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Start Planning NOW For Baby Boomer Retirements

HMG Success on February 5, 2016

February_2016_BabyBoomer

According to current statictics, nearly 10,000 baby boomers retire from the job market every day. Research indicates that employers are growing increasingly nervous about the loss of certain job skills and knowledge as a result. How well is your organization prepared for the exit of your most knowledgeable employees? Perhaps it is important for you to start looking for ways to transfer this knowledge and replace your baby boomers with quality employees.
Here’s some ways to start planning NOW for Baby Boomer retirements.

Identify the baby boomers who will be leaving in the next two years

It’s important to have a good understanding who is nearing retirement in your company. You will want to evaluate the skills and qualities that these folks have that will need to be replaced. For example, you may have several baby boomers who have above average sales skills. Naturally, you will want to replace them with equally skilled sales professional at your mid-level. Then you will bring entry level employees on board and train them on the scale.

Match your baby boomers up with lesser experienced employees

It’s really important to start thinking about the mentoring opportunity that is available right now. Your baby boomers will probably start to disconnect someone in the next year or two therefore you will want to maximize this time by matching them up with skilled employees who will be around in the next 5-10 years . Utilize your baby boomers to train other employees and reward them with additional financial support for their retirement goals.

Create opportunities for baby boomers to stay on at least part time or as consultants

Many baby boomers dream about retiring, however, they also like to stay useful in their older years. Having the opportunity to work at least part time or on a consultant basis can be a great way to retain some of the skills and knowledge of your older workers. After baby boomers to work with employees on developing their soft skills such as being leaders in the workplace, having strong communication skills, and team players.

Partner with a staffing agency to replace your baby boomers

This is an opportune time for your organization to start looking at ways to effectively and efficiently replace baby boomers before they leave the job site. You can bring on new employees in temp to hire positions and have them work under the guidance of baby boomers. In this way, the knowledge is passed on to the next generation of workers and you have adequate personnel to cover all your projects.

 

Partner with Advance Staffing Solutions to find the candidates you need to keep your workforce running at full capacity!

 

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HIRING EVENT

HMG Success on February 4, 2016

Monroe Service Center

1531 N. Telegraph Rd. Monroe, MI

 

Wednesday, February 10th, 2016

1pm-4pm

 

             Bring 2 valid forms of ID and a resume

Must be at least 18 years of age

Have a Diploma/GED

Verifiable work experience in the last 12 months

Below are just a few of the positions we are accepting applications for: 

  • Press Operator/Packaging, 1st shift, Dundee, $9/hr
  • Press/Production workers, All shifts, Monroe, $9/hr
  • Janitor, 1st shift, Dundee, $9/hr
  • Customer Service/Packaging, All shifts, One week in Feb, $9/hr
  • General Laborers, 1st & 2nd shifts, Carleton, $9/hr + Overtime
  • Skilled Assembly, 1st shift, Dundee, $14+/hr
  • Welders, 1st shift, Carleton and Dundee, $10-$15/hr
  • Warehouse/Forklift/Quality, 1st/2nd shift, Monroe, $10.60/hr
  • Delivery/Warehouse, 1st shift, Monroe, $10-$12/hr
  • Part-Time Sales/Customer Service, Flex schedule, Monroe, $12-14/hr
  • Assemblers, 3rd shift, Monroe, $13/hr
  • Production, 1st/2nd shift, Blissfield, $10/hr
  • MIG Welder (FCAW/GMAW), Monroe, $14/hr
  • Quality Inspector, 1st shift, Blissfield, $10/hr

 

7 Career Tips for Work-at-Home Professionals

HMG Success on February 3, 2016

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Working from a remote location might seem like a dream come true, but it has its own set of challenges that you need to be prepared for. If you have just landed a new work from home job or you have the opportunity to work from home a couple of days a week, there are some things that you need to do to make this a successful experience. This is especially true if you have never worked it work from home before.

Follow the below seven career tips to make your work from home experience a positive and prosperous one.

1. Get your home office set up for productivity

First and foremost, it is important that you set up your home office so that you can be as productive as possible in your new job. You do not want to set up a home office and the area of your home that is high traffic or noisy. You also don’t want to set up a home office in the bedroom. Instead, select a room or area of your home that is not distracting to you and, if possible, has a door so you can close it during work hours.

2. Set clear boundaries with your family

Let your family know what your new working arrangements will be and prepare them because they may not understand your need for quiet during office hours. Don’t allow friends and family to call you during work hours. If you have young children at home, you may want to arrange for childcare. Your spouse or partner should also be on board. This can be a big adjustment for anyone and it is also important that your family understands how working from home may impact your life.

