Toxic work environments are quickly being cited as one of the most common reasons for workplace attrition. In fact, an MIT Sloan study found that toxic work environments were 10.4 times more likely to be responsible for attrition than compensation! So nipping toxicity in the bud has to be one of the top goals of any organization.
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Take a walk around your workplace and listen to what employees are saying. You won’t get far before you hear someone talking about burnout. Burnout is why you have more employees missing days of work, why your team’s productivity is down, and why turnover rates continue to rise.
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Employee engagement numbers are dropping for the first time in over a decade. 2021 and 2022 each saw a 2% dip in employee engagement across the US — reversing a 12-year upward trend.
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If you haven’t heard, we’re living (and working) in the midst of a mental health crisis. Maybe you’ve noticed employees calling off work more frequently or your team’s productivity diminishing. These, among others, are signs of an unhealthy workforce.
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A few years ago, you may have been able to argue that recruitment marketing was ‘nice to have’ but that you could also fill positions by posting on the right job boards. Sadly, those days are long gone.
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Do you really know what your current and past employees think about you as an employer?
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Candidates are wary of big promises and over-hyped perks they’re sold during the interview process. They want to know, when the rubber meets the road, what their day-to-day experience will be like as your employee.
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Your efforts to be fully staffed are being fought on two fronts. The first is trying to fill your open positions. The second is keeping the employees you’ve already hired. With nearly everyone short-staffed, chances are your existing staff is working harder and longer to get the job done. Overworked workers are picking up a lot of the slack and they are suffering from burnout.
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a syndrome resulting from workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Companies without systems to support the well-being of their employees have higher turnover, lower productivity, and higher healthcare costs, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). Another study by the APA claims that burned-out employees are 2.6 times as likely to be actively seeking a different job, 63% more likely to take a sick day, and 23% more likely to visit the emergency room. These numbers show burnout is a terrible enemy to your success at work.
A thousand workers were surveyed by Ipsos in early April of 2022 and the studies amplify what many managers already know: this pace of burnout is not sustainable. These charts show what is causing burnout, and what employees think would help alleviate the problem.
Burnout is being felt most by women with 52% reporting feeling burnt out.. Demographically, the highest number of those suffering from burnout remains among young workers where 53% of those aged 18-34 have started to feel the effects of burnout. These employees are prone to leave their jobs in the next 12 months, a 33% increase from August of 2021.
You get it. Everyone’s exhausted from the last couple of years. Their basic needs aren’t being met and they’re losing balance between work and everyday life. So what can you do? The Ipsos survey asked their respondents “what would help ease your burnout?”
About 70% of those surveyed said that a four-day workweek would help. Flexibility and working from home are also highly sought-after job benefits. Some businesses may be able to offer those to their employees, but many of those benefits would require a logistics reshuffling of epic proportions by most companies. Short of some of these lofty goals, there are a few things you can do right now to try and minimize burnout with your staff.
Extra breaks – Even giving an employee a couple of extra fifteen-minute breaks through the course of a week can go a long way. It shows that you are an empathic employer by giving employees a few extra mental health breaks throughout the week.
Ask the right questions – Start with smaller departments and ask, ‘If I could wave a magic wand and make your jobs easier, what would that look like?” This should help you figure out priorities of what needs to be done first to improve your staff’s workload. Employees shouldn’t be expected to have all the solutions, but they can tell you what is not working, and that can be invaluable. Don’t make assumptions. Have in-person conversations.
Solving Little Problems – Tiny little things that go wrong at work wear people down. One day, there’s coffee in the break room or the vending machine is full and the next day it is not. Burnout happens when presupposed features in our day-to-day work lives are missing or taken away. Maybe the company has spent money on something the employees didn’t ask for or even use. Employees could view such an action as impractical, a waste of money, and a poor reflection of the organization. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not on a continuum with one increasing as the other diminishes but are instead independent of each other. It’s important to look at each independently and work to keep the little things running smoothly.
