Show A Little Love: How To Bring Out The Best In Your People

The grin from treating an employee with a box of chocolates to might be fleeting, but these tips really “sweetened the deal” to bring out the best in your people, every day:

1. Create “Psychological Safety.”
2. Communicate Vision, Mission, and Values.
3. Reward Positive Outcomes.
4. Use Consistency to Foster a Sense of Fairness.
5. Be a Barrier Bulldozer.
6. Teach and Model a Growth Mindset.
7. Be Mindful of Recent Experiences.
8. Lean Into Growth and Development Opportunities.
9. Master the Art of Delegation.
10. Model What You Want to See.
11. Put the Right People in the Right Places.

When people are good at their jobs, they tend to enjoy them more; when they enjoy their jobs, they tend to be better at them. It’s a self-enhancing cycle. Use it to boost your team’s mood and results by putting the right people in the right positions. Your staffing partner can help.

Critical Conversations: A Guide To Essential Employee Communication

The effectiveness of your employee conversations impacts nearly every aspect of work: from productivity and innovation…to engagement, workplace safety, and retention…to your own success as a manager or leader. Whether the topic is simple or complex, straightforward or potentially contentious, use these strategies to have honest, meaningful conversations that drive positive change.

Get this eBook now!

The First 90 Days: Maximize New Hire Success to Prevent Turnover

Are your employees flocking to greener pastures?

Employee turnover can often be discomforting for employers, especially when it worsens over time. With so much attention on effective recruitment and hiring practices, it’s easy to forget that retaining top talent can sometimes be more challenging than finding high-quality workers in the first place. And the COVID-19 pandemic made things even more complicated, with many employees choosing to remain unemployed rather than return to work or find new careers entirely in some cases.

According to Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days, “Employee orientation centers around and exists to help the individual employee, but it is the company that ultimately reaps the benefits of this practice.” In other words, your bottom line and productivity are directly affected by your ability to retain every employee on your team.

Recent studies recognized by Sapling found that a negative onboarding experience results in new hires being twice as likely to look for other opportunities. Remember that the average U.S. employer spends around $4,000 and 24 days to hire a new employee — if your new hire walks out shortly after coming on board, that’s a lot of wasted time and productivity.

On the other side of the coin, research discovered that organizations with strong onboarding processes improved their new-hire retention by 82%, and productivity went up by 70%. Statistics like these reinforce the importance of investing in an employee retention strategy that begins as soon as employees sign on the dotted line.

With nearly one-third of new hires quitting during the first three months, you need to do everything possible from day one to ensure they get off to a great start.

Ready? Let’s do this:

Focus on your communication.

Too often, employers get wrapped up in the technical parts of onboarding and end up dismissing the power of positive communication when welcoming new employees. Every aspect of communication — from the time you make a written job offer to an employee’s first week on the job — can influence your new hires’ perceptions of you as an employer.

Taking the time to communicate in a way that’s both professional and friendly will set the right tone as your new hires get acclimated to their new jobs. This involves clearly articulating your company’s procedures and protocols in all your training materials, as well as demonstrating positive verbal communication during orientations and introductions.

Furthermore, never underestimate how the simplest gestures can enhance employees’ onboarding experiences. For example, a “welcome note” from a manager or an informal “first day” lunch with new teammates can do wonders to help employees ease into their new responsibilities.

Train your managers on best onboarding practices.

When it comes to retaining your talent, remember your temporary employees deserve just as much attention as your permanent workers. Your managers are essentially front-line ambassadors for your organization and ultimately shape the employment experiences of your workers.

Assignments are often a gateway for securing full-time employees; therefore, how you treat your temporary workers can greatly affect hiring outcomes in the future. Managers can be instrumental in creating an atmosphere in which temporary employees have the guidance and resources to excel in the company for the long term.

