Working through a Contract House: the Good, Bad & the Ugly

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I know that finding a job, whether through your own means or through a staffing company, can be very frustrating. I wanted to know what really makes for a pleasant experience from contractors who have been through it all with several different agencies. They described what they have experienced in the past, and what they look for in a company now. Here are a few things that you should think about before working with a staffing company:

The company reaches out to me
“It’s very important to me, and I have had the most positive experience when I am able to easily connect with my contract house. If I had to choose again, I would always choose an agency that focuses on the care and keeping of its contractors. There have been companies that I have worked for in the past that have not been reachable. If I had any issues with my paycheck, benefits or my actual contract, I would never be able to get a hold of them. The best experiences I have had are with companies who actually care about you. Not only are they available when I need them for issue resolution or for career counseling, but they reach out to me. I get taken out to lunch on occasion, the contractors at my company are treated to pizza parties and I actually know the company that I work through. I feel as though I am part of a team and not just temporary staff in a building that I sit in.”

“I worked at a company before my current position where I was in charge of employees in 5 states. Part of my performance review looked at how I cared for my employees. I needed to visit each employee twice a year and hold a gathering for them annually in addition to general career counseling or job questions. The reason I chose my current company is because they valued the face to face touch and didn’t rely solely on email and phone. I feel like I am a part of a family”

I am a person, not a commodity
“I have had experiences in the past where I had no personal relationship with my recruiter. Basically what happened is a staffing company called me out of the blue based on my skills, and left me a voicemail saying that they had submitted my resume, and secured an interview. In the meantime I hadn’t even spoken to them in the first place. What I enjoy about my experience now is that my recruiter works with me on reformatting my resume, asks me about my career goals and thoroughly prepares me for my interview, I am even walked in so that I have a support system the whole time.”

“My former employer was a joke. They had zero interest in getting to know me, to see how my job was going or to see if I needed anything. While I am thankful to have gotten a job, I was only a commodity to them. When my contract was up I did not feel any loyalty to stay with them and switched companies. Some contractors like the no touch model, but I would like to be able to speak to a person in person and not have my health benefits and paychecks come from a stranger.”

When looking for a new position, keep in mind some of these stories and don’t feel the need to settle on a company that won’t treat or represent you well.

How to Meet the Training Needs of Your Workforce

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Massive training manuals no longer meet the needs of today’s diversified workforce.

We’ve written previously about the importance of continuous training for your employees. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that 35% of workers consider professional development programs to be the top benefit offered by their employers. Your people are your most important asset, so investing in their development is critical.

One of the challenges with corporate training is the diversity of the workforce. Baby boomers learn differently from millennials, telecommuters have different needs than onsite workers, etc. Fortunately, technology has greatly expanded the options for a blended training approach. Rarely do companies just hand out 400-page training manuals that everyone is expected to read. A variety of mediums help to incentivize training and motivate employees in new ways.

Here’s a brief overview of the components of a blended training approach:

1. Instructor-Led Training. This is traditional training with a teacher leading a group of students. The “non-traditional” aspect is that it no longer needs to be in-person. Online courses enable employees scattered all over the world to meet in one virtual place for class. This way, students still get the “human experience” of interacting with a real-time teacher.

2. Web-Based Learning. Today’s workers are accustomed to getting information quickly and on their own time. Web-based learning tools allow that to happen. Many companies are converting their hard copy training documents to web-based learning tools. In addition to being accessible anytime/anywhere, these electronic documents are much easier to modify than printed manuals used to be.

3. Mobile Learning (mLearning). Morgan Stanley estimates that by 2015, more users will connect to the Internet via mobile devices than by a PC. Mobile learning applications are on-demand snippets of information that supplement ongoing learning for employees. For example, three weeks after taking a training course for a new repair process, an aircraft mechanic could look up details of that process on his mobile device while he’s working on a plane. Mobile learning apps are best suited for short sessions (2-6 minutes) that focus on a single learning point.

4. Gamification. Who says we can’t play at work?! A fun and educational training trend is to incorporate learning into video games. A University of Denver Business School study found that employees trained with video games have 11% higher factual knowledge, 14% higher skill-based knowledge, and 9% higher retention than workers trained in less interactive environments. One of our partners saw tremendous success with this approach. New employees played a game in which built they built their own virtual car and developed it into a customized screensaver. In the process, they learned more about the organization and its various offices.

April JenningsAuthor: April Jennings

How Strategic Onboarding Affects Employee Retention

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How you approach a new hire’s first day may determine whether he’s with you for the long term.

Fact: 46% of new hires are gone within eighteen months,1 and almost half of those losses occur in the first forty-five days of employment.2  Those numbers aren’t just startling; they’re expensive.  How can you design your hiring process to help your company do a better job of retaining its talent?

The most critical point in your hiring process actually occurs after the hire is made: the employee’s first day on the job.  You must have a systematic and comprehensive onboarding process to:

  • Help new employees feel welcome and comfortable in their new surroundings.
  • Minimize the time before new employees are contributing value to your organization.

Helping New Employees Feel Welcome and Comfortable

New employees are excited, but they’re also nervous.  They don’t know what to expect and may still harbor doubts as to whether they made the right decision.  Overriding that nervousness, however, is an intense desire to make a good impression and contribute right away.

Here’s the secret most new hires don’t realize: most of that could also be said for you, the hiring manager!  This is your chance to make a magnificent first impression!  The last thing you want is for the new hire to spend his first day sitting alone in a cubicle, filling out paperwork, wondering where to get a cup of coffee…and thinking about contingent plans if this doesn’t work out.

Make the first day a celebration!  Imagine if the new guy walks in to find a bottle of wine on his desk, his computer ready to go, and supplies waiting?  Wouldn’t that leave a lasting impression?  More importantly, get to know him!  One of the primary reasons cited for unsuccessful onboarding is the inability to establish effective working relationships.3  To proactively avoid this problem, perhaps each team member could take him out to lunch over the first few weeks.  Furthermore, each executive could schedule a special one-on-one meeting to lay out the goals of the organization and cast a vision for the employee’s role in achieving them.

One thing’s for certain: that employee will leave his first day more excited than when he arrived, and that bodes well for the people who hired him.

