employee engagement Archives - Blue Signal Search

Why Employees Quit: Top Reasons and How Recruiters Can Help

September 28, 2022 by Sam Kotowski

Over the last year, more companies have seen employees quit than ever. The collective movement of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs, coined the Great Resignation, began in 2021 as a response to wage stagnation, rising cost of living, and job dissatisfaction – and has continued well into 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that 4.2 million people voluntarily separated from their job in August alone. As a result, companies are left scrambling to replace employees and prevent further turnover. But what’s causing workers to voluntarily leave en masse? From burnout to bad management, we’ve identified the top reasons why employees quit, and how working with recruiters can help.

Employees Quit Because of Toxic Company Culture

The beliefs and attitudes of an organization can highly influence job seekers’ decisions to join a company; and conversely, be a contributing factor to why employees quit. According to a poll conducted with our LinkedIn followers, a toxic company culture was the number one reason for leaving their last job. If employees don’t feel connected to the mission or values the company holds, they’re more likely to be disengaged and unproductive, leading to higher turnover. Consequently, a high turnover rate can have a negative effect on company culture and be costly to the business – with the cost of a bad hire ranging between $17K and $240K. With dissatisfied employees leaving and poor management offloading the extra workload onto the leftover workers, a toxic company culture can be perpetuated and reinforced by that turnover. Ultimately, this destructive, cyclical movement forces employees to leave their job.

How Recruiters Can Help Combat a Toxic Company Culture

As an outside, impartial party, recruiters have a unique perspective when looking at clients’ company cultures. Through conversations with leadership and management, recruiters can evaluate the culture holistically and offer recommendations for improvements. They can give advice on cultural initiatives – such as diversity, equity, and inclusion – that can transform company cultures from toxic to empowering.

When it comes to establishing a positive company culture, it’s key that management is involved. Specializing in executive recruitment, our recruiters help build leadership teams that influence culture from the top down. Our recruiting team finds executives, senior leaders, and managers that drive results for both culture and performance; which in turn, results in engaged and productive employees. Establishing an inclusive, positive company culture will lead to higher retention rates and increased job satisfaction.

"My company has been working with Blue Signal for several years. In that time, Blue Signal has changed our company for the better in so many positive ways, but especially from a cultural and performance perspective. Most of our leadership team and middle management have been permanent placements from Blue Signal. As a result of their incredible initiative on our behalf, we’ve earned numerous awards for culture (e.g., Best Places to Work, Certified Great Place to Work), performance (e.g., Inc lists, Fast 40 mid-market companies, Financial Times Fast 500 in the Americas, Charlotte Fast 50, etc.), and have been recognized as one of the leaders in our industry in innovation. We wouldn’t be anywhere close to where we are today without Blue Signal."

— CEO, Wireless Company

Employees Quit Due to Lack of Opportunities for Advancement

According to a Pew Research Center survey, 63% of employees quit a job in 2021 due to the lack of opportunities for advancement. On top of leaving workers hanging and disengaged, unclear promotion paths can also lead to low morale and efficacy in the workplace. As a result, employees feeling like they’ve hit a dead end in their current role are bound to leave for somewhere that offers upward mobility.

How Recruiters Can Help Establish Upward Mobility

It’s a recruiter’s job to fully understand the scope of the role – including responsibilities, team organization, and growth opportunities. During intake calls with candidates, recruiters can set clear expectations of professional development and career growth within the company. This way, the candidate is fully prepped on what is expected of the role, and what can be expected from the organization. Additionally, recruiters can work with hiring managers to establish clear internal promotion paths and professional development ladders. With those processes established, candidates can envision what they’d be working towards, even before they take the job.

Employees Quit Because of Burnout

The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies employee burnout as a “syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” While all employees are sure to experience burnout sometime in their career, it may be more prevalent for some workers. In fact, 84% of millennials say they have experienced burnout at their current job. Like a toxic culture and lack of opportunities, workplace burnout can directly affect job satisfaction. Thus, burnt-out employees are 2.6x more likely to be actively seeking another job. If you notice employees quit because of burnout, you may be missing the mark when it comes to supporting your employees’ mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

How Recruiters Can Help Battle Burnout

Bringing in an outside recruiter’s perspective can uncover what your company’s missing – whether that is mental health benefits, inclusion initiatives, or retention strategies. Recruiters are masters of employee retention and engagement, even with a remote workforce. After all, they want to see the candidate they placed at your company thrive long-term. Utilizing recruiters’ expertise, hiring managers can apply their recommendations to help battle burnout.

Bad Management Makes Employees Quit

We’ve all heard the saying, “Employees quit bad bosses, not bad companies.” While sometimes a terrible manager is easy to spot due to their unprofessionalism or negative attitude, others can fly under the radar. Less overt characteristics like constant micromanagement, lack of transparency, and being ill-equipped to lead can affect employees’ morale and productivity. For those considering leaving the company, these attributes can be the breaking point. When it comes down to it, a bad manager can cause even the best employee to quit.

