1 Stop HR

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Get a FRESH Perspective on Employee Motivation.

How many articles have you read around employee motivation?  Do you feel like you have the ticket to motivation success at your workplace?  Here is another interesting perspective…

ZeroCater presents a perspective on healthy eating and the connection with productivity.  A motivated employee is a productive employee. For this reason companies stock their human resource arsenals with a variety of motivational tools: Raises, bonuses, sales contests, peer recognition programs and gift card giveaways.  What about food?  How might it impact motivation?

Research shows that when it comes to improving productivity, any figurative carrot on a stick just might rank below an actual carrot. A healthy diet promotes good health and employee wellness is tied so closely to worker efficiency that 77 percent of lost productivity is attributable to health-related issues, according to a recent study.  Employees who did not regularly eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables were 66 more likely than healthy eaters to say they had experienced a decrease in productivity.

Interesting?  I think so!  So what can you do to try out this theory?  Can you screen all your new employees and ensure that they will commit to only eating the identified foods above in order to work at your workplace?  Hmmm that seems a bit far-fetched!!  Could you provide healthy snacks with fresh vegetables and whole grain foods regularly in the office – sure!  Many workplaces I visit have lots of access to vending machines full of sugary products.  When they welcome a new employee or celebrate a birthday or successful project completion there are doughnuts or cake or….but what if you were to think “healthy” instead?  So the challenge is on…want to increase productivity – think healthy fresh food as another tool in your toolkit!

Take a look at some tips below from ZeroCater.

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How do we Retain our Millennial Generation?

 New generations have new demands and desires – have you discovered this with millennial’s?  I am sure you have!  Have you been trying to understand what it is that they are looking for, how to retain and attract them and really how to work with them?

We have been working with our clients on strategies to do just that!  What are the key things that we look at?  Take a look at the 5 strategies below:

  1. Provide feedback and do it often.  Our millennial’s want to know how they are doing and where they can improve.  Touch base with them often.  Make a point of having a sit down meeting every month or two to discuss how they are doing, any challenges they or you have been encountering and anything you wish to see improvement on.  Assist them to find the path to improvement.  Think about what it is that you can help them with in order to make them most successful in their role.
  1. Work/Life Balance.  Flexibility is important to our millennial’s.  They expect to be able to have flexibility in their work and home lives and to be able to balance these two things well.  To appeal to this audience, you will need to get rid of the rigid 9-5 schedule.  Look to offer flexible start and end times with defined core hours.  Look to allow your people to be able to book personal appointments during the day with the opportunity to make up the hours.  If you feel that there is abuse of this ability or that productivity is being impacted – deal with these issues head on – you may need to claw back the flexibility for a period of time until things improve.
  1. Ensure your Salary Offer is Competitive. Millennial’s expect to be paid appropriately for the position that they apply for or are working in.  They expect that you have done the research and are offering them something that is fair.  They also expect that you will monitor this and provide increases or rewards as they are warranted.
  1. Opportunities to Grow.  Ensure to offer growth opportunities and provide guidance and assistance for your people to be able to grow.  Look at helping them develop career plans and touch base with them on these plans from time to time to see how they are doing.  Keep them in mind for opportunities to work on a new project.  Support and allow for growth.
  1. Provide a Sense of Purpose.  A defined job description gives your people a clear understanding of what it is that they are to do and what is expected of them.  What can you do to show them how they fit into the big picture?  Explain which piece of the puzzle they are.  Show them how the pieces all work together to achieve the end result.  Ensure they understand what their contributions lead to.  Make them feel a part of the success.  When you are recruiting millennial’s, share this with them as well.  Build the excitement and they will want to be a part of it!

The above 5 items are key to retaining the millennial generation – but can be used to help the other generations as well.  If you actively keep these activities in mind, you will notice it will go a long way in the retention and attraction of this generation.

Do you have additional strategies that have worked well for you?  Provide comments, or feel free to email us.

Need help?  We offer HR Consulting, HR representation for your business and Flat Rate Recruiting!

Follow us on Twitter: @1stophr   Follow us on LinkedIn

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Top 10 Most Common Interview Questions Part 1

woman-214785_1280Interview Coming up?

Looking for a Top 10 list of interview questions?  Well here you go!  If you have an interview coming up – be sure to have an answer prepared for these questions as you will most likely encounter all or many of them during the interview.

  1. What interests you about this job?
  2. What do you know about this company/this position?
  3. Tell me about your Strengths.
  4. Tell me about your Weaknesses.
  5. Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?

Let’s do Some More Thinking…

  1. What interests you about this job?

    Do your homework, review the job ad and think about what compelled you to apply.  Is it because you see a good match between your experience and goals?  What is it?

  2. What do you know about this company/job?

    Research the company and be able to speak intelligently about it.  Remember key facts – this shows that you have done your research and indeed are interested in the company.   Have a clear picture of what the job entails from whatever information you have available to you.

  3. Tell me about your strengths.

    This is where you want to do your best to talk about a few strengths that directly relate to the job itself – meaning some key words directly from their job ad.  e. if they are looking for someone with experience in project management – you want to ensure to list project management as a strength if indeed it is.

