5 Ways to Meet Your Employees’ Needs

/in ,

While we help companies to meet their staffing needs, we also hear a lot from companies about how they want to retain the great employees we help them find. Retention can sometimes be trickier than recruitment. Ultimately, retention is about meeting employees’ needs. The better you can meet an employee’s needs, the more likely you are to retain that employee.

Here are the most important needs you need to meet for your employees, ranked from most necessary to most fulfilling.

Basic needs

The purpose of employment is receiving money. People like to talk about all the other rewards they gain from their careers (more on that below), but at the end of the day everyone wants a paycheck. They rely on that paycheck for shelter, food, clothing and other necessities.

How can you better meet your employees’ basic needs? Reevaluate the pay scale. Consider whether what you’re paying could reasonably support an individual – or even better, a family – living in your area. Regularly examine your benefits package and who receives it to see if you can better support their health care. Healthy, well-fed employees with secure housing will perform much better for your business and your community.

Safety needs

While many jobs pay more for riskier jobs, employees work better when they can trust that their employer’s top priority is worker safety. There are many federal, state and local conditions that employers must obey, but workplaces should create a culture that puts safety ahead of profit.

Safety can also be psychological. Employees should feel safe to voice their feedback and needs without repercussions. No employee should not feel that they are at risk of harassment because of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, disability status or any other reason.

Social needs

When you ask your employees what their favorite part of working for your company is, what’s the answer? Hopefully, they say that they love their coworkers. Social networks are hugely important in improving job satisfaction. A positive work environment creates a feeling of belonging and trust that goes beyond helping employees do their daily work; it creates a positive feeling about their employer.

Employers should encourage employees to form positive relationships not just with each other, but also with clients, vendors, and management. Team building activities help employees blow off steam and bond with each other in different ways. Any negative interactions should be handled swiftly and directly to show employees that you encourage a positive culture.

Recognition needs

Recognizing employees for their hard work is a strong motivator. People like knowing that their hard work is noticed and appreciated. A regular award or campaign to highlight your best workers shows everyone that you value employee contributions. Titles, status, and raises are an even better way to show employees that you are invested in keeping their talent at your company.

Development needs

Employees who value professional development are the best kind to have at your company. These people will grow into your middle and upper management. It’s more cost-effective to train your employees from the ground-up rather than outside hiring. It can be challenging to meet this need if you aren’t well-suited for growth, but if you can you’ll be pleased with the results.

Curious about more ways you can recruit and retain the best talent? Talk to Award Staffing. We’re here to help you with all of your staffing needs.

How to Improve Your Skilled Worker Recruiting Strategy

/in ,

Demand for skilled workers is still high in Minnesota, and positions are becoming harder than ever to fill. Hiring managers can easily get discouraged by the inability to find the right candidates to fill their roles. We’re currently working with our clients to ensure that they remain staffed with the best skilled workers to meet their goals. Here’s how we’re helping those clients reevaluate their hiring strategy and get their hiring process back on track.

Mind the generation gap

Millennials are those born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. This generation is fully of age and looking to start families and take the next steps in their careers. Hiring managers need to be acutely aware of young adults’ changing expectations for their professional lives. Many members of this generation have been taught that college is their best chance at success, but blue-collar jobs can set themselves apart in this regard.

Meanwhile, Generation Z is entering the workforce. The prospect of apprenticeships, immediate pay and on-site training can help lure high school students into the productive and fulfilling trades. The student debt crisis is something that young people should be considering as they think about career prospects, and the trades offer a great option to make good money at a secure job immediately – without owing money for years to come.

If you want proactive workers, be proactive!

Throwing up an ad and waiting for the right applicants is no longer the path to recruiting success. You should be thinking about your company and what it can offer employees, not just the reverse. Workers today are more likely to want to work at an organization that has a clear mission and values, so be ready to define these qualities. It will give you the inside track on potential employees who value working at the right place.

On this same note, you want to be proactive about promoting training opportunities. Employees feel valued if they know that their employer is willing to invest in them. Apprenticeships and on-site training are enticing offers, and you should be taking full advantage of them by making all potential hires aware of their benefits.

Empower your current staff

Too many hiring managers assume that employees are set once they’re hired. You need to continue on a path of offering positive feedback and tangible rewards to employees throughout their careers with you. This will not only result in higher morale and loyal staff, but it will create long-term benefits as word of mouth spreads that you are a desirable employer that values its people. This will only serve to benefit your recruiting efforts in the short- and long-term.

Minor tweaks can go a long way in recruiting and hiring skilled workers. Companies should be ready to describe their own company’s strengths, of the appealing benefits of trade work and how they can create happy and empowered workers.

If your business is looking to recruit more skilled workers, Award Staffing can help. Contact us today to learn more about how we can create an effective staffing strategy for your business.

