Tag Archive for: Employee Needs

How to be a Future-Ready Company

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With the primary focus for most businesses right now being on finding and hiring good employees, preparing for the future is likely not a topic that has come up for most companies in recent times.

However, if there is anything the pandemic taught us, it’s that there is no such thing as being “too prepared” for what could come up in the future.

Additionally, the commonplace way of doing things in the workforce has significantly changed in the past two years; and if companies want to prosper, they must have up-to-date employer and business practices.

Employees and customers/clients alike gravitate towards companies that are known to have efficient and sustainable processes and prioritize giving current and future employees what they are asking for.

Here are just a few of many ways you can move towards becoming a future-ready company:

Cultivate Talent

Since finding talent in today’s market has proven to be more challenging than ever; if a company wants to keep current employees and bring in new team members who are there to stay for the long-haul, they need to find ways to stand out. This means upgrading your technology to make it more user-friendly; which would not only make it easier on your current staff, but also give you a wider candidate pool as certain technical skills will no longer be needed. It also means becoming less rigid in your requirements, which would encourage more people to apply. Furthermore, environment and health are very important to the modern-day workforce. Companies that make it a point to have generous wellness practices and appealing workspaces will have the upper hand on those that don’t.

Divvy Up Decisions

When it comes to decisions, they shouldn’t all be made by the same group of people. Different decisions will affect each department and facet of the company differently, which is why all employees must be able to offer their insight and input. Typically, decisions are all left up to the leaders of a company; but in this market, employee-centric companies are the ones that are doing the best. The pandemic taught people to value their time and employees, especially those of younger generations will not work for companies that don’t give them a voice. Truthfully, in many cases, company leaders don’t see the day-to-day things that happen across different departments and among entry-level employees. Not only does involving them in some of the decision-making show that you value your people, it also takes much of the pressure off of company executives and offers a broader perspective on things.

Get Clear on Your Value

As experts in your industry, of course you know what you offer and why a company should hire you over your competitors. However, as competition increases, you may need to take a new approach to what you offer as well as how you market your services. What are your uniques as a company and what do you provide that others don’t? These things should all be clearly communicated in your branding and future marketing campaigns.

 

If your company is in need of employees, we at Award are here to help. Contact us with your staffing needs here.

Bridging the Gap Between Company Needs and Employee Skillsets

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One thing that many companies are currently experiencing is a discrepancy between the soft skills listed in their job postings, and the soft skills that job seekers are posting on their résumés.

As all industries are currently struggling to find employees, this gap is making it even more difficult for companies to find individuals who they feel would be a good fit for their open positions.

After completing a market analysis, and speaking with numerous clients currently struggling with staffing, we have seen trends on job postings that are deterring job seekers from applying.

Issues:

1. Job Titles – Too often, the job titles listed on postings do not match the duties and requirements needed to be a fit for a role. After reading the title, candidates are discouraged from applying because they feel that they are underqualified.

2. Skills Listed – Most of the time, there are too many skills listed as needed on job postings, which gives candidates the wrong impression about what the job entails. Especially since many of the skills listed are not actually needed to effectively do the job.

3. Speed – The majority of positions within the warehouse and Light Industrial industry do not need extensive training. It’s important to make it clear that applicants will be able to start within a day of submitting an application.

Solutions:

1. Take a “Less Is More” Approach

There is no need for job postings to be too wordy. A job seeker wants to look for work and within seconds of reading it, know whether or not they are going to apply.

2. Work with a Staffing Agency

A staffing agency can not only help you with finding qualified candidates to fill open roles within your company, they can also provide feedback on your job postings and hiring process to help you determine what is necessary and what’s not to get more applicants.

3. Communicate with your HR department

If the person writing and posting the job descriptions is different from the person doing the hiring, both individuals need to be involved in the creating of job listings. This will ensure there are no discrepancies between what employers are expecting and what job seekers are seeing.