One of the best ways to make a positive impression on temporary workers is by engaging your managers in the onboarding process. Training your managers on how to properly communicate and manage contingent workers should be an integral part of any onboarding strategy for a few reasons:

• First, managers are directly involved in helping new employees adapt to their new work environment and learn on the job.
• Second, stronger relationships with managers will ensure your temporary employees are properly trained and productive, improving the quality of their work experiences and attracting them to long-term opportunities within your company.

Whether employees are temporary, full-time, or anywhere in between, onboarding has changed since the pandemic. You’ll need to adjust your process now that the new hire isn’t in a physical office and can’t connect face-to-face with their peers and supervisors. Here are a few tips:

• Plan the first week. Keep the first week full so the new hire isn’t left wondering what to do next.
• Assign a “welcome buddy.” Pair the new employee with an established one to foster a connection and advise the new hire on a successful start.
• Have frequent touchpoints. Checking in frequently is key to success in a remote environment.
• Provide access to essential resources. Ensure the new hire has access to people and systems that they’ll need to be successful during their onboarding and training.

Conduct regular check-ins with employees.

A big misconception about onboarding is that it should only take a week or month to complete. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Effective onboarding should ideally be an ongoing process that actively engages employees long after their first few days on the job.

Conducting regular check-ins with your employees will allow you to regularly address their questions and concerns and rectify any issues they may be having — before they start seeking employment elsewhere! For example, you may implement monthly one-on-one meetings in which employees speak privately with their managers about their performance and how they can improve. This gives your managers an opportunity to hear from workers firsthand and make necessary adjustments to improve their employment experiences.

Ready to reduce turnover at your organization?

Building a relationship with a staffing partner is one of the most powerful ways to proactively reduce turnover within your organization while at the same time improving the quality of your workforce. Through strategic planning, your staffing partner will work closely with your team to meet key hiring and retention goals, as well as ensure optimal productivity and performance in every aspect of your organization’s operations.

Sometimes it seems like the biggest obstacle between you and productivity is the very thing that’s supposed to make you more productive.

That’s right: meetings.

Whether you’re the one planning them or the one required to attend, workplace meetings can seem like a giant waste of time. Of course it’s important to keep everybody informed, but do you really have to spend two hours on a Thursday morning listening to the long-talker; avoiding the glance of the eye-roller; or getting interrupted as soon as you try to put in your two cents?

The answer is no.

But, that doesn’t mean you can skip the meeting. It means you can make it better. You might even be able to make it fun.

Not running the show?

If you’re not the one in charge of the meeting, your control over the format is limited – but you can improve the quality of your own participation.

First, prepare.

Take a minute or 10 prior to the meeting to review the agenda and consider what you have to contribute to the topic at hand, or what concerns you might like to share. Prepare some questions. If you have a point you’d like to make, gather some facts so you’re ready to make the most of your moment when you have the floor.

Bring a pen and paper, and take notes.

Practice engaged listening – that’s where you really think about what’s being said. Try to speak up at least once during each meeting, but make your comments brief and to the point – people will love you for it. And they probably won’t interrupt you.

In charge of the meeting?

If you’re the one who called the meeting, a few tweaks to your meeting format could make a big difference in what’s accomplished. Here are some ideas:

Start on an up note.

Set an upbeat tone at the outset by asking everyone to share a recent success, large or small.

Set ground rules.

You’re the facilitator; promise your people that you’ll keep the conversation focused. Ask their help in staying on track. Hand out an agenda. Set up the goals, but don’t talk too long – you don’t want to lose people before you’ve even begun.

No devices.

Have the participants put away their phones so their eyes won’t be straying to the screen every time it lights up or vibrates.

Be clear about timing.

What’s the goal of the meeting? When will it end? Everyone likes a meeting that begins and ends on time. Some supervisors inject some energy by using a countdown clock. It sends the message that the end of the meeting is a deadline. Let’s get this done!

Reward participation.