How Recruiters Can Help Restructure Management

One of the key benefits of working with a recruiter is having the ability to restructure management by finding professionals skilled in leadership. Recruiters can ensure the executives they place have the qualifications needed to lead and inspire a team, such as emotional intelligence and a strong work ethic. Conversely, they’re able to spot the red flags in an intake interview that could lead to bad management. As a result, recruiters can build leadership teams that inspire, mentor, and build a team around trust and collaboration.

Employees Quit Due to Poor Compensation

It should come as no surprise that employees quit due to being compensated poorly or unfairly. In fact, low pay was a major factor for more than a third of workers who left their jobs in 2021. With tools like Salary.com and LinkedIn Salary Insights, employees can easily find their market rate – and if their employer isn’t paying fairly, they might think it’s time to move on. Additionally, job seekers are looking for higher paying jobs to offset inflation. With the rising costs of everyday essentials, employees may look at their employers to provide an inflation or cost-of-living adjustment. At the end of the day, poor compensation is not always the primary factor for making employees quit, as it could be a combination of all the reasons above – but it may be the deciding one.

How Recruiters Can Help with Compensation

As experts in the space, recruiters have deep insight into market conditions and can determine what candidates are expecting in terms of compensation. Hence, recruiters have the unique advantage of being able to advise hiring managers on salary, commission, and bonus structures that will give their job offer a competitive advantage. In addition, they will have insights on whether a candidate has multiple offers, or higher offers, from other companies throughout the interview process. Using this inside information, they can also advise hiring managers on decision speed, to not risk losing a candidate to another offer. Recruiters can also properly inform candidates on the company’s salary range at the beginning of the hiring process, so that they are not blindsided in the offer stage. Setting clear expectations for compensation, to both candidates and clients, is an essential way recruiters can help prevent employees from quitting.

Conclusion

Employees quit for a multitude of reasons; it may be because of a toxic company culture, lack of opportunity, burnout, bad management, poor compensation – or a combination of each. If your company is wondering why employees quit, look internally to see if any of these factors are prevalent. Then, if you’re not sure how to mitigate them, reach out to a recruiter. At Blue Signal, our recruiting team is your partner in the hiring process, even after we make the initial placement. By utilizing our recruiters’ expertise, you can avoid the top reasons employees quit, and establish groundwork for a thriving work environment. Contact us today to partner with a recruiter on your next search.

Blue Signal Named “Top Companies To Work For In Arizona” For 2 Years in a Row

July 11, 2022 by Aylish DeVore

Arizona Capitol Times, Best Companies Group, and BestCompaniesAZ announced today that Blue Signal has earned a spot on the 10th annual list of 2022 Top Companies to Work for in Arizona, for the second consecutive year. This highly selective list is the result of anonymous and comprehensive employee surveys. These surveys were measuring culture, work environment, leadership, and employee pride and satisfaction. This was combined with rigorous evaluations of workplace practices, policies, perks, and demographics.

“This year’s Top Companies were selected based on the results of a very high favorable employee survey scores. These scores averaged 90% overall survey results and an impressive 91% overall employee engagement. This level of performance for Arizona companies is about three times the national average when compared to Gallup’s recent reporting of US engagement at about 33% favorable,” says Jaime Zepeda, EVP Best Companies Group. “These winners should be very proud of their Top Companies status for this presents a powerful opportunity to attract and retain the very best talent.”

The “Top Companies" will be honored at a virtual event on August 23^rd. Additionally, a special supplement listing of the rankings will also be published by Arizona Capitol Times and BestCompaniesAZ on August 26^th.

For complete details, visit www.TopCompaniesArizona.com.

About Blue Signal Search

Having successfully completed over 1,700 search projects, it’s no surprise that Blue Signal has the experience, relationships, and tools to help you grow your career. Our deep industry knowledge – from 215 combined years of recruiting experience – and streamlined processes help clients to secure high caliber talent within tight timeframes. As a top executive search firm, we have been a driving force in our clients’ professional successes. At Blue Signal, we immerse ourselves in our clients’ businesses and our candidates’ careers to fully understand top priorities and the best direction of both parties. In turn, our reputation is built on our ability to consistently incorporate these priorities into all of our searches to make long term, impactful connections.

About Arizona Capitol Times

Arizona Capitol Times is the only media organization solely devoted to public policy and politics in Arizona. Independent and nonpartisan, we are the most trusted news source covering Arizona’s governments. Our physical proximity to the seat of power and unparalleled access to sources in the Capitol mean we consistently cover legislative and state government actions quickly, accurately and comprehensively.

About BestCompaniesAZ

BestCompaniesAZ is a marketing agency that specializes in employer branding. With more than 30 combined years of industry experience in public relations and human resources, BestCompaniesAZ elevates award-winning organizations through digital marketing, events, communication and award consultation services.

About Best Companies Group

Best Companies Group is dedicated to establishing Best Places to Work programs to distinguish leaders in workplace excellence. As a research firm, BCG collects data about participating companies as well as employee feedback, analyzes that data, and produces a “Best” distinction that makes each recognized organization, the selected region (or industry) and the organizing partners proud. Overall, Best Companies Group identifies and recognizes places of employment that lead the way in defining the employee experience of the 21st century.

