5 Quick Tips for New Hire Training

When it comes to new hires, how they’re welcomed and trained on the job can dictate how successful they are at your company – and how long they stay. As one of the top staffing agencies in Phoenix, PrideStaff knows that effective training can lead to engaged, motivated and loyal people. Poor or no training, on the other hand, often leads to weak performance and high turnover. And according to the Saratoga Institute, which specializes in quantitative HR metrics, the average organization loses approximately $1 million for every 10 workers who leave.

With that said, what can you do to improve training at your company – and increase retention in the process? Below are 5 tips to help you:

Tip #1: Offer different types of training formats.

Different people learn in different ways. That’s why it’s important to have a variety of training methods. Rather than sticking your new hires in a conference room for eight hours, vary the training over a period of several days through classes, videos, online exercises, formal meetings, handbooks and manuals, and team-building activities.

Tip #2: Provide real-world experience.

In addition to formal training, give your new hires the opportunity to gain real-world experience. This might include shadowing one of your existing staff members, or sitting in on important meetings where they can ask questions that will give them some insight into the big picture at the company.

Tip #3: Ask veteran employees to help.

While it’s important for the new hire to learn from their manager, it’s also helpful when their peers get involved as well. So have employees lend a hand with smaller training tasks. When you do, you’ll help facilitate peer connections, as well as make your veteran employees feel more valuable and engaged.

Tip #4: Tailor training for different skill levels.

You don’t want to waste time training an employee on something they already know, like the online time tracking software system your company uses; or not enough time on an area they’re not familiar with. So tailor training to each employee’s needs and existing knowledge and skill level.

Tip #5: Have fun.

Your new hires need to be adequately trained in order to be effective on the job. But don’t forget to add some fun into the equation. Invite them out to lunch with their new team members, or host a social hour for all the new hires to get to know each other. Remember, the first few weeks on the job can set the tone for years to come.

Do you need help hiring and training top talent for your team?

Call the experts at PrideStaff. As one of the leading staffing agencies in Phoenix, we can assist you with every aspect of hiring – from screening and hiring great candidates to training and retaining them. Contact PrideStaff today to learn more about how we can help you.

Why Temporary Employment is a Great Resume Boost

If you feel the need to add something to your resume, seriously consider temporary employment. Gone are the days when temp work meant you couldn’t find a job because you weren’t good enough to find a full-time one, many companies regularly utilize temporary hires to meet their needs. This sort of employment may well fill a need for you as well in terms of your marketability.

• It gives you the right kind of experience.

Want to find a way in to your chosen industry? Find temp work in it. This sort of job helps answer the age-old question of how to find a job without experience and how to find experience without a job. Particularly for a company or area that doesn’t easily hire outsiders, temporary employment gets you on the inside and allows you to build up your background in that area…possibly allowing you to get the scoop on positions and face time with potential managers or employers. 

• It helps you avoid resume gaps.

While today’s employers understand candidates may have time between jobs, temp work allows you to keep your skills sharp and prove to that employer that you made it a point to stay in the game. Long gaps raise a red flag for employers, fair or not, that a candidate may not have the best work ethic or attitude. And not only does it help you pay your bills, it keeps you focused on your ultimate goal of finding a more direct hire position and opens the door to networking – employers prefer to hire someone they know and have vetted. 

• It lets you build on your skills.

Perhaps on your last interview you didn’t get the position because they wanted someone with more experience in Area A. Enter temporary employment – if you take on a six-month position that has you working in that area, you’ve just solved your problem for the next interview. Plus it gives you the chance to try something new and learn from your mistakes without as much fear of jeopardizing your position. Any skill you can add to a resume makes you a stronger candidate for the next long-term position that comes along.

Visit PrideStaff to help you find your next great temporary position – they are the experts in matching up employees with employers, and they’ll help you find what’s right for you.

Three Benefits of Partnering with Staffing Agencies in Las Vegas

Business is booming in Las Vegas, but as a company leader, you’re already well aware of the massive resurgence happening to the local economy. As competition in your industry begins to heat up, it’s more important than ever to staff your organization the right way.

Managing the hiring process is incredibly time-consuming, and you already have enough on your plate. Taking on a staffing partner allows you to focus on the day-to-day aspects of running your business, while your recruiter takes care of all hiring activities. Learn why partnering with a top Las Vegas staffing firm is a move you’ll never regret.

Fill Open Positions Faster

On average, it takes companies 52 days to fill each open position on their roster, according to 2015 findings from Bersin by Deloitte. Of course, business doesn’t stop while you’re short-staffed, so remaining team members are forced to tack essential tasks onto their existing workload and the rest fall by the wayside.

