Every HR department and manager has a dread staffing situation lurking in the back of her mind. For some it’s seasonal upticks in business that make covering all shifts a challenge. For others its cascading extended employee leaves for medical or other reasons. In some organizations, it’s merely weekends, when getting enough employees on the… Read more »
From ever-changing employment laws, an economy that’s sputtering toward improvement and a diverse workforce, today’s managers are facing challenges that taken alone would make things difficult, but taken together can be almost overwhelming. Essential qualities for managers in today’s workforce are a bit different than those managers in the past needed for success, but they… Read more »
You may think your organization’s long, drawn-out hiring process is an example of due diligence, but to applicants, it signals the opposite: indifference. A long wait between taking applications and making job offers means a higher risk of losing top talent to your competitors. If it routinely takes more than three weeks to make an… Read more »
Every hiring manager has experienced it, the hiring equivalent of buyer’s remorse: you hire a candidate based on a great interview, only to find that they are better at talk than action. You won’t weed out bad job candidates every single time, but if you learn to watch for common red flags during interviews, you’ll… Read more »
With all you have to do in order to fill your company’s open positions, social media may be pretty low on your list of priorities. It’s time to move it to the top. Social media is increasingly an important way for employers to reach great job candidates, and lack of a social media presence can… Read more »
In a perfect world, finding the best candidates to fill all your open positions would be easy. In the real world, it’s often a matter of careful sifting through applications and resumes, contacting references, and strategic interviewing – all time-consuming activities that can cut into the too-few hours in the day you need to fulfill… Read more »
Loyal employees are the backbone of your organization. A seasoned workforce encourages customer confidence and smoother operations. But building a loyal workforce in light industry can be a challenge when competition for great employees is stiff – it’s up to you as a hiring manager or HR director to promote strategies that make the grass… Read more »
When payroll budgets are tight, it’s tempting to hire candidates with less experience and education. While not every newbie or just-barely-qualified hire is a bust, you’ll often find that hiring average talent results in below-average returns. From the financial outlay of refilling positions to the cost to your organization’s reputation, the cost of hiring average… Read more »
You see it every year: during strategic periods, such as summer vacation times, holidays, and locally busy periods, your staffing budget bounces out of bounds as the cost of employee overtime rises. Hiring more full-time, or even part-time, employees is out of the question, leading you back to your original problem … controlling staffing costs…. Read more »
If you’ve worked in management or HR for any length of time, you can’t help but be familiar with the phrase “get it in writing.” Nowhere is that more important than where employee policies and procedures are concerned. When your employees are working without an employee handbook that clearly outlines your expectations for their performance,… Read more »
