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Your 4-Step Guide to Adopting New Hires into Company Culture

August 27, 2019 by Blue Signal

As a hiring manager, you’ve done the hard part, going through endless levels of interviews to find the perfect candidate and now, it’s the start date. For a new hire, starting a new job can be exciting, overwhelming, and nerve wracking. Some people approach their new career with elation and confidence, ready to take on their responsibilities. However, some employees dread the first day - worried about the people they’ll meet, their supervisors’ management style and even where they will sit at lunch. Successfully integrating new hires into company culture is one of the most important hiring processes and can be a determining factor in your new hire’s career-span within the company.

Your new employee has already had a great first impression with their candidate hiring experience, now, it’s more crucial than ever to continue to impress  them with your company culture and keep that excitement and momentum going. Here’s a 4-step guide to the process of making new employees feel comfortable and part of the team from day 1.

New Employee Onboarding

 

1. Begin Onboarding Before the Official Start Date 

One way companies can introduce company culture to new hires is to start the process before they even arrive. When sending out materials to introduce them to the job, include internal materials that gives your new employee an inside look into the personality of the company. Take advantage of what is typically a to-the-point welcome letter to prepare your new hire for what they can expect on the first day in a fun and creative way. Providing them with a FAQ sheet, recommendations around the area, and a set first-day agenda can eliminate some of the worries and questions they may have upon arrival.

2. Create Fun Opportunities to Meet Fellow Coworkers

We’ve all played getting-to-know-you games as kids in school, and whether we liked them or not, they were undeniably effective at breaking the ice and encouraging interaction. Icebreakers and team facilitation activities are a great way to ease some of the tension your new hire may be feeling. Social media is also becoming a new and innovative way to create connections between employees. Help your employees merge into the company by encouraging them to follow company social media accounts, along with adding them to a private social network for your company. A private social network, such as a private Facebook group, allows employees to participate and feel active in conversations in a less formal setting. Ultimately, it comes down to implementing interactive opportunities to create a strong dynamic for your company culture.

3. Put Yourself in Their Shoes

Regardless of the amount of time your company has been established, company culture is something that is present from the very beginning. Unless you are the CEO or have been with the company from the ground up, chances are that you have had to go through the onboarding process as well once upon a time. It’s easy to forget the impressions and questions you had on your first day, but it’s critical to put yourself into their shoes and make them feel as comfortable and supported as possible. Remember, as a new employee, questions will be asked and mistakes will be made; these are expected and should be looked upon as a learning experience for both the new employee and manager. Putting in effort to realize that you were in the same position at some point in time allows a certain level of respect and rapport to be built.

4. Follow up

The number one place where companies fall short in the onboarding process is following up with your new hire to ensure they are understanding and enjoying their work. One of the easiest ways to guarantee long-term employment is to onboard them correctly and not let employees fall off your radar. According to the 2018 Recruiter Nation Survey from Jobvite, 39% of talent professionals dedicate between 1-3 business days to onboarding. Although it may involve increased efforts from larger companies, onboarding should be a priority and last weeks or even months as necessary. In addition to habitually checking up on your new hire, a simple follow up email is a valuable way to gain feedback and opens up an honest communication forum between all levels of authority.

Some of the biggest onboarding challenges are inconsistent applications, manager accountability and competing priorities. Adapting a new employee to the company culture and ensuring their success needs to be a priority to guarantee a positive experience. Keep in mind, helping your new hire fit into company culture can be simplified with these 4 easy steps: begin onboarding before the start date, create fun opportunities to meet coworkers, put yourself in their shoes, and follow up. 

We Are Here to Help

Are you a hiring manager or talent acquisition professional looking to expand your team? Ask us how we can help coach your onboarding process as needed! Blue Signal’s search process continues to impress our clients and our recruiters are dedicated to finding top talent within any industry.

 

Ready for a free hiring consultation?

Contact us today on ways we can help your organization.

(480) 939-3200

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Career Advice Tagged With: candidates, company culture, hiring, hiring manager, hiring process, hiring trends, hr, human resources, new employee, onboarding, onboarding program, recruiters, workplace

The Importance of Candidate Experience

August 14, 2019 by Blue Signal

With the job market being at an all-time high, and unemployment at record lows, companies are in dire need for top talent. This is creating more competition among employers and as a result it is fostering a more particular candidate pool. Candidate experience plays a huge factor for a company’s hiring processes with more than 82% of job seekers saying that it is an important factor in their decision.

So, why is candidate experience so important to job seekers? Well, not only is it a reflection of employers, it also affects their brand and the culture that they have built. Recently, CareerBuilder conducted research on candidate experience and it revealed that “68% of candidates think the way they are treated in the hiring process reflects how the company treats its employees.”

There are many ways that employers can improve candidate experience, but the most important way is by setting clear expectations, having a clear and responsive process, maintaining a good impression, and simplifying the hiring process.

