• Your safety is your personal responsibility.
• Always stay hydrated by drinking water.
• Always follow the correct procedures and safety rules.
• Always wear all of your PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).
• Never take shortcuts.
• Take responsibility and clean up if you made a mess.
• Keep a clean and organized workspace.
• Ensure a clear and easy route to emergency exits and equipment.
• Be alert and awake on the job.
• When in doubt, contact your supervisor for instruction, guidance, or training.
• Never take risks when it comes to safety.
• Obey safety signs, stickers, and tags.
• Report serious injuries immediately to a supervisor and get emergency assistance.
• Keep things in perspective. Hazards may be limitless, so focus on the most likely risks first.

Stay safe and healthy this summer!

If you know of anyone (18+) who is currently in the seasonal job market, please send us their information, or send them our way.  We would be thrilled to work with them and find the best seasonal fit for their schedule.

Essential Personnel’s staff continually seeks out new trends in human resources, recruitment practices, healthcare reform and industry changes.  By staying up to date on these issues, it allows the staff to provide superior consulting to company clients, as well as the ability to share knowledge to assist our clients on a number of fronts; including staffing, retention, and budget.

Using Essential Personnel to staff can actually result in a lower hiring cost for companies.  It allows a savings in human resource staff, as well as the cost related to hiring; like pre-employment testing, background screening, drug tests, and interviewing time.  Essential Personnel also can save companies money in payroll processing time, and benefits.

For hiring seasonal and temporary workers, Essential Personnel has a wide network and database with just such people.  Having this valuable asset prevents time loss and advertising costs on the end of the company.  Essential Personnel can fill a variety of temporary positions for any number of days that works for the client.

Essential Personnel can also help with retention.  By giving a company the opportunity to observe an employee before rolling them over to their payroll, it gives HR time to ensure that they are a good fit and have a good work ethic.  Overall, Essential Personnel can help a company on a variety of issues; have HR call us today to see how we can help you save time and money!

There are so many different avenues to explore when using video as a promotional tool.  Video can be used to add testimonials to a website, to do product presentations and demonstrations; create visual stories, or you could add a video signature at the end of an email.

However you choose to utilize video, the important thing is that you are.  Video is a tremendous promotional tool that can be explored and used for a host of reasons.  Just start rolling!