Empathy – If an employee is missing quotas, deadlines aren’t being met, seems to be in a bad mood, or starts coming in late–it all may be signs of burnout. Keep in mind that people can have burnout in their private lives as well. That can carry over into work. Don’t assume that there isn’t burnout just because things aren’t busy at work and don’t take it personally that the work environment is leading to burnout.
Access to Resources – Burnout can cause a lot of health problems, both physical and mental. It’s important to make sure your team is connected to resources. Hopefully, you have wellness programs in place that can help your staff work out burnout issues. You should have a list of external sources that can provide support in mental and physical health. Encourage employees that are feeling burnout to utilize these services.
Take Care of Yourself – If you’re a manager feeling burnout yourself, it can be contagious. Setting a positive example of how to manage burnout can help your team understand how to deal with their own struggles. It’s ok for you to be vulnerable too. Managers are not superhuman. It’s ok to let the team know you feel the same issues as they do. Take a mental health day and let your team know it. Here’s some advice on how to deal with burnout as a manager.
The best way to stop burnout is to get in front of it. Implementing some of these action items and tips along with focusing on keeping workloads balanced can minimize the effects of burnout and create a stronger bond with your staff and improve your company culture.
The upper Midwest can be the last to get the memo for spring. Thankfully, we may have seen the last of the snow and can look towards the best time of the year, summer. But all of those things that make summer fun, like vacations and parties, cost money. If your kids are home from school for the summer, child care costs, as well as extra food costs, can get out of control very quickly as you’re trying to work a 40-hour week. If the warmer months put a strain on your budget, there are a few ways to make some extra cash with side hustles.
If you’re working for WSI, hopefully, you’ve got some extra overtime being offered by your assignment which can be very helpful for both you and your employer. The warmer months are a great time to be outside and to earn a little extra cash to pay off debt, save for a major purchase, or take a relaxing vacation with the family. Here are a few side hustles you can explore, or that may spark your imagination for a whole new way to earn extra cash this summer:
UPDATED: May 9th, 2023:
New ideas suggested by social media survey included:
Participate in paid research studies: Many universities, hospitals, and research institutions conduct paid research studies throughout the year. These studies usually involve filling out surveys, testing new products, or participating in clinical trials. You can find these opportunities on websites like ResearchMatch.org or ClinicalTrials.gov . Although not all studies are open to everyone, many are looking for a diverse range of participants.
Freelance services online: If you have a skill that can be offered online, you can make extra money by freelancing on websites such as Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer. Examples of freelance services you can offer include writing, graphic design, virtual assistance, social media management, and data entry. You can start with small projects and work your way up as you build your portfolio and reputation.
Start a small online business: There are many online platforms that allow you to start a small business with minimal investment. For instance, you can start a dropshipping business through websites like Shopify or Amazon. You can also consider selling your own digital products, such as e-books, courses, or printables, through platforms like Gumroad or Teachable. Starting an online business can be a great way to generate passive income and build a brand over time. You need a plan, a phone, and a good microphone.
Sports Referee – There are numerous sports and leagues throughout the area who are always on the hunt for umpires and referees. Most will offer free training for soccer, softball, baseball, and more. The best place to check for opportunities is local recreational league social media sites and calling rec league officials. Early spring is a great time to scout for these summer jobs. Many youth softball and baseball games can pay between $25 and $35 per game. It might be a great place to bring your kids out in the evenings to get exercise and play, as many facilities incorporate playground equipment. If you officiated three games a week, that could mean an extra four hundred dollars a month, enough for the family vacation!
Mow Lawns – It’s not the most glamorous gig, but it can be highly profitable as many mowers can earn more than $30 an hour with steady jobs. There will be some investment upfront on your part. Good lawnmowers that can handle the wear and tear of commercial use could cost several hundred dollars. But that cost could be covered in a week or two with steady clientele. Don’t undercharge for your work! Maintenance, gas, and travel can be expensive costs associated with a lawn mowing business. Yard signs, Facebook, and flyers can be a great way to market to your neighborhood.
House Sitting – Dogs and Amazon deliveries…where would housesitters be without them? Housesitting is a fantastic side hustle as it gives homeowners a great relief to know that their home, mail, plants, and plants and animals are being cared for while they vacation or travel. The best thing you can do is start cheap, and get great reviews. To find clients, you can sign up with sites like HouseSitter.com, HouseSittersAmerica.com, and MindMyHouse.com.
