Tag Archive for: temp workers

Why Use Net Promoter Score?

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A tool that we have found to be useful, as a staffing agency that works with hundreds of associates every day, is Net Promoter Score (NPS).

An NPS is a single question survey that typically asks you to rate how likely you are to recommend a business to a friend or colleague, using a scale of 1-10.

As simple as it is, this tool is a great and cost-effective way to measure your areas for improvement and is a good indicator of what the success of your business will be, in the coming months and onward.

At Award Staffing, we survey our associates, as this is a standard practice in the staffing industry. Businesses that work solely with clients and customers will survey their partners to determine the likelihood of working together again.

If your company has yet to integrate an NPS, here are some of the reasons we highly recommend it.

1. Gives you an idea of where you can improve

Although a Net Promoter Score is only one question, it’s important to send follow-up questions depending on the results. If you notice a trend of receiving a less-than-satisfactory score, you’ll want to find out why. This way, you will know what areas you excel at and which processes have room for improvement. In any business, market research is essential to grow; implementing an NPS is a great starting point.

2. It allows you to gauge where you are in regards to your competitors

Everyone wants to be the best and most well-known in their industry. The companies that earn that reputation are the ones who are regularly looking to improve themselves, especially in the eyes of their target market. An NPS is a way to get inside the minds of your clients without asking too much out of them or having to put aside a large budget to do so.

3. It looks at the overall picture

A lot of other marketing tactics have a focus on one campaign, one interaction, or one area of a business. Since an NPS survey determines whether or not a company would recommend you, it tells you what you overall partnership looks like; be it between a company and their contingent workers or a company and their clients. In the case that you are receiving good overall feedback, your sales team can leverage it as a marketing tool to bring in more business.

4. Demonstrates Care

If a person or corporation has been partnering with you for a while, it can be easy to assume that everything between you is going well. However, if you want to ensure you keep your partnerships, you want to make the intentional effort to get feedback. By sending out NPS surveys, it shows your clients and/or associates that you do care about their needs and are open to feedback about where your company can do better. As many companies don’t bother checking in enough (aside from the occasional email), it will make you and your company stand out.

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

How to Make Your Company Appealing to Minnesota’s Blue-Collar Workers

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The United States is currently experiencing a blue-collar labor shortage, and Minnesota companies are feeling its effects.

Across all industries, there are currently more open positions than there are job seekers. Economists predict Minnesota will need more than 3 million workers by 2022 to keep up with the state’s economic growth but will likely fall short based on the current population. The crunch will hit industries reliant upon blue-collar workers especially hard.

There are a few reasons why we’re in the midst of a blue-collar job shortage. Baby boomers are approaching or past retirement age, meaning the largest living generation is no longer participating in the workforce in the same numbers as the previous decade. Many of today’s young workers opted for four-year colleges and are pursuing jobs in professional or public services, meaning there’s no incoming workforce to replace retirees.

How can you attract more candidates to your company’s blue-collar jobs and retain your current workers? Promoting learning opportunities and job security is key, but there are many factors that go into a blue-collar worker’s employment decision.

Attracting blue-collar workers to job openings

Blue-collar workers are looking for the same qualities in a good job that any job seeker wants. They want to apply for a position that offers:

  • • A competitive starting pay rate with opportunities for regular raises
  • • Medical, retirement and other benefits to supplement pay and protect employees in case they are unable to work
  • • Job security with reasonable protections from layoffs and a path that would easily allow their skills to translate elsewhere

One proven way to recruit new workers is through apprenticeships. In Minnesota, apprenticeships are on the rise, with 11,500 people participating in a program in 2017. The most common industry for apprenticeships is construction, but they are also a great tool for the manufacturing, technology, healthcare and agricultural fields. Apprenticeships allow you to train more people in your industry and create a direct pipeline for new employees.

Incentivizing blue-collar workers to remain in their jobs

If you’ve attracted great employees with the benefits above, you want to make sure you keep them happy with a productive, supportive workplace. Blue-collar workers tend to remain in their jobs or with their employer’s thanks to:

  • • A great work environment where employees enjoy their coworkers and the work that they do
  • • A schedule that allows workers a healthy work-life balance and flexibility when needed
  • • The opportunity to learn more skills that will allow the employee to advance at the company and/or take on new roles

To the second point, innovative shift scheduling will encourage current employees to take more second and third shifts and help attract more applicants to these positions. Attractive shift differentials, like paying an extra $1.25 an hour for less popular shifts, will help fill any staffing gaps.

