Tips to Advance Your Career This Summer
Summer is right around the corner. The calendar is nearing the midpoint of the year, already! And while you anticipate warm weather, vacations, and longer days with more time spent outside, it’s also an opportune time to step back, reassess, and enjoy a brief career breather, then take steps to keep your professional goals and aspirations proactive and on track. Here are some tips:
Take time to recharge.
You always knew vacations were good for you. Research backs it up, showing that time off can boost both your health and your productivity. But time off means time off. It’s not enough to be physically out of the office, but still plugged in, answering emails, calls or texts, or staying mentally at work.
- There’s a big difference between a workaholic and a high performer. Recharge, so you can jump back into work and your career with energy, enthusiasm and a fresh perspective. Now, that’s a vacation!
Set new – or realign your current – goals.
Summer can be an ideal time to reflect on what’s been working well and what needs to change when it comes to defining your career path. Take stock of where you are at this point, while you still have the second half of the year to make those adjustments.
- Are all your goals still SMART? And are you making the progress you expected when you set them? Which gaps do you need to fill, such as mastering new hard or soft skills, in order to make meaningful progress? And what other tweaks are called for?
Read for professional development as well as pleasure.
There’s nothing like a good summer read. Enjoy attacking the best seller list this summer. But think about adding some professional development titles to your list. It can be another way to keep those skills up to date or keep abreast of the latest trends in your field.
Do you have a stack of industry magazines, newsletters or journals you’ve been meaning to get to all winter and spring? Throw one or two of them in your beach bag along with that chart-topping novel.
Take advantage of summer networking.
Face time goes a long way toward building relationships, so as you’re outdoors at summer events, playing sports, walking, or hanging out at your favorite sidewalk café, take advantage of any networking opportunities that come your way. It could be chatting with contacts you already know or meeting new ones. Just keep your eyes and mind open. You may get more than a nice tan out of your next outing.
Refresh your professional wardrobe.
Escaping to the air-conditioned mall or hitting the outlet stores while on vacation? Beside the shorts, flip flops and Ray Bans, leave room for work and interview clothes. Be ready when the time comes!
Let the experts at PrideStaff Modesto partner with you as you plan your next career move and draw a blueprint for your successful future. Contact us today to learn more.
Overcoming the Talent Shortage: Tips for Finding Qualified Candidates in Las Vegas’s Hospitality Industry
You’re looking for talented hospitality candidates in Las Vegas, but so is everyone else. As of February 2023, the city’s largest industry employs 282,000 people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This makes finding top talent challenging, but not impossible. You just have to work harder and more creatively to get the people your team needs to stand out from the competition. Here’s some advice to help you attract the area’s best hospitality workers.
Five Tips for Finding Qualified Hospitality Candidates in Las Vegas
Reach Out to Your Network
Sure, your fellow hospitality managers probably don’t want to share top talent with you, but contacts not in this industry certainly do. Let your network know you’re hiring and which positions you’re looking to fill, because there’s a good chance at least one person — likely more — will have someone they know and trust to recommend.
Start a Referral Program
Each of your employees are hospitality industry professionals with networks of their own. This makes them great sources to help fill open positions. Since no one wants to recommend a candidate they don’t like or don’t think would be a good fit for the team, you can count on them to only refer people they truly believe would be an asset to your company.
Use Social Media
Sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram can be a great place to connect with potential candidates. You can achieve this in several ways, including posting jobs to these sites and using relevant hashtags and search features to find Las Vegas hospitality industry professionals. This can allow you to reach people who otherwise might not have seen your job listings.
Offer a Competitive Compensation Package
The size of an employee’s paycheck isn’t the only thing about their job that matters, but it does hold a lot of weight. As of May 2021, the average hotel, motel and resort desk clerk earned $14.44 per hour — $30,030 per year — in Las Vegas, according to the BLS.
If you’re not currently offering both competitive pay and a generous benefits package, try to take it up a notch. Top talent knows their worth, and if it seems like you don’t, they won’t pursue employment with your company.
Work With a Staffing Agency
Connecting with qualified candidates isn’t easy, but you don’t have to go it alone. When you take on a staffing partner, they’ll share their connections with you. Your recruiter will take on the burden of filling your open positions, so you can focus on your daily responsibilities. Since they hire for a living, you can count on them to present you with top talent you’ll be excited to have on your team.
Get the Talent You Need to Thrive
If finding qualified candidates feels harder than ever these days, that’s because it is. PrideStaff Las Vegas wants to ease this burden by doing the legwork for you. Contact us today to discuss a partnership!