Minimizing the Time Before New Employees Are Contributing Value

You can’t just throw a new employee into the mix and expect great results.  In addition to technical training, he needs to be taught the core values of your organization and how his work helps achieve the company vision.  Training should also include suggested action plans for issues the new hire may encounter.  This will save valuable time as he settles into a new role.

A study of employees in the United States and the United Kingdom found that businesses lose an estimated $37 billion annually due to employees not understanding their jobs.4  The faster the new hire assimilates to your organization, the faster he can leverage the skills for which you hired him in the first place.

How Brightwing Wins at Onboarding

To help new employees feel welcome and comfortable, we provide:

  • A welcome basket
  • A tour of the building
  • Introductions to staff
  • A profile of the new hire sent to all employees
  • Pictures of existing employees for easy identification
  • An assigned mentor
  • A personal overview of paperwork, company programs, and benefits
  • Lunches with all employees
  • An introduction of the new hire at a company-wide meeting

To minimize the time before the new hire is contributing value, we conduct:

  • A review of assessment results
  • A core values overview with the CEO
  • A company history lesson with the company president
  • One-on-one conversations with the manager
  • Clear communication of goals and objectives
  • An overview of the corporate marketing philosophy and materials
  • Training on email and phones
  • In-house software training
  • Meetings with various employees to understand their roles in the company

Failed hires are expensive.  Brightwing can help you take deliberate steps to avoid that cost starting with the onboarding process.

Sources:

  1. Leadership IQ
  2. The Wynhurst Group: 22% of staff turnover occurs in the first forty-five days of employment.
  3. Journal of Management
  4. International Institute for Management Development

Employee Engagement and the Bottom Line

The level of commitment from your employees directly affects financial performance. 

At Brightwing, our passion for elevating human performance drives a hunger for data that shows what works and what doesn’t.  Two results of a Gallup research study recently caught our attention:

  • Disengaged employees cost U.S. companies $370 billion annually through lost productivity.
  • Engaged employees are 22 times more likely to be an advocate for their organization than disengaged employees.

Translation: the level of employee engagement at your company has a tremendous impact on your financial performance.

What is employee engagement, how does it impact the bottom line, and how can you be sure to have it?

What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is simply the level to which your employees embrace the organization’s goals as their own.  Someone who buys into your vision will naturally work more passionately for its fulfillment than someone who views his work as merely bartering for a paycheck.  Engaged employees are more productive, more efficient, more creative, and less in need of supervision.  In short, they’re more valuable.

How Does Employee Engagement Impact Your Bottom Line?

1. Employee engagement improves productivity.  According to Chartered Management Institute (CMI), managers who report feeling motivated at work are more than four times more likely to be highly productive (defined as more than 90% productivity).  That shouldn’t surprise anyone.

2. Employee engagement improves profitability.  A Towers Watson report found that companies with a highly engaged workforce improved operating income by 19.2% over a 12-month period, while companies with low engagement scores saw operating income decline by 32.7% over the same period.

3. Employee engagement improves change management.  PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) claims that 90% of the obstacles to successful change programs are people-related.  How much more likely are your people to pull in a common direction if they are fully engaged in achieving your collective vision?

How Can Your Company Have High Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is a cultural issue, so it affects and is affected by everything you do.  Here are five simple suggestions for how you can begin building higher engagement levels in your workforce:

1. Reward and recognize.  A Workforce Mood Tracker survey involving 630 global corporate respondents confirmed what most of us intuitively know: employees work harder when recognized for their contributions.  You may know that, but do you act on it?  Acknowledge your people for their efforts if you want them to advocate for you.

2. Leverage technology to interact with employees.  Garner forecasts that social networking will replace email as the primary communications hub for 20% of business workers by 2014.  Yammer is one available networking tool to help you collaborate throughout your company.

3. Continually train and develop your people.  Plenty of interactive online tools exist to blend traditional classroom methods, relationship-based mentoring, and digital formats.  Investing in your employees increases the likelihood of them investing in you.

4. Allow your employees to choose work/life programs that fit their needs.  Ditch the one-size-fits-all approach.  Your workforce is made up of individuals with unique needs.

5. Include employees in decision making.  This is a big one!  When employees feel they have a say, they are much more likely to support decisions whether or not they initially supported them.

6. Hire for values, passion and fit. Develop a strong recruiting process that brings in people who fit your culture and environment.

Your Last Failed Hire Cost $60,140!

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Here are some typical costs for an employee making $55,000 who leaves after eight months:
• H.R. involvement (interviews, onboarding): $1,100
• Manager interviews & other recruiting expenses: $1,000
• Advertising: $400
• Employee salary: $36,672
• Benefits (30% of salary): $11,000
• Training: $800
• Productivity Loss (other employees picking up 25% of failed hire’s work due to learning curve): $9,168

TOTAL COST: $60,140

Obviously, these estimates don’t apply to everyone, but according to industry based studies, 24% of bad hires in the U.S. cost the company more than $50,000. Nearly half cost more than $25,000. For failed executive hires, those costs can be 10-15 times the monthly salary. Those are big numbers, and they affect more than the bottom line. A bad hire hurts productivity and morale, not to mention the loss of intellectual property.

In 2010, 2/3 of companies reported a bad hire adversely affecting their business. Perhaps you are one of them. Here are a few quick tips for reducing the chance of it happening again:

1. Closely monitor turnover rate. Put it on your list of quarterly metrics.

2. Understand why someone leaves, and take steps to keep it from happening again. Conduct exit interviews, and treat the exiting employee with respect. There’s a reason he is leaving, and it’s in your best interest to know why.

3. Develop a strong recruiting process that brings in people who fit your culture, environment and organization.

Here’s a simpler one-step formula: partner with Brightwing! Our success depends on the success of your hires, and we have an impressive history of getting it right. We would like to
help you reduce your H.R. costs.

The Reality of Your MSP

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There are more than six billion people on the planet, each of us with talents and skills. Not one of us could be called a commodity.

So why then, when organizations seek out new talent, would they use a process designed for procurement?

MSPs (Managed Service Providers) aren’t new, and at face value, are well intended. In my more than 30 years recruiting and discovering talent, I have engaged with many of them. The core capability of an MSP; compliance and cost management are significant issues that should be addressed. But most MSPs promise big savings by squeezing cost out of systems and streamline procurement processes.