4. Clearly Communicate Start Date

Job seekers are always going to gravitate towards positions that make it clear that they can start right away. If there is no phone call within a day of applying, or the onboarding process is too long, candidates will already be on to their next opportunity.

Overall, it is important that if a company wants to see the right candidates applying for their open positions, they must adjust their screening process and how they communicate with potential employees. Additionally, finding good employees might also mean changing their expectations about what they are expecting in candidate skillsets. These tactics are sure to create a more effective process to finding the best employees for their companies.

 

If your company is in need of employees, we at Award can help you. Contact us with your staffing needs here.

Creative Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy

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Something that isn’t often a regular discussion among decision makers in most companies is employee happiness. Of course, most places do their best to meet the standard of a good workplace; but in today’s nation-wide situation of employee shortages, businesses must go beyond that.

 As a leader within your organization, when was the last time that you looked into new ways to boost employee happiness and gain a reputation of one of the best companies to work for?

Right now, many businesses in the Light Industrial and Warehouse sectors are concerned because they can’t offer the new trends of working remotely or start time flexibility, due to specific deadlines and operational equipment being necessary to do the job(s).

These factors give them the impression that they have no chance of making their employees as happy as organizations that can provide those options, discouraging them from even trying.

However, in a 2021 analysis of employee surveys and feedback, Costco and H.E.B., two places that require both in-person work and manual labor made the list of the year’s Top 25 Major U.S. Companies with the Happiest Employees.

It just goes to show that any company can be a good place to work if you are listening to the needs of your employees and offering them a good wage, benefits, and working environment.

Here is a list of our recommendations on how to create a happy workplace for your employees:

1. Encourage Camaraderie and Relationship Building at Work

One of the things consistently mentioned by employees of the happiest companies to work for is engagement between team members. In past times, employees were discouraged from getting to know each other too well and from having idle conversations during the work day. Present times are different. Employees who feel comfortable with one another and know each other’s work styles and habits will work better together. This will also lead to more employee retention and fewer call outs, as employees will enjoy coming to work every day.

Some ways you can encourage camaraderie are: hosting daily team-wide coffee breaks, setting aside time each week to host fun activities, and even just being ok with chit-chat throughout the day.

2. Address All Employees Individually

At times, it can feel like giving recognition to an entire department is enough; but if you want to ensure your employees are happy, you must see all employees as individuals. If someone regularly keeps to themselves, or doesn’t ever complain/offer feedback, it’s easy to assume they must be perfectly content. However, this is how many managers end up surprised when someone on their team quits unexpectedly.

Make time to check-in with each of your employees 1:1, even if it’s just for a few minutes every few weeks. Also be sure to praise each person personally when something has been accomplished. All employees deserve to be noticed and will remember that you set aside time for them.

3. Implement Resolve

From an employee perspective, it is very frustrating when an issue comes up and nothing is done to ensure it doesn’t happen again. As an employer, you’re not expected to have all of the answers or come up with a solution on-the-spot. But, it’s important that you give your employees a timeline for when you will address the problem and follow up with them when that time comes.

Many times, this means that new policies or standard operating procedures need to be implemented. Putting something in place will reassure your employees that you care about them and that all situations will be handled accordingly.

4. Offer In-House Perks

This especially applies to companies that don’t have the ability to offer remote work. If you want to keep the employees you do have, they must have reasons to want to come in.

Consider integrating things such as a healthy snack and beverage bar that is unlimited and available to employees at all times. Some companies have gone as far as building in a kombucha on tap bar.

Other options could be having an in-house gym for employees to use or putting massage chairs in the break room. Perks like this may seem like a big investment, but are likely necessary if you want to compete with other companies.

It’s important to note that if you choose to provide these things, they must be maintained. This means snacks always fully stocked, the gym regularly cleaned, and the massage chairs in good condition and fixed right away if they get broken.

All employees will be excited when you initially offer these perks, but that excitement will quickly dwindle if they are not consistently maintained.

If your company is in need of employees, we at Award are here to help. Contact us with your staffing needs here.

5 Ways to Meet Your Employees’ Needs

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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.