Should You Put Training & Continuing Education on Your Resume?
When it comes to your resume, you know work history is vital, as are accolades and any degrees earned. But what about continuing education or training and development? Are these important to list, and if so, where should they be placed? Here’s what to know.
Why you should include continuing education and training.
When hiring managers see you are constantly learning new skills, working toward different certifications, and advancing in your career through training and development, it will help you stand out. Employers want those who are willing to learn and grow with the company.
So, if you’ve taken any courses, whether online or in person, or are enrolled in any kind of career training or development, make sure you include it on your resume. It could be the one factor that helps you stand apart from other candidates with similar backgrounds.
Make sure it’s relevant.
That said, make sure whatever you include on your resume is relevant to the job. For instance, if you took a continuing education class in refurbishing furniture and you’re applying for accounting positions, it’s not pertinent and just wastes space. However, if you took a course on trends in financial auditing, or earned a new designation, like CPA, then list it.
Highlight it in the right place.
If it’s especially relevant to a particular job, place it front and center under your Summary of Qualifications at the top of your resume. Otherwise, treat it like you would any other type of education. Create a section for Education and include it in a bullet list format, explaining the key details.
How to explain it.
When it comes to continuing education courses or training, make sure you include the name of the course, the industry organization or educational institute where you took it, and when you completed it. Order them in a reverse chronological way, as you do with your Work History section.
Need help with your job search?
Turn to the employment firm trusted across Tempe and Phoenix: PrideStaff. We can help you polish your resume, prepare for interviews and land the job you want. Search our jobs now to get started.
5 Different Ways Your Company Can Support Employees’ Mental Health
Employees’ mental health can significantly influence their job satisfaction and productivity levels. Taking action to prioritize mental health in the workplace will demonstrate that you value your team’s overall well-being. Check out these five different ways your company can support employees’ mental health:
1. Integrate Mental Health Into Your Culture
Mental health support should be built into your overall company culture. Talking about it regularly, such as providing links to helpful articles or words of advice in employee email newsletters or bringing it up during meetings, helps normalize it as a topic of discussion. Integrating mental health into your company culture makes it clear that your workplace is a psychologically safe space where employees will not be negatively judged if they admit they are experiencing mental health challenges.Â
2. Facilitate Regular Check-Ins
Connect with your employees to support their mental health on a personal level. Touch base regularly to check in on how your employees are feeling. Establishing open communication will build trust and make your employees more likely to open up, enabling you to work with them to problem solve or simply listen and show you care.Â
3. Promote Work-Life Balance
Often the demands of your employees’ professional workload and their personal obligations contribute to mental health issues like stress, anxiety, and depression. As an employer, you can encourage your staff’s overall well-being by promoting work-life balance. Ensure you are encouraging them to maintain boundaries between working and personal time, take breaks during the day and their paid time off, and provide flexibility with scheduling or remote work as your workplace allows.Â
4. Address Sources of Workplace Stress
You can’t support your employees’ mental health if you are inadvertently contributing to their challenges. Ask for your employees’ feedback on a regular basis on what is causing them stress in the workplace (i.e., unrealistic workload or deadlines, lacking tools to perform their jobs effectively, burdensome processes, etc.), and then take steps to address whatever sources of stress you can.Â
5. Offer Mental Health Workshops
Bring in mental health experts to help provide guidance to your employees to improve their mental health. Offering mental health workshops regularly, whether in-person or through webinars, can give actionable tips for your employees to cope with workplace and personal stress in an effective manner. Examples of topics could include: navigating career and parenting obligations, stress coping mechanisms, burnout prevention, handling conflict, etc.Â
Partner with Us for Recruitment
Find top talent to join your team with PrideStaff Akron. Our experienced team of staffing experts will work with you to understand your needs and provide you with qualified candidates. Contact us for more information. Â
COVID-19’s Effect On the Sansdemic
During the pandemic, layoffs were pervasive, as many companies had little choice but to shut their doors or adjust operations during shelter-in-place orders and similar restrictions. Additionally, many professionals had to leave positions for other reasons, such as to take care of their children when schools went remote and childcare facilities closed.
As the pandemic waned and restrictions were lifted, many employers assumed that all – or at least the majority – of the people who were unemployed due to the pandemic would return to the workforce. However, that isn’t what occurred.
Ultimately, the pandemic had a dramatic impact on the ongoing sansdemic.
Here’s a closer look at COVID-19’s effect on the sansdemic, why it remains an issue, and how you can navigate it to recruit successfully.