However, what I’ve invariably found is that whatever short-term success organizations experience, long-term they are almost always a drain on the caliber of talent an organization attracts.

High Performing organizations spend a great deal of time identifying, developing and communicating their brand promise and core values in the marketplace. Candidates who are sourced using internal hiring teams are carefully screened for fit with the culture and values of the organization in mind. They are put through a vigorous interview process and are assessed to ensure they align with the values, as well as the skills, for the position. A successful hire is the result of thorough conversations with the candidate and feedback from the hiring managers.

In contrast, the typical hiring process of MSPs only allows the vendor a limited timeframe (sometimes as little as 48 hours) to provide candidates. Candidates may only have as short as a 30-minute interview with the hiring manager (and believe it or not sometimes no interview) and throughout the process there is little to no feedback provided to either the vendor or the candidate.

Putting a requirement out with a hard limited deadline means that a lot of quality candidates are missed, particularly passive candidates who may truly be the best qualified. Additionally, when recruiters are unable to get feedback and make successful placements, they will turn their focus to clients who are more engaged in the hiring process. Because of this, top talent may be going to your competitors.

The typical MSP scenario can also greatly damage your employee brand. With little or no feedback; and constant submittals to a variety of positions within your organization, talent will eventually feel commoditized. That message and feeling eventually makes it into the market place. Also controlling or managing the message about your organization in the market is very difficult with multiple recruiting and staffing vendors who are usually not incentivized in the process to do so. The reality of the typical MSP managed “staffing” systems is that over time they almost always are a drain on the caliber of talent and, therefore, the future potential of the organization.

Talent drives innovation and success in any top-performing organization. Leading organizations understand that when they are discovering and acquiring talent, it’s an investment in their future and a statement about their potential.

Finding the type of talent that can help propel a company forward requires a people-centric process — one that allows a vendor to use their experience and insight to find the best candidate for the job. I’ve yet to find an MSP that drives a people-centered process.

Author: George Albert Opitz, President of Brightwing

 

3 Ways Employment Branding Beats out Job Postings

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Employment BrandYou can think of your Employment Brand as your organization’s reputation as an employer. And the stronger your Employment Brand, the more, and higher quality, candidates you will attract. In order to market your employment brand, you have to discover what makes your company unique (or your Employee Value Proposition). Then you have to communicate that through various mediums, such as your career web page and social media. But more importantly, you have to engage your current employees in the dialogue. Think of them as your brand ambassadors. Encourage your employees to blog about company events and perks, get involved in user groups or associations and attend community events. When people love the place they work, they can’t help talking about it.

 

 

Why it gets better results:

1. Higher quality candidates. If you want to attract innovators and people at the top of their game, you have to be other places besides the job boards. The best candidates are sometimes passive candidates. And the best candidates want to work for companies with a great reputation that have a compelling, interesting and authentic story to tell.

2. It doesn’t expire. Employment Branding has more long-term value. Once you have successfully built your employer brand it will continue to positively affect your recruitment for years to come. As your Employment Branding content gets circulated, your internet search engine rankings will continue to increase and inevitably drive more talent to your company.

3. It’s more cost effective. Through Employment Branding you can drive organic traffic to your career page versus using paid job postings. Interesting and authentic Employment Branding also drives free referrals from your employees and your local and online communities.

Author: April Jennings

Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs

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We have a major skills gap in this country; applicants are not qualified; schools aren’t preparing students for jobs; the government isn’t letting in enough high-skill immigrants; and even when the match is right, prospective employees won’t accept jobs at the wages offered. We’ve all heard it. But is it true?

A new book by Wharton Management Professor, Peter Cappelli, turns the tables on the ever popular argument that applicants simply do not have the skills needed for today’s jobs. In his book, Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs, Cappelli argues that companies themselves are really the ones to blame. They lack hiring expertise and have little information about actual training costs. Instead, more companies are turning to computerized applicant tracking systems that can make it harder, not easier, to find qualified job candidates. Capelli explores the gap between employer expectations and applicant realities while outlining an actionable path forward to put people back to work.

1. Set Realistic Job Requirements
“Employers are looking for somebody who is currently doing exactly the same job someplace else,” says Capelli. Companies are looking for incredibly specific skill sets and instead of looking for someone who can do the job, they are looking for someone that currently does that exact job. He argues that therein lays the real problem. Instead of recognizing that employees are an investment that can be nurtured and trained, companies set unrealistic job requirements.

2. Invest in Training
Capelli highlights the serious lack of training in corporate America today. He says employers have failed to promote internal training for current employees and future hires. He references a study in his book that found that in 1979, young workers received an average of 2.5 weeks of training per year. By 1991, only 17% of young employees reported getting any training during the previous year, and by last year, only 21% said they received training during the previous 5 years. Capelli raises the question, if everyone is looking for someone with 3 to 5 years experience, where are they expected to get it? He calls for a resurgence of the work-based training and internship models that have worked in the past and work in many industries (medical, accounting, law). He also highlights the lack of collaboration between employers who want to fill positions that require college graduates and the colleges that produce those graduates.

3. Assess what it costs to leave a position vacant
Nobody wants to be the company to give people the initial experience they need, meanwhile they can’t actually fill their open positions. Cappelli asks, “Does it make sense to keep vacancies unfilled for months to avoid having to give new hires with less-than-perfect skills time to get up to speed?” Most companies know what it costs to fill a position, but they have no idea what it cost to leave the position vacant. They have no idea when it begins to hurt their business, their growth and their profitability. When companies fail to realize the hidden costs associated with all their unfilled positions they delay hiring.

4. Put the Human Element Back Into Business
Capelli argues that we have an over reliance on technology. By relying too heavily on computerized applicant tracking systems that scan resumes for specific terms, qualifications and experience, employers are not only not finding what they’re looking for, they aren’t getting a clear picture. Employees are more than the specific skill sets they bring to a job. Year after year companies list values like work ethic, accountability, problem-solving skills and punctuality at the top of their needs list, yet the hiring process takes little of these factors into account. He also talks about why companies are hurting themselves by discriminating against older workers or people who have been out of the job market for a while. He says it makes sense to train people and it makes sense to give people a chance.

