Not Sure You Should Partner with a Staffing Firm? Read This!

Raza Rauf on June 30, 2016

As a Michigan-area company that’s always mindful of personnel costs, it’s natural to want to weigh the options before choosing to work with a staffing firm. The responsible thing to do is to check out all of your options before you decide to go this route. In this way, you can make the best decision for your organization.

There are many benefits to working with a temporary staffing agency. These are unique perks that can only be found when you partner with the right staffing agency that’s familiar with your industry and your requirements. Here is a rundown of some of the reasons why you should partner with a staffing agency.

Access to a Larger Pool of Pre-Screened Candidates

When you work with a staffing agency, you will have automatic access to large pool of candidates who have already been screened carefully by the staffing agents. The staffing agency handles all the upfront details of recruitment, such as skills assessments, background checks, and verification of employment history. This means you have no worries about candidate shortages because there are already people ready to start working immediately on your special project, or to replace a departing employee.

Proactive and Strategic Workforce Planning

It can be easy to get into a pattern of hiring people to replace those leaving the company, in a vicious cycle that continues over and over. But this is not very strategic. When you work with a staffing agency, you will be able to develop a succession plan that will enable you to strategically hire the right people for positions that you are creating as your company grows. You’ll also be able to seek out support for special projects and seasonal peaks in your business. Temporary staffing is a much more flexible and adaptable model for any business.

Cost Efficiency

Managing a busy workforce requires a large amount of capital, much of which is spent during recruitment processes. When you work with a temporary staffing agency in your area, you can be sure that all upfront cost are absorbed by the agency. This includes all the administrative expenses of interviewing candidates, running job ads, verifying employment history and references, drug abuse screens, criminal background checks, and more. These costs are spread out in the contract for several months, which means your company can maintain an affordable staffing budget.

If you are still on the fence about partnering with a staffing agency in MI, why not give us a call and learn more about this opportunity?

Facing a Talent Shortage? Here’s How to Improve Your Recruiting Strategy

Raza Rauf on June 7, 2016

One would think with all the latest technology that recruitment as a whole is more efficient. However, it is a candidate-driven market currently and therefore, the recruitment process has actually gotten longer. A recent Forbes report issued by Glassdoor.com estimated that the average length of an interview has actually doubled in the last five years, going from 12.6 days to 22.9 days. At the same time, top candidates are only on the market an average of about 10 days. This makes it a big challenge for most recruiters.

One of the reasons that recruitment has slowed down is because employers are now demanding more assessments and interviews before they even consider candidates for entry-level employment. New screening methods such as group interviews, personality tests, security screens, skills assessments, and advanced background and drug tests all tend to drag out the hiring timeline. Companies are more careful about the people they hire because it is a large investment.

However, it is possible to speed up the hiring process so that you can go after the best candidates before another competitor gets them. Consider the following tips to improve your recruiting strategy.

Candidates who are in high demand will probably be interviewing with several companies at once. You’ll want to make your compensation package and corporate culture very attractive in order to capture their attention.

Develop a reputation for being efficient in your hiring practices. When candidates know that if they deal with your company, they can expect to hear back quickly and your job recruitment process is responsive to their needs, they’re more apt to stay loyal to your company until a job offer is made.

Make the application process simple. Consider the use of mobile apps in your recruitment practices to quickly gather the information of your candidates and respond to them in kind. Think about candidates who may be remote to your company as well, and use video technology to handle the initial screening interview.

Let a staffing agency handle all the upfront details of a hiring process. Staffing agencies are very efficient when it comes to screening and evaluating candidates for employment opportunities. In fact, they probably already have candidates ready to go by the time you call the office.

By speeding up your recruitment processes, there’s a good chance that you will be able to acquire the talent that your company needs to be successful. Partner with Advance Staffing Solutions to improve your recruiting strategy today.

Use These Tips to Create a Brighter Springtime Workplace

Raza Rauf on April 19, 2016

The cold weather is behind us and the springtime is bringing warmer temperatures and lots of sunshine to Michigan and Ohio … finally! Many workers have been cooped up in their offices, cubicles, and plants for far too long. It’s time to bring the springtime into the workplace with these creative ideas.

Dejunk the office.

Spring is the perfect time to clean up any office space, and this comes down to assigning work teams for some sprucing up. Start by clearing any clutter that’s developed, especially in common areas, hallways, and break areas. Then, wipe things down. Bring more sunshine in by cleaning windows and blinds too. The office should feel light and bright now.

Bring in the green.

Give your office more life and improve the air quality by investing in some beautiful greenery. Work with a local greenhouse to secure fresh plants for every office area. Encourage your employees to bring in their plants too. Hold an impromptu Earth Day celebration and plant some trees on the property around your offices.

Boost spirits.