Conversely, when you work with a staffing partner, they’re able to fill the vacancy almost immediately. Recruiters work hard to maintain talent pools, so often times, they’ll already have the perfect candidate waiting in the wings, but if not, they can provide a highly qualified temporary staffer in the interim, until a full-time fit is found.

Gain Access to Passive Candidates

When you post open positions on job boards and your company website, they’re only seen by people actively looking for work. Sometimes these candidates are the best choice, but not always. Partnering with a staffing agency gives you access to passive candidates in Las Vegas, who otherwise won’t find out about openings at your organization. These people are gainfully employed and happy in their current roles, but would consider moving on for the right new job. Don’t miss your chance to hire the best employee that ever happened to your company.

Stop Paying for Staff You Don’t Need

Employing a host of full-time employees who only have enough work to stay occupied during your busy seasons is a waste of valuable resources. Your staffing partner can help you create an employment plan that seriously lowers your payroll costs. Instead of keeping a huge staff on year-round, take on temporary workers when business picks up, with no commitment to continue their employment when things slow down. All temporary employees will arrive at your company fully trained, so they’re able to hit the ground running from day one.

Choosing the best person for the job is essential to the lasting success of your company. Partner with PrideStaff Las Vegas, 2016 Veteran Owned Business of the Year,  to get it right every time. Contact us today to learn more about the staffing services we have to offer!

Get Your Team to Think Strategically

Strategic thinkers have been found to be among the most highly effective leaders. They take a broad, long-term approach to problem-solving and decision-making that involves objective analysis, looking far ahead, and planning every step of the way.

In a recent Harvard Business Review study, 97 percent of 10,000 senior executive listed strategic thinking as the most critical leadership skill for organizational success – ahead of innovation, persuasion, communication and results orientation.

Strategic thinking is based on the ability to see, predict and plan ahead. It also means thinking in multiple time frames and identifying what needs to be done both right now and over time.

How to Instill Critical Thinking Skills

Strategic thinking is more a mindset than a list of techniques. If senior management places a high priority on it, this reinforces its importance. Use these tips to successfully carry out the process:

• Empower your managers. Provide them with information on your company’s market, industry, customers, competitors and emerging technologies. People need the full business picture so they can elevate their thinking beyond the day to day.
• Provide mentors. One of the best ways to develop strategic skills is to learn from someone who naturally possesses them. The ideal mentor is a person who is known for their strength in keeping others focused on strategic objectives and the impact of their actions.
• Communicate your philosophy. Have a robust plan to communicate your philosophy, mission statement and goals throughout your company. Every employee, constituent, and stakeholder should understand the broader organizational strategy in order to incorporate it into their own behavior.
• Promote foresight and long-term thinking. Reward team members for being quick to generate solutions that have the greatest long-term benefit for your company.
• Make strategic planning a routine practice. Create think time. Encourage your managers to schedule strategic planning, both alone and in groups. Consider regular one-hour or monthly half-day brainstorming sessions. Make this part of everyone’s job descriptions and performance evaluation metrics.
• Share information across boundaries. Cross-functional teams can and should work on strategic organizational issues. Publish and share the results of their efforts.
• Connect people with what matters. Only by linking employees’ personal goals with those of your organization will you fully unleash your team’s strategic capacity. If you don’t know your people and their passions, make that Step One.

Are you looking for workforce growth solutions including building strategic planning skills? To help address these and other human capital challenges, consider a partnership with PrideStaff Modesto. Read our related posts or contact us today to learn more.

How to Emphasize Safety in Your Manufacturing Facility

Obviously you want to keep your employees safe, especially in a manufacturing facility where forklifts and pallet jacks abound (a friend actually broke his leg when it got stuck between those two items). As a manager, you need to create a culture of safety in your space that employees view as both easy to follow and non-negotiable.

• Involve everyone.

Safety rules should not come down from on high, seen as something that employees have to consider because they’ll get in trouble if they don’t follow the rules. Rather, create a situation in which safety is everyone’s concern so employees will watch out for each other and keep each other safe by following clearly explained procedures. This also gives responsibility to managers and supervisors to be actively involved in following procedures, not just other employees. Get all parties involved in creating the safety rules as well with regard to objectives and goals. 

• Take away the blame game.

Too many manufacturing facilities have safety policies in place that punish or simply want to find out whose fault an accident is…and that earns a severe penalty. Such programs that serve to punish or reward only when they have a low record of accidents on the job tend to have workers who sweep problems under the rug until they inevitably become dangerous hazards. When you truly make safety everyone’s shared responsibility by providing training and information on safety procedures, employees will report problems so they can be attended to to maintain overall quality. 

• Continuously refine the process.