3. Understand and clarify your employer’s expectations

Unlike a regular workplace where you are face-to-face with your manager, in a work-from-home position, you may be working hundreds or thousands of miles away from your supervisor. You may rarely even travel to your work place. This is why it’s important to understand clearly what your employer’s expectations are of you. These are things like work hours, communication, handling clients, technical issues, and procedures. You will also want to work closely with your co-workers so that they understand that you are, in fact, working and available for team collaboration and meetings.

4. Separate your personal and work life

It can be very tempting she get into the habit of working 24/7 when you work from home. That’s because the presence of your work desk in your home is a constant reminder of projects and tasks that need to be completed. However, you never want to get into the habit of working more hours than you would if you worked outside the home. Set a schedule and stick to it. This includes taking regular lunch breaks and bathroom breaks as needed throughout the day. Get up and stretch every so often, and don’t forget to interact with your peers.

5. Create a task management system

When you work from home, very often you will be asked to handle a variety of tasks and projects. This is where your task and project management skills will come into play. Make sure you have an organizational system that helps you stay on track with important tasks, deadlines, and milestones along the way. Use a web-based project management system so that you can share updates with your co-workers and your boss.

6. Don’t disconnect from others

One of the biggest issues with working from home after a while is feeling isolated. It’s very important to stay connected with your co-workers and your peers when you work remotely. Schedule time each day to communicate and interact with others in your company. Join professional associations so that you can continue to network with others in your industry and your region. Make it a point to set up a lunch date at least once a week.

7. Learn to be a better communicator

It’s often unexpected, but working from home can make you feel invisible at times. This is why it is very important to develop above-average communication skills and be proactive about this communication so that you are continually in touch with your peers. Check in with your supervisor at least once a week, if not more frequently. Stay on top of tasks and bring others into your loop as you complete them.

By following the above tips you will be more successful as a work from home professional. If you need more help, or help finding a career that suits your needs, contact Advance Staffing Solutions today!

 

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Advance @ Regional Chamber’s Expo

HMG Success on February 3, 2016

The Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber’s Business to Business Expo featured a black tie with area restaurants and businesses Jan. 29 at Crystal Gardens in Southgate.

 

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OPEN REGISTRATION – Monroe, Mi

HMG Success on February 1, 2016

OPEN REGISTRATION

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6TH 8AM-10AM

ADVANCE STAFFING SOLUTIONS

35 EAST FRONT STREET

MONROE, MI 48161

734-457-0056

MUST BRING

Two forms of ID

Must be 18 years of age

Have a diploma/GED

WWW.ADVANCESTAFFINGSOLUTIONS.COM

OPENINGS IN:                                                                 

  • BLISSFIELD, MI
  • TEMPERANCE, MI
  • DUNDEE, MI
  • MONROE, MI
  • CARLETON, MI

1ST, 2ND AND 3RD SHIFTS AVAILABLE: $9.00-$18.00 PER HOUR
  • MAINTENANCE TECH
  • WELDERS
  • ASSEMBLERS
  • GENERAL LABOR
     

New Year, Same Old Hiring Mistakes!

HMG Success on January 29, 2016

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As the saying goes, “Old habits die hard”. This is very true when it comes to many aspects of business, including recruitment practices. Oftentimes the HR team or the recruitment team goes into a New Year wanting to do things better, but keeps falling into the same old ways of doing things. The problem is at this takes away from the effectiveness of the recruitment team and can actually put your company at risk. In order to improve processes this year, here are some recruiting and interviewing behaviors to leave behind.

Not conducting a thorough background check

One of the biggest hiring mistakes that companies can make is not conducting a thorough background check for every single applicant. You cannot take a candidate at face value no matter how professional they look or act during the interview — they could be hiding things in their history. Take the time to call all career references and verify work history and character. Criminal background checks are a must. Failure to do so can put your company at risk and it also caused harm to other employees.

Forgetting to follow up with candidates

Another bad habit to shake in the New Year is forgetting to follow up with candidates. Whether they have applied for a job online or they have been screened by phone for a particular job, please take the time to follow up with candidates at least with a courtesy email. It’s not fair to leave people hanging and it is a measure of goodwill when you respect candidates enough to follow up with them and give them a status update. This goes for sending out rejection letters too.

Selecting candidates based on skills only

It can be tempting to just hire people based on the skills that they list on their resume and those that are proven through assessment tests, but this leaves out a large chunk of candidates who may be otherwise qualified and perfect for a position because of their personalities. Work with a staffing agency to assess the personality and culture event of every candidate before you toss them into the rejection pile.

