The U.S. unemployment rate has spent the past year hovering just below the 4 percent mark, reaching as low as 3.7 percent … its lowest level since the go-go tech boom of the 1990s. However, history suggests these levels of employment don’t last forever. Eventually, the jobless rate is likely to start ticking higher. When… Read more »
It’s the reward for a job well done, day after day. It’s the pay-off for the long hours and sacrifice. It’s the way companies say “thank you” to their most dedicated and valuable employees. We’re talking about raises. But what does it mean if you don’t get one? That you’re not dedicated or valuable or… Read more »
You’ll learn this from any basic management book, but it bears repeating as a starting point here: The key to success in any business comes from having a differentiating factor, something that makes you special. It’s as true for staffing firms as it is for any other industry; having a niche gives you an edge…. Read more »
It’s easier to deal with problems we can see. The structure of business makes measurable problems much more obvious (and therefore, simpler to fix) than the ones that manifest in subtler ways. It’s the logic of balance sheets and algorithms. Take safety. Physical safety hazards are relatively easy to identify and correct. They may prove… Read more »
The labor market is tighter now than it has been in years. Unemployment rates are low. Worker mobility has entered a new age. The gig economy has given job candidates more flexibility than they’ve ever had before. All these factors conspire to make retention extraordinarily difficult. There are two basic kinds of turnover problems. One… Read more »
You’re the office newbie, scrambling to earn respect and still working on developing relationships. At this point, you just want to keep your head down and fit in. But, something goes wrong. You’ve made a mistake that’s likely to get you in trouble. What do you do? Of course, mistakes happen all the time. The… Read more »
Think about when you propose your staffing services to clients. You probably use a pitch similar to this one: “Don’t try to do it on your own…it’s easier with a partner.” The same advice can hold for you as a company. If you try to take on the recruiting industry completely on your own, you… Read more »
Injury risk alone should convince any company to uphold the highest safety standard. Beyond financial concerns or worries about violating regulations, any moral management team should do everything possible to protect the safety of its workforce. That said, the risks associated with a lackluster safety protocol go beyond personal injury. Even if an accident never… Read more »
You come directly to work from your best friend’s marathon birthday party, and now you’re having a hard time concentrating on the TPS reports. You stay up late binging an entire season of The Office, and now your real-life office life has become a blurry haze. You’re slogging through the last day before a week-long… Read more »
You’ve heard of the Boss Baby. But there’s something worse than having an infant tell you what to do: having your boss treat you like an infant. Any management book will warn supervisors against overseeing their teams too closely. Learn to delegate, they all advise. Share responsibility. Yet, micromanagement remains rampant in almost every company…. Read more »