You might throw each speaker a mini Milky Way. Or maybe, later, you give her a pat on the back and thank her for her contribution. Everyone likes to be noticed and valued.

Schedule breaks.

Any meeting longer than an hour must include a break. Make sure you get people out of their chairs and moving. Give them five minutes for a phone check or bathroom visit, then engage them for another five in something active and fun: thumb wrestling tournament, anyone? If you have a little more time, try a team-building challenge like the human knot.

Make time for thinking.

Each time you introduce a new topic, someone will be tempted to dive right in, possibly diverting the conversation to their narrow concerns. Instead, throw out a question… and require 30 seconds of silence before anyone can speak.

Practice redirection.

The skills for managing problem participants can be learned. Got an interrupter? Hold up a finger. “Thanks, Mitch. I’d like to get to your concern. But first let’s let Jose make his point.”

What about that guy who drones on and on? Some people just have trouble stopping, once they’ve begun to talk. Go ahead: interrupt. “You’ve made a great point, Joanne. Now I’d like to hear how others react.”

Shake things up.

Does everyone always sit in the same place? Make them switch. Better yet: remove the table. Changing the setup for your meeting can change the dynamics of the group.

An unproductive, hour-long meeting with eight people in attendance equals eight hours of lost productivity. With just a little preparation and planning, you can turn that around and use your meetings to increase productivity – and, quite possibly, increase morale as well.

You Know Your Job Like the Back of Your Hand

• You’ve done your job for several years.
• You know the goals and challenges of the job.
• You understand the factors that made you successful.

You’ve Acted as a Leader

• You’ve taken the lead on projects.
• You’ve helped teammates through challenges.
• You’ve helped improve processes or procedures.

You Like Helping Other People Succeed

• You enjoy advocating for the success of others.
• You have no problem keeping the spotlight shining on those who deserve it.
• You have strong coaching abilities.

You Lead By Example

• You demonstrate the behaviors and attitudes you want to see in others.
• You do the right thing, even when it’s difficult.
• You walk the walk; you don’t just talk the talk.

You’re Comfortable Letting Go

• You are ok with someone else handling your current daily responsibilities.
• You know you don’t need to own or control every detail of every project.
• You have faith that any team you lead has the talent to be successful.

You Understand Being a Good Manager is Different From Being a Good Employee

• You know how to say no.
• You can make decisions swiftly.
• You can own up to mistakes.

You’re OK With Not Always Being Liked

• You know that if someone is upset with you, it doesn’t mean they don’t respect you.
• You’re comfortable not being personal friends with your reports.
• You have the ability to tell people the truth, even if it’s not always what they want to hear.

You Are a Strong Communicator

• You are comfortable and capable of setting clear expectations.
• You are prepared to give ongoing positive (and constructive) feedback.
• You listen well and are open to the ideas of others.

You Are Known for Being Reliable

• You have a reputation for getting things done on time.
• Other people turn to you for help/ideas/answers.
• You’ve established yourself as a problem-solver.

 You Genuinely Want the Responsibility

• You’re taking the step because you feel ready, not because you have seniority.
• You understand how things will change for you in your professional life.
• You’re ready to shoulder the successes and failures of your team.

In this eBook, we will talk about:

• Whether it’s possible to be productive in extreme circumstances
• Identifying the changes that will mark “the new normal”
• The importance of safety
• The challenges employees and employers face in boosting productivity
• How you can improve productivity by focusing on employee health – both physical and mental
• Tips for managing remote and blended teams
• Using schedule optimization to promote productivity
• The best partnership you can form to help navigate workforce changes

A global human talent shortage plagues businesses around the world. According to management consulting firm Korn Ferry, if left unaddressed, the shortage could reach more than 85 million people by 2030. At this point, the shortage could result in about $8.5 trillion in unrealized annual revenues, too.

Your business needs skilled professionals on staff. Yet, identifying, attracting, and retaining talent remains difficult. Fortunately, options are available to help you strengthen your workforce, regardless of your recruiting strategy. These options include upskilling and reskilling.