8 Questions Successful Managers Ask Before the End of the Year

December 8, 2021 by Aylish DeVore

The end of the year is filled with annual performance reviews, P&L reports, end-of-year budget meetings, a never-ending to-do list, and a thousand other holiday errands. As busy as the end of the year wrap up may be, the opportunity of a fresh start and a new strategic perspective on the coming year is something all leaders should take advantage of. That being said, good business strategy cannot be reduced to a quick planning meeting. It is important to prioritize the time to self-reflect and ask yourself the right questions, because the strategy you plan now has a direct and lasting impact on what your next year will look like. Palena Neale emphasizes that it is vital that leaders make time to reflect on the past year in relation to business goals, actions, values, successes and, of course, their "best" failures.

As you sit down to review the last 12 months and begin planning future strategies, it’s common to feel overwhelmed and left asking, “where do I start?” We’ve gathered a list of the top eight questions successful managers ask before the end of the year to ensure you get started on the right track in the year ahead. These questions are designed to zero in on the important things that tend to get overlooked in the holiday haste. As a best practice moving forward, you can also implement opportunities to review and follow up on these questions quarterly. Checking in on these main ideas will lead to a more realistic view of the overall year and in turn be a more productive use of your time.

8 Questions Successful Managers Ask Before the End of the Year

Question #1: How would I Summarize the Year?

Looking back on the entire year can seem daunting but it’s a great first step in your reflection process. Take a step back and review the past year as a whole. How would you summarize the outcome? Check in with the business goals you had set for the year and see what was met and what fell short. Take this time to dive into the overall performance of your team, individual employees, and most importantly, yourself as a manager.

When looking at the overall performance as a team and individual employees, it’s important to remind yourself to humanize the workplace. It’s okay to report on highs and lows of the year and have open conversations around both. Collaborate with your team about next steps and break down the work that comes from it. When evaluating yourself, don’t be afraid to be brutally honest and truly look for areas of improvement. Once you gather your findings in each area, ask yourself what you can learn from each. List out clear takeaways that you can turn into actions items to accomplish in the future.

Question #2: Where was the Majority of My Time and Energy Spent in 2021?

Pull research and look back to find where your time was allocated the most and where it was lacking in the past year. Are these findings sustainable going forward? Do they make sense in relation to your business goals? When looking at how time was spent, try to pinpoint what caused stress and be aware of signs of burnout.

Stress in leadership can lead to more negative effects than just personal wellbeing – businesses in the US suffer a $300 billion loss every year because of workplace stress. Additionally, almost 60% of leaders reported feeling tired at the end of each day, which can be an indication of burnout. One recent survey found that 44% of leaders who felt worn and used up planned to move to a new company in order to advance their careers. When deciding how to disperse your time, remember that when you’re at your personal best, the company can succeed. Inga Bielińska, a coaching and consulting mentor, recommends looking at the coming year’s agenda and planning for family events to participate in, friends’ reunions or routine outings to go to, winter holidays, summer holidays, and regular “me time” to help combat stress.

Question #3: What Areas Can I Take a Step Back From?

According to a recent survey, developing the next generation of leaders is the top challenge for 55% of CEOs. In most cases, taking a step back will create the opportunity to delegate tasks and responsibilities to those who are ready to step up in the company. This allows you to encourage individual growth on your team and it frees up your time for overall business development opportunities. It’s a win-win. Remember it’s your team who has led the company to its success so far. Trust them to take on more responsibility and show you what they can do!

Once you identify areas you are able and willing to delegate, set aside the time and resources you’ll need to properly train the individuals taking them on. Avoid throwing anyone in the deep end and make sure they are confident in their new role and expectations. Additionally, schedule future meetings to follow up on how things are going after team members have had time to settle into those new responsibilities. This will allow them the opportunity to ask questions and will ensure you are both on the same page moving forward.

Question #4: Where am I in My Personal Five-Year Career Plan?

This is the time to be a little selfish. Just as you would evaluate business performance, it’s equally important to conduct personal evaluations. Check-in with yourself and your business goals – more specifically, where you are in your 5-year plan. You can do this by conducting a personal SWOT analysis and looking at it from a technical standpoint. Loren Margolis, from Training & Leadership Success LLC, suggests asking yourself questions such as, "What are my top leadership strengths and weaknesses?", "What are my growth opportunities?", and "What are the internal (mindset) and external (marketplace) threats to my success?"

In the same sense, take this time to revisit your long term goals. When answering these questions, you’ll determine if you’re on track with your goals and certain areas that need more attention. Remember that all goals are works in progress and you can add and adjust them based on where you are today. Once you’ve reflected and updated, you’ll need to develop an actionable plan to continue on the path to meeting those milestones.

Question #5: How is Overall Employee Engagement?

