Successful hiring is not a one-time thing. For companies and organizations interested in long-term success, consistently good hiring is critical. And more than that, what good is hiring talented and experienced workers if you can’t retain them as employees for very long? True, not all workers are hired with the long term in mind. They’re either short-term or temporary workers, and that’s fine. However, when it comes to other, more tenured employees who will have a lasting impact on the company, especially its bottom line, you want to hire and retain the best workers you possibly can. This is where employer branding enters the picture. That’s because effective employer branding will both help your company hire top talent and also retain its best employees. And doing both of these things is instrumental to achieving and maintaining long-term success. What is employer branding? Essentially, it encompasses every experience that a job candidate has with your organization during the recruiting and hiring process. This includes every interaction—every phone call, every email, every text, etc. And when it comes to the issue of retention, it includes every experience that a candidate has while they are working for your organization as employee. Needless to say, all of these experiences have to be as positive as possible. If they are not positive, both during the interviewing process when they are candidates and also when they are employees after they’ve been hired, then your ability to both consistently hire the best and retain the best will be reduced. The bottom line is that effective retention is just as important as effective hiring, from the standpoint of workers and what they can do for your company. And positive employer branding throughout every part of the organization is the key to enjoying both effective hiring and retention. If you need temporary or direct employees for your workforce, then Time Staffing can help! We have experience identifying and screening top-notch candidates in numerous fields for a variety of employers. Our goal is help you hire the right employee at the right time to get the right results. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact Time Staffing today to find out more about our placement services for employers! If you’re employed, then you’re more than likely trying to become a better employee. If you’re not employed, then chances are good that you’re currently trying to join the ranks of the employed in an effort to improve your life.
Regardless of the situation in which you find yourself, the bottom line is the same: success. And on top of that, more success. The rules for success are rather simple. By and large, everybody wants to be successful, and for many people, no amount of success is enough. No matter how successful they are, they would like to become even more successful. And even if you’re not uber-driven and hardwired for ever-increasing amounts of success, you probably wouldn’t mind your life, including your professional life, being just a little easier than it is right now. No matter your goals or your mindset, here are five key steps for being more efficient, more effective, and more successful: #1—Determine your priorities. You have to figure out what matters to you the most. It’s always a good time to take a personal inventory of your life and your priorities. Today’s fast-paced society has a nasty habit of knocking them “out of whack.” Make a prioritized list, if necessary. #2—Learn better time management. Some people are naturals when it comes to time management. Most, however, are not. Instead of hating the people who are good at it, set concrete goals and timeframes for achieving those goals. And don’t forget to reward yourself for reaching your goals. Procrastination is public enemy number-one. #3—Drop unnecessary activities. Get rid of anything that does not lend itself to increasing your productivity. This step is also a corollary to the first step on our list. Once you’ve identified what’s most important to you, then you can more easily eliminate activities that aren’t. #4—“Blow off some steam.” “All fun and no play make Jack a dull boy.” Rest and relaxation is like everything else in your life. If you don’t plan it, chances are good that you won’t actually do it. We’re not talking about a huge family vacation here, though. Just setting aside some time for exercise is good enough. #5—Communicate with your employer. If you want to know what will make you a more valuable employee, then you should ask what will make you a more valuable employee. It really is as easy as that. Strive to develop a good rapport with your supervisor (whether you like them as a person or not). If you are currently seeking a new job, Time Staffing’s team of qualified staffing specialists offers assistance to job seekers in the light industrial and clerical fields. We prep candidates thoroughly by answering their questions and addressing their concerns. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated's Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! In a previous blog post, we discussed how your job and career constitute your biggest financial asset. Considering how important they are, wouldn’t it make sense for you to invest in that asset?
The answer: “Absolutely!” If you view your job and your career as an investment, then you should also expect to receive a return on that investment. Yes, that return does take the form of a weekly (or biweekly) paycheck, but it can be much more than that. When you invest wisely in your job and career, you give yourself the chance to grow. This means growing into new employment opportunities with bigger and better employers that have the means to reward you for the work that you do. Not only might you receive more in your paycheck, but you could also receive a great benefits package and other perks and amenities. So how do you get there? How can you invest wisely in both your job and career? Below are two easy and strategic ways to invest in your employment situation and “stand out from the crowd” in 2021 (and beyond): #1—Engage in additional training. Here’s an easy way to remember the importance of this step: “If you want to earn more, then you need to learn more.” It doesn’t get much simpler than that. There are many different ways that you can engage in training. It could involve webinars, classes, audiotapes (or audiobooks), or actual books. What certifications could you earn? Even with the pandemic, there are many training courses that you can take online. You can even ask your supervisor what you can learn to become more valuable to the company. Which leads us to our next point, which is . . . #2—Take on additional responsibilities. While you’re asking your supervisor about training, you can also ask them about this. Most organizations reward those who have done well when given additional tasks. If you want to earn more, then increase the amount of value that you contribute. Volunteer for the ugliest projects, put in extra effort, and make the projects a big success. Good leaders recognize those who do exceptional work and reward them with more money and/or a promotion. And that is the return that you will receive on your investment. If you are currently seeking a new job, Time Staffing’s team of qualified staffing specialists offers assistance to job seekers in the light industrial and clerical fields. We prep candidates thoroughly by answering their questions and addressing their concerns. Last year, Time Staffing won ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Client and Talent Awards for providing superior service to their clients and candidates. ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and job candidates. Time Staffing received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 75.4% of their placed talent, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 45%. Contact us today to find out about the employment opportunities that are available in your chosen field! |