Once you have put together your guidelines and regulations for safety, make sure you revisit them regularly to ensure that, as changes occur and new employees come on board, the objectives you have in place for safety remain relevant. Look at the system in terms of prevention and control rather than a response to an incident — when you stay on top of your safety needs, you can stop problems before they start (especially if you’ve created a culture of reliable reporting by all staff). Conduct all investigations efficiently yet thoroughly, again making adjustments as needed.

Safety is more than a concept or a buzzword; at any facility, you want your people to feel confident and aware of procedures in place to keep everyone safe. For help creating that sort of culture in your manufacturing facility, visit PrideStaff.

How Can Becoming a Temp in Las Vegas Positively Advance Your Career?

The 5 Worst Things to Post on Social Media

Social media has made it possible to share thoughts, ideas and images with thousands of friends and connections – and beyond that, with virtual strangers everywhere. The harsh truth is that as much fun and as useful it may be, it also has a down side. Even the smallest mistakes in terms of what you post can have lasting negative repercussions, up to and including job loss and legal action.

Save yourself and others from heartache, embarrassment or even financial or physical harm by taking a smart approach to anything you put “out there” on social media. Stay away from posting:

1. Offensive Content

This includes all posts, comments, updates, images and attachments that are distasteful or questionable. It shows a lack of awareness that can cause irreparable damage to your person brand – or worse. When in doubt, leave it out.

2. Negative Comments or Attacks

Social media is not the place to air grievances or complaints about anyone, especially current or past employers or colleagues. Along the same lines, do not give specific details about mistakes your coworkers have made. Sharing this type of content is not only unprofessional, but it may even be grounds for firing or a lawsuit.

• Lashing out online, even regarding personal matters, will leave your relationship in a state of permanent disrepair. It also sends the message that you don’t respect others and may damage any trust your general audience has in you.

3. Private Conversations – Without Permission

You may have received a great tip or idea from someone – or a shining testimonial about your product. The immediate temptation is to share this content with your own followers and friends, but it’s advisable to ask for permission first. This is especially crucial if you plan to share a screenshot or any identifying information.

4. Too Much Personal Information

Of course you talk about yourself on social media and want to be authentic in doing so. But too much personal information is too much. For instance, avoid sharing:

• Your full birthdate. This could provide scammers and thieves with a key piece of data needed to steal your identity or open a false account in your name.
• Your real phone number. Your location could be narrowed down by someone using a reverse phone number lookup tool. A good alternative might be a Google voice phone number as a go-between.
• Geotag information. Social networks use geolocation to check where you are when you post tweets or status updates. Malicious persons can use this to track you down or collect personal details and release them publicly.

5. Anything You Don’t Want the Whole World to See

You cannot rely on “Friends Only” and similar settings to adequately protect you. Assume that everything is public. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want the whole world to have access to, including photos. It may seem paranoid, but taking a conservative approach is your best guarantee for privacy and safety.

• Ask yourself, “Would I want my family or my boss to see this?” If the answer is no, don’t post it. Because in all likelihood, they will.

The PrideStaff Modesto team can help you build your brand image – including perfecting and monitoring your social media presence – at the same time you build your successful career. Contact us today so we can tell you more.

3 Common Myths of Las Vegas Staffing Agencies

The Las Vegas area is brimming with talented professionals, but these individuals aren’t always easy to track down. If you’re having trouble finding top-level candidates to come to work for your organization, it’s time to realign your hiring process.

Despite many common misconceptions, partnering with a Las Vegas staffing firm is the single most effective way to connect with the best and brightest talent in the region. Stop trying — and failing — to choose the best person for the job on your own and allow a skilled recruiter to do the work for you.

Still a little leery about working with a staffing partner? We’ve debunked three common misconceptions plaguing Las Vegas staffing agencies, so you can feel confident your company is in very good hands.

Staffing Firms Only Provide Temporary Workers

Many managers think they can only get temporary employees from staffing agencies, but this idea is simply not true. Recruiters offer temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hire workers, so all you have to do is set the employment terms and they’ll start searching for candidates who meet your criteria. When working with a recruiter, you have the unique ability to hire candidates on a temporary basis, with the option to make a full-time spot for the person at your company if things go well — but there’s no obligation whatsoever to take this route.

Working With a Staffing Firm Isn’t Economical

It’s true that you’ll have to pay a fee for the services of a recruiter, but many don’t charge a dime until you’ve hired a candidate they recommend. Regardless, the cost of a bad hire can cost up to five times the amount of the person’s annual salary, according to a study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). It’s far more cost-effective to pay a nominal recruiter’s fee to quickly and easily find the best person for the job, than dealing with excessive turnover rates.