Hiring under pressure instead of planning staffing needs

Human resources is not meant to put out the fires in our organizations. But often times we find ourselves in the position of having to scramble around to replace a lost employee or to find a large number of workers to cover busy seasons. To make better use of our time and energy it’s important that we develop the habit of planning out our staffing needs by staying in touch with our point of contact managers. By planning ahead it’s possible to augment current staff with temporary workers and create a true succession strategy.

 

 

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OPEN INTERVIEWS

HMG Success on January 27, 2016

Advance Staffing Solutions

 

Open Interviews: Wednesday, February 3, 2016

12:00pm-4:00pm

South Central Michigan Works!
Lenawee County Human Services Building
1040 S. Winter Street, Suite 1014, Adrian, MI 49221
(517) 266-5627

 

Positions are located in Blissfield and Dundee areas
Starting wage is $10.00-$13.00 per hour

 

Positions Available:

Warehouse, General Labor, Assembly, & Welders
Pre-Register Online @
www.advancestaffingsolutions.com

Any questions contact Malinda Tepe

734-457-0056
malinda@advancestaffingsolutions.com

 

 

 

 

Football Party Event

HMG Success on January 26, 2016

Tyler, Tara, Renee, Jordan, and Donna recently attended the Football Party event sponsored by Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber, and Monroe Chamber! Advance Staffing Solutions is a proud member of both chambers and enjoy the opportunity to network with other community businesses.

 

football party

Job Search Tips for December New Grads

HMG Success on January 25, 2016

January_2016_JobSearch

Congratulations! You are one of the few lucky college students who have made it through and earned your dream degree. After the celebrations are over, it’s time to start taking a hard look at how you will accomplish getting a new job. While you may get a lot of well-meaning advice from friends and family members, there are some sure ways to get a job if you follow the tips from our professional recruitment team.

#1 – Create a great resume and cover letter

Your very first step in the journey to earning a career in the New Year as a December college graduate is to create an outstanding resume and cover letter. There are many resources for finding information and templates for building a quality resume and cover letter set. You are encouraged to visit online and library resources to accomplish this. You will also want to consider reaching out to a professional resume writer and career coach to help you along the way.

#2 – Develop a strong professional brand

The next move you should make as a new college grad is to create a brand new online professional presents for yourself. Ditch your old social media accounts and start from scratch. One good way to accomplish this is to create a free online portfolio of your college assignments, such as your written work and/or any creative or video work that you have developed. Then create brand new social media accounts that link back to your portfolio. Remember, only show off your most professional work that you will be proud to discuss with a potential employer.

#3 – Connect with staffing agencies

The next smart move for your career search as a new grad is to get registered with your local staffing agencies. Why is this important? In many regions companies only hire through temporary staffing agencies. This is a measure used by companies to save on the cost and time of recruitment. Select a staffing agency that is in your particular area of industry. For example, if you are seeking an information technology job then you will reach out to staffing agencies in the IT and technical markets.

#4 – Network online and offline

A great way to speed up your job search is to become very active in networking with others in your industry and in your local area. You will want to become involved with some of the local business associations so that you get a chance to meet leaders and find out about positions before they are advertised. Use social networking sites like LinkedIn and Twitter to learn about brand new openings at companies. Connect with a few mentors in your area of interest and let everyone know that you are looking for a position now that you have graduated.

 

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How to Perform Meaningful Employee Evaluations This Year

HMG Success on January 22, 2016

January_2016_evaluations

Each year, thousands of HR practitioners and managers are faced with the task of conducting annual employee evaluations. This is a task most often used to measure each employee’s effectiveness on the job, a factor that increases productivity and company revenues. But the biggest complaint about employee evaluations is that they don’t have any real meaning for employees … other than to stress them out.

How can the company conduct employee evaluations in such a way as to increase the meaning behind them so that employees can experience the positive results of their efforts and focus on real goals for the coming year? Here are some tips from Advance Staffing Solutions that may help.

Establish the “what’s in it for me?” factor for employees.

When employees understand – without a shadow of a doubt – that their efforts will produce positive outcomes for their work status, salary, and future, this makes the job of conducting evals much more meaningful. Use a system for connecting pay for performance, recognition for achieving more, and rewards for top-performing employees.

Make the evaluation fair and simple to administer.

An employee evaluation system does not have to be complex. In fact, it’s better to maintain a simple rating system of one to five for rating employees on their performance. Give the employees a chance to self-evaluate before having a meeting to go over things, then adjust ratings accordingly. This puts performance into greater perspective for employees.

Set reasonable, but challenging goals for the year.

Allow employees to set goals for improving their work performance, which will make the evaluation process go smoother. Let employees know you are there to support their goals, and they can choose whatever direction they want to go in their careers. Make goals attainable, in a certain time frame, and challenging enough so they won’t lose motivation.