Once you take a look at your personal progression, the next step is to do the same for your team. This starts with evaluating employee engagement. Studies show that 78% of business leaders are focused on improving their engagements with employees. In turn, engaged employees outperform their peers that are not engaged – and overall, companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable. A good place to start asking the right questions is during employee performance reviews. G. Riley Mills, from Pinnacle Performance Company, shares that “despite common conceptions about workers receiving performance-based feedback, research shows that they not only want it, but they also want to give it to you. A whopping 65% of workers want more feedback – and that number swells to 80% for younger workers (76% of which also want to give their bosses feedback).”

Before the new year, carve out the necessary amount of time to meet with employees one-on-one to touch base. Take this opportunity to notice anyone starting to show symptoms of burnout, or those who need more of a challenge. Be sure to set the necessary follow ups to discuss next steps and note who will need more attention in the coming year.

Question #6: What Gaps Does the Team Have?

No team is perfectly balanced all the time, especially when the company needs to make changes to stay competitive – and that’s okay. When looking for gaps, it’s easiest to tackle this separately from performance reviews. Individual annual performance reviews are critical, but they don’t give a holistic, big-picture view of a team. Meet as a team and create an open discussion regarding where employees are noticing gaps – be open to feedback.

Once identified, categorize them by priority. Which gaps are the most important to close and which are less urgent? Analyze what it would take to close them, such as incentives for the team to work harder, redistributed duties, improved technology, new hires, or more training. Prioritize which gaps to close based on projects and available resources. Oftentimes this can lead to the realization of necessary budget increases for departments. Going into that discussion with this tangible analysis can help increase chances of approval.

Question #7: What Technology Changes are Around the Corner?

Automation, smart devices, IoT, cloud computing, and other advances are changing the landscape very quickly, even in businesses outside the technology industry. No matter the industry, ask yourself how you will remain innovative in the near future. As remote work has taken off in the past two years due to Covid-19, technology and processes have advanced quickly to meet the communication standards among teams working across the country. Many businesses have identified software, programs, and devices to implement or better utilize for reliable internal communication, streamlining processes, remote work, etc. The innovation of 5G has brought a particular shift in advancing technology we use daily.

More specifically – cybersecurity has proven to be more important every year. It’s crucial to keep teams up to date about what skills they need to stay competitive. Additionally, pay attention to market trends throughout the year – last-minute technology upgrades are never convenient or cheap. After you reflect on these points, you may find it’s time to hire new IT professionals or teams to manage internal technology advancements. Remember that Blue Signal can help!

Question #8: What Would a Successful 2022 Look Like to Me?

After all the self-reflection and input from the team, the last step is to set business goals and intentions for the year. The hardest part of goal-setting is being realistic. Keep in mind – not all dreams should be goals. A great place to start when mapping out your business goals is to ask yourself what will stay the same, what will change, and how. All of these answers should lead to insightful follow up questions and provide you with the necessary steps needed to plan for success.

When setting these intentions, it’s important to focus on hard numbers and actionable projects. In turn, this helps outline expectations and clearly communicates what considers a goal complete. The best goals have benchmarks and key performance indicators to measure success along the way. A great tip is to dig up your previous business goals - not just from this last year, but 3-5 years back - and look for trends. Look for similar, overly ambitious goals you tend to make year after year and decide how to make them more achievable or choose to scrap them altogether. If you find yourself getting stuck and unsure of what’s important, ask your team for input! This will ensure all department’s individual business goals are represented in some way when it comes to the company’s future plans.

Once you’ve settled on your goals – memorize them. Throughout the year you should be able to clearly visualize what you’re going to accomplish – almost manifesting the outcome. Share company business goals with your team as well and remind them to refer back to them often.

In the busy month of December, it is easy to get buried in small tasks and miss critical opportunities to get ahead in the coming year. Optimizing these questions can help you stay organized and zero in on important business goals and action items to take. When reflecting, remember to celebrate the wins as a team and try not to tread on the goals you didn’t hit. A new year is the perfect opportunity to clean the slate and start fresh with an ambitious mindset. Alexsys Thompson, from Alexsys Thompson Intl., states that “as a leader reviews the wins and losses of the previous year, it is powerful to revisit the wins that were experienced, and acknowledging the misses through story will help ensure lessons are taken forward as valuable learning experiences.”

As you build out your 2022 strategy, remember Blue Signal can be a vital resource! Our seasoned recruiters can partner with you to help answer these questions and deliver action items related to hiring to hit your business goals in the year to come. Contact our qualified team of recruiters to learn more about the wide range of services we offer.

Coffee with a Recruiter Feat. Karli Larson – Mastering Engagement for Remote Employees

November 3, 2021 by Amber Lamb

Karli Larson is Blue Signal’s own employee engagement guru. As our Director of People and Culture, Karli helps BSS keep our own workforce engaged – with nearly 40 remote employees nationwide! Her initiatives have resulted in marked improvement in engagement as well as overall employee satisfaction. Karli’s expertise can easily be applied to any remote workforce. Watch her segment and read on to hear about some of her best practices!

“Whether your workforce was remote before the pandemic, they were forced to go remote, or they transitioned to remote indefinitely as a result of the pandemic, you may be wondering – how do I keep everyone engaged? Virtual happy hours have lost their luster and there is no longer an opportunity to connect by the water cooler or coffee machine, so what keeps people connected when they’re working remotely?”