 

 

Author: April Jennings

How to Work with Someone with ADHD

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So you worked really hard on your presentation.  You are confident the information you compiled is factual, relevant, and will knock the socks off your boss – maybe change the whole direction of the organization and result in a huge promotion for you.

And then you present. You see your boss’ eyes glaze over; he’s scrolling through his emails on his phone, flipping ahead in the handouts you prepared, and glancing at his watch. Halfway through your most important point – he asks who is taking care of lunch. What happened?

Maybe it’s not you. According to statistics from the Center for Disease Control & Prevention  about 5.2 million children between the ages of 3 and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Children with this diagnosis may exhibit tendencies to be bored and distracted, procrastinate and be careless with their work product. Those children grow up to be adults and enter the workforce.

Whether they truly have ADHD or are just distracted people, there are a few things you can do to help keep your boss and co-workers on track (and hopefully, focused on the message you want to convey):

  • Keep your presentations short — 20-30 minutes on average
  • Take short breaks during long meetings to allow people to move around
  • Solicit feedback from your audience to keep their interest
  • Follow up with written documentation of your main points

If you manage someone with ADHD symptoms, make sure you:

  • Give precise directions
  • Reward behaviors  you want to encourage — positive feedback is important
  • Break projects into smaller tasks
  • Have checkpoints to ensure they stay focused

Lastly, excluding ALL electronic devices from meetings (whether willingly or by force) couldn’t hurt either!

Information sources:  www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_adult_strategies.htm; www.ehow.com/way_5489803_adhd-coping-skills.html.

 

How to Maintain a Better Work/Life Balance

“I’m serious when I do my work. I’m not serious when I’m home with my kids.”
– Bill Gates

Work and Life. We need to balance both in order to work well and care for our families, but with remote access to company files, smart phones and deadlines, shutting down and leaving work at 5:30 is getting harder and harder to do no matter how much we need it. Studies can tell you the statistics of overworked and stressed workers, but we at Brightwing thought it would be useful to give you some coping tactics and strategies.

When you are off the clock, act like it
We all take our work baggage home with us as well as a report to read, phone calls to make and meetings to prepare for. Everyone does, and although it is the norm, it does not have to be. The first suggestion to achieving this is to have better time management so that you can plan in pockets of time to work on projects, reports, and calls during actual work hours. Understandably there will be major company happenings that will take over from time to time, but with better time management our off-the-clock personalities can shine through.

Give the best part of yourself
The second suggestion that can help us get back to feeling like ourselves is to shut off and talk to a friend or family member. Turn off your phone and computer in order to connect. In the article “10 Habits of Remarkably Charismatic People” in Inc. Magazine, Jeff Haden says, “Don’t check your phone. Don’t glance at your monitor. Don’t focus on anything else even for a moment. You can never connect with others if you’re busy connecting with your stuff, too. Give the gift of your full attention. That’s a gift few people give.” If one of the reasons we are working is to enjoy life with our families and friends, then we should act like they are what’s important, not our iPhones.

Change your route
Having a hard time winding down after an exceptionally long stressful day? Change your routine and your route home. Sometimes our brains go into overdrive and we spend the entire commute home thinking about what happened at the office throughout the day. We arrive at our destination without even remembering how we got there. Take the long way home and spend some time enjoying some new music or your favorite radio program. Be aware of your surroundings and begin to notice sites you normally overlook. Begin to process things that are going on outside of work so you can be ready to enjoy your time off the moment you walk through your front door.

Engage in leisure activities
Studies have found that engaging in leisure activities lowers blood pressure, stress hormones and leads to smaller waist lines. No shock there. But even with all the widely reported benefits, busy working Americans have a hard time finding time to fit these activities in. So practice one of the skills you use at work, multitask. If your dog needs a walk, taking him for a nice long walk in the park and enjoy throwing the ball around. If you want to spend time with your children, start a game of impromptu soccer. Getting active and outdoors can go a long way in helping you to reduce stress and mentally step away from work.

 

4 Practical Employee Engagement Strategies that Drive Results

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Recent statistics indicate that engagement in our US companies is very low, around 32%.  This means that two thirds of our workforce is showing up to work every day under half steam.  To an owner of an organization this is difficult news.  Why are so many people disengaged?  There is another statistic that says that many people are not satisfied with their current position and when the economy picks up they will be looking for a new job.  A large research firm just lost one third of their IT department to a competitor.  The reason, the employees didn’t feel they made a difference and felt insignificant.  This is of course a very significant loss to an organization and there is a big link between people being engaged and satisfied at work.  So what can a company do to engage their people?

1)    Create a sharing culture rather then a telling culture. Hold meetings that allow employees an opportunity to share what they see, think and feel.  What are the clients feeling? Use the information from your employees and clients to create new ways to operate in the company.  People do not hate change nearly as much when they are involved in the creation of it.

2)    Create time on peoples’ calendars to create and implement new ideas.  Many people fail to share great ideas because it often means more work on top of an overwhelming work load.  Compensate people for new ideas and improved processes.

3)    Create visuals in the office that show how things are going.  If someone knows that their idea is moving along they will have a great feeling of being involved.

4)    Have people bring pen and paper to meetings.  Leave all computers out of your meetings as they create a difficult distraction and prohibit creativity.

 

 

Author: Kim Knapp, Organizational Consultant and Executive Coach at Corporate Life Success. Knapp has been coaching Brightwing Team members for the past 4 years and has helped numerous members of the Brightwing family grow both personally and professionally.

Corporate Life Success is supporting entire corporate cultures in the shift from fearful behaviors like avoidance and entitlement, to freedom behaviors of engagement and creativity. Her clients are having fun and enjoying their companies again. They are finding that the practice of some very simple principals can yield a dramatic result. Creative solutions, innovation and extraordinary growth are showing up as we address the fear and focus on freedom techniques.

How to Be an Extraordinary Boss

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For as long as I can recall I never remember having a “Bad” or “Mean” or “Jerk” of a boss.  Throughout my working tenure I always had good luck in working for decent people.   The Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York, the billionaire commodity trader, the Bankruptcy Partner at the law firm, the IKON copier Manager, the restaurant Manager, the Valet Parking Manager and the Head Counselor at a summer camp were all “Good” bosses.  They were all fair, honest and understanding.  But I have never worked for an “Extraordinary” boss or leader.