 1. Set Clear Expectations

Candidates need to be intrigued by a job description and the company in order to apply. It sounds simple, but it comes down to how you market the job. It’s important for employers to set clear guidelines on what type of candidate they’re looking for, and what background they need to have. The Namely Blog stated that “an HRDive report found that 73% of hiring managers say they provide clear job descriptions, while only 36% of candidates agree.” Having a clear and accurate explanation of the overall job responsibilities, requirements, benefits, perks or incentives, and even compensation details are important. Although some employers may not disclose compensation during the hiring process, be sure to discuss that at some point - particularly early on.

2. Have a Clear and Responsive Process

Throughout the hiring process it is important to keep candidates in the loop on what is going on. Interested in taking next steps? Let them know! Not interested in speaking further with them? Let them know! According to Workable, “75% of candidates never hear back from a company after sending in an application and 60% of candidates say they’ve gone for interviews and never heard back from the company.” This eventually leads to a bad reputation considering that “22% of candidates will tell others not to apply to the company.” So, it’s crucial to be transparent and responsive to not only maintain a good reputation, but to improve the overall candidate experience.

Candidate Experience Stats

3. Simplify and Speed Up the Hiring Process

Some hiring processes can be tedious and take a lot of time. Candidates are usually unsure of what to expect so a simple, fast and clear approach is the way to go. Hiring new talent can be time consuming and costly for companies. The Society for Human Resource Management states that, “companies reported spending nearly $4,500 per hire–not including the cost of lost time and productivity while the position sits open.” It’s important to be efficient and simplify the process - not only for the company, but for the candidate. The hiring process is ultimately a candidate’s first impression, so be sure to stand out.

4. Maintain a Good Reputation 

We’re in a social media driven era and people can find positive or negative reviews on a company with a simple click. A candidate’s experience is especially crucial for the people companies don’t end up hiring. According to a LinkedIn survey, “83% of candidates said a negative interview experience can change their mind about a role or company they once liked.” Providing a good experience can maintain a good impression and it is important for organizations to consistently build a positive reputation as a great place to work. Candidate experience goes hand in hand with company culture, and research states that 95% of recruiters say that it has an impact on employer branding. Recruiters connect with candidates daily, so they have a full understanding of companies hiring processes and have dealt with both good and bad experiences. It is crucial to listen to what people are saying, and most importantly take their feedback into consideration in order to maintain a good reputation.

recruiter graphic

There are many ways employers can enhance candidate experience and improve the current processes in place. Learn what needs to be improved on and listen to what candidates have to say - whether it’s positive or negative. Feedback is important and can be a great resource. Even doing a simple Google search or browsing Glassdoor can give employers clarity on what people really think about them. Remember that setting clear expectations, having a clear and responsive process, maintaining a good impression, and simplifying the hiring process is a great way to improve a candidate’s experience.

We Are Here to Help

Are you a hiring manager or talent acquisition professional looking to expand your team? Ask us how we can help coach your hiring process as needed! Blue Signal’s search process continues to impress our clients and our recruiters are dedicated to finding top talent within any industry. Contact us today on ways we can help your organization. (480) 939-3200

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Career Advice Tagged With: candidate, hiring, hiring manager, hiring process, hiring trends, interview tips, interviewing, job market, new employee, recruiters, recruiting, unemployment, workplace

Blue Signal Expands to Meet Growing Demand

July 15, 2019 by Blue Signal

In response to our recent successes, and increased demand for Blue Signal’s recruiting services, we have recently expanded our internal teams. We have nearly doubled in size with the addition of 15 incredible team members. With three new classes of recruiters in the first half of 2019, Blue Signal is poised to multiply our placements in the upcoming quarters. We are proud to announce this expansion of our team, and are excited to see what change and development we can shake up next!

We look forward to working together with our new team members to deliver the best available talent to our clients. Meet the rest of the Blue Signal team here.If you are interested in getting in on the fun, you can also check our jobs page as we are constantly looking for talent to help us expand our own internal capabilities as well.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Career Advice, Our Company, Our Company Tagged With: hiring, job market, new employee, recruiting, workplace

7 Subtle Motivation-Killers of Top Employees

February 17, 2017 by Blue Signal

“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

Employee Engagement and motivation depends strongly on a workplace culture of relevant and consistent feedback on new ideasWhen 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.
Being passed over for a promotion can severely damage employee engagement for a high performer.

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.

Employee engagement - having a mentor and training opportunities significantly improves employee motivation and retention.

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.

Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: company culture, employee engagement, employee motivation, employer, guide, how to, job, job market, motivating, promotion, recruiting, strategy, workplace

How to Talk Like a Two-Year Old and Still Win at Your Job

September 28, 2016 by Blue Signal

“Mine, give it back!”

“No! I don’t want to!”

Have you ever heard a two-year-old say this? My son does—he says exactly what he wants, no questions asked. Over the next 20 years of his life, my son will learn to share his things, not just his feelings. He will come to understand that while his needs are important, so is caring about the feelings of others. He will apply discipline and filters to his emotions in order to cooperate with goals that are larger and longer-term than his immediate impulses.