Can Remote Employees be Fully Engaged?

“YES! And it doesn’t cost you a lot of money or time spent sipping White Claw at 4 o’clock in the afternoon in front of your computer screen. Recent studies have shown that remote employees who get regular feedback are the most engaged out of any other group, including in-person employees! They have the autonomy of working how and where they want to and they get meaningful feedback, creating optimal engagement.”

What Exactly do Remote Employees Need to be Engaged?

“Connection is the name of the game here. My top three suggestions for getting people engaged are:

#1 - Connection with their manager.

Employees want to know how they are performing and that someone cares about their success and well-being. This comes from regular one-on-ones. These one-on-ones can be every week, biweekly, or monthly depending on the needs of the employee, but they should be scheduled and there should definitely be an agenda. Gallup did a study that found that managers account for a 70% variance in employee engagement. So, no pressure managers, but you influence how your team feels about their job and the company.

#2 - Connection to their peers.

Human beings have an inherent desire to belong to a group. This sense of belonging helps them appreciate their work and not feel like they are going at it alone. Having regular team meetings creates a culture of shared values and open communication. Team meetings should focus on team goals that everyone’s striving for. They should also celebrate people's wins and offer assistance when people are dealing with work related hurdles.

#3 - Connection to the company.

Being connected to the company can look different for many people, but it starts before the offer is ever made. Maybe they align with your mission and values, they feel connected to the philanthropic endeavors of the company, or they’re just really excited about the company culture that they’re seeing online. Most of the time there is an attraction to your company, and you should find out what it is. During an interview, simply asking, “what drew you to our company?” will not only tell you about the level of research they did about your company, but it will also let you know what’s important to them.”

So Remote Employees Don’t Want Virtual Happy Hours?

“People want connection! So, after there has been a meaningful connection – i.e., the three things we just went over – find ways to bring people together. This may be mentorship programs, special groups, or even the occasional happy hour with games to learn about each other.”

Why is this Important?

“When you have high employee engagement, you have productive employees and better overall results – and that’s a win-win!”

Key Takeaways for Ensuring Engagement with your Remote Employees

When examining your engagement level among remote employees, it can be easy to miss some of the details. For instance, does your online presence align with your company’s values and goals? As a remote employer, how do you highlight your culture to job seekers? It’s important to make sure that your content represented both internally and externally to the worldwide web audience reflects the reasons why employees were excited to work for you to begin with. Make the mission of your remote engagement initiatives clear to everyone who sees your content. This way, you’ll attract candidates whose needs you are ready and able to meet. Furthermore, you’ll improve your retention by making those working for you today feel part of the bigger picture.

Karli covers several main points within her segment. Namely, that the tools to ensure engagement within your remote employees are simple, and free! With a good set of company values, the right communication, and dedicated leadership, remote employees will thrive when given the opportunity to connect.

Karli Larson

SR. MANAGER OF PEOPLE & CULTURE

Karli’s path to HR came from her two passions, people and service. She believes that HR is one of the single most human-based roles out there. By supporting the internal culture for the humans of Blue Signal, she is in turn helping humans from all industries succeed in their chosen careers!

Blue Signal Ranked Among Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces 2021

May 13, 2021 by Amber Lamb

BLUE SIGNAL RANKS AMONG HIGHEST-SCORING BUSINESSES ON INC. MAGAZINE’S ANNUAL LIST OF BEST WORKPLACES FOR 2021

429 Companies that Make Work Worth It

Blue Signal has been named to Inc. magazine’s annual list of the Best Workplaces for 2021. Hitting newsstands May 18 in the May/June 2021 issue, and as part of a prominent Inc.com feature, the list is the result of a wide-ranging and comprehensive measurement of American companies that have created exceptional workplaces and company culture whether teams are operating in person or remotely.

Collecting data from thousands of submissions, Inc. singled out 429 honorees this year. Each nominated company took part in an employee survey, conducted by Quantum Workplace, on topics including management effectiveness, perks, and fostering employee growth. The organization’s benefits were also audited to determine the company’s overall score and ranking.

Blue Signal has worked hard to meet the changing needs of its workforce this last year. Founder and Executive VP Matt Walsh puts it best: “we take pride in our strong employee retention, and a large part of our success is due to our ingrained culture. Our culture is centered on five core values: excellence, transparency, integrity, commitment, and respect. Where only one in 10 in our industry go on to a career in recruiting, our tenure is well above the industry average. We have ensured that our company culture is prioritized and unwavering with consistent check-ins and virtual events that help us build community across our remote, nationwide workforce.”

“The definition of a positive workplace has changed drastically over the past year,” says Inc. magazine editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. “Stocked fridges and nap pods were no longer perks many companies could rely on once work went remote. So, this year’s list is even more important as it reveals organizations that continue to enrich the lives of its employees amid a pandemic.”