If I ever did work for an exceptional, remarkable, excellent, brilliant or outstanding boss, here is what I imagine they would be like:

First, they would view business as symbiotic rather than parasitic.  The concept that customers are a “territory” to be conquered and competitors are the “enemy” would be replaced with the philosophies of “collaboration”, “alliance” and “cooperation”.  The boss would build teams of people that would partner and collaborate with other companies, customers and even competitors.

Second, this fictional leader would never motivate employees with loss of privileges, but rather inspire people to self-actualize and see a greater vision for the company by empowering them to create change and be a part of that change.  Great bosses inspire their employees to share the same vision for the company.

Third this boss would not micro-manage employees; rather commit themselves to serving their reports by providing all the necessary resources for them to produce exceptional work product.  As well as, encouraging them to make decisions, take ownership and learn from their successes and failures.

Fourth, they would view people as the key ingredient to the success and higher purpose of the company, rather than commodities that need to be controlled through rigid rules and regulated systems.  They would inspire people to be the beneficiaries of their peer’s success, the community’s success and ultimately the company’s success.

Fifth, and probably most importantly, they would own the philosophy that change equals growth and is an inevitable part of life.  However, that does not mean that change is always easy and good leaders understand that change is more readily received with effective communication.  Real change happens when it is championed by employees supported by leadership and this is what makes a “perfect boss.”

 

 

Author: David Chernow

8 Rules For Creating a Passionate Work Culture

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“For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny. “

— Tony Hsieh, Delivering Happiness

If you want to get the very best out of your employees and increase productivity take a hard look at your company culture. A strong workplace culture not only leads to happier employees, but impressive employee retention rates, innovation, higher levels of customer satisfaction and ultimately growth.

A recent article I read in Fast Company, 8 Rules For Creating a Passionate Work Culture, outlines essential actions that can help you create a culture that reflects your company’s core values and allows your employees to flourish.

Here is my cliff note version:

1. Hire the right people – Hire to your company’s core values and put passion first. Then look at experience second and credentials third.

2. Communicate – Listen more than you speak and give people the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them. Without communication trust does not exist.

3. Tend to the weeds – Identify the toxic people in your company, the relentless whiners, and get rid of them.

4. Work hard, play hard – Set a work ethic standard and make sure employees are rewarded for their sacrifices.

5. Be ambitious – Ambition can sometimes be looked down upon. However, the strong desire to achieve is necessary to make changes and propel forward. Create a culture that supports powerful beliefs and what could be considered big steps.

6. Celebrate differences – When you bring together people from different backgrounds with varying experiences and interests you create room for collaboration and energy.

7. Create the space – Want your employees to be innovative? Make sure your space encourages interaction and connectivity. Click HERE for some work spaces that may inspire you.

8. Take the long view – The culture needs to look ahead, not just months, but years and decades.

 

 

Author: April Jennings

How to Implement Change in the Workplace

Change…some people like it and some people hate it.  I think if everyone were honest, even those who embrace change have to admit there are challenges that come with doing something new.   How are some of the best ways to cope with change and make sure that you end up with a smile on your face and the best possible experience?

Get Involved – If you are able to volunteer to be a “subject matter expert” or to be on a committee to recommend change….do it!  Being on the front end of change gives you the best opportunity to provide information to make the changes most effective for you and those on your team.

Accentuate the Positive – Find out the advantages of the new “whatever” and make sure your team understands their effort comes with a prize at the end.  Better reporting capabilities; faster information gathering; streamlined processes can all be good incentive for them to dive into the training and endure the growing pains.

Communicate, communicate, communicate…and then communicate some more – Nothing puts the brakes on change faster than some part of the train not getting the message.  Put it in writing, talk about it in meetings and make it part of your written policies and procedures.

Keep an Open Mind  – If you grumble about the change, so will those around you.  Look for solutions to the things that you perceive as negative that will benefit the whole group.

….And get the grumblers to help – If there is negativity (and no matter how positive you are, there will be some), don’t try to suppress it.  Have a meeting to discuss those things that aren’t working and see whether additional training is needed or other solutions can be developed by those experiencing the most pain.

Don’t forget to motivate  along the way– Find a way to reward the behaviors you are changing in little ways as you see progress and make sure the carrot is visible to everyone in the organization.

Lastly – relax and go with the flow.  Change is all around us.  Embrace it.  After all, if things didn’t change we’d all be receiving this message by Pony Express!

 

 

Author: Karen Melvin

Why You Should Invest in Your Employees

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These days’ workers are looking for more than traditional benefits, vacation time and a one hour lunch break. They want to be engaged, challenged and feel like the company that they give so much of themselves to will give more than a paycheck. Since employee training and team building events are less expensive than employee turnovers, education, training and opportunities to offer a creative outlet are great ways to re-energize, empower and bring the best out of your workforce.

Benjamin Franklin

Our wise and witty founding Father once said, “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” If this is true for general education, it yields the same result for continuing education. Stagnant employee minds can breed not only mediocre performance and work culture attitudes, but a mediocre financial outcome.

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that 35% of workers consider professional development programs to be the top benefit offered by their employers and one of the most engaging.  Your people are your most important asset, so investing in their development is critical.  Two results of a Gallup research study recently caught our attention:

  • Disengaged employees cost U.S. companies $370 billion annually through lost productivity.
  • Engaged employees are 22 times more likely to be an advocate for their organization than disengaged employees.

Translation: the level of employee engagement has an incredible impact on your financial performance.

A Spark of Creativity

Another way to increase employee engagement would be to refresh their mindset.  Have you ever tried to solve a problem, complex or not, and found your mind blank, unable to solve much of anything? This may be because you are thinking too specifically and relying on past successes. Mixing up environments may help shake the thinking block. Harvard Business School Professor Michael Norton examined thinking and habit, “If you’ve done something the same way for 10 years, it might be time to reconsider.”

