Tag Archives: hiring managers

Hiring Administrative Professionals?

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Are you hiring administrative professionals? Hiring managers across the country are finding difficulty in hiring administrative assistants, executive assistants, and administrative coordinators due to several factors. Are you one of them?

stockxpertcom_id8597492_size3Employers are who facing increased difficulty in recruiting qualified administrative professionals are often finding the following factors as obstacles:

  • Pay rates. Have you experienced sticker shock when viewing candidates’ desired pay rates? It may be time to re-evaluate your pay ranges. Many administrative professionals have taken on additional duties with workplace shortages resulting in more qualified and skilled administrative staff than what was often available in the past. With budget cuts, staff reductions, and attrition, many employers were forced to have their administrative staff cross trained and responsible for duties that were previously covered by multiple individuals in the office. The great news is the talent available today for administrative positions is more qualified, experienced, and diverse in their skills than ever before.
  • Candidate drive. Are you finding a decreased level of interest in entry level positions? You’re not alone. Today’s technology has contributed to building a workforce that is less likely to be content with positions that do not offer a wide variety of duties and may experience an increased amount of down time on the job. Technology has resulted in individuals multitasking  throughout their day both on and off of the job, resulting in a pool of candidates who prefer to be busy, engaged, and moving forward. As employers, we should take this opportunity to see what additional duties, functions, and responsibilities could be integrated into our more entry level positions to attract and maintain a more driven administrative workforce.
  • Overqualified candidates. Is there really such a thing? Not really. As long as a candidate meets the qualifications for the position and is willing to work in the pay range that your organization has established is appropriate for the workload, you should not overlook them. Experienced candidates can bring valuable insight to the position, assist with process improvement, and often require less time and resources during the training and on boarding process. Keep in mind that regardless of the amount of experience a candidate has or their previous pay scales, there is no guarantee that any employee will remain with your company for an extended period of time. Ruling out valuable talent based on your fear of them leaving you, will likely cost you more in the long run.

Often times our recruiting struggles can be offset with some assessments of what we are requiring of candidates for the position and what we as employers are willing to offer to obtain the right talent for the position. Remaining flexible and open minded about the opportunities for your clerical and administrative positions can greatly assist you in finding the right fit for your organization, often times providing more value than you had originally hoped for in the role.

Are you a stand out professional, technical professional, driver, or skilled worker seeking contingent, temporary, or long term career opportunities?  Visit our job board  for more information!  Want to learn more about how you can gain access to Trillium’s national network of professionals and skilled workers? Contact us today!

Trillium, a national leader in staffing and recruitment is a valued staffing partner to over 5,000 companies nationwide. Trillium is privately owned by Oskar René Poch.

 

Maintaining A Strong Rapport With Your Staff

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When was the last time that you connected with your team on an individual level? Do you take time outside of your usual performance review process to acknowledge and connect with them? If not, you should. Maintaining a strong rapport with your staff is a critical part to managing and advancing your team and their efforts.

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A strong rapport with your staff can reveal inefficiencies in the organization, departmental processes, and help to identify issues within your staff that may result in turnover if adjustments are not made. Communicating openly and regularly with your staff also allows for the generation and implementation of new ideas, guidance opportunities, and employee recognition. Not sure where to start or how to fit it in with your other countless duties? Here are a few quick tips:

  • First and foremost you have to make it a priority. As with anything on your to-do list, if you don’t make it a priority chances are you won’t make time to meet with your staff. Mark it on your calendar as any other important appointment and stick to it.
  • Keep it simple. Sometimes informal meetings can be even more productive and revealing than a structured meeting or progress meeting. Step outside of the office to a mutually comfortable setting such as a restaurant or coffee shop and make yourself available and free from distractions such as your phone and email.
  • Prepare for the discussion and remain open minded. Do your homework. Be sure to acknowledge specific accomplishments your employee has achieved since your last meeting. Be open to their feedback, both positive and negative. Often times the best ideas, changes, and suggestions come from those who work in the trenches day in and day out. Remain objective and avoid becoming defensive of any constructive criticism.
  • Make a follow up plan. Did you discuss ideas or changes that may need to take place? Are there things that you may need to investigate further or additional tools that may be helpful to the team? Be realistic and up front with what your team member can expect from you. Give them a timeline in which you plan to consider the points of your discussion and when they will hear back from you. Create an action plan for simple executable items to get the ball rolling.
  • Thank them. Make sure your employee understands that you appreciate them making the time to meet with you and let them know the best times for them to reach out to you if they have things that they would like to discuss further. If your staff feels that the meeting was something done out of obligation rather than a genuine interest in their development at the organization, they’ll be less likely to engage with you in the future.

Even the best leaders and managers can experience failure if they don’t have the support and dedication of a strong team behind them. Keep in mind that every member of your staff brings an added value to your organization and deserves recognition and acknowledgement on a regular basis. For more information on employee recognition, click here.