  4. Tell me about your weaknesses.

    This is a tough one for many as we don’t want to shoot ourselves in the foot, but we still need to answer their question.  Typically I advise people to come up with an answer that is a positive but still answers the question, so for example… “I tend to be a perfectionist and sometimes have to remind myself that it is time to move to the next task.” Or something to that effect.

  5. Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?

    By this question, they want to see that a) you have a goal in mind and b) that that goal is something that the company can actually provide if you are qualified for that role down the road.  If the goal is so over-the-top, and there is no way they could provide this, they know that you most likely will leave the company shortly down the line.

Preparation is Key

Being prepared for the interview is key – knowing what to expect in terms of the most common questions gives you an edge.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Top 10 Interview Questions in our next Blog.

Have more you want to share?  Share this post, tell us and Tag us in the post.

Need help?  1 Stop HR

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Take Employee Engagement to a New Level!

The Heart of your Company

Employee Engagement is the heart of the success of your company.  Happy and engaged employees are committed and productive employees and obviously productive employees impact your bottom line!

So what do you do to promote employee engagement?  Team building?  Training and development opportunities?  Fantastic!  We would love to hear what else you do to keep your employees engaged.  Email us your ideas – they could be featured in an upcoming blog!

Explore this!

Here is another trend that, if you haven’t thought about it, is absolutely something to explore!  Employee Share Ownership Plans.  1 Stop HR has recently partnered with ESOP Builders who provide all the support needed to businesses exploring or looking to implement this option.  Here is some brief information from them to get you started in your exploration.  We will post more from ESOP Builderteam-1520354-1279x1268s in future blogs.

What is an ESOP?

If you ask us, Employee Share Ownership Plans are a tool for meaningful employee engagement and small- and medium-business growth, one that can dramatically impact the livelihood of Canadians.

If you’re looking for a definition, we offer this: ESOPs are stock equity plans that allow employees to acquire ownership in a company, heightening employee buy-in and investment, while fostering accountability and an ownership mentality. They may include stock options, stock purchase, phantom-stock ownership or a combination of alternatives. Employee ownership can range from 1% to 100% of the company. As employees become owners, they share in the risks and rewards of the company.

What does ESOP Builders do?

At ESOP Builders we helps companies develop customized plans to suit business and business-owner needs, following a detailed consultation with our team.

Why implement an ESOP?

  • attract and retain talented staff
  • improve productivity and profitability
  • engage employees in big picture of company
  • flexible succession plan
  • method for employees to build long-term wealth
  • source of capital for company

More Info

If you’re still wondering “what is an ESOP?” and want to learn more or assess whether ESOPs are suitable for your company, please contact ESOP Builders and the team directly or complete their free Feasibility Survey.

 

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To Hire a Relative or not to Hire a Relative….What do YOU do?

people-1The Dilemma:

So you own a company, or have the authority to hire people at the company you work at.  Your friend or relative is looking for work.  Do you hire them?  You want to help them right?  They should be a good worker as you know them…right?  Hmmm

The decision to hire someone you know could have a lasting impact not only on your relationship with that person, but also the staff and company.  I would caution you to think long and hard before extending that offer of employment.

What to Think About:

Many people don’t think about the things that could go wrong in this type of situation, they want to help, they think that the friend/relative will work hard and that is really where the thinking stops.  Here are some things that I would suggest you think long and hard about before moving forward:

  1. What will I do if this person is not pulling their weight or there are performance problems?
  2. What happens if I receive a complaint about this person?
  3. What happens if this person asks for accommodations that are not normally provided by the company to other employees?
  4. What happens if this person is looking for a raise that falls outside of the normal pay range for the position?
  5. What happens if I no longer have work for this person?

The Answer:

The answer to all of these questions is:  “I will treat them as any other employee under my management”.  This absolutely must be your answer and must be the way you manage this situation.  Here is the problem….this is not as easy as it sounds.  There are feelings, there is a relationship at stake, and there are others in your family or circle of friends that also may weigh in on the situation.

Some people also don’t think about the impact on the other employees or the company.  Employees, once they know there is a prior relationship with the new hire, may have differing reactions.  They may be uncomfortable forming a good working relationship with this person.  They may not feel comfortable coming forward with any concerns with lack of performance or activities that are normally frowned upon.  They may feel that there is or will be preferential treatment.  Mistrust may breed amongst the staff and eventually impact staff and company performance.

You may think that this article is slanted very much to one side…that hiring relatives or friends is always a bad idea.  There are indeed examples where this has worked well, however there are far too many more where it hasn’t.

Deep Thoughts:

If you find yourself in this situation or in this dilemma, I strongly urge you to thoroughly think through your decision and have a deep and detailed discussion with the individual if you plan to move forward.  Take your time and don’t come to any quick decisions.

Learn More About US

1 STOP HR was founded by Christie Ferguson, CHRP CHRL Christie is a certified Human Resources Professional & Leader with many years of hands on HR expertise.

Contact US

Tel: 226-750-3160
Email: info@1stophrconsulting.com

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