Providing employees with the opportunity to think and experience new events in areas that don’t have much to do with their job function, may actually help them with their job. Psychology professor Charlan Nemeth of the University of California at Berkeley has said that this “demonstrates that exposure to unfamiliar perspectives can foster creativity.” Company volunteering, workshops that appeal to the employee not their job description, and breaks throughout the day or work year allow the mind to wander, see situations in a new light and refresh the individual to perform their function with a fresh perspective.

To satisfy the whole person, increase employee retention and keep productivity operating on high levels, your workforce needs to know that you, their employer, want them to increase their knowledge and experience new challenges. Meaningful employment today is more than a job description, it’s a key to personal/ professional identity and purpose.

 

Author: Elyse Lopez

The Importance of Face-to-Face Communication

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Recently, all of us at Brightwing collaboratively worked on our new Cultural Standards that we recently unveiled – with one of those standards being ‘Build Relationships for Life’.  And part of the ‘Build Relationships for Life’ standard is to communicate face-to-face when possible.

With the increasing presence of electronic gadgets and social media, which are useful and necessary aspects of doing business in today’s tech savvy and global climate, sometimes what gets lost is the good old-fashion face-to-face conversation.  There is no amount of technological advancements that can ever substitute that.

Kathleen Begley, author of “Face-to-Face Communication, Making Human Connections in a Technology-Driven World” correctly states, “face-to-face communication remains the most powerful human interaction” and “as wonderful as electronic devices are they can never fully replace the intimacy and immediacy of people conversing in the same room and it has worked for millions of years.”

There are many advantages to having face-to-face conversations and at the head of that list is simply – trust.  Eye contact, body language, voice inflection and tone help create a real connection.  Research states that up to 70% of what we say comes from unspoken signals, facial expressions and tone.  There is a personal commitment and of course the interaction factor when having face-to-face conversations that certainly make it more authentic.  These conversations are not only useful for relationship building and productive outcomes, but they’re more efficient than one might think.

The value of a face-to-face conversation should never be taken for granted and pushed aside.  What we learn about ourselves and others is priceless and part of the human experience which truly links us together.

 

Author: Jason Hochstein

A Case for Continuous Learning in the Workplace

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There’s something about spring time…the days are longer and brighter.  The songs of the birds in the morning are a little louder.  People start to shed their heavy sweaters in favor of airy cottons in perky colors.  All of those things put a little more bounce in your step as the winter (at least in Michigan) melts away.

But what about energizing your insides?  What can you do to feel like you’ve opened the door to your mind and brushed the cobwebs out?

At Brightwing, we have an ABG Program (Always Be Growing) where  employees  collaborate with their managers and choose their own path to learning something new.  It can be something traditional – like a class; something hands-on (like shadowing a co-worker to get a better understanding of their position and challenges); or something of a more personal nature – like getting a group of your co-workers to exercise together.

It is our philosophy that whatever you do to expand your mind and experiences will help you grow stronger as a person and improve the company as a whole. According to “How to Incorporate Career Development and Training with Work Requirements” published by SHRM (3/26/2010), focusing on the following will help determine appropriate training:

  • Recognizing departmental goals and objectives as a basis for developing employees
  • Managers should be in a position to assist the employee in achieving their goals and helping them to manage their time so they can reach their objective
  • The organization’s goals should be communicated through a policy that creates a culture supporting employee development  (tuition refund, etc.)

 

If you are in a position to offer growth opportunities to the people in your organization, make it an amazing experience for them.  Help them see the advantages of learning something new.

And if you are the one who is given the chance to learn something new???  Don’t look for the easy way out!  Challenge yourself to really do the analysis on where you want to be and how you are going to get there.  Learning is all around you.  In the words of Gandhi, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

 

How to Stay Creative in the Workplace

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Staying creative in the workplace can be challenging, even if you work in a creative environment all day long. I was recently asked in a marketing meeting what websites, books or blogs I read for inspiration and creativity and my list wasn’t that long, in fact it was downright pathetic. I never made time for surfing the web to view other designer’s work or reading design blogs mainly because I felt I couldn’t give myself permission to take the time away from my daily job duties. So I challenged myself to find interesting design websites, blogs and articles to view or read several days a week, such as Pinterest.  Once I gave myself that permission, I opened myself up to a whole new world of creativity, excitement and a fresh perspective on ways I can be more creative.

The article “5 Ways to Ignite Creativity” by guest author, TJ Philpott states, “In order to promote our own ability for thinking outside the box and spawn the creativity we seek within ourselves deliberate measures sometimes need be taken”. One of his suggestions is to separate yourself from the work environment which is usually a very structured environment with triggers that limits one’s ability to create and causes one to focus more on the issues and functions of that environment. Our marketing department is following this suggestion. We have decided that each month we will focus on a new creative medium and choose a day to do a mini field trip to explore that medium. For instance, March is Interior Design, April is Television & Movies and June is Culinary. The idea being that exploring different forms of creativity and getting “away from our work environment” will open our minds to be more creative in what we do on a daily basis.

So what do you do if you don’t work in an extremely creative field or department? What if your job is more technical? How do you stay fresh, come up with new ideas and think outside of the box? I collaborated with Brightwing Recruiter Angela Crooker to get her perspective on staying creative in the recruiting field.

Being a Recruiter is more of a technical job but you can also be very creative! When you are looking for candidates for a position, sometimes you have to get creative.

Bianca Male, in the article “10 Creative Recruiting Strategies to Hire Great People”, states “…many companies are embracing creative recruiting.”  Recruiters these days have to think outside of this box. Some of the ideas that this article suggests are some Angela uses every day, like utilizing obscure social networks. Angela also likes to meet with candidates after work hours in a group setting to discuss things such as resume and cover letter building. This brings her a lot of referrals.

By staying creative in your career, you will have greater success. Being creative doesn’t always mean painting a picture or sculpting something, it’s as simple as the dictionary describes it – the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods and interpretations. This can mean just thinking outside of the box, making use of creative thoughts and problem-solving like Angela does when looking for new ways to find candidates. Something as simple as day dreaming is considered to be a constructive way to help foster new ideas and to open your mind to creative thinking. So anyone at any type of job can find a moment to step away from their usual setting to do something that will open themselves up to more creativity.