How to Demonstrate Employee Value

/in ,

Yes, it takes commitment, but the challenge isn’t as tough as you might expect. Employees who have confidence in the company leadership, share the vision and feel valued are more engaged and stimulate positive company morale. Here are 5 ways to make a great start.

Communicate:

From introducing a new employee to your company’s mission, values, and purpose to creating and keeping engagement among your staff, communication is essential. And, it’s more than making sure the memos and updates about logistics go out. It includes:

  • • Ensuring that everyone connected to a project receives all the pertinent information.
  • • Putting some fun and creativity in memos, notifications, etc. Why not add a cartoon to the bottom of updates?
  • • Stopping at cubicles to say hi and ask how an employee’s day/week is going.
  • • Seeking, listening to, and respecting your employees’ feedback concerning projects. (Employees who feel their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work, and 40% of highly-engaged employees receive weekly feedback.)
  • • Listening. Listening. Listening. It’s an essential component of great communication.

Create Connections:

Develop a mentor program within the ranks and encourage fun work relationships among your employees. Take time to “play” a little each day. Sure, some companies have workout rooms, table tennis tournaments, and other large scale options, but that isn’t a prerequisite for fun. “Play” is an attitude or mindset.

  • • Share a company trivia site. Put the names of employees who participate in a once/week drawing for a token gift card to your local ice cream shop.
  • • Have a small stuffed company mascot. Hide it in a department. If they find it, it’s their job to hide it in another department. Whichever department ends up with it on Friday . . . well, make it a fun “penalty.”

There’s a multitude of simple, inexpensive ways to create fun on the job and encourage employee engagement.

Express Appreciation:

Recognizing your employees’ attitudes, contributions, innovativeness, and daily commitment, etc. is vital.  Express your appreciation in words – both written and verbal– as well as intangible thanks will give a boost to employee engagement and morale. Some ideas include:

  • • Verbal appreciation – in person or via a phone chat. Be genuine, personal, and specific.
  • • Written appreciation – send an email, text, or better yet a thank you card. Once again, be genuine, personal, and specific.
  • • Gift cards, an occasional early leave on Friday, free food – from a snack tray to a department lunch . . . There are many ways to express appreciation.

Recognize Employee Value:

Recognizing your employees’value -their talents and contributions is a key factor. (27% of employees who leave, do so because of lack of recognition) Substantiate your recognition with:

  • • Opportunities to learn new skills and move upward within the company. (42% of employees say learning and development is the most important benefit when deciding where to work)
  • • Increased responsibilities – without micro-managing. Letting them rise to the task expresses your confidence and trust in them and encourages innovation and creativity.
  • • Assign responsibilities that align with their interests and abilities.

Make Giving Back a Company Thing:

Your employees want to make a difference – especially within the community, but also globally.  Make giving back ad “team project.” Nothing boosts morale like knowing you have helped someone else.

  • • Get involved in a local work project: For example, plan a Saturday where your team participates in a habitat for humanity. One company built a pavilion along their local river greenway. The company supplied the lumber, and the employees supplied the labor.
  • • Sponsor a little league team or a dream team for handicap children and encourage employees to attend a game, treat the players, or sponsor an end-of-season picnic.
  • • Join in a global charity drive like the Marine’s Toys for Tots.
  • • Hold a company bake sale to raise funds for a charity – let your employees vote on which charity.

Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person and values who they are, as well as what skills and input they bring to the table are productive, find increased job satisfaction and are more loyal to their employer. In other words, they are engaged employees, and company morale is up, which all adds up to increased profitability.

At Award Staffing, we recognize the value of our staff and our temps. Because we do, you can count on the talent we place in your business. Our mantra is work hard, have fun, and be nice. It makes a difference you can’t get along without. Contact us today.

Employee Value and Company Morale

/in ,

“Success in business is all about people, people, people. Whatever industry a company is in, its employees are its biggest competitive advantage.”   – Sir Richard Branson 

Winning with your customers/clients begins by winning with your employees. Your employees are your pipeline to customer engagement, positive reviews, and word of mouth advertising, and a prosperous bottom-line. The more your employees feel valued, the higher and more profound than your employee engagement is; the greater your employee engagement, the more positive and stronger your company morale will be. It’s a domino effect that begins with a company’s decision to recognize the value of their employees.