About Blue Signal Search

Blue Signal is a nationwide executive search firm that connects companies seeking the best talent in their respective industries with superior performers. The industries we specialize in include wireless, telecommunications, Internet of Things (IoT), medical/healthcare, finance/accounting, emerging technology, cloud, managed services, manufacturing/industrial, logistics/supply chain, and human resources. We build deep relationships with our consultants and candidates, providing career consultation and opportunities to help make a career advancement possible.

Our dedication to building relationships within key industries allows us to provide our clients and candidates with unparalleled access and a high level of expertise around market conditions. As a business partner, we will never compromise on professionalism, providing an uncommon level of transparency for our industry.

About Inc. Media

The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

About Quantum Workplace

Quantum Workplace, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is an HR technology company that serves organizations through employee-engagement surveys, action-planning tools, exit surveys, peer-to-peer recognition, performance evaluations, goal tracking, and leadership assessment. For more information, visit QuantumWorkplace.com.

Coffee with a Recruiter, feat. Wyatt Humrichous

October 28, 2020 by Amber Lamb

This Halloween season, perhaps one of the spookiest things the workforce has had to face is the shift to working remote. For our second Coffee with a Recruiter segment, we were joined by Blue Signal’s Human Resources Project Manager, Wyatt Humrichous, to discuss best practices when it comes to promoting a cohesive and engaging company culture within a remote workforce. Wyatt discussed some key points, including:

Being present and consistent with remote teams can help ensure those satellite workers are staying engaged with the company culture.
By fine-tuning the onboarding process, you are putting your best foot forward when it comes to including a new hire into the culture - right at the start.
Simple voice-to-voice, and better yet, face to (virtual) face, communication can go a long way. Don’t underestimate the power of some traditional communication in forming bonds.

Watch the video or read on to get the full scoop on combating these culture shifts!

Question: What is one common misconception about company culture when working remotely?

Answer: “I believe a lot of people approach working remotely with this, “I could never do that, how could anyone stay motivated, working remotely just isn’t for me,” type of attitude and usually kill their fire before even considering a remote position or offering themselves the opportunity to really excel at one. I’ve found in my experience working remotely, as well as working to excite remote teams as we build out our remote model, that really the pros and cons of working in a traditional office and working in a remote office almost outweigh themselves. With the global pandemic, so many people have fathomed working from home now and have really put some thought into the possibility and reality of what that would look like. Through this experience I hope that many people will approach the idea from a different angle.

At Blue Signal we have still been able to nurture a strong sense of community and team camaraderie by ensuring our teams are meeting weekly, if not daily. Being as present as possible and as consistent as possible are two ways to really ensure teams maintain their strength. Additionally, by doing the work of reaching out and understanding what support employees need as we all swim these new waters together allows us to create communication bonds and reassure our employees that our primary objective is to support them and see them through to their inevitable success. Finally, this may seem like a no-brainer, but by having the proper values and foundational structure in place to build your culture and policy around, you do yourself the favor of getting off on the right foot and avoid any cracks that may lead to troubles with culture down the road. At Blue Signal we adhere to a standard of excellence that is second to none, and this standard fuels our ability to provide a top notch service to our clients and be an invaluable resource to our candidates.”

Q: What has been one major challenge you have had to overcome in supporting a remote workforce?

A: “When it comes to supporting a remote workforce so many hiccups come with onboarding. Screening, interviewing, sending offers, negotiating, equipping, training - all of these core components of onboarding adjust greatly based on your business model and a prospective or new employee’s life-cycle experience right from the jump. By diving in and fine tuning so many of our onboarding details, we have taken what can seem like a daunting task with never ending steps and made it concise, friendly, and engaging for everyone involved.”

Q: What are some tricks and tips you have for keeping employees engaged with their teams in a remote workforce?

A: “With so many of us working in our siloed home offices and lacking good old-fashioned communication that we so often thrive on, I’ve found that calling employees instead of emailing sometimes is a great way to engage folks and remind them that they aren’t alone. I hear stories of employees that work elsewhere going a day - or even days sometimes - without real voice-to-voice contact with a fellow colleague. That sounds like a nightmare to me! Anytime you’re able to connect with someone via video conference or phone call, take that opportunity, as they are few and far between and mean so much more now that we don’t get caught in elevators with co-workers, or have lunch in the break room together anymore. While we are all looking forward to that again, for now it’s important to reach out in those traditional fashions.

Also, we’ve found that by providing fun opportunities for employees to get to know each other and cut loose aside from work hours, it really can boost morale. We’ve hosted Happy Hours on video conferences, put together health initiatives to try and promote some healthy competition from our own homes and neighborhoods, we have implemented small video segments, sharing photographs and personal statements about each other, airing them company-wide for all employees to gather a glimpse of what we are all like. We have found each of these items, as well as a combination of them, to really promote the interconnectivity that we like to foster here within our Blue Signal culture.”

Wyatt Humrichous, HR Department

“Wyatt Humrichous supports the entire Blue Signal team through a variety of projects including operational management and human resources support. As a subject matter expert on company culture and employee retention strategy, he is the ultimate resource when it comes to ensuring employee buy-in and overall morale.”

