 Employees who have a passion for what they do are practically self-engaging. In other words, they seek out reasons to stay engaged in their job and with the company.
But what about those employees who aren’t quite as passionate, for whatever reason? The fact of the matter is that you can lead them down the road to engagement just by providing opportunities for them to do so. Many times, employees don’t need a reason to become engaged. What they really need is the chance to become engaged. Below are five ways in which you can provide opportunities to do just that. #1—Recognize the accomplishments of employees and celebrate them. Both parts of this initiative are important. By both recognizing and celebrating, you not only increase engagement and retention, you also build a greater sense of camaraderie among the members of your team. #2—Celebrate traditions within the organization. This is another way in which to increase both engagement and camaraderie. This could be an annual awards dinner, or it might be something as simple as a summer picnic or Christmas party. #3—Initiate a mentoring program. Once again, you’re accomplishing two goals at the same time. With this initiative, you’re facilitating a knowledge transfer between employees, in addition to bolstering engagement and retention. #4—Create a cross-training program. Most employees want to sharpen their skill set and increase their abilities. They also want to know that they have room for advancement within the company. This will accomplish both objectives. #5—Involve employees in decisions (whenever possible). Of course, this might not be feasible in all situations. However, by involving them in the decision-making process, they’ll feel more a part of the company. Evaluate your company and the culture that it offers. Are you providing opportunities like the ones listed above? Are there areas in which you should improve or make a more concerted effort? By simply providing opportunities for your employees to become engaged, you might be surprised by how readily and easily they do so—with no further prompting from you. 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! In today’s challenging hiring environment, qualified job candidates are sometimes difficult to find and difficult to hire.
Just because you have a candidate in a face-to-face interview situation doesn’t mean that “you hold the cards,” so to speak. They have just as much right to determine you aren’t a fit for them as you have a right to determine they aren’t a fit for you. As we mentioned in a previous blog post, the interview is a two-way street, so make sure you stay on your side of the road. Part of doing that successfully is “painting the proper perception” during the interview. Remember that some candidates are looking for reasons to NOT work for your company, as opposed to looking for reasons to work for it. A misstep on your part can help them make a decision you don’t want them to make. With that in mind, below are three tips for “painting the proper perception” during a face-to-face interview: #1—Avoid exaggerations or generalizations. These can be perceived in an incorrect fashion, and you might not even be aware of it. Speak in specific, definable terms regarding the position, including about responsibilities, expectations, and other parameters. #2—Think of the interview from the candidate’s point of view. How would your questions sound to them? In other words, how would they perceive them? What possible misunderstandings or miscommunications could arise? It would be shortsighted to believe that thinking of these things isn’t your responsibility. #3—Don’t end the interview without gauging their perception. For certain, ask if they have any questions. Then ask about their thoughts at this stage of the process. Be sure there aren’t any misperceptions—about the position, the company, or anything else. One of the goals of a successful interview is to ensure that the candidate’s perception of the position accurately matches the reality of the position. If that goal is not achieved, it increases the chances that the candidate won’t want to work for your company. And in today’s challenging job market, if you have a good candidate who could become a good (or even great) worker, you don’t want to let them get away! 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! At no time, especially in this current market, is the interview process a one-way street.
In other words, at no time should a job candidate’s time be considered less valuable than yours, especially if you’re having difficulty hiring the workers that you want to hire. Remember, the candidate is interviewing the company at the same time that company officials are interviewing the candidate. Below are two tips for ensuring that the interview process is a two-way street: #1—Make a connection. A common mistake is to assume that there’s urgency on the part of the candidate, that they’ll be grateful for whatever time you can give them. That might be true of those candidates who are unemployed. However, there has been a paradigm shift in the marketplace, thanks to “The Great Recession” and other factors. When you interview a good job candidate, you should strive to do more than just accurately assess their skill set and their potential for fitting into the company culture. You should also strive to make a connection with the candidate and build a sort of camaraderie or rapport with them. The reason? The candidate needs a very good reason to work for your organization. #2—Give them a good reason. As mentioned above, job seekers and candidates have the upper hand right now. Many of them have multiple job options and career opportunities. As a result, companies and organizations have some work to do, especially during the interview process. With that in mind, be sure to analyze your interview process. Are you marketing yourself to each person interviewed? Are you giving tours of your facility to those candidates who stand out from the rest? What reasons are you giving to top job candidates to convince them to take advantage of your opportunity? Your answers to these questions might just be the deciding factor in how prepared you are to tackle an employment marketplace filled with challenging conditions for employers that need workers. 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!  Effective hiring is an intensive process. It requires a certain amount of time, energy, and effort. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to do.
