Don’t Just Be A Boss, But Be A Leader

It is often said that anyone can become a boss but it takes special type of personality to become a great leader. While I do believe that certain individuals take to leadership easier than others, becoming a great leader that your team can depend on is something that can, in fact, be learned and perfected.

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Trillium Recognized as 60th Largest Staffing Firm in the United States!

René Poch founder and CEO of Trillium Staffing, recently announced that Trillium had been recognized as the 60th Largest Staffing Firm in the United States by Staffing Industry Analysts.

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Hire Based on Skills, Not Necessarily Talent

When you hear someone utter the phrase, “You have real talent” the first thought is that they are most likely at the top of whatever industry or profession they work in, excelling beyond their peers. With that said, we don’t always need the best “talent” for a role but someone with the right set of skills that will enable them to excel to the talent your company is looking for.

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What A Candidate’s Personal Brand Can Tell You

Someone’s personal brand can go beyond that individual’s skill set and/or qualifications and work history. The personal brand helps to tell a story about what a person is truly all about and can include industry knowledge and experience that is difficult to include on a resume.

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CVSA’s Safe Driver Week Focuses on Speeding – July 14th-20th

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) Safe Driver week is scheduled for July 14th-20th this year and will be mainly focused on speeding. But why speeding?

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Even with Record Numbers of Truckers, the Driver Shortage is Still an Issue!

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the number of truckers out on the road is at an all-time high. However, the driver shortage still appears to be an issue. In fact, Census numbers are showing more truckers now that before the recession in 2007. Where is the disconnect?

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Seeking Referrals? First, Focus on the Candidate Experience!

In today’s job market, finding and engaging with passive talent is the name of the game. When it feels like all of the active job seekers are either being snagged too quickly by the competition or fall into the skills gap paradigm, hiring managers resort to seeking out passive talent and asking for referrals. While passive talent can be found on any number of job boards, the key here is to remember that in order to get good referrals, your candidates need to have a enjoyable and positive experience with the hiring process from the get go.

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Distracted Driving and It’s Implications in the Trucking Industry

As we all know, distracted driving can include eating while driving, talking on your cellphone, putting on make-up, texting and even messing with the radio or music player. No matter what activity is being performed to distract a driver, these simple actions can have catastrophic effects for not just the guilty party but the public as well. This past April, a round table discussion was held in Houston, TX by the National Transportation Safety Board in order to specifically touch on and discuss distracted driving and how this can effect the trucking industry.

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Personality Fit vs. Performance and Why Top Performers Might Not Work Out

Like with any company or organization, regardless of the industry, culture and teamwork go hand in hand when discussing the overall health of the company. With that said, what do you when one of your top performers doesn’t get along with the rest of your team? They bring in the most sales but tend to butt heads with everyone. Honestly, the most simple solution may also be the hardest; if your top performer is causing a toxic or hostile work environment, they need to go.

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What To Expect From The Construction Industry in 2019!

We may already be a quarter of the way through the new year but it is never to late to try and plan for what lies ahead. This is no different for the construction industry in 2019. However, a report released in late 2018 may, in fact, show a very minimal change in construction activity, only increasing in revenue by about $2 million from the previous year. So what does this mean?

In short, this could simply mean that while record growth within the construction industry is starting to plateau, spending and activity related to projects are most likely going to stay constant through 2019 with very minimal increases in overall spending. However, there are still some key factors that indicate a change is on the horizon. Based on past events with a similarly strong economy, this level of growth and spending is simply not sustainable over a long period of time.

Chief Economist and VP of Dodge Data & Analytics, Robert Murray, believes that a even if the construction industry sees a decrease in activity that doesn’t necessarily mean that the overall state will suffer a decline. It is his belief that overall value and spending on construction starts will achieve a “deceleration…the enhanced level of activity that has been achieved over the past several years.” In essence, the construction industry may fall back to where spending and activity was at its most profitable and sustainable over the past few years; a decline but not drastic.

However, according to Cristian deRitis, the Senior Director of Moody’s Analytics, the biggest red flag indicating an economic decline is the steady but low unemployment rate. Cristian argues that, historically, “any time unemployment hovers around 4.5%, recession comes about three years later.” And, in fact, ever since March of 2018, the unemployment rate has been steadily dropping. With this information in mind, according to Moody’s Analytics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this could mean that the economy is due for a recession next summer.

In addition, it is no surprise that the desperate demand for a skilled workforce is effecting the overall health of the construction industry. In a recent survey performed by the Associated General Contractors of America and Autodesk, 81% of those surveyed said they are having a hard time filling craft positions and 56% said the same thing about salaried positions. Where a small number of contractors are attempting to sustain through the labor shortage, the overall problem is that economists agree that is a problem that isn’t going away overnight. Only time will tell how much the construction industry will be able to retain this level of productivity through a long-term labor shortage and consistent low unemployment rates. However, all signs seem to point to 2019 remaining steady and profitable.

The Trillium brand of companies is privately owned by René Poch and provides more than 30 years of industry leading recruitment and staffing services through its divisions including: Trillium Staffing, Trillium Construction Services, Trillium Driver Solutions, Trillium Marine, Trillium Technical, Trillium Environmental, Trillium Hospitality and Trillium Techs. With approximately 100 offices nationwide and nearly 400 internal recruitment professionals, the Trillium brand is proud to be recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts as a Top 25 Largest Industrial Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Largest Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Fastest Growing Staffing Firm in the U.S., and a winner of National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. For more information please visit www.trilliumstaffing.com.