What Are Upskilling and Reskilling, and Why Should Your Business Use Them?

Upskilling involves learning new skills or enhancing existing ones. For instance, an employee can complete a training program that allows them to add new skills or improve current ones to further contribute to their company’s success. In this instance, the employee and their business can reap the benefits of upskilling.

Comparatively, reskilling involves developing new skills for a new role. For example, an employee who wants to move into a management role may enroll in online management courses. Upon completion of these courses, the worker will possess a wide range of management skills. Plus, the worker can transition into their management role without a steep on-the-job learning curve.

Ultimately, there is a lot to like about upskilling and reskilling. Key reasons why businesses utilize upskilling and reskilling across their workforces include:

1. Increased Employee Engagement and Retention

Upskilling and reskilling provide businesses with myriad opportunities to invest in their employees. Meanwhile, workers can leverage upskilling and reskilling programs to bolster their skill sets. These employees can feel great about the fact that their businesses are committed to their success. The result: companies that leverage upskilling and reskilling can maximize their employee engagement and retention levels.

Struggling with turnover or employee motivation, ? GPS can help you build a more engaged, loyal workforce.

2. Improved Customer Satisfaction

Skilled employees can deliver exceptional contributions across a business — and customers are likely to notice. So, if a company implements an upskilling or reskilling program, it can help its workers become better in various areas. These workers can then apply their new knowledge and insights to assist customers like never before. This can lead to improved customer satisfaction, along with increased revenues and exemplary customer loyalty.

3. Talent Recruitment

Businesses want to attract top job candidates, regardless of role. With upskilling and reskilling programs, a company can distinguish itself to superb candidates. A company can use these programs to show job seekers it is willing to invest in their futures. This can help the business promote itself to candidates. And it may allow the company to recruit candidates who want to stay with it long into the future.

How to Close the Skills Gap Across Your Workforce

Your business can use upskilling and reskilling programs at any time. However, to get the most value out of these programs, it helps to plan. This ensures your upskilling and reskilling programs empower you to close skill gaps across your company.

Now, let’s look at five tips to help you optimize the ROI of your upskilling and reskilling programs.

1. Establish Skill Adjacencies

Identify skill adjacencies across your workforce. To do so, look for workers who possess skills that align with those required to perform various tasks. Next, you can provide these employees with training to help them advance their skills.

2. Create Training Programs for All Types of Learners

Set up training programs tailored to different types of learning styles. For instance, some educational programs can leverage microlearning, which involves short videos and other media that cover topics in short increments. On the other hand, in-person and workshop classroom-style learning sessions can cater to workers who prefer hands-on learning. You can even offer online training sessions that employees can complete anywhere an internet connection is available.

3. Reward Workers Who Engage in Your Programs

Celebrate workers who upskill and reskill. You can offer bonuses, gift cards, and other financial rewards to employees who complete upskilling and reskilling programs. Or you can recognize these workers’ accomplishments during business meetings.

4. Provide Multiple Program Options

Give workers the flexibility to choose upskilling and reskilling programs that correspond to their career goals. Offer multiple programs, and employees can select ones that can help them accelerate their career growth.

5. Make Your Programs Accessible to Everyone

Ensure workers across all departments can access your upskilling and reskilling programs. This enables employees to gain the skills they want to accomplish their career aspirations.

Need Help Bridging the Skills Gap Across Your Business? Partner With a Recruiting Company

Upskilling and reskilling programs can deliver tremendous value. And, if you use these programs in combination with an effective talent recruitment strategy, your business can avoid a skills gap that can otherwise hamper its growth.

If you need help bridging the skills gap across your business or want to develop and implement an effective recruiting strategy, it pays to partner with a reputable recruiting company. The right recruiting company can help you get the best results from your upskilling and reskilling programs — and get more done.