COVID-19’s Effect on the Sansdemic
Technically, the country was battling against a sansdemic before the pandemic began. Unemployment was low, and companies regularly struggled to secure the talent they needed, particularly when it came to in-demand skill sets.
However, COVID-19 led to a greater reduction in the labor force. Not everyone who was employed before the pandemic decided to continue working even as the situation calmed. A portion of the workforce chose to retire earlier than they initially planned, taking a significant amount of expertise out of the labor force. Some who left positions to care for family members during facility closers decided to continue that work. For those who caught COVID-19 and developed long-COVID, the associated fatigue and other symptoms may make working impractical, if not impossible.
Additionally, the pandemic changed many people’s attitudes about work. The Great Resignation and quiet quitting were both situations that arose due to a shift in mindset that prioritized health, safety, and work-life balance.
Some of the economic situations that arose during COVID-19 and due to factors like inflation and rising housing prices have also caused an increase in young adults experiencing a failure to launch. As a result, the youngest working generation isn’t joining the labor force at the same rate, further limiting access to talent.
Ultimately, while COVID-19 didn’t cause the sansdemic, it effectively accelerated it, and the situation it’s created isn’t likely to end quickly.
Finding Talent During the Sansdemic
While companies have functionally no control over the sansdemic itself, how they navigate it is in their hands. If you’re struggling to find talent during the sansdemic, adjusting your approach to recruitment and workforce management are both essential.
By offering benefits and perks that address the concerns and priorities of professionals, it’s far easier to attract strong candidates. Remote work arrangements, flexible schedules, robust healthcare benefits with mental health components, wellness programs, and similar options all speak to the needs of today’s professionals. As a result, offering them can increase your odds of being viewed as an employer of choice, which can simplify recruitment and retention.
Want to Learn More? Contact PrideStaff Bend Today
Additionally, partnering with a recruitment firm can dramatically deepen your talent pool, giving you access to a wide array of vetted candidates seeking out opportunities. If you need hiring assistance due to the sansdemic, PrideStaff Bend wants to hear from you. Contact us to learn more about our services today.
Tips to Train Your Staff for Success
The value of employee training to the success of your business cannot be understated. There are numerous reasons why. For starters, if you fail to offer career growth opportunities, you run the risk that your best talent will leave.
- Numerous studies support this, including a recent report by Employee Benefit News, which looked at more than 34,000 employee exit interviews. The results show that the top reason people leave their jobs is lack of such opportunities.
- Of course, it’s about more than employee retention. Keeping your team members up to date on their skills and knowledge also builds productivity, efficiency, and your reputation as a cutting-edge employer who truly cares about their employees.
Steps to Take:
As you build your training approach, start by assessing current skills gaps within your organization. A good place to start is with a survey of employees on their training needs and wants, as well as similar surveys of your front-line managers.
Analyze survey results and, from there, go on to set clear training expectations and communicate them regularly to your workforce. Keep everyone on the same page and give employees ample chances to ask questions and continue to provide feedback.
Then, implement such tactics are:
- Microlearning initiatives: These are short, focused and often interactive learning options broken down into short segments. They are increasingly popular in today’s workforce.
- E-learning opportunities: These programs enable employees to train at any time, at their own pace, and from any location. And, because there’s no pressure involved, they’re often even more likely to succeed.
- Shadowing programs: Experiencing how a task is done on the spot can be a highly effective means of learning. Shadowing more experienced colleagues enables employees to apply learned skills in real time and translate them to their own daily tasks.
- Mentorships: Pair newer employees with more senior colleagues who can help guide them throughout their tenure at your company. Mentorships can be mutually beneficial, as seasoned team members also glean helpful knowledge from their younger counterparts, such as tech, digital and social media skills.
Keys to Employee Training Success
As you create an effective employee training program or fine tune the one you already have, keep these considerations in mind:
- Customization: Each individual learns differently, so tailor training to various team members based on their styles and skills. They may prefer visual, auditory or kinesthetic – learning by doing – methods of instruction.
- Incentives: You may want to gamify training, set up competitions, or offer gift cards, time off or other benefits to incentivize employees to complete training.
Developing industry-leading training programs is just one aspect of building and retaining your winning workforce. PrideStaff Modesto can help ensure that your business never misses a beat as you manage these and other workforce changes and developments. We’ll help you define the scope and create the right strategies so you continue to maintain your competitive edge in today’s highly competitive talent war. Contact us today to learn more.
Preventing High Employee Turnover: Best Practices for Las Vegas Hotel Hiring Managers
Hiring great new hotel employees is hard work. Therefore, you want to hire people who will stay with your hotel for at least the foreseeable future, but things haven’t exactly been going as planned.
