January 2016 – Trillium Staffing

The Strangest Non-Work Activities Employees Have Been Caught Performing On The Job

Jenna Mathieu — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 15:06:28 +0000

Do you really know what is going on in your workplace? In a 2015 survey by CareerBuilder, employers revealed the strangest non-work related activities that they’ve caught their staff engaging in on the job. You don’t want to miss these!

Some of the more interesting responses to their survey included:

Employee was taking a sponge bath in the bathroom sink.
Employee was trying to hypnotize other employees to stop their smoking habits.
Employee was visiting a tanning bed in lieu of making deliveries.
Employee was looking for a mail order bride.
Employee was playing a video game on their cell phone while sitting in a bathroom stall.
Employee was drinking vodka while watching Netflix.
Employee was sabotaging another employee’s car tires.
Employee was sleeping on the CEO’s couch.
Employee was writing negative posts about the company on social media.
Employee was sending inappropriate pictures to other employees.
Employee was searching Google images for “cute kittens.”
Employee was making a model plane.
Employee was flying drones around the office.
Employee was printing pictures of animals, naming them after employees and hanging them in the work area.

While their responses may seem entertaining their affect on the workplace, workplace distractions is anything but. A 2010 survey by Workplace Options reported distracted workers cost an estimated $650 billion annually. With the increase in technology and social media popularity in the years following the survey, it’s safe to say that staggering figure is not decreasing.

How can you help reduce your exposure to distracted workers? Provide tips and training on time management. Providing your staff with time management training will benefit them both on and off of the clock. Encourage your staff to take regulated breaks and allowing them an opportunity to respond to personal emails, texts, and check their social media profiles. Allowing them a brief opportunity to do this mid-morning and mid-afternoon can prevent them from repeatedly checking their phones throughout the day. Provide a work space that fosters good concentration. Centrally place restrooms, kitchenettes, and water coolers to avoid staff interrupting others to visit these facilities.Encouraging your staff to take a brisk walk around the office or parking lot during their break periods can also help them re-focus and re-energize before returning to their work spaces. Keeping healthy snacks on hand can keep employees from experiencing sugar lows and losing focus.

Want to learn more about how you can gain access to Trillium’s national network of top level talent? Contact us today! If you are a stand out in your profession and seeking contingent or long term career opportunities, visit our job seekers section for more information!

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

Is Casual Friday Getting Too Casual?

Jenna Mathieu — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 15:16:09 +0000

Like many things if clear and concise expectations are not set up, casual Friday’s can quickly become too casual. As many as 90% of companies in the U.S. have a “casual” day, with one third allowing casual clothing every day. The key to maintaining a professional environment while allowing casual attire is a clear expectation of what is acceptable, preferably included in the employee handbook.

With changing clothing trends and seasons, setting expectations in advance can save a lot of hassle in employee discipline and even sexual harassment cases. Here are a few of the main offenses to include:

Shorts- People’s definition of shorts can vary. Factor in issues with length and you’ve got a mess on your hands. Not allowing shorts can save you a lot of stress and gray areas in the future.
Flip Flops- Not only are they overly casual, in many settings they can pose a danger. Limit sandals to a dresser version with a solid sole.
Leggings- Leggings are only appropriate when paired with a dress or shirt long enough to hit mid-thigh or longer.
Yoga Pants- Unless you work at a gym, leave these at home.
Low cut tops or mid-drift bearing tops- In addition to being inappropriate these are a hot bed for sexual harassment claims.

Ensure that employees have clear expectations of what is appropriate for casual days. The employee handbook, staff meetings, and new hire orientation are great times to address the subject. When warmer seasons arrive, a brief email reminder is also a great idea. Help your staff enjoy the comfort of casual days without the uncertainty and inappropriateness that can come with it.

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

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

Is Your Tech Job Among the Hardest to Fill?

Jenna Mathieu — Wed, 13 Jan 2016 20:52:32 +0000

While IT and Technical positions have been among the hardest to fill for the past several years, some changing trends are adding influence to the difficulty to fill within the industry. Dice recently released a list of the Top 10 Hardest to Fill Tech Jobs based on feedback from more nearly 400 HR and recruiting professionals.

Results show the following positions in order of difficult to fill:

Software developer
Java professional
Security
.NET
Software engineer
Mobile
DevOps
Big Data
Database administrators
Software architect

Continued automation development in medical, automotive, and manufacturing industries have heavily fueled the need for additional technical talent. The growing need and awareness of data and cyber security will continue to help influence the need for Security roles in many industries. The key to finding the right talent for these hard to fill positions is a strong passive recruiting process. In demand talent rarely is on-boarded through traditional recruitment means. Employment branding and company culture are also key players in the attraction of top technical talent.

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

Why Your Next Career Should Be In West Michigan

Jenna Mathieu — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 15:29:45 +0000

Contemplating a move with your next career? Don’t skip over West Michigan! Offering a diverse set of industries including life sciences, renewable energy, automotive, aerospace, defense, IT, construction, and pharmaceuticals the career opportunities are endless!