After all, many hiring authorities and hiring managers have other responsibilities and duties. They often don’t have the time to devote fully to the acquisition of new employees. As a result, things can “fall through the cracks,” so to speak. And when you’re trying to hire the best job candidates and workers, you can’t afford for that to happen. Below are six important questions to ask about the next person that your company hires: #1—How has the job description changed since the last time we hired for this position? There’s a good chance that the last person in the role altered the job description while they were in it. Without identifying the ways in which they altered it, you run the risk of making a mis-hire. That’s because you’ll hire a candidate who matches the old job description, as opposed to the new and updated one. Consult everyone associated with the position to ascertain how the description should be changed prior to advertising it. #2—What does the ideal job candidate look like in terms of personality and soft skills? Hard skills and experience are just one side of the equation. Personality and soft skills are the other side of it. That’s because more than likely, the candidate will have to interact with other people. This includes co-workers and possibly customers. How well they interact with both groups will help determine their success. #3—What are the specific steps of your hiring process? If you haven’t identified these steps, then you increase the chances that you’ll miss a step or that there will be miscommunication between the people involved. Not only that, but it will also be more difficult to let candidates know where they stand in the process if you don’t know exactly what the steps are. Knowing the process inside and out is mandatory for generating optimal results. #6—Which members of the organization will be part of the hiring process? Knowledge of the people involved in the process is just as important as knowledge of the process itself. Not only should you know who is involved, but you should also know why each person is involved and what their individual roles are. This serves to increase the effectiveness of the communication between team members, which will lead to better decision making regarding which candidate or candidates you ultimately decide to hire. If you’re pressed for time, a staffing agency can help. An experienced staffing firm with a track record of success can help you identify and hire the workers that your organization needs to excel! 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! Hiring the right people is always a big concern for companies and organizations. After all, making a mis-hire can be extremely costly in terms of time, energy, resources, and money.
Hiring is an investment, and you want to earn a return on that investment. The best way to do that is to hire solid job candidates who offer a lot of value, make numerous contributions to the organization, and ultimately boosts its bottom line is a big way. That’s why the size and the depth of the talent pool from which you draw your candidates is perhaps the single biggest factor affecting the quality of your hires. As you might imagine, if you want to hire the best job candidate possible for an open position, you must make sure of the following two things:
What’s the difference between the two? In terms of a wide talent pool, that means drawing quality talent from as many different places as you can. This can refer to geographical regions or to sourcing methods. In terms of a deep talent pool, that reflects how many quality candidates you’re able to identify. In other words, you want both a diverse talent pool of quality candidates and you want a high volume of quality candidates. That’s the best possible outcome. Some might call it an unrealistic outcome, but it’s what employers should strive for. It should be their ultimate hiring objective. However, do you believe that every single person who starts to fill out an online job application actually finishes the application? Of course not. That’s unrealistic. Many online applications are not easy. They’re cumbersome and time-consuming. They can even be confusing. When that’s the case, candidates are likely to simply close their Internet browser and look elsewhere for possible employment opportunities. When you factor this into the equation, it shrinks the size of your talent pool even more. Now your talent pool consists of only candidates who are actively looking for a new job and who successfully made it to the end of your online application. Does that sound like a talent pool that is both wide and deep? Sadly, it does not. This is why using an experienced staffing agency with a track record of success helps to “cover all the bases” when it comes to hiring. A trusted organization like Time Staffing has not just the experience necessary, but we also have the connections. So contact us to today to find out how we can help your company hire the best workers and employees! 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! Imagine this scenario:
You walk into work on Monday morning. Your boss comes to see you, and he says this: “I want to meet in five minutes to discuss the career goals of every member of your team. Oh, and one more thing. If you don’t know what they are, you’re fired.” What would your reaction be? Turnover is almost impossible to prevent 100% of the time, despite the latest and greatest retention techniques and tools. It’s always tragic when a supervisor loses a key player on their team. However, it’s the reason behind the loss that can turn a tragedy into a catastrophe. Not knowing your employees’ career goals and ambitions and not helping them to achieve those goals and ambitions should absolutely, positively never be a reason that a key member of your team leaves to go to another company (quite possibly your chief competitor). It all comes down to what you can influence and what you can’t. There are some reasons an employee leaves that you have no influence over—say, they move to the other side of the country to care for an elderly parent. But you can and should have a direct influence over how an employee perceives their position with your company as an avenue to reach their goals. This is an effective retention technique, but one that requires you to be pro-active. More than likely, employees aren’t just going to come into your office and start gushing about their long-range career goals. For one, they probably don’t know how you’ll react. It’s your job to “break the ice” and get to the heart of the matter. It’ll be better for both of you in the long run. The old adage that you’ll never know until you ask is certainly true in this instance. And the information you gain by asking is crucial to the retention process. Not only that, the fact that you’re asking your team members about their goals will help to cultivate loyalty with those employees, simply because you’re showing that you value them and their careers and that you’re interested in investing in their future. And the more loyal they are, the less likely they’ll leave. So here’s your assignment: meet with every member of your team individually. Broach the subject of their career and the goals they’ve set for themselves. Brainstorm ways that the company can help them to achieve those goals. Make sure that the employee is fully participating in the process, and make sure that you’re showing enthusiasm. If you’re excited about how the company can help them, then they’ll be excited about how the company can help them. Remember, non-excited employees become former employees. If possible, set a concrete plan of action. For example, perhaps the employee would benefit from additional or different duties, ones that more accurately fit their plans but would still benefit the company. You’re only limited by your imagination, and since the employee is fully vested in the process, ideas should be plentiful. (So long as you create an environment that’s conducive to sharing, that is.) Retaining key employees becomes easier when you identify what they really want, and one thing they want is to know that the company they work for considers them valuable enough to invest in—now and in the future. Don’t let a golden opportunity to increase retention pass you and your company by. Find out as soon as possible what your employees’ plans are—before you find out the hard way. 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! Quick--what are your company’s core values?
How quickly were you able to list them? Were you able to list all of them? Or just some of them? Your answer to the above question is crucial to your company’s ability to attract and retain great workers in today’s market. Money, compensation, challenging work, and opportunities for advancement are all important factors for job candidates when they’re making their final decision, but how much they identify with a company’s core values often seals the deal. Workers are looking for an all-around fit. What they really want is a place where they feel comfortable, a company that fits as well with them as they do with it. There are companies all around the country that are having trouble hiring because the candidates don’t believe they’re a “core values” fit for them. So where do you start? By finding out exactly what your company’s core values are. If you already know because they’re practiced and preached on a regular basis, congratulations. You and your company are ahead of the curve. However, if you’re only partially certain or if you’ve never even heard the words “core values” spoken at your company, it’s time to find out what they are. This might involve some investigation, but it will pay off in the long run. Remember, these are the criteria against which many applicants are measuring you. If a candidate asked during an interview if your company offered health insurance for its employees, “I don’t know” wouldn’t be an acceptable answer. The same principle applies to core values. The second step is to ensure that the company is living out its values at every level of operation. This entails, of course, making sure that everybody in the organization knows exactly what they are and how they’re expected to be carried out. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including through the company newsletter, signs and posters, and even in a “core values” employee booklet. And it’s essential that they’re also listed, in some form, on the company’s website. What it comes down to is this: if you don’t believe in your company’s values, how do you expect a current—or prospective—employee to believe in them? What do you need to do differently? To do more of? Less of? How can you weave the company’s core values into its everyday transactions and activities? Asking these questions and formulating answers to them can dramatically increase your chances of hiring better in today’s challenging job market. 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! Every company, department, or team has employees who can be classified as “high achievers” . . . and those who are not included in that category.