Does mindfulness ramp up your team’s speed, quality, and motivation – or is it just a waste of time?

With all the “magic bullets” being marketed these days, it’s difficult to tell what’s effective and what’s nothing more than an expensive placebo or clickbait. Workplace productivity “cures” are no exception, bringing us to contemplate if techniques such as mindfulness and meditation actually improve job performance, or if they’ll leave us with little more than wasted hours.

Luckily, unlike most “magic” weight loss pills, meditation’s link to productivity has been thoroughly studied. So, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of mindfulness – so you can decide for yourself if such tools are right for your team.

Pros – Meditation’s link to workplace productivity

• Meditation can make employees less prone to making mistakes – According to a study run by Michigan State University, different forms of meditation have different effects on neurocognitive function, including the neural signals that occur half a second after someone has made a mental error. The study suggests that open-monitoring meditation – a form of meditation that allows participants to let thoughts flow through their mind instead of shutting them out – increases the strength of a person’s conscious error recognition if practiced regularly.

• Self-discipline is strengthened through regular meditation – The practice of regular meditation, even just a few minutes per day, can do more than bring about a cultivated sense of peace; it can strengthen a person’s self-discipline. The act of taking time out of your day to sit quietly and prevent one’s thoughts from running around like a rampant toddler provides ample practice in the development of discipline.

• With discipline comes focus – Focus is tied to self-discipline, so it makes sense that developing one would develop the other. During meditation, a person focuses on their breath, body, or specific visualization while avoiding the distractions of everyday life. In the same way, a productive employee must focus on their work tasks while avoiding the distractions of the office. Less focus on chatter, ringing phones, and the clock ticking away the seconds between lunch and the frustration of rush hour traffic means more focus on work-related tasks.

• Meditation increases patience – No employer expects any employee who wants to keep their job to sit patiently throughout the workday, and that’s not the type of patience we’re talking about. Meditation increases the kind of patience that allows a person to slow down mentally and become more detail-oriented by giving them the tools used to step away from the emotional rush of time constraints, such as deadlines or quotas.
  
• A decrease in stress that boosts morale – Morale has a heavy hand in productivity, and meditation increases morale by giving employees a chance to relax their bodies, clear their minds, and recharge their mental batteries.

Cons – Meditation might not be as helpful as we thought

• Meditation may lower a person’s motivation – A recent study suggests that meditation, while increasing focus and discipline, may actually lower an individual’s motivation to complete a given task. The study separated participants into a mindfulness group and a distracted group before having them complete simulated office tasks, and the mindful group reported less motivation to complete tasks than the distracted group, even after being offered a financial incentive.

• Mindfulness shifts focus from the future to the present – It’s important to live in the present, but it’s also important to plan and strive for future goals. Mindfulness meditation shifts a person’s perspective away from future rewards and advancement (major motivational factors in any workplace) and places it on the here-and-now. Whereas focusing on the present sounds great in theory, most people probably wouldn’t work as hard if they had no future goals.
  
• Meditation shows no net gain in productivity – In the same study that suggested lowered motivation in mindful individuals, participant performance was measured and showed that meditation provided no benefit to (or detraction from) the quality of work performed.

Overall, meditation seems to increase focus, discipline and morale without increasing individual productivity. But whether you decide to implement a meditation program or not, staffing and recruiting firms can deliver focused, motivated and productive candidates both quickly and cost effectively.

The one thing you should know about us is that our number-one priority is helping you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a job seeker or a hiring manager—we have the experience, the expertise, and the resources to provide you with the solutions you’re seeking.

We’ve been in the search and placement business since 1985. We believe strongly in the importance of relationships, and that’s why we want to introduce the members of the Gallman Consulting Team:

The faces of Gallman Consulting

Georgette Sandifer

Smith Richardson

At Gallman Consulting, we use everything at our disposal to help you meet your hiring needs and achieve your career goals. Gallman Consulting is an executive and professional employment search firm that guarantees quality talent. Honesty, integrity and ethics are not just buzzwords, they are the words we live by. Our goal is to build solid relationships with our clients and candidates by matching top talent with excellent career opportunities. Our parent company, Gallman Personnel Services has been in business since 1985.