Are you a stand out professional, technical professional, driver, or skilled worker seeking contingent, temporary, or long term career opportunities?  Visit our job board  for more information!  Want to learn more about how you can gain access to Trillium’s national network of professionals and skilled workers? Contact us today!

Trillium, a national leader in staffing and recruitment is a valued staffing partner to over 5,000 companies nationwide. Trillium is privately owned by Oskar René Poch.

Managing A Poor Performing Employee

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Do you have an employee who is not performing to the standards of their position? If you don’t currently, you likely have in the past and will at some point in the future. Learning to manage, guide, and assess an employee’s performance and it’s impact on your organization can be critical. Maintaining employees who are under performing in their role will have a direct impact on employee morale, productivity, customer satisfaction and ultimately your bottom line.

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The first step to managing a poor performer is to identify who that person may be. Chances are if you haven’t heard complaints from others in their department, you will soon. Conducting regular employee performance reviews, spot checking their work, and communicating with your staff in regards to their role are great ways to ensure that you identify someone who is under performing before it becomes a major hardship. Poor performers often are distant from other team members, take longer to accomplish tasks, avoid accountability, and are not goal driven.

The next step is to determine the cause of the poor performance. Reasons for poor performance can range from situational such as those who are struggling personal life issues, health issues, or lack of focus to skills related such as training and development, under qualified for the position, or those with an overbearing workload. Take the time to communicate openly with your employee to help determine the cause for their lack of performance. Sometimes the solution may be as simple as providing additional training on a process or program. Keep in mind the longer you wait to begin communicating with the team member the less likely you are to remedy the situation.

The third step is to create an action plan. After openly discussing the performance issue with your employee and hopefully identifying some of the underlying causes, you need to communicate and employ a very clear plan of action. Provide your employee with clear and concise expectations and goals for their position and performance. Implement a plan that will help them achieve those goals that directly correlates to the cause of their poor performance. Solutions may include job shadowing another employee in the department, retraining on a specific job duty, or attending additional outside training. If the cause of the poor performance is due to non-work related factors you may allow them to use accrued personal time to address these factors or share with them any professional resources that are available through their benefits package. It is highly recommended that you document and both sign off on the proposed plan of action and schedule a time in the near future to discuss their progress.

Finally, you should review and come to a conclusion on their performance status. Meet with your team member to discuss and review what progress, if any they have made since the implementation of your action plan. If you find the employee is progressing at an acceptable rate, than you may consider setting further goals and additional review appointments to continue to monitor their progress. If you find the employee is not making improvements or their performance is regressing even further you may need to consider further options. Further options may include re-assigning the employee to another position within the organization, taking disciplinary action, or even terminating their employment.

Managing poor performers can be a difficult task but it is crucial to supporting employee morale, company productivity, client satisfaction, and providing a profitable service to your organization. You should always consult with your HR department or Labor and Employment Law adviser if you are unsure of your company policies, procedures, or rights when interacting with your staff members.

Are you a stand out professional, technical professional, driver, or skilled worker seeking contingent, temporary, or long term career opportunities?  Visit our job board  for more information!  Want to learn more about how you can gain access to Trillium’s national network of professionals and skilled workers? Contact us today!

Trillium, a national leader in staffing and recruitment is a valued staffing partner to over 5,000 companies nationwide. Trillium is privately owned by Oskar René Poch.

 

 

 

 

In The Market For A New Executive?

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Are you in the market for a new executive? Whether you are seeking a mid-level or senior executive, now may be the time to begin your search! A recent study by BlueSteps.com, found that as many as 76 percent of senior executives were willing to make a career change immediately for the right opportunity. Beginning with the recession almost five years ago, employed candidates of almost all levels have shown less confidence in pursuing an active career search due to lack of security with a new organization. As the economy has shown it’s stability in the past two years, that is quickly changing.

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While most candidates who are employed at an executive level are far less likely to engage in an active career search, there are ways to attract this level of professional. Chances are you are not going to come across a senior executive’s resume on a job board or through your standard application system. Most executives have built their career using a diverse network and lean on that network and recruiters to help them find their next career. So how do you land a passive executive candidate? The majority of passive executive candidates can be recruited through three channels; your employment brand, networking, and hiring a professional level recruiter.

Maintaining and marketing an employment brand that speaks genuinely to your organization’s goals, priorities, and the reasons that set you apart from other employers can quickly attract talent that aligns themselves with your goals. Google was ranked by Forbes in 2013 as the “Best Company To Work For”. How do they do it? They deploy a number of strategies to publicize why someone would want to work for Google, which includes a wide variety of reasons ranging from working with the latest technology to continuing education and non-profit involvement. Their employment brand has grown so tremendously it has motivated candidates to take extreme measures such as creating websites and video interviews to get the attention of Google’s hiring team as well as become the basis for the new movie, The Internship featuring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. Looking for some great ways to promote your brand? Visit their careers page that includes videos, testimonials, and a multitude of recruitment tools that identifies their employment brand.