However, these employees should not be dismissed—either literally or figuratively—without attempting to motivate them to higher levels of achievement. While this naturally requires additional time, energy, and effort to accomplish, it can be done. The result is greater individual and collective productivity and ultimately, profitability. So what can be done to motivate those who are, well . . . unmotivated? There are six key factors that managers and team leaders can use to motivate anybody on their team—even somebody who appears to be “terminally unmotivated. Those six factors are as follows:
As you can see, these factors have more to do with interpersonal issues than anything else. More money was not on the list. Neither was more paid time off or a more flexible work schedule. Instead, companies and organizations should strive to engage their employees and do so in genuine and authentic ways. The bottom line is that people want to know that the companies they work for care, including about themselves. Disgruntled employees can be motivated to achieve more and produce more for the company. They’re just looking for the six things listed above—and they’re all things that you can give 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 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! In today’s business environment, the overriding mantra is often, “Do more with less!” That pertains to resources, materials, and even employees.
Unfortunately, it’s human nature to not pay enough attention to your best employees and top performers. Why is that? Because they’re usually self-motivated go-getters who need no prompting or anybody looking over their shoulder. This gives the manager more flexibility and more freedom to tackle other issues. However, while it makes sense to leave top performers be and let them do their jobs, that philosophy can be harmful if taken too far. Here’s a reality check: if top employees don’t believe that they’re growing in their current position and working toward something bigger and better, then they’re going to think about leaving. That’s why you absolutely need to know what their professional needs and career goals are. This may sound a bit simplistic, but the best way to do this is by asking them. You shouldn’t subject them to an intensive, intimidating interrogation, though. Instead, fully engage them and make them feel comfortable enough to broach topics they might not bring up themselves. In other words, give them the attention they crave and ask the questions that will ultimately help to retain them as employees:
Based upon their answers, formulate a game plan for achieving their objectives while still working for your company. Also plan to meet on a consistent basis going forward to gauge their progress and set additional goals. Top employees think about their career ambitions all the time. It’s in their nature. So if that’s the case, then it makes sense to give the proper amount of attention to their plans for the future. If you don’t, then you increase the chances that your company won’t be involved in those plans. 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!  The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on just about everything in our lives, and that includes the employment marketplace and the job market. One of the things that the pandemic has affected within the professional realm is that of health and safety in the workplace.
As might be expected, standards for health and safety increased dramatically during the early part of the pandemic, out of necessity more than anything else. And of course, as the pandemic has continued, health and safety standards have remained a focus of concern for employers. However, after the release of multiple vaccines, as well as booster shots for each one, the temptation to relax has become more prevalent. Despite that, the need for stringent standards is as high now as it was at the beginning of the pandemic. Since that is the case, below are four pro tips for maintaining high standards of health and safety within your company: #1—Be tactical, strategic, and flexible. Obviously, the health and safety protocols for a company with an office working environment are different than those for an organization with a manufacturing or warehouse environment. Workers who engage with customers on an in-person basis would be subject to more rules and regulations than those who do not do so. As a result, the safety protocols and practices for your company should mirror its working environment. In addition, the measures should be designed with both maximum safety and maximum productivity in mind. #2—Include mental health within company guidelines. Mental health considerations are often overlooked in a discussion about health and safety concerns. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected people’s mental health in a variety of negative ways and employers should not dismiss these effects. Does your company have programs that address mental health? If not, what can you do to address this growing concern within the workplace? Investing in the mental health of your employees is a wise investment. #3—Weave health and safety into the culture. Employer branding and company culture are of paramount importance for organizations, not just for job candidates, but also for current employees. People want to work for a company that they believe cares about their health and well-being. Consequently, it makes sense to emphasize the importance of health and safety by making them part of the company’s mission statement and/or core values. #4—Conduct regular training. As we’ve been discussing, safety awareness should be a priority for your company, and conducting regular training sessions is one way to ensure that this is the case. This training is not just for new employees as part of their orientation, but it’s also for existing employees on a continuing basis. It’s easy for people to become complacent on the job after a while, and that’s when accidents can occur. Physical and mental preparation and focus are key factors in this area. 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! |