With over 120 years of combined experience in the industry, we have seen and heard it all when it comes to the good and the bad of company culture. More often than not, bad culture is what drives employees to want to make a move. Leverage our insight and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to hear more about our tried and true best practices when it comes to employee retention and successful company culture.

How to Resolve Cross Department Rivalries

March 10, 2020 by Lacey Walters

Rivalries between internal departments can bring a sense of competition and motivation to the workplace, but what happens when said rivalries bring out feelings of tension and strain between teams? Cross department rivalries are nothing new in a professional environment - it’s natural for contrasting teams to compete for power and credibility. However, when these rivalries bring out conflict and distrust, it becomes less of an inconvenience and more of a costly issue.

When it comes to collaborating with other departments, employees may feel that it is challenging to synchronize complex tasks, prioritize those items, and communicate. According to a SalesForce Survey, 86% of employees and executives cite a lack of collaboration or ineffective communication as the reason behind workplace failures. The same study suggests that approximately 97% of surveyed workers indicate that lack of alignment within a team negatively impacts the outcome of a task or project. If any of this sounds familiar, you can ask your team these 4 questions to determine how you can reduce the negative effects of cross department rivalries.

Salesforce.com*

What Values Do We Create Together?

In order to ascertain how everyone's strengths best fit into a project, it is essential to determine the team’s technical abilities and how they can be combined. Value is realized when those functions are clearly understood and the team is able to discern their shared contributions that drive performance.

For example, a team working on a project implementing cloud solutions may be composed of several engineers, analysts and product sales individuals. Each person has their own skills that set them apart from each other - these values should be laid out in a meeting before the start of the project to make sure everyone is on the same page. By identifying these key skills, your organization can greatly reduce any conflicting goals and better manage project tensions that may have otherwise taken place.

What Capabilities Do We Need to Achieve These Values?

Having established values and tasks before a project starts allows team members to better focus on the task at hand. Now, it’s essential to lay out how your team is going to achieve these values and identify any missing capabilities or processes that interfere with the overall project. Since finding time to meet with all the departments involved may be a hassle, this is where proper communication comes into play.

How Will We Resolve Conflicts While Maintaining Communication And Trust?

It’s natural to butt-heads with someone who has opposing views on how to get the job done. When you feel like you’re getting frustrated with someone, it’s time to sit down with that person and discuss why you are feeling discontent. Answering this question shows that you are respecting everyone involved with the project and taking positive steps toward discovering a solution that is beneficial to all. When these concerns are fully aired, it gives someone an opportunity to explain their process to identify what is not working. The goal is to increase the trust and communication between departments, which in turn builds a stronger commitment to the collective success of the team.

How Can We Help Each Other Succeed?

Last, but certainly not least, this question is about establishing support and camaraderie between departments. Make sure each individual has access to the tools and technology that will help everyone succeed as a team. If you sense someone is struggling, offer any guidance and support that will simplify the prior established commitments and make sure no one is falling behind. When every individual succeeds, the team succeeds as a whole.

A Final Note

Cross Department issues will inevitably come up, having established guidelines in place is what prevents these conflicts from turning into full-blown rivalries. If you see strained cross-functional relationships within your organization, alleviate the tension by going through these questions and communicating any concerns.

About Blue Signal:

Blue Signal was founded in Chicago in 2012, and since then, has grown into a multi-million-dollar executive placement firm with offices in the Phoenix and Chicago areas. Blue Signal has established itself as the premier executive search firm within wireless/telecom, technology, and related industry niches.

At Blue Signal, we believe that hiring the right people is the best way to transform business. Our targeted, specialized searches deliver highly qualified professionals to meet every hiring need. Our team has decades of combined experience in finding the right people for each unique company culture and industry niche.

Our team works with both candidates and hiring managers to find the right fit. Contact us today to let us know how we can help.

7 Subtle Motivation-Killers of Top Employees

February 17, 2017 by Lacey Walters

“Highly motivated” is a common requirement on job descriptions, but in reality, “built-in” motivation is a myth. While an employee’s internal drive is important, the other half of the equation is a joint effort by the employee and the manager to foster a productive workplace.

Employee engagement is a top buzzword of recent years, and there are many obvious killers of motivation: below-market pay, crushing workload, delayed wages, unfair management practices, and oppressive bureaucracy. But for highly paid top performers, some team managers miss more subtle killers of motivation. In an increasingly competitive job market, these top employees have more options than ever, so it is important to address motivation killers and build a productive, healthy environment that lets high performers shine.

1. Unclear advancement plans

In the modern high-level interview, hiring managers often ask for a prospective employee’s career goals. Not everyone wants to go into management, so this interview question is critical in uncovering what motivates the employee. However, many managers never follow up on this initial conversation.

Regularly discussing where the employee wants to go and how to get there is important, but it is only the start. High achievers are good at setting and reaching goals, so they need to have measurable targets to hit and a specific timeline. If an employee feels they are indefinitely treading water, or that they have no prospects for advancement at their current company, they will move on. Tip the balance by giving top performers a realistic idea of their growth timeline and what they can expect as a reward for their hard work.