Building an employment brand takes time, research, and innovation. If you are looking to hire someone today and you currently haven’t spent much time investing in an employment brand, your immediate search is best tailored towards networking or partnering with a professional recruiter. Are you ready to get your network working to assist you in your search? Start by letting them know you are interested in hiring someone for an executive role. Share with them the benefits of working for your organization, your strategic goals, and what types of skills would make someone a great fit for the position. Next, motivate them to begin thinking, reaching out, and referring their professional network to you. Some great ways to encourage others to help you are offering referral bonuses, gift cards, or other forms of recognition for the person who is able to refer the right candidate to you. Most often times your professional network will be happy to help you and their peers, especially if they are armed with the information that sets a career opportunity with your organization apart from other opportunities.

Even the most heavily networked executives are often hesitant to share with their peers that they may be looking for a career change. The potential repercussions of word getting back to their employer may be reason enough for them to not offer up their interest or resume to even their most trusted colleagues. So how do you reach them? Because most executives are very familiar with delegating duties and have worked with executive recruiters to help them fill positions within their organization, they often times have a high level of respect and confidence in a recruiter representing them in a confidential career search. Executive recruiters are known for their ability to locate careers that are often times not marketed through traditional means, work interviews around the executive’s current employment schedule, and are able to provide candidates with inside information as to what career opportunities may be best for them. Most experienced professional recruiters or executive recruiters represent more passive candidates than they do candidates who are engaged in an active career search and who are posting their resumes online.

Are you a stand out professional, executive, or technical professional seeking contingent, temporary, or long term career opportunities?  Visit our job seekers section for more information!  Want to learn more about how you can gain access to Trillium’s national network of professionals and skilled workers? Contact us today!

Trillium, a national leader in staffing and recruitment is a valued staffing partner to over 5,000 companies nationwide.

Office Etiquette Tips

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Have you ever wondered why you were not selected for a promotion or aren’t being considered for other opportunities in your organization? Your demeanor and office etiquette may be to blame. Here are some great tips to help you excel in an office setting!

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Work Opportunity Tax Credit Extended

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Are you looking for a great way to offset some of your expenses? Does your organization benefit from the Work Opportunity Tax Credit or WOTC? If not, now is the time to start! The WOTC was recently extended for eligible veterans and non veterans who begin work for an employer before January 1, 2014.

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How To Hire The Wrong Person Every Time

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Have you noticed a pattern in your employee turnover rates? If you are noticing a large volume of your new hires are not working out, chances are some simple changes to your hiring process could save you a lot of time, money, and resources. Not sure if your process is to blame?

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How To Hire A CDL Driver

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Does your company specialize in something other than drivers? If so, hiring a safe a qualified CDL driver can be a serious task. Due to the nature of their product line, many manufacturers, retail facilities, and warehouses employ their own driving staff. Unfortunately due to strict DOT regulations, insurance, and other factors these employers may be opening themselves up to costly and dangerous liabilities.

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How To Be Successful In Marine Staffing

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Whether you are searching for Marine Electricians, Shipfitters, or Pipefitters, the search for qualified skilled trades people with marine industry experience can be difficult. In our niche market, marine staffing has it’s own set of diverse challenges that can be difficult for those inexperienced in the industry to overcome. Let’s face it marine contractors across the world are able to find talent and get in forward motion, so the questions remains how do they do it?

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Best States to Make A Living in 2013!

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Are you in career transition or looking for a fresh start? MoneyRates has recently released their list of of the best states to make a living in for 2013. Comprised based on average wage and unemployment data, the cost of living, state tax rate information, and the Workplace Environment rankings; the list can give you some insight into where to center your job search.

The top 10 states include:

  1. Washington
  2. Virginia
  3. Colorado
  4. Texas
  5. Wyoming
  6. Minnesota
  7. Nebraska
  8. Utah
  9. Kansas
  10. Oklahoma

While the financial atmosphere may be ideal to make a living in these areas, locating the ideal position for you may still remain difficult. With economies in some other states still  struggling, these states may find an influx of qualified talent seeking long term careers. Having the right representation may be the difference between landing a mediocre position and your dream job.

Trillium is proud to serve top talent candidates and leading employers in the following areas of the top 10 states to make a living in 2013.

Top 10 StatesAre you a stand out professional, technical professional, or skilled worker seeking contingent, temporary, or long term career opportunities?  Visit our job seekers section for more information!  Want to learn more about how you can gain access to Trillium’s national network of professionals and skilled workers? Contact us today!

Trillium, a national leader in staffing and recruitment is a valued staffing partner to over 5,000 companies nationwide. Trillium is privately owned by Oskar René Poch.