Authors: Carol Koskyn, Angela Crooker

Dead Car Battery Confirms Brightwing Truly Is a Cool Place to Work

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Last Thursday night I went to the Crain’s Detroit award ceremony for the “Coolest Place to Work” at the Henry Ford Museum and I can tell you that being outside of the office setting with people from Brightwing was a real blast.   We were one of 4 companies featured in the “highlights” video that Crain’s produced and sitting in the auditorium, watching our CEO – dressed up as Cruella Deville for Halloween was priceless.  Oh, yeah we also had one of our sales guys dress up as Sparty, but I am a Grand Valley State fan so whatever.

Crain’s put on a nice show…Bells beer was flowing and they had a photo booth, so 6 of us crammed in and took a bunch of pictures.  And, this is cool, they had a true to size airplane cabin complete with seats and overhead storage so we drank and celebrated in the plane.

But the most memorable part of the evening happened after we all got back to the office from the event when I realized that my car was dead.  I had accidentally left my lights on and my car wouldn’t start.  Everyone stayed with me, in the cold and rain while one person drove all the way home to get jumper cables.  And that’s it… at 10:15 at night my coworkers spent almost 40 minutes helping me with my car problems.  I am truly blessed, Brightwing is indeed a cool place to work.

 

The Difference between Good and Bad Bosses

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“Mmm, yeah, I’m going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday, too” – Bill Lumbergh

Your boss may not be as bad as Bill Lumbergh from the movie Office Space, but as another Boss’s Day comes and goes, although the 2011 holiday fell on a Sunday (is this a slap to the boss’s face?),  I was wondering what makes a bad boss?

The internet is full of websites relaying stories of bad bosses:  reallybadboss.com, workingamerica.org/badboss and employeesurveys.com, just to name a few.

You will find thousands of real life personal tales of employees and their experiences with a ‘bad boss’.  Some are quite funny while others are outrageously horrifying – leaving you to wonder how one human being can treat another with such disdain.

There are accounts of a boss taking away all of his employees’ desk chairs, leaving them to work standing up.  Yet another employee, upon returning to work from a well-deserved vacation, found their work space was severely reduced and re-arranged.   Then there is the employee who was berated for keeping their desk too clean – the boss’s rationale was that a messy desk is evidence of an employee hard at work.  And the stories go on and on and on.

Then I thought, well these are extreme cases – sad for sure – and certainly on the edge of ridiculousness and hopefully rare in occurrence – but what about the ‘bad boss’ who isn’t mean and nasty, rather he just doesn’t know any better?

The Micro-Manager, The Belittler, The one who gives little or no direction, The UN-rewarding boss, The UN-approachable one.

These bosses are much more common in many workplaces – and seemingly easier to correct simply by having an open and honest conversation with your boss.  Do so, by not finding fault with your boss or shifting blame, but ‘guiding’ him/her to what your needs are in order to make you a better employee.  In other words – help them to help yourself.  Many times they may not realize the error of their ways  (insert snicker here!).

If you’re a boss reading this – take a few moments today to evaluate how well you interact with your employees on a day-to-day basis.  Find any areas for improvement?

On the other side of the coin, if you have a good boss, acknowledge them.  It doesn’t have to be an elaborate gift, a big ole heartfelt “Thank You” goes a long way and always works.

Finding Success in Your Company Name Change

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After more than 30 successful years, what was “Resource:  The Smart Workforce Solutions Company” is now “Brightwing.”  And surprisingly, although we only changed our name it feels like a different place around here.

What is in a name?  What if you could have picked your name?  Would you have kept the one you have worn for the last however many years, or chosen a new one?

Eighteen months ago our executive team posed some of these exact questions about changing our name, and ultimately we took the leap.  Resource felt a little constricting, limiting or didn’t give us enough distinction.  We had worn the name for 30 years and it served us well, but now was the time to stand up and be heard.  We wanted everyone to know what we have known for many years:  that it takes a special company to live by the mission to champion human potential and Brightwing was challenging itself to be one of those companies.

When we switched to Brightwing, the creative conceptualization and writing of our blog was to be shared by an eclectic group of employees from a cross-section of our organization.  Collectively, we decided that the first article was going to be about a person’s exceptional accomplishments.  Maybe someone had overcome a great tragedy in their life, had committed a great act of courage or had been a beacon of hope for someone else.  I found stories like these at Brightwing, but my writing couldn’t do them justice.  And then it hit me:

A month ago one of our most senior recruiters came to our CEO and said that she didn’t know if she was going to be able to live up to the name Brightwing.  She felt that with the new name comes great responsibility. The people I work with are challenging themselves every day to live up to Brighwing’s lofty mission, which is a success story in itself.

See what some successful companies were called when they first started out.

Another interesting article on taking the name change leap.

Michigan Business and Professional Association Grants Brightwing Recognition as One of the “101 Best and Brightest Places to Work”

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Honor Comes on the Heels of Crain’s Detroit Business “Cool Places to Work” Award, Inc. Magazine “Top Small Company Workplace” Award and Dallas Business Journal “Best Place to Work” Award

TROY, Mich. – August 18, 2011 – Troy, Mich.-based Brightwing, the staffing and training company that elevates human performance, has been recognized as one of the best and brightest places to work by the Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA). The company will be honored on Thursday, Sept. 29 at the Dearborn Inn Marriott.

For consideration as an honoree, an independent evaluation was conducted by a research firm based on key measures in a variety of categories, including communication, compensation and benefits, diversity and multiculturalism, employee education and development, employee engagement and development, recognition and retention, recruitment and selection , work-life balance and community initiatives.

“We’re very proud to have received this honor from the MPBA,” said Brightwing CEO Aaron Chernow. “Helping businesses cultivate rewarding and engaging environments that help elevate the potential of them and their employees is what we do every day. But that our company is a place where our team feels excited to come to work every day is something that creates a special sense of pride and accomplishment.”

In addition to the MBPA recognition, Brightwing in 2011 was named a “Top Small Company Workplace” by Inc. Magazine and Winning Workplaces, and a Crain’s Detroit Business’ “Cool Place to Work,” a recognition it also won in 2009 – a consecutive honor as Crain’s recognizes “cool” workplaces every other year. It was also named a Dallas Business Journal “2010 Best Place to Work,” and a 2009 and 2010 “101 Best and Brightest Company to Work For” by the Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) and Corp! Magazine.