Like many other Las Vegas hotels, your turnover levels are currently sky high. This has left you feeling discouraged, because it seems like you’re stuck in a never-ending cycle of hiring and resignation letters. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s some advice to turn things around.
Four Best Practices to Reduce Turnover at Las Vegas Hotels
Ask the Right Interview Questions
There’s no way to know for sure if a new hire will stick around for the long term, but asking the right interview questions can provide telling clues. For example, asking “Why do you want to leave your current job?” can provide insights on the candidate’s career trajectory. Additionally, asking “Why do you want to work for our hotel?” can offer important information on whether the person actually has their sights set on your team or just wants a job.
Thoroughly Screen Candidates
A job interview provides surface-level information about candidates, but you need more than that. This is why it’s so important to perform a thorough background check on each candidate before extending a job offer. Talking with former employers can provide you with telling information that the person probably won’t be a great fit or stick around for too long.
Seek Referrals
Each of your employees has a network filled with people who could be a great fit for your team. Asking them to refer candidates can be a great idea, because they’ll only vouch for people they like, who they feel would be an asset to the team. No one wants to recommend someone with a high chance of embarrassing them by quitting shortly after being hired.
Work With a Staffing Agency
Determining whether a candidate wants to be part of your team for years to come isn’t easy. However, recruiters interview for a living, so they’re experts at reading between the lines. When you delegate your hiring to them, you can feel confident you’ll get new employees who truly want to build a career at your company.
Create a Team That’s Built to Last
If your hotel is plagued by high levels of turnover, it’s time to turn things around. PrideStaff Las Vegas is here to help you hire employees who truly want to build a career at your company. Contact us today to discuss a partnership!
Warning! 6 Signs of Employee Burnout
When you’re an employer, it’s easy to focus entirely on productivity numbers. Yet, employee burnout is real and affecting more and more workers. In fact, a Deloitte survey recently reported that 64% of today’s employees are feeling more stressed out and exhausted than ever. As a result, it can lead to tangible and adverse effects at work, including:
#1: Higher absentee numbers.
If employees are overworked and tired, they are more vulnerable to sickness or just plain lack of motivation and morale. This can lead to a bump in sick days and a hit to your productivity.
#2: Injuries or accidents.
When employees are burned out, it can impact their ability to concentrate. As a result, they could make a dangerous mistake and even cause a serious accident on the job.
#3: A change in behavior.
If your star employee is suddenly underperforming, unprepared for meetings, and making mistakes, it’s a red flag, and it affects the whole team. Other signs include tardiness, inability to make a decision, and moodiness.
#4: Disengagement.
When it suddenly seems like an employee doesn’t care, it’s an early warning sign of burnout. Other similar symptoms can be a lack of participation in meetings, not returning emails or responding to phone calls and a lack of motivation and enthusiasm. These can all have a big impact on productivity, customer retention, employee morale, and profits.
#5: An increase in conflict on the job.
Clashes at work are unavoidable. However, if you’re noticing a sudden influx, it could be due to a team running on empty. This can trigger irritability, anger, resentment, and a general increase in conflict in the workplace.
#6: Adverse reaction to feedback.
When an employee suddenly is highly sensitive to feedback, it could be because they are overworked and burned out. They might take your criticism as unfair treatment, leading to disengagement and even turnover.
If you’re seeing signs like these, it’s a good time to talk with your employees. Ask about how they’re doing and whether they’re feeling burned out or stressed. Work with them to come up with a plan to resolve burnout and give employees the resources they need to stay energized and motivated on the job.
Is adding to your team at the top of your list?
If your employees are stretched thin, leading to burnout, it’s time for help. At PrideStaff, we’re a leading recruitment team serving Tempe and Phoenix businesses. We can help you increase your manpower, whether on a full-time or contract, temporary basis, so you can run remain optimally staffed and prevent burnout. Get started today by calling our team.
Improve Your Candidate Experience to Avoid Sansdemic Issues
During a sansdemic, there aren’t enough skilled professionals to go around, leading to hiring challenges. Fortunately, you can position your company as an employer of choice by improving your candidate experience. In turn, the strategy could make sansdemic-related problems less troublesome.
If you want to improve your candidate experience to avoid sansdemic issues, here are some tips.
Highlight Your Culture
Today’s candidates are far more concerned with company culture, favoring supportive and inclusive employers over others. As a result, many job seekers actively research a company’s culture before applying, and they’ll bypass opportunities if they don’t think an organization can meet their expectations.