Amazon Delivery – A program called Amazon Flex pays people to deliver Amazon packages. Like most delivery jobs, you can set your own schedule and work as little or as much as you need. You can plan your week by reserving blocks in advance or picking them each day based on your availability. Driver delivery rates range from $18 to $25 an hour. Remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others packages as you would have them do to yours.”
Babysit – The demand for child care never ceases. If you have the ability to work by providing child care for a family, be it in their home or at a daycare or camp, it can be a great way to double your paycheck each week if you can work it on an off-shift from your regular job. Most babysitters are averaging between $13.50 and $16 an hour. With kids home from school all summer and child care centers struggling to find help, many parents are scrambling to find adults to watch their kids this summer. You may even want to offer a full-day, half-day, or weekend rate for repeat clients. Care.com or sittercity.com are reliable sources to find jobs babysitting.
Delivery – Shipt, DoorDash, InstaCart are all shopping and delivery services you can try. If you have a reliable delivery vehicle and a valid license, you’re eligible to deliver groceries and shop for other people’s purchases. The benefits of this are the flexibility and freedom. The downside is gas prices can cut into fees. Plus, these services allow their delivery drivers to be tipped for great customer service.
Create and Sell Homemade Goods – This one requires some groundwork but pays the most rewards in both personal satisfaction, pride, and extra money. Maybe you’re great with yarn or painting the same thing over and over. Everyone has something they’re passionate about. If you can, or have turned your passion into a tangible item, working a little each day to get a storefront on Shopify or Etsy is a side hustle that will reward you in many ways. You can also use Farmer’s Markets to sell homemade food and craft goods. Here’s some guidance to get started.
Purge the Clutter – A summer-long project could earn you extra income each week. We’re all hanging onto lots of things we don’t need. Decluttering your garage, home, or yard can open up your space and stuff your wallet. You can sell your stuff both offline and online. Use Facebook marketplace and eBay to sell your items. Learn how here. You can plan several garage sales throughout the summer. You can also resell thrift store items if you’ve got a flashy eye for style or can repurpose items, which could be a great long-term side hustle.
If you want to lounge away the summer, that is amazing! If you want to use the summer to grab a little extra cash, we hope any or all of these ideas create some motivation for you to earn what you need to have a little summer fun. Either way, enjoy the warmer temperatures coming our way.
Ten days. That’s how fast you, as an employer, have to hire for a position if you want to catch the top talent in your industry. Of course, there is a fine line between making the process streamlined and efficient, and rushing through only to make a bad hire.
Most companies’ hiring process takes 27 days on the low end and up to 90 days on the high end. This is set up through the traditional process of advertising a position, reviewing candidates who fit the description, and then the interview process begins. It’s usually an initial phone interview, followed by one or two in-person interviews, a review internally of final candidates, making an offer, the candidate making a counteroffer, and finally—hiring your ‘perfect’ candidate. Imagine going through all of that only to lose the candidate in their first year, or even worse, find no one to fill the position at all.
Google has begun pivoting towards a faster hiring process. They realized that after working so hard to optimize the hiring process, they had too many steps in the interview process, and therefore brought the number down to four steps. This includes multiple on-site interviews of a candidate in a single day by different teams back-to-back. Hubspot makes every new hire suggest a way to improve the hiring process.
Speeding up your interview process will help draw in the best candidates, ease your staff’s burden of carrying the load, and increase your operation’s overall productivity. Here is our countdown of the top five ways you can speed up the process in your business.
5. Pay attention to red flags. You can reduce the numbers of resumes you’re searching through and candidates who might not fit your work culture by following your instincts when it comes to the ‘red flags’. The basic things like showing up late to the interview, dressing inappropriately, talking too much, offering vague or non-responsive answers, coming off as arrogant, combative, or defensive are all signs that your candidate may not be a great fit.