2. Unaddressed conflict

High performers often have well-rounded communication skills and are good at coping with set-backs and frustrations. That said, a toxic work environment will quickly frustrate someone who is trying to focus on achieving good results in their job. A sudden change in an employee’s performance or an abrupt drop-off in communication is a telltale sign of a toxic situation. Toxic workplaces kill employee engagement.

Promptly address conflict. Meet face-to-face with involved employees and be prepared to discuss what is bothering them in honest, blunt terms. Many times, good communication with a mediator will take the fire out of a bad situation. At other times, more drastic measures are required. Either way, when a top employee is sending distress signals, ignoring the problem destroys trust along with motivation.

3. Lack of feedback and/or indifference to new ideas

When employees come up with new ideas and find new ways of doing things, it is a sure sign that they have good motivation and are engaged in their jobs. A quick way to kill that motivation is to gloss over their ideas. Even if the idea is totally unworkable, enthusiastic acknowledgement of their effort is critical.

Meet regularly with high-performing employees, not just to assess performance, but to build trust so that the employee feels confident enough to share new ideas. Top performers often provide advice that is just as good as a pricey consultant.

4. Poor industry reputation

A company rarely has a bad reputation without something else being wrong. Negative press or a poor financial outlook can cause employees to start searching before a crisis hits. This correlation is stronger with senior executives. Executives are generally more in tune with market conditions and the company’s industry reputation. Senior employees are also impacted more strongly by performance-based bonuses and budget cuts, so a stream of bad press can jumpstart a new job search.

Interestingly, the past few years have seen the market become much more politicized. In a report titled “The Dawn of CEO Activism,” KRC Research found that almost 40% of American consumers say CEOs have a responsibility to publicly address hot-button political issues. Depending on whether employees support or oppose their company’s views, political involvement can bolster or kill motivation. Senior executives in particular may come under fire for comments by the company, or have to clean up messes as a result of an unpopular comment.

In fast-moving industries with shorter tenure, especially technology, top performers look ahead to make sure that the experience they are building now can get them a job down the road. Tech professionals have learned the hard way that even giants like Myspace and Netscape can hit hard times and turn a star resume into one that looks dated and unfashionable.

5. Being passed over for a key promotion

Top performers are less of a flight risk than underperformers. However, sudden departures are often due to missing out on a promotion or award. If a hiring manager is interviewing internally and interviews three top performers for a juicy promotion, and only one of them gets it, the hiring manager risks losing his other two top performers. The solution is to take time to give them a good explanation as to why they were passed over. Reevaluate their career path within the organization together with them.

Ironically, top employees sometimes leave because of a promotion or salary increase! The HR analytics software Workday found that a significant percentage of high-performing employees had a higher risk of leaving the company after a promotion.

Several scenarios can cause this phenomenon:

After transitioning into the new role, the employee runs into one of the problems above.
The employee takes on more responsibility than they could manage.
The promotion or raise comes too late or fails to meet expectations.
The new job title or award makes the employee more attractive to recruiters or motivates them to explore even better options outside the company.

When interviewing internal candidates for a high-level position, it is critical to spend time with the rejected candidates to reevaluate their growth plan within the company, so they do not take it as a sign to move on.

6. Insufficient mentorship or development opportunities

Networking is still the #1 way that people get a new job or advance at their current one. It is important to help top employees build mentor relationships within the company.

A mentor fulfills many roles in an employee’s professional life: they coach, train, give advice, brainstorm, encourage, and correct. Having strong professional relationships within an organization is a powerful incentive for a high achiever to work hard and stay with the company.

By contrast, companies who fail to invest in their top employees’ growth lose twice. Their top people gravitate to the competition, and they fail to attract top employees to replace them. Today’s employee knows that demand for new skills is fierce. Top employees have to reinvent themselves several times in the course of their careers. If an employer is not investing their skills, they lose the motivation to invest their best effort in growing the company.

7. Too little work or uninteresting projects

A mediocre employee will happily take a paycheck without enough work to keep them busy. Top performers want to be challenged. Even if an employee believes wholeheartedly in the company’s mission and loves their work, they will quickly become frustrated if they are bored or perceive that their work is unimportant.

If a high performer is consistently hitting goals without much effort, they have outgrown their current role. It can be tempting to keep them where they are to save the cost of replacing them when they move up the ladder, but this will frustrate the employee and usually lead to a drop in performance or a resignation letter. Reward employees’ growth by helping them to reach their desired career goals.

Many employees would rather leave than complain, so pay attention to early warning signs. Do not rely on employees to set their own workloads. It is the manager’s job to invest time in the employee to match their workload to their ability, drive, and personality. Find out what aspects of a project or of a client the employee enjoys working with, and seek out ways to maximize it for that employee. The investment is well worth it. Motivated employees who like their jobs will happily go to bat for their company to get the best results.

Change is difficult, and even top employees are reluctant to jump into a long job search process that may or may not pay off. A high performer will send many signs before they feel frustrated enough to start job-searching. Employee engagement takes an investment of time, thought, and resources. But the reward is that a manager who engages employees will have far better results to show than a manager who focuses on the results instead of on the people who produce them.