Brightwing represents more than 550 consultants and clients nationwide. The company has offices in Dallas, Texas, and Weston, Fla.

About Brightwing: At Brightwing our goal is different. We help people and organizations of all types and sizes enhance performance levels in the workplace. From staffing and recruiting to training and development, we are all about creating workplace environments where employees thrive! We do this by listening, advising and delivering well thought out performance-based people solutions. We believe it takes a personal approach. It also takes knowledge and intuition that can only be gained through 35 years of experience in asking the right questions.

Brightwing has been named a “Top Small Company Workplace,” by Inc. Magazine, a “Cool Place to Work,” by Crain’s Detroit Business, a “101 Best and Brightest Company to Work For,” by the Michigan Business and Professional Association and Corp! Magazine and a “2010 Best Place to Work,” by Dallas Business Journal. Headquartered in Troy, MI, Brightwing has branch offices in Dallas, TX, and Weston, FL.  To discover the Brightwing difference, visit www.brightwingbdev.wpenginepowered.com.

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Media Contact
April Jennings
800521.2478
[email protected]

 

How to Use a Mentor System

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No matter how confident a person may seem, they are still likely to be a little overwhelmed when starting a position. A lot is placed on the shoulders of new employees. They have to get to know a fresh office with new faces as well as get into a routine for their workload. It’s almost as scary as being thrown into a labyrinth with a Minotaur. Wouldn’t it be awesome if they had a specific person in the organization to go to for help when they needed it? Someone who has been there for awhile and knows the ropes?

Flight Restriction

Mentoring is an amazing way to integrate a new employee, but how does a manager make sure that he creates a successful mentoring program?

Take Off

The first thing to do is find mentors suitable for the task. These people have to be the definition of your company’s values. The point of initiating new employees is not simply to have them learn the job. One of the main aspects a mentor provides is an example and teacher of what your organization represents. Your mentors should also be able to communicate effectively. It does not help a new employee if his/her mentor does not have the heart to point out mistakes and ways to correct them along with the compliments. Make sure that your mentors have the time to devote to the cause as well. Some employees want to focus on their work and don’t have time for added responsibility. Your mentors should also realize that they are becoming teachers and not royalty with servants. New employee abuse is the leading cause of work related deaths.

The next step is to give your new employee and his/her mentor clear expectations of what they are to expect from one another. Nothing is worse then putting two people in a position in which they have no idea what they are doing. Brightwing’s mentoring program delegates a set time frame for the mentorship period. It also sets clear expectations that the mentor and mentee will meet at least once a week and monthly with the mentor program leaders. Mentors are expected to provide constructive and honest feedback, teach by example, encourage, and maintain open communication. Mentees need to listen and utilize feedback, accept challenges, ask questions, and inspire his/her mentor. These are just a few guideline examples for what each person should get out of the program.

The final strategy is to stress the perks of the mentoring program to keep people interested. Mentors are given personal growth, and the ability to strengthen their communication, leadership, and coaching skills. Mentees get a better understanding of the organization’s core values and how to uphold them. They also develop a relationship with a fellow employee faster and receive more clarity on their job and where to go for help. Wouldn’t it be great if I could end this paragraph there? The truth is that people like physical rewards as well. At Brightwing, there is a Mentor of the Year award chosen from mentee feedback. Each mentor/mentee team is also given a monetary sum to place into future mentoring programs.

Maintaining Altitude

A mentoring program can only strengthen the integration of new employees if done right. If you utilize the points I have presented, you will see the benefits firsthand. Picking the right mentors assures that the new employees are in the right hands and that can make all the difference.

How to Get the Most out of Meetings

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We all remember the movie Ocean’s Eleven. Most of us wanted to be involved in a heist after. The movie just made it seem so cool with all the nifty ideas that were utilized to be successful. Heists are bad, and yet we were rooting for the team. Well, what made the eleven people so successful? They did something a lot in the movie that brought their ideas together. They had meetings!

Flight Restriction

In the business world, one cannot get anywhere without conducting meetings. They do more than just bring coworkers together. Meetings are the ideal way to spread ideas and make sure a project or task is done with ideas of all involved, but how exactly do you get the most out of them?

Take Off

1. People– The first thing that someone needs to decide is who to bring to a meeting. A DISC assessment might be a good way to decide which people to involve. DISC is a physiological assessment that places people into four different groups. They are as follows:

Dominance: Likes order, control, and assertiveness

Influence: Very social and likes to work in teams; optimistic

Steadiness: Patient but persistent; follows orders well

Conscientiousness: Likes taking everything into account, structure, and accuracy.

Obviously you need a good balance of these personalities in order to get the most out of a meeting. Two dominant people will just kill each other for leadership, and too many influential people will just socialize about what’s happening on their Facebook. A group of steady people will have no leader and likely die of starvation, and conscientious people will just be a giant pile of paranoia.

2. Agenda– Know what you want to do beforehand. Sit down and create a skeleton framework for what you need to discuss and its importance in the grand scheme of things. Try to frame out what questions you want to ask and form a clear purpose for the meeting. Without an objective, people might start discussing alternate dimensions or other things to scare other members or create an explosion of irrelevant information.

3. Know Your Limits– The best way to get anything out of a meeting is to know when to move on. You can sit there all day and debate on a topic, but might never reach a decision. Spend a little time on it, but if no clear decision is being made, then tell everyone to take some time to think about it outside of the meeting and press on to the next subject. The good thing about meetings is that you can reconvene. There is no limit! Remember to also finish the meeting with expectations of deadlines and what to do next.

4. Think outside of the box– Don’t be afraid to get some outsiders involved. Meetings might be productive if everyone is knowledgeable on the topic, but that might also be a downfall. You might think something is explained well or developed because you already have knowledge on the topic. Getting someone from the office who isn’t involved can assure that all angles are looked at.

Maintaining Altitude

These simple rules will assure that your meetings will be successful. Embrace the different personalities in your office and utilize them to your advantage. One more thing- set the mood for your meetings. If it’s warm out, why not meet outside? If it’s cold and rainy, go to a comfortable place with some soft background music. If it has to be professional, then you can go to the conference rooms, but people like to be relaxed when sitting in a group for long periods of time!