Conversely, it’s good to ignore some outdated flags, like gaps in work history due to COVID or other life circumstances. Right now is also a time to cut candidates some slack about their tenure at previous positions as so many people have moved around in the last couple of years during The Great Resignation. You might be the opportunity they have been looking for! This is especially true in manufacturing where wage increases have been a huge motivating factor for employees to switch jobs, sometimes more than once.
Another traditional red flag that we now disregard at WSI is the presence of THC in our drug screening process for applicants. Most of our clients in Michigan, where recreational marijuana is legal, have continued to find success in hiring great associates by eliminating THC from the drug screen. However, we will screen for it up request from our clients. And remember, in states like Indiana, where we also operate, marijuana is illegal.
4. Make a plan before there is an opening. One of the sayings we have here at WSI is “Nobody plans to fail.” If you take the time to come up with a comprehensive workforce hiring strategy early, it could drastically cut down on how long your hiring cycle is. Some best practice recommendations include assigning dedicated resources on your HR team to forecast future talent needs and to have a strategy for how you will attract ideal candidates for the open positions. Having excellent screening questions in the applicant tracking system can ease the workload for your hiring manager as well as eliminating candidates who are not a fit.
Just because a candidate doesn’t get the job doesn’t mean you should disregard them. Those candidates are key for creating a talent pipeline for your business. Build a database and continue to market to them to strengthen your brand identity. Staying on their radar means they could be likely candidates again in the future and a pool of talent you can turn to immediately.
Once you’ve made a hire, take a moment with your team to evaluate your plan of action and see what you can do to simplify the hiring process.
3. Strengthen your brand identity. Some of the most successful factories and warehouses can fill positions very quickly based on their name and reputation alone. They may not have the highest wages, but their work culture, benefits, and opportunities to grow continually draw a great field of applicants. Reputation matters. Just because someone doesn’t apply for or get hired for a position the first time, doesn’t mean they won’t next time if you continue to show them why you’re an exceptional place to work.
When you decide who you want to hire, make sure to follow up and let those unsuccessful candidates know. This information provides closure on a role and allows them to return to their job search. Staying in contact with interviewed candidates is so rarely done that, even when you are delivering “bad news”, you are still presenting your company in the best light.
For the employees that get the job, the entire experience from A-Z (hiring to onboarding and onward) needs to be seamless so that employees are excited about working for your company right off the bat. They’re more likely to spread the word about how great it is to work for you.
2. Utilize your current staff. Who better to fill a role than someone you know who has the soft skills and has shown the ability to learn and grow with your business? When creating your job descriptions, write a version specifically targeting your current employees, encouraging them to grow within the organization. Be sure your team understands that the search net is being cast far and wide for the best candidates, but they should always apply for positions that they think would be a great fit for them.
Look to your current staff members as your best source of referrals. Most people tend to hang out with people who are a lot like them. So if you’re comfortable with the demeanor of an employee, chances are you can find similarly motivated and competent associates just by asking around the warehouse or office. It can also be a great way to motivate the staff to ease their own workload by getting someone hired faster.
Former employees can be a great source to fill jobs as well. Rather than looking only at brand-new candidates, your pool of previous workers may already have the experience and qualifications for the roles you need to fill.
Another way to utilize your current staff is to create a development program. Continually cross-train your staff and offer chances to learn about opportunities outside of their daily responsibilities.
1. Hire a staffing agency. It is not self-serving to say that hiring a staffing agency can be the fastest way to fill your openings. If you’re an HR manager or hiring executive and haven’t used a staffing agency because you might be concerned with costs, you should realize that any costs are more than offset by the increase in quality candidates and a reduced timeline for hiring.
WSI has a pool of qualified candidates and is constantly looking for the best in class talent. We work closely with our clients to understand specifics of a role and we accurately portray that to qualified candidates. We do this by sending candidates from our pre-existing talent pool, handling background and drug screens, and utilizing the latest HR software technology to get more qualified applicants.
If you’re ready to speed up your hiring process, contact us by clicking here.
Don’t miss out on the best possible employees for your operation. Be prepared, have a plan, utilize your current employees, and continue to strengthen your brand identity to all applicants for your positions. The best candidates are looking…but not for very long.