Employee value begins with taking the time to ensure that every employee understands:

  • • The company’s mission statement and purpose and their role and input in attaining that purpose. In fact, a 10-year study by Grow Author Jim Stengel reveals that companies with a high sense of purpose outperform others by as much as 400%.
  • • That their attitudes, efforts, and accomplishments are recognized and appreciated. Only 12.4% of workers who are recognized for their work have interviewed for a potential new job switch in the last three months, while more than 21% of workers who don’t feel recognized have been exploring new opportunities. (TINYpulse)

When employees are appreciated and valued as the asset they truly are, they are much more likely to be engaged employees. Engaged employees contribute to tangible returns for your business. The numbers speak for themselves. Valued, engaged employees:

  • • Take their tasks seriously and be self-accountable for their responsibilities –ensuring that they complete their part of a project well and on time, and going above and beyond their required tasks for the company’s benefit. (Studies reveal that companies with highly engaged employees improved operating income by 19.2% over 12 months)
  • • Stay with the company, reducing turnover. (Engaged organizations have reduced turnover by as much as 87%)
  • • Become a brand ambassador for their company. (78% of engaged employees would recommend their company’s products and services)

When employees are engaged, company morale – employee outlook, attitudes, satisfaction, and confidence – climbs. Employees are positive about their work environment and confident that they are in a place where their career can grow and dreams are attained.

Susan M. Heathfield points out that, “Feeling part of the goals that are bigger than themselves (and their job) contributes significantly to positive employee morale. Many employees want to feel as if they are part of something important and contributing to success for the greater good is a real morale booster.”

So, what gives employees a sense of personal value within the workplace? What builds company morale? While there are multiple angles, it boils down to 5 essential pillars.

  • • Purpose: As we already mentioned, it’s vital for your employees to connect with the company’s mission and purpose – to know that their tasks contribute to a big picture.
  • • Well-being: Creating an atmosphere that says your employees matter to you – that you care about the whole person – including their emotional, social, and mental health — a sense of camaraderie among their coworkers.
  • • Appreciation: Nothing contributes more to a sense of purpose and well-being than knowing that your contribution is recognized, respected and appreciated.
  • • Growth opportunities: Providing the encouragement and provision to learn and grow in their knowledge, abilities, experience, and career opportunities.
  • • Freedom: A chance to be innovative, creative, and even take a risk without fear of repercussion if an idea doesn’t pan out.

Focusing on these five pillars to bring value to your employees, engage them in your culture, and build overall company morale pays a significant ROI. Studies have shown that companies who place value on and invest time in their employees are:

  • • 53% more likely to have highly engaged employees
  • • 29% more likely to have employees innovating and performing great work
  • • 27% more likely to have increased in revenue last year

With numbers like those, who can afford not to place value where value is due?

At Award Staffing, we recognize the value of our staff and our temps. Because we do, you can count on the talent we place in your business. Our mantra is work hard, have fun, and be nice. It makes a difference you can’t get along without. Contact us today.

Why Your Company Must Attend Hiring Events

/in ,

Minnesota companies are currently struggling to find workers, especially for skilled laborer jobs. There are currently more jobs available in the state than there are people looking for work.

As an employer, there are a few tools that will help you find the best candidates before your competitor does. A great way to snatch prime candidates quickly is by attending a hiring event. If you’ve never attended a hiring event, here’s why you’re missing out.

Discover a qualified talent pool

The people who attend job fairs are actively seeking work. They attended the event because they are specifically looking to apply to companies like yours. If the hiring event is located in a particular area or has a theme, you narrow your candidate pool and find exactly the candidates you want to hire. Collecting applications from job fairs increase the number of qualified, interested candidates to choose from.

Have a pre-interview with potential employees

First impressions are huge in hiring – for better or for worse. While at a hiring event you may find candidates that you might not have hired on resume alone. You might also realize that someone’s resume and professionalism don’t match. You’ll save time by avoiding scheduling interviews with unqualified candidates. At a hiring event, you’ll meet your favorite candidates and focus your energy on shepherding them through the hiring process. Meeting candidates face-to-face gives you much more information than relying on resumes alone.

Save time and resources

You have many tasks when you post a job opening: write a description, pay to post it on a job site and field questions and resumes from applicants who aren’t qualified. At a hiring event, your advertisement is your table. Instead of collecting a pile of email inquiries, you can talk to interested candidates and answer questions right there. You only need to devote a few hours of staff time to meeting candidates at the event rather than posting online and hoping for the best.

Find diverse candidates

If you attend a job fair aimed at a particular demographic, like students or women, you can easily identify candidates who meet a particular hiring goal. Connecting with young workers early on builds loyalty to your company. If you have internships or apprentice programs you can find young workers eager to start their careers. Attending a hiring event for a particular group, like women in manufacturing, can help you diversify your candidate pool and workforce.

On-the-spot hiring

If you have entry-level positions that you’re eager to fill, hiring events are a great place to meet candidates. Candidates will bring their resume, fill out an application and have a brief interview. You can add several new team members in a few short hours. Both you and the candidate will be pleased with how smooth the process is.

Did you know that Award Staffing hosts hiring events throughout the Twin Cities? That’s more than 50 opportunities a year to connect with qualified candidates. Contact us today to learn more about how your company can join our next event.