As an affiliate of Top Echelon, a national recruiting organization, we follow stringent guidelines for membership related to candidate and client relationships. We are a Top Producer for, and a “Preferred” member of Top Echelon. Top Echelon holds the distinction of being the nation’s largest and most prestigious independent recruitment association. These affiliations provide access to the resources of over 2000 association members, and enable us to share in a large pool of currently employed, hidden candidates.

Our services can save your staff the cumbersome job of recruiting, qualifying and narrowing the field. We send only the candidates that we believe fit the individual job description.Gallman Consulting can provide you with candidates in the following positions:

Manufacturing

• Plant Management
• Quality
• Engineers
• Manufacturing Managers
• Materials, Logistics, Purchasing
• CNC
• Design
• Process Management

Human Resources

• In various industries to include manufacturing, service, distribution, and others.
• HR Generalists
• Employee Relations
• Labor Relations
• Benefits Specialists

Engineering

• Electrical
• Industrial
• Chemical
• Civil
• Mechanical

Construction Management

• Construction Management
• Project Managers
• Superintendents
• Estimators

Other

• Administrative
• Accounting
• Executive Placement
• Contract/Consulting Staffing

Workplace violence is a haunting fear for employees and employers alike. It’s not a casual concern either. The BLS reports that nearly 19000 people were traumatized or killed by workplace violence in 2017 alone. If you want to provide your employees with a safe work environment, here are nine questions you should ask yourself. 

Do You Maintain a Workplace Violence Policy? 

While violence against another person is illegal in general, most workplaces set out a formal policy as well. These policies generally take the form of automatic dismissal for any act of violence. The threat of losing one’s job may just stay someone’s hand if they’re made aware early on.  

Do You Offer Employee Assistance Programs or Could You? 

Workplace violence often stems from pressures outside of the job, either financial or emotional. Do you offer financial assistance programs? Counseling? If not, consider staring such programs. 

Do You Encourage Emotional/Mental Health Activities? 

Many workplaces encourage emotional/mental health activities by sponsoring them. A simple example is offering flexible scheduling. This lets people better manage their home life.  

Do Managers Have the Right Training to Spot Warning Behavior? 

Managers are often best placed to spot an employee in trouble. They still need the proper training to identify troubled employees before things escalate. 

Do You Maintain a Process for Ending Employment? 

A formal process for ending someone’s employment sets out procedures that help control that person’s exit. The process can prevent physical altercations by, for example, having security present.  

Do You Maintain a Formal Process for Reporting Threats? 

If you don’t have a formal process for reporting threats, consider setting one up. This can allow more timid employees to make reports without having to confess to a trauma publicly.  

Do You Maintain Basic Security at Entry Points? 

Security at entry points for your business can make the difference between an ex-employee or disgruntled spouse getting inside or not. Keycards or barcoded badges are a simple solution. 

Can You Use Technology to Limit Potential Violence? 

Security companies and computer scientists have developed programs that can assess historical data and offer predictions of future behaviors. Do you employ technology like this to analyze complaints and reprimands for your employees? If you employ a large number of employees, it may prove invaluable in protecting everyone. 

Do You Provide Ongoing Training for Emergency Situations? 

The average person isn’t prepared for an emergency situation. They need the training to make smart choices. If you aren’t offering emergency training, such as active shooter training, it’s time to make that happen. 

You Can Do a Lot to Prevent Workplace Violence 

Employers can take a lot of steps to minimize workplace violence. You can offer assistance programs, training, and encourage emotional wellness. You can also create processes for termination, threat reporting, and install security at entry points. As with most safety issues, preparation can dramatically improve your outcomes.