Most importantly, workers want the opportunity to grow their careers. Bring knowledgeable blue-collar workers into the decision-making process. Offer opportunities for continuing education on middle-skill and highly skilled jobs. Work to promote the excellent work your employees do both within the company and to external media. Showing prospective and current employees you care about their growth will help you avoid a job shortage.

If you’re looking for hiring solutions to staff blue-collar jobs at your Minnesota company, Award Staffing is here to help. Contact us today to learn more about recruiting top talent.

How to Know If You Need To Hire Temp Workers?

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If your company has designated periods that are busier than others are, hiring temp workers is a great solution. Temp workers can provide much-needed relief and assistance to help keep your company operating smoothly without the added headaches of adding full-time employees to your team. These tips will help determine whether or not you need to hire temp workers.

Assess Your Company’s Workload

Whether or not your company needs to hire temp workers really depends on the size of your company’s workload. The best way to assess your company’s workload is to sit down with your employees and ask if they feel overwhelmed by their current and upcoming tasks. If the majority of your employees say yes, you might want to look into hiring temp workers to lighten up some of the workloads.

Assess Your Staffing Power

Do you have the resources and/or time to staff responsible temp workers? Connect with a staffing firm who specializes in your industry. They will remove the burden of staffing from your shoulders and find the best temp employee matches for your needs.

List Ways Temp Workers Could Help

Make a make a list of the temp worker’s duties and tasks a temp worker would fill. Are these responsibilities that could easily be assimilated by existing staff or would hiring them out enable everybody to be more productive? This is an excellent way to determine if you need temp assistance and how many employees you could use.

Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis

Hiring temp workers will come at a cost to your company. On the other hand, if you need the help, hiring temps through a staffing affirm will save you time and costs attributed to benefits, and taxes. Completing a cost-benefit analysis of the temp workers and their financial pull on the company may surprise you. Furthermore, even though your payroll might increase for a certain time period, the additional help from your temp workers could increase your overall revenue and productivity, so that would be worth it.

If you need help hiring temp workers, contact Award Staffing. We will figure out your company’s exact needs and the time frame in which the temp workers would be needed. Then, we will match you with hard workers, compatible with your company needs.

 

FINDING YOUR TALENT

Want to learn more about how Award Staffing can help your organization with your staffing and employment needs? Start by providing our team with a few pieces of information about yourself, and we will take care of the rest.

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Why Let a Minnesota Staffing Agency Handle Temp Hires

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Hiring new employees is never fun because it’s a time-consuming process that doesn’t necessarily guarantee the results you want. We would recommend letting a staffing agency handle hiring temporary employees, and here’s why.

Save Time-

Looking for new employees is extremely time-consuming.  Creating and posting a job description is only the first two steps. Then you have to field candidates, interview them, and make final decisions. If you outsource to a staffing agency, you can use all that time to focus on your business instead of searching for employees.

Access a Wider Candidate Pool-

Staffing agencies have a wider candidate pool than you do as a potential employer. Therefore, it makes sense to work with a staffing agency so you can increase your chances of hiring the perfect fit for your company.

Allow Creative Input-

By working with a staffing agency, you are introducing a third party into your business. This can often be a very positive thing because that third party can provide creative input. For example, you may have never thought about hiring a “junior-level” employee to do a “senior-level” job, but a staffing agency might have just the right candidate who can do both for multiple reasons.

If you’ve determined that you want new employees but don’t have the time or manpower to do it in-house, contact Award Staffing. We will be able to pool together our resources to help you find the finest talent for your workplace.

 

FINDING YOUR TALENT

Want to learn more about how Award Staffing can help your organization with your staffing and employment needs? Start by providing our team with a few pieces of information about yourself, and we will take care of the rest.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The Pros and Cons of Hiring Seasonal Staff in Minnesota

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When you’re about to head into a busy season, and you’re in charge of staffing for your company, it’s time for the big decision: do you overload your current employees with extra responsibilities, or do you hire seasonal staff to help out with the workload? Before you make a decision, there are pros and cons of hiring seasonal staff that you should take into account:

Pros of Hiring Seasonal Staff in Minnesota-

• Increased Productivity One of the biggest positive aspects of hiring seasonal staff is that after the onslaught of training, you will have increased productivity. Therefore, if you have a busy season coming up, you may want to get the training done several weeks ahead of time, so your new employees are ready to work when everything gets busy.

• Employee Vetting One lesser-known benefit of hiring seasonal staff is that you can use it to vet longer-term employees. Hiring short-term staff is the perfect way to test out particular employees, especially if you’re not yet ready to make a full-time commitment.