Spend time highlighting your company culture on social media. Discuss various initiatives and discuss team-building efforts. Showcase exceptional employees and publish testimonials from workers describing the workplace and the organization’s mindset regarding its workforce. Give candidates an inside look at the environment, including amenities that provide them with value. By doing so, your workplace is more appealing.
Audit Your Employer Brand
Your employer brand often serves as a first impression with candidates. As a result, ensuring the messaging reflects well on the company and aligns with reality is essential. A lack of alignment typically leads to issues, as new hires usually notice quickly if there’s a disconnect once they start working. Additionally, it can generate negative word-of-mouth.
Spend time auditing your employer brand to see if any claims match the employee experience. Further, make sure everything is cohesive with your company’s values, as that makes a better impression.
Simplify Candidate Intake
When searching for jobs or applying to open positions at your company is cumbersome, many candidates will choose not to finish their applications. Similarly, if the interview phases or other screening steps are lengthy or burdensome, candidate dropout rates rise.
Work to simplify the candidate intake process as much as possible. Limit the application process to genuine necessities, eliminating time-consuming tasks like essay questions or requiring both a resume and an application. Limit the number of interviews as much as possible, and schedule the necessary ones relatively close together. Handle screening steps simultaneously when possible to shorten the timeline, too, as that can boost engagement.
Focus On Communication
When it comes to candidate engagement, communication matters. Make sure job seekers understand your planned timeline, and touch base with them regularly to alert them to changes or inform them that the process is progressing. Personalize the messages whenever possible, as that strategy is more impactful than relying solely on automated ones. Additionally, if candidates reach out with questions, respond quickly, as that shows you value their participation and are willing to support them during the journey.
Demonstrate Your Competitiveness
When you want to connect with top talent, show that what your company brings to the table meets or exceeds what’s available elsewhere. Publish salary ranges and outline benefits packages. Additionally, make sure that pay rates and the benefits offered fall within candidate expectations.
Along with competitive salaries, benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, PTO, and professional development are essential. Flexible scheduling, parental leave, and student debt assistance are also wise additions, helping your company stand out.
Want to Enhance Your Candidate Experience? Contact PrideStaff Bend Today
Partnering with a staffing company can help your company enhance its candidate experience by offering a streamlined approach that works well for job seekers and organizations alike. If you need to attract and secure top talent quickly, PrideStaff Bend wants to hear from you. Contact us to learn more about our services today.
Managing the Impact of COVID-19 on the Hospitality Industry in Las Vegas: A Guide for Hiring Managers (Part 1)
COVID-19 hit Las Vegas hard and fast. While the U.S. unemployment rate soared to 18.8% in April 2020, Las Vegas experienced nearly double that at 31.1%.
Hopefully, things are looking up for your business now. However, you’re not alone if you’re having trouble finding qualified candidates to fill your open positions.
This likely feels very frustrating, as being short-staffed has a direct impact on both your bottom line and employee satisfaction levels. Since many other businesses in the hospitality industry are facing this same issue, it’s time to switch your hiring strategy up a bit. Here’s a few ideas to get you started.
Four Tips to Attract Talent Amid the Staffing Shortage
Focus on Workers Who Were Laid Off
Chances are, you had to lay off a lot of good workers due to the pandemic. If you haven’t reached out to these people, you’re missing the opportunity to get talented workers back on your team who are already trained and know the ins and outs of your company.
Even if most have found other jobs, they might be clambering to come back to work at your business. You’ll never know unless you ask, so don’t hesitate to reach out to them.
Offer Job-Related Perks
Whether your business is a Las Vegas hotel, restaurant or tourist attraction, customers are drawn to it because it offers a great experience. Your employees likely feel the same way, so give them VIP perks. This could be anything from a deep discount on hotel rooms to a free meal during their shift. Making people feel special entices them to want to work for you.
Change Your Compensation Model
Like many businesses in the hospitality industry, you might pay workers minimum wage plus tips. This practice is fine, but it does nothing to encourage candidates to choose your company over a competitor. Instead, you might consider offering a salary to front-of-house workers or at least providing incentive-based bonuses.
Take on a Staffing Partner
Handling hiring on your own has never been easy, but since COVID-19 hit, it’s harder than ever. Working with a staffing firm can help you navigate this tricky landscape and get the talent your team needs to thrive. As hiring experts, recruiters know exactly how to attract the right candidates and where to find them.
Get the Hiring Help You Need
If you feel like your team hasn’t been the same since COVID-19, PrideStaff Las Vegas is here to help. Contact us today to create a hiring strategy that will attract top talent!