Photo credit Wikipedia

Whether you enjoy biking trails, skiing, hockey, baseball, art, hunting, shopping, beaches, or farming; West Michigan has a lot to offer! Take a peek at a few things West Michigan is known for:

#1 Place to Raise a Family Forbes
#1 Secure City Farmers Insurance
#1 Place to Retire AARP
#4 Best City for Finding Employment Forbes
#14 America’s Prettiest Towns Forbes
Top 15 U.S. Cities with Emerging Downtowns Forbes
ArtPrize- Top 5 Festival in the World Time
Voted Beer City, USA Examiner.com
Saugatuck’s Oval Beach- Top 25 Shoreline in America Conde Nast Traveler

Despite the low cost of living, the area offers very well established and emerging organizations and recreation opportunities including:

Less than 30 minute commute for 75% of residents
90+ international companies
4 of Forbes largest privately held companies
24 colleges and universities
Most LEED certified buildings per capita
18 amazing beaches
Hundreds of inland lakes
2 world class symphonies
Second largest civic theatre in the U.S.
130+ miles of mountain biking trails

Originating in West Michigan in 1984, Trillium remains headquartered in Kalamazoo. Servicing the area for more than 30 years, our Recruiters are connected and trusted recruiting partners to most of the area’s most elite employers. Let us find you a dream career in West Michigan today!

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

Employers and Staffing Firms Share in Responsibilities to Protect Workers

Jenna Mathieu — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 15:27:11 +0000

While agreements between employers and their partnering staff firms often vary, most often the responsibility for Worker’s Compensation claims falls on the staffing firm for contract or temporary placements. However, if you partner with staffing firms to provide you with contract or temporary workers you share in the responsibility for their safety. Not sure what your responsibilities may be? Here’s what OSHA has to say!

“While the extent of responsibility under the law of staffing agencies and host employers is dependent on the specific facts of each case, staffing agencies and host employers are jointly responsible for maintaining a safe work environment for temporary workers – including, for example, ensuring that OSHA’s training, hazard communication, and recordkeeping requirements are fulfilled.” – OSHA.gov

In order for both parties to have clear and concise expectations for protecting the safety of workers, responsibilities should be clearly outlined in a service agreement or contract. Having this language settled on early on helps prevent any confusion as occurrences happen in the future. While both the host employer and the staffing firm share in control over the worker, neither party should rely solely on the other to ensure the health and safety of the employee. Clear communication between the host employer and the staffing firm regarding job specific training, appropriate PPE, skillset required to safely perform the job duties and workplace hazards training.

Here are a few tips from OSHA on the topic:

The key is communication between the agency and the host to ensure that the necessary protections are provided.
Staffing agencies have a duty to inquire into the conditions of their workers’ assigned workplaces. They must ensure that they are sending workers to a safe workplace.
Ignorance of hazards is not an excuse.
Staffing agencies need not become experts on specific workplace hazards, but they should determine what conditions exist at their client (host) agencies, what hazards may be encountered, and how best to ensure protection for the temporary workers.
The staffing agency has the duty to inquire and verify that the host has fulfilled its responsibilities for a safe workplace.
And, just as important: Host employers must treat temporary workers like any other workers in terms of training and safety and health protections.

Because staffing firms often do not visit the workplace daily they should be sure to communicate openly with workers and encourage workers to report any hazards, changes in workplace safety, or other concerns quickly so they may be addressed accordingly.

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

Should Your Next Search For Candidates Be On Facebook?

Jenna Mathieu — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 19:36:45 +0000

With the continued buzz on social recruiting and Facebook’s ever growing number of users, many assume the search for their next hire is on Facebook. Statistically, that is not the case. Let’s take a peek at the facts.

The users are there. According to Business Insider, there are approximately 1.44 billion active Facebook users each month.
The scrolling is real. Users in the the United States average 40 minutes per day on Facebook.The largest majority of time is spent on the user’s newsfeed and viewing photos posted by friends.
Their professional information is hard to find. Only about 20% of Facebook users have entered any professional information in the past year.
They’re likely on a mobile device.189 million Facebook users are “mobile only”. Unless you have a very streamlined mobile application process, your click to completed application conversion will likely be very low.

While most users still see Facebook as a personal social networking platform, there are ways to engage with potential candidates. With the majority of screen time spent on newsfeed, purchasing paid ads to advertise your open positions can quickly capture candidate attention. Keep in mind with a heavy mobile audience, having a streamlined mobile friendly application process will be the key to success. Several corporations have built very strong career brands on their company pages. With more than 36M likes, Starbucks has built a jobs page allowing candidates to not only view and apply for jobs but also sign up for job alerts and view videos on company culture.

While Facebook doesn’t necessarily have the easiest and most searchable data for candidates, as the second most visited website today it should not be ignored from an employer branding perspective. If your page doesn’t include a link to your careers page, a jobs app, and visual data regarding your company culture take action today!

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