As employees develop and progress in their early career, sometimes they mistakenly get the message that the most desirable kind of worker is a people-pleaser who will never disagree. When difficulties arise with their work, they keep struggling without bringing it up for fear of rocking the boat. In reality, people—not machines—are a business’s most valuable asset, and people have opinions, feelings, talents, and weaknesses.

The most successful employees develop effective interpersonal skills in addition to mastering their hands-on job functions. They learn how to disagree while remaining professional and result oriented. By taking an active role in their professional relationships, they are able to take advantage of more growth opportunities and to shape their career to a far greater degree than their more passive colleagues.

 

“Mine, Give it Back!”

Employees grow through their responsibilities and achievements. When a manager reduces your job responsibilities, or one of your major customers leaves for the competition, it can feel like a personal reflection on your abilities as an employee. It is sometimes appropriate to show initiative and take action to get back what you lost, or to reach beyond what your current role offers.

Accepting - Mine give it back - How to disagree professionallyIf the situation arose due to your mistake, own it and provide an action plan (if appropriate) to correct what went wrong. Rather than insisting on fairness, list the positive results that you can achieve and how you plan to get there.

If the situation is a stagnant job, a lost client, or another unfair loss of responsibility, take time to distill your frustrations into a clear, accurate list of prioritized goals. Set a timeline and an action plan for how to achieve them. Ask for the opportunity to prove yourself and demonstrate an understanding of what needs to happen in order to get a result that will benefit the company. Show respect for yourself and your abilities as well as for the needs of the organization.

How to say it:

  • “Although I didn’t hit my target last quarter, I’m determined to exceed my quota this quarter. Here’s my plan to improve on my performance.”
  • To a client: “I’m committed to winning back your trust.”
  • “I would love another chance to prove myself on this project.”
  • “I’m ready to take on additional responsibility. I know that I can contribute a lot to the company’s bottom line with a larger sales region.”
  • “What results do I need to show in order to earn a promotion?”
  • “I’m motivated to move into a management position in the next few years. Can we talk about how I can get there?”

 What not to say:

  • “That isn’t fair.”
  • “But what about me?”
  • “I deserve to have that.”
  • “It’s not my fault.”
  • “You can’t do that.”

 

“No, I don’t want to.”

Rejecting - No I don't want to - How to disagree professionally

Some projects are neither necessary nor realistic. Sometimes you can give more value by doing something else. Although C-level and hourly employees are both crucial to a company’s success, it is a poor use of time and money to ask the VP of Sales to do repetitive data entry.

Although successful employees are versatile and willing to do what needs to be done, they also recognize which tasks are unproductive or disadvantageous. Agreeing to every task can actually make you seem less qualified—not to mention that it quickly leads to an overwhelming inbox full of difficult tasks that no one else wants to do.

Cultivate an open dialogue with your team and superiors, and deliver consistently good work on time. When a thankless task lands on your desk, you will be able to honestly say that you can do more for the company’s bottom line by avoiding the task. Standing up for yourself is good for both your personal and professional growth—as long as you back it up with excellent work.

How to say it:

Demonstrate that you understand the situation, explain the obstacle without patronizing, and make an effort to find a workable solution whenever possible. Emphasize the positive result and be flexible where you can.

  • “I have several reports due by Friday—can we rework the timeline for this new project?”
  • “I don’t have a background in design, but Jessie mentioned that she wanted to take on more work like this. She might be interested in this project.” (Check with colleagues before volunteering them for more work.)
  • “I need additional support to deliver this contract on time. Are there reps available to help with the data entry so I can focus on closing the deal with management?”
  • “What if we did this a different way? I’m spending about two hours a day manually entering data, but I could spend more time making sales if we used an automation tool.”
  • “I’m sorry. I can’t take on that additional work right now.” (This works best for colleagues who are asking you for help with their work, not for a superior.)
  • “My preference is to focus more on marketing. That’s my background, and it’s what I love.”
  • “I could do that project with some additional training.”
  • “I’m struggling with this task. Can we talk about it?”
  • “Can you explain how this task contributes to the project goals? I can contribute more by focusing on sales calls instead of graphic design.”

What not to say:

Giving the excuse that you’re unqualified to do a task says:

  • “That’s beneath me.”
  • “I can’t.”
  • “That’s not in my job description.”
  • “I just don’t like that.”
  • “That makes no sense.”
  • Refusing with no explanation.

A Final Word

Toddler temper tantrums don’t fly in the workplace, but that doesn’t mean you should never speak up about your feelings. Respectful disagreements demonstrate professionalism and give your manager valuable feedback that they might otherwise miss. Their goal is productivity and results, which are difficult to achieve with disengaged and unhappy employees. By voicing problems and suggesting a better way, you can improve your company’s production as well as improving the arc of your own career.

Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: career advice, company culture, disagree professionally, disagreeing, employee feedback, etiquette, how to, job, job security, office etiquette, tips, workplace

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