Potential Cons of Hiring Seasonal Staff in Minnesota-

• Training Costs Every time you onboard a new employee, you’re may incur training costs to make sure they’re up to speed with your company’s rules, regulations, and protocol. Adding seasonal staff to your workforce could potentially reduce productivity at first until all the new employees are trained.

Connecting with a quality staffing agency which supplies well-trained candidates who learn quickly will ensure that the ultimate productivity and performance is worth any temporary loss of action.

• Lack of Familiarity Your seasonal staff will need to take the time to familiarize the new employees with the position and overall job details. You will need to account for this in the training schedule, but once again, a little effort, in the beginning, will reap big results in the end.

Furthermore, it’s an opportunity for current staff members to expand their leadership skills.

If you are interested in hiring seasonal staff, contact Award Staffing. We can help you identify exactly how many staff members you need, for how long, and in what position/role. We will be able to pre-vet candidates for you so that you’re only meeting with the most qualified candidates by the time they reach the interview process.

 

FINDING YOUR TALENT

Want to learn more about how Award Staffing can help your organization with your staffing and employment needs? Start by providing our team with a few pieces of information about yourself, and we will take care of the rest.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Faster Isn’t Always Better for Finding Minnesota Workers

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As a business owner in need of temp workers, you have many options – from local independent staffing agencies to national chains. Choosing the best one for your business can be challenging, and this isn’t a good time for trial and error. Often, it’s easy to fall into the ‘fast is best’ trap but pause a moment and consider your ultimate goal: Engaging qualified temp staff to support your current team in peak seasons, complete unexpected orders or time-sensitive projects, and fill temporary vacancies, enabling your business to continue forward.

Meeting your goal with no or minimal glitches requires thoroughly-screened, well-trained, qualified temps who understand their roles and have a great attitude. This is no small feat, and hence it is crucial to choose an agency you can depend upon to do it right – and within legal guidelines.

Why Finding Quality Employees Matters

Take, for example, background checks. On the one hand, there are industries where background checks are not only prudent but also are required by law, such as education, healthcare, government positions, and some financial and IT. On the other hand, there are also laws that protect a potential candidate’s privacy, as well as one that guards against discrimination. It is vital that the agency you partner with understands both the federal laws, state laws, and local regulations. An agency that takes a little more time to ensure they ‘get it right’ will save your company time and cost in the end.

Another area where shortcuts can hinder more than help is drug screening. In the state of Minnesota, drug testing can only be done by a certified laboratory, with documentation showing the chain of custody. In addition, positive tests must be confirmed, and confidentiality must be kept. Despite this, some staffing agencies cut corners by performing drug tests within their office. Some agencies are counting on the fact that many employees and potential employees are not aware of the laws. Others are simply unaware of the laws. But no matter how innocent a situation is, should repercussions arise, they may affect not only the staffing company but also their client.

Questions to Ask Your Staffing Provider

There are other examples, of course, but the key is choosing a staffing agency you can trust with confidence to be thorough, knowledgeable, and legally compliant is crucial to your peace of mind, long-term costs, and company success. Questions to ask and points to consider, include the following:

  • Does a staffing agency specializing in your industry? what is their primary focus?
  • How many years of experience does the staffing agency have? Even if they have opened their doors in the last five years, what is the level of their experience in recruitment?
  • Do they hire recruiters who have a degree, certification, or at least a good deal of knowledge and experience in the industry for which they recruit?
  • What is their standard recruitment process? Does it include thorough screening techniques? Testing? Training? Legally-compliant drug screenings and background checks?
  • What do their clients say about them? Are current clients well satisfied with the employees the agency sends to them?
  • Do they offer any kind of guarantees? What happens if a temp employee doesn’t fulfill the requirements?

Why Finding Staff Fast isn’t Best

There are more items to consider when choosing a staffing agency, but these will give you a solid basis. In the end, partnering with a staffing firm that takes the time to offer expert, legally-compliant services result in a high ROI. Sure, they may not be as “fast” as an agency, which places “immediate response” higher on the list than safety, legal background checks and drug screening, sufficient training, and discovering top clients via personal interview; but they will deliver quality and save both time and expense in the big picture.

If you need help hiring temp workers, contact Award Staffing. We will figure out your company’s exact needs and the time frame in which the temp workers would be needed. Then, we will match you with hard workers, compatible with your company needs.

 

FINDING YOUR TALENT

Want to learn more about how Award Staffing can help your organization with your staffing and employment needs? Start by providing our team with a few pieces of information about yourself, and we will take care of the rest.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.