Recruiters Don’t Provide Quality Employees

There’s a long-standing idea that recruiters will endorse the first remotely qualified candidate so they can collect their finder’s fee and move on to the next job, so to set the record straight once-and-for-all, this couldn’t be more false. Any staffing agency worth your time wants to build a lasting relationship with you. Obviously, you won’t continue to work with the firm if you don’t receive quality candidates, so your recruiter will bend over backwards to find talent who exceeds your expectations.

It’s Time to Start Making Better Hiring Decisions

Finding the right people to join your team isn’t easy, but you don’t have to manage the hiring process on your own. Partner with PrideStaff Las Vegas, 2016 Veteran Owned Business of the Year, to make filling open positions on your team a breeze. We offer temporary staffing, temp-to-hire and direct recruiting for a variety of industries.

Are You Mistaking Being Busy for Being Productive?

What’s the difference between being busy and being productive? It may seem like a fine line at first, but especially when your goal is to advance your career, it’s important to understand the very real difference between the two.

It All Comes Down to Focus

The differences between busy people and productive people ultimately lead to focus and clarity. Once you understand and embrace this concept, the only thing you will be busy at is … being productive!

• Busy people have many more priorities than productive people.

  Three or four priorities are realistic and achievable. Twenty-five are chaos! Apply the Pareto principle, whereby 80 percent of your desired results come from 20 percent of your activity. Busy people seem to never have time. Productive people manage their time for things that help them reach their goals.

• Busy people say “yes” quickly, while productive people take their time.

  Consider Warren Buffet’s definition of integrity: “You say no to most things.” Otherwise, you divide your life into millions of little pieces spread out over other people’s priorities. Make sure your values are clear and that your time is spent serving them.

• Busy people easily lose focus as they function on actions.

  Productive people focus on clarity. To focus on the top 20 percent of activities, you must gain clarity about what they are for you. Keep a diary and take five minutes to reflect on the past day. What worked for you and what did not? What inspired you?

• Busy people talk about how busy they are instead of making time for what’s important.

  Productive people let their results do the talking. Feeling productive is not the same as being productive. For example, published authors don’t spent a lot of time talking about their next book; they are focused on writing it. Past performance is the only good indicator of future success.

• While busy people want other people to be just as busy, productive people simply want others to be effective.

  Busy managers measure hours of activity. Productive managers measure output. Busy people are frustrated by others looking relaxed and enjoying their work, while productive people feel the opposite. They love to contribute to environments where others can excel.

Spend less time dwelling on what you should or will do and dedicate it to taking the first step – whether that means updating your resume, calling a contact, setting up an informational interview or researching a potential employer. Also, consider partnering with a recruitment professional who specializes in your chosen career field. The PrideStaff Modesto team can help. To learn more, read our related posts or contact us today.

4 Tips to Grow Your Talent Pipeline

As you consider your hiring needs, you want to make sure you have access to a constant flow of talent so when you need your next employee, you already have quality applicants waiting in the wings. It may seem difficult to create, but doing so will create a quality pool of candidates ready to pull out when you need them. So how do you make your pipeline more than a pipe dream?

Plan, plan, plan.

If you want to create a solid talent pipeline, you first need to know what you’re looking for.  Consider your needs and values: What sort of employee do you want? What are your company growth goals, short and long term? Can you get your senior management involved in the process and what sort of candidate will best line up with your company’s needs and values? Do you have a strong enough brand to bring in the sort of talent that you want? Once you have answers to these questions, figure out what core competencies you want to bring in, and start attracting the talent. 

Don’t beat around the bush.

Want great talent? Reach out to them. Use social media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and a company blog to hone in on top choice candidates. You may even want to consider upping your LinkedIn profile to premium so you can join groups based in your industry and personally send direct messages to prospects who seem interesting and a good fit. Use a bit of subtlety in sending them an article or link of possible interest rather than turning the message into a cold ask. Once you’ve established a relationship, it’s that much easier to reach out later when something opens up. 

Use your referrals.

Remember that you have a great network right at your fingertips: your current employees. Consider putting together some sort of reward system for referrals and talking up the company to prospective talent, which can include friends and any potential candidates they may meet through their work. Word of mouth often works as well or better than putting up an online ad, and you have the benefit of bringing in a candidate whom a valued employee can vouch for. 

Work your internships.

If you want to create a solid pipeline, look no further than the person who’s already with the company. Employers (and the interns themselves) should consider any internship a long-range working interview where you can try each other out and see how you fit. Plus you don’t have to make any extended commitments; consider it a sort of “try before you buy” option.

As you put your talent pipeline together, consider building a relationship with a quality staffing firm like PrideStaff. They’ll know how to add the best candidates to your pool of potentials.