Design employee development programs around skill growth.

The very purpose of employee evaluations is to identify gaps in the skills of employees and then take steps to fill those gaps with development and learning programs on the job. Make sure your company is prepared to address these gaps with a combination of onsite training programs and offsite learning opportunities.

We hope that the above tips will help make your employee evaluations smoother and more positive for your organization.

 

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Can You Answer This “Off-the-Wall” Interview Question?

HMG Success on January 19, 2016

January_2016_Off-the-Wall

Going into any interview, it’ expected that you will be asked a series of common interview questions. Things like: “what are your weaknesses”, “why should we hire you”, “why do you want to work here”, “what are your goals”, “why did you leave your past job”, “what can you do for us that other candidates can’t”, “what are three positive things your last boss would say about you”, “what salary are you seeking” and technical questions relevant for the job or to your profile. But, as a smart job seeker, you can also expect and plan for some of the more unusual interview question you may be asked.

Examples off the wall interview questions

There are many odd questions that some interviewers like to pose. You may be asked what would you do if you were the one survivor in a plane crash, what’s your favorite 90s jam, if you woke up and had 2,000 unread emails and could only answer 300 of them how would you choose which ones to answer, who would win in a fight between Spiderman and Batman, if you had a machine that produced $100 dollars for life what would you be willing to pay for it today, what did you have for breakfast, describe the color yellow to somebody who’s blind, if you were asked to unload a 747 full of jelly beans what would you do, and how many people flew out of Chicago last year, among others.

While preparing for a job interview, you need to be ready to face all kinds of odds. Every question being asked has a specific reason and you need to focus on that. The trick is not to answer the question “correctly” but to use it to your advantage, so you can present a certain trait of yours while answering.

For instance, here is an off the wall interview question that can be quite puzzling but it is extremely simple to answer.

“If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?”

Many job seekers get perplexed and they start imagining Superman, Batman, Iron man, Spiderman, Hulk and Thor or perhaps the more realistic Hawk Eye. The question doesn’t pertain to fictional superheroes but real life superheroes. The question basically pertains to the most special quality you have. Tony Stark may be infamous for his idiosyncrasies but he is Iron Man and it is the suit that makes him the superhero, of course along with his grasp of technology.

If you were a superhero, your superpower has to be your biggest strength. For some people it could be enthusiasm while for some it could be curiosity. For some, it could be knowledge and for others it could be experience. Anything that you think is your most important attribute or strength is the answer.

Want help preparing for your next interview, or need help even finding an interview? Contact the staffing pros at Advance Staffing Solutions today!

 

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What Your Company Needs to Know About ACA in 2016

HMG Success on January 15, 2016

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As a business owner, there are some changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are in effect at the start of this year. Your company needs to be aware of these changes so your HR department can take the necessary steps. Many business owners are already complaining that the financial impact of some changes will be overwhelming. Others feel that the entire financial impact is yet to be realized. They feel that the liabilities will be manageable in 2016, at least for the time being.

What’s on the horizon for 2016?

From the first of January, 2016, the definition of small employer is no longer a business with one-to-fifty full-time employees. The upper threshold has been increased to one hundred employees. What this means is that companies having anywhere from 50-to-100 employees that were previously not classified as a small business or small employer will now have to meet the ACA requirements meant for small employers.

This is made more complicated when you consider the fact that despite being a small employer as per ACA definition, companies having 50-to-100 full-time (or the equivalent in part time) employees will still be considered a large group employer according to the Employer Mandate and thus the penalties will be calculated accordingly.

What the new ACA rules mean

Additionally, companies having more than a 100 full-time employees had till now been obligated to pay 70 percent of full-time workers’ healthcare coverage. Now, companies with 50 or more fulltime employees will have to offer 95 percent of full-time employees insurance. Else, penalties will be levied. Also, till now 80 full-time employees were excluded while counting the penalty.

The Small Business Health Options Program was only available to businesses with less than 50 full-time employees. Now, it is also available to companies having 50-100 fulltime employees. The total or maximum out of pocket expense for any employee with individual coverage that employers can get employees to pay before they pay for the healthcare coverage is $6,850. The same for family coverage was $13,700. Hereon, $6,850 would apply to family coverage as well, excluding grandfathered plans.

The IRS penalty caps for large companies that don’t meet the reporting requirements are poised to go up as well. In the near future, we will update you on more ACA changes you should be aware of.

Want to make sure you’re covered under new ACA guidelines? Consider hiring through Advance Staffing Solutions! Click here to contact us today.

 

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