Schedule some outdoor events to help get employees outside and into some fresh air. Have a picnic in a local park, or invite the families of your employees for an ice cream social at the office. Give out fun prizes and corporate swagger in bright pastel hues. Have a May-Pole dance outside and invite the children of workers to participate.

Encourage some time off.

Your springtime workforce also signals a time to encourage employees to find more work-life balance by taking some much needed time off. Partner with a staffing agency like Advance Staffing Solutions to bring in some temporary employees so your regular employees can schedule vacation time.

Improve incentives.

The spring months often need a little help to increase the morale of the workplace, especially after the brutal winter we had here in Michigan and Ohio. Review your current employee incentive programs and see if you can make them better. Create some fun competitions in the office that allow employees to shine in front of their peers, then assign incentive to performance goals.

Host a wellness event.

Many times, employees are hoping to shed some weight and get fit as they head into the summer months ahead (and bathing suit season). Support this effort by introducing a wellness program at the office. Launch it with a wellness event held on campus.

Work on a cause.

In the spring, companies can also start focusing on community causes that need support. Nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity, local pet shelters, and even nearby schools can always use a helping hand. Organize a team of employees to spend a day building a new home for a deserving family and see how this experience brings people closer.

Need help creating a workforce that shines this spring? Click here to partner with Advance Staffing Solutions today!

New Year, Same Old Hiring Mistakes!

Raza Rauf on January 29, 2016

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.

We are thankful for our employees!!

Raza Rauf on December 2, 2015

Congratulations Micah Kailimai and Ronald Musial!! They were 2 of many winners from our Thanksgiving drawing. They each took home a $25 gift card, and Advance Staffing Solutions drawstring bag!! We are very thankful for all of our employees!!

How to Turn Renegade Employees into Valuable Team Members

Raza Rauf on October 22, 2015

Do you often walk by your work teams and see several people missing, off doing their own things? These are your renegade employees, and while they are very talented, they are somehow disconnected from the rest of the team – and need to be reeled back in. How can you turn renegade employees into valuable team members who can add to the collaboration and innovation to your company?

Invite all employees to share

As a manager, it’s your job to bring your people back together. Invite all to a project kick-off meeting to allow all employees to share what they are currently working on and learn about a new team project. Look at the individual projects and match employees up to collaborate and get them finished more efficiently. Advise employees you will expect them to work together on the new project and have daily touchpoints.

Give all employees rewarding tasks that honor skill sets

Now is the time to make sure the renegade employees don’t get bored and wander off again. Bring them in and ask employees on an individual level what part of the project they’d like to work on. Then ask them to identify the top-three colleagues they are most comfortable working with. Sometimes renegades become annoyed by other employees, or they may self-ostracize because there are personality conflicts. Weed these out now.

Open up the lines of communication

Using the technology available to you, make sure that there is a central team location for sharing updates and information. Include all team members. Open up communication with weekly staff meetings and project touchpoints. Assign a few of the renegade employees as team leaders to head up certain portions of the project, which forces them to stay involved with others.

Bring in additional talent

Augment your current team with some temporary contractors to take the pressure off your employees. Renegades often take on too much and become overwhelmed and frustrated, leading to their isolation. Temps can alleviate some of the stress and take on administrative and tedious tasks so that all employees can focus on the project and the team building activities.

Referral Contest – Win Thanksgiving Dinner on us!

Raza Rauf on October 5, 2015

Refer a friend and when they complete our application process

You will be entered in a drawing for a Thanksgiving Dinner Gift Basket that includes a gift certificate for a turkey & all the ingredients for side dishes and dessert!

Applicant must register at one of our Branch Offices between the dates of October 5th – November 13^th.

(apply on-line or call branch for appointment time)

Drawing will be held on Monday, November 16th

** In addition to this referral bonus you will also be eligible for our regular $25 referral bonus**

(To qualify for the $25 referral bonus the applicant or employee must complete 80 hours of work)

www.advancestaffingsolutions.com

Where Are All the Temps Going? How to Make a Hiring Plan After Peak Season

Raza Rauf on September 8, 2015

As the busy season comes to a close, seasonal and temporary employees may be leaving to head back to college or to take other permanent jobs. This can reduce your staff dramatically, which can take a toll on the business and the employees who are left behind. How can you design a hiring plan after the peak season that supports year-round growth and new opportunities to bring on at least a portion of your temps? Here are some helpful tips to accomplish this.

1. Communicate with your temp agency in advance of your hiring goals

The sooner you can let your temporary agency know you intend to hire some of your seasonal workers on permanently, the better. This helps the temp agency screen all employees to find out if they are looking for something for now or for the long term.

2. Provide rewarding projects that challenge seasonal workers

One of the ways to identify employees who may be suitable for long-term hiring needs is to assign tasks and projects that challenge them. This often brings out the leaders in each group of temps, who may be looking for better work opportunities in the future.

3. Understand the skill and knowledge gaps you have

Your seasonal employees may possess the right skills and knowledge that you need to plan your staffing after the peak season passes by. Conduct a thorough analysis of the present skills of your team to find out where there are gaps. Then offer employment opportunities to your seasonal workers who have the right skills to close these gaps.

4. Offer to rehire seasonal workers for next year

You can plan your hiring by offering to rehire the seasonal workers who perform well and who express an interest in coming back again next year. Consider that some of your seasonal workers will be college students who will be looking for careers once they graduate. The sooner you can get them to commit to coming back, the better for your business.

5. Give seasonal workers an incentive to stay employed

If you want to hire at least a portion of your seasonal workers who have done well, you can also offer a sign-on bonus for those who accept permanent placement with your company. Try offering some employment perks too, like benefits and a new office environment to work in.

Use the above tips to help retain your best seasonal workers and boost your company growth as part of a smart recruitment plan. You can secure top seasonal and temp workers from Advance Staffing Solutions.

5 Ways To Find Hardworking Millennials

Raza Rauf on August 18, 2015

Millennials are overtaking the workforce as baby boomers continue to retire, which is why companies are trying to find new ways to land hardworking millennials. Some are incredibly easy to find because they work internships with a company before receiving an offer of employment. Others might not be so easy to find because they do not want to be found, or are not actively looking for a new job. Use these five tips for finding hardworking millennials.

Check Their Hunger for a Job

One of the best ways to find a hardworking millennial is to check their hunger for a job. There are millennials out there who accept an entry-level job and then walk away from it two weeks to one month later because they feel that they are above the work they are doing, simply because of where they went to school. In order to avoid this type of behavior and attitude, you must perform a hunger check. Tell the candidate up front that they will be doing entry-level work, and if the conversation ends, so be it. If it doesn’t, you might have someone hungry for the job.

Brutal Honesty During the Interview Works

The second method to finding hardworking millennials is to be brutally honest with the candidate during the job interview. Explain to the candidate exactly what the job entails, what you don’t want at your office and what you do expect at the office in terms of behavior and attitude. If the candidate is still sitting there at the end of your speech, they must really want the job.

Be Open to Shaking Things Up

There are companies out there that love employing millennial workers because they know how to handle them. They are open to shaking things up at work. There is nothing wrong with being a fair boss who is also tough on employees. It is one of the best ways to get strong work from employees. In some instances, you have to be like a tough parent with millennials in order for them to perform at the levels they are truly capable of.

Candidates Show Themselves in Interviews

Whether you know it or not, candidates will show their true selves during job interviews. Even if you think they are putting on an act simply to impress you and receive the offer, at some point they will show you who they truly are. If this is the case, and it scares or frightens you, do not hire that candidate. You will only live to regret the decision.

Help Millennials Advance

Do your best to help millennials advance when you find strong ones, even if it means they climb the corporate ladder at a different company. This will help your company build a strong reputation for taking care of employees, which will make it easier to recruit top talent in the future.

Try to use all five of these methods in order to bring in the best talent possible for your company. If you need more help finding and bringing talented millennials or other employees into your workplace, contact Advance Staffing Solutions today!

Making Temporary Employees Feel Welcome in Your Workplace

Raza Rauf on August 13, 2015

Why do many temporary employees feel awkward and unwanted on the job? Temporary employees generally don’t receive the same attention that permanent hires get, because they are here one day, gone the next. Managers and employees view them as, well, temporary — so no one takes the time to welcome them to the company. Many temps arrive on their first day and get little more than a second glance from other employees.

The problem with this is that the company is losing out on the productivity and performance that a temporary employee can provide if they are made to feel welcome. Investing in an onboarding process for temps is important to the success of an organization. In fact, a temp could become your next great hire so making a positive impression on them from day-one is good for your business.

Here are some ways to make temp employees feel more welcome and valued in your workplace.

Host a temporary orientation session
Just because someone may be only working for a short period of time for your organization, it’s not OK to skimp on a formal orientation. On the first day of contract work, greet the temp at the front door, show them around the workplace, introduce them to a few key people, and then guide them to an orientation room. If you can group a few temps together, this is even better. Go over the company background, the temp assignment requirements and any special company rules and guidelines.
Assign a team mentor
For each temp employee, you should assign a more-seasoned employee who can help support this transition into working for your company. This person will be a mentor and will be training the temp on the basic tasks of the assignment for the first few days. Then the mentor will check the temp’s work, give appropriate feedback, and report the progress to the immediate supervisor. Other employees can help this process too, by providing positive feedback and praise to the temp.
Provide a welcoming work environment
The work environment has as much to do with the temporary employee’s experience. Create a welcoming area for the temp between or near other friendly employees. Give the temp a clean and clutter-free workstation. Encourage the temp to decorate their work space as they like, to give it a personal touch. Provide a comfortable chair, good lighting, and an ergonomic work surface for completing tasks. Have all technology ready to use, company office supplies handy, and a special handbook waiting on their desk to welcome them to their new job.
Offer the temp a free lunch on the first day
Temps often feel strange about eating lunch on their first day on the job, so you can lessen their worries by offering a free catered lunch to your new worker. Breaking bread with your temps can also help to make others feel welcomed and comfortable. Make it a point to help the temp feel included in any group lunches or outings from here on out, too.
Check in daily with each temporary employee
To help the temp employee to feel welcomed and supported, touch base in person or by phone at least once a day near the end of the shift. Over time, decrease this to once a week and as needed. The temporary employee will be glad to report their work, ask questions, and get help if needed. This makes them feel welcomed and part of the company objectives.

Need help onboarding temps at your workplace? Let Advance Staffing Solutions do the hard work for you, and you can reap all the benefits of top-notch temporary employees!

We Want You to Know the Truth About our Staffing Agency…

Raza Rauf on June 4, 2015

The staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry makes a vital contribution to the U.S. economy, and provides outstanding job and career opportunities for some 14 million employees per year.

Haven’t considered a staffing service to help you with your job search or career change? Watch the video below to see what our Michigan team has to say…

We hope you can handle the truth about our staffing agency!

Have a “Quirky” Company Culture? How to Find the Perfect Candidate Fit For You!

Raza Rauf on April 16, 2015

Is your company highly creative when it comes to the recruitment process? In today’s world, it’s becoming increasingly more popular for companies to come up with unique and sometimes even hilarious ways of recruiting people. Weird and unusual interview questions, activities, and quirky corporate cultures often come into play.

However, in some cases an unusual hiring process or corporate culture can create challenges when it comes to identifying candidates who are the right fit for the organization. The quirky company culture that you love can backfire. Some candidates may be taken aback by the process that you use to select and interview them. They may even refuse to apply for jobs out of fear that they won’t fit in well with the set of values and ideas your corporate culture embraces.

Your company may be quirky if:

You have an elaborate application process that uses humor in many places
You use odd or silly interview questions and tasks for candidates
The work environment is highly creative and filled with lots of playful features

So, if you identified your company as unusual or different in terms of the type of culture you embrace, it’s possible that it’s becoming difficult to find the right candidates. Here are some ways that you can get around this and hire the best talent with the right candidate fit.

Be upfront about your corporate culture

When thinking recruitment, the last thing you want to do is spring a surprise on a candidate – not the least of which should be your corporate culture. Have access to some marketing materials that highlight your corporate culture with visuals and audio tools. Slowly introduce candidates to your corporate culture. Watch for their reaction. If a candidate reels back suddenly upon learning about your corporate culture, there’s a good chance they will not be a good fit

Focus on the candidate experience

There is a lot of research around the impact the candidate experience has on the long-term success of an employee. This should be your ultimate focus when you are interviewing prospective employees. Try to put yourself into the candidate shoes for a moment. Is the application process intuitive? Is the candidate exposed to a positive impression of your company? Is the recruitment team proactively reaching out and then following up with each candidate? Make sure to zip up all of these things in order to improve the candidate experience.

Assess candidate skills with industry testing

It can be very difficult to determine if a candidate is right for the job within the span of just a few moments of reviewing a resume and meeting with them in an interview. Do not expect some quirky or challenging project assigned during an interview to accurately define a candidate’s suitability for your company. Instead, work with your staffing agency to use candidate assessment testing to validate their work-related skills, personality, and corporate culture fit.

Use a multi-layer interview process

Sometimes, creative companies do not spend enough time evaluating the behavioral aspects of candidate interviews. This is why a multiple interview process that includes several layers of team member participation is often a great way to determine a candidate’s fit for the company. People often have different perspectives when meeting someone, therefore, take the time to have at least a few of the team members present during initial interviews. Gather objective feedback and use this for making your hiring decision.

Hire temps first, employees second

Perhaps one of the best ways to recruit for a quirky company is to start everyone out as a temporary employee. This gives your company a chance to benefit from pre-screened candidates who will then have to prove themselves within the first few months on the job. Most staffing agencies have very strict pre-screening requirements and will only send candidates who they believe will be a good fit. If you have a problem with a candidate you can then easily replace them with someone more suitable. This reduces the risk of hiring the wrong person.

Want to learn more about how your company culture could affect your hiring process, or find temps to fit in with your quirky company? Contact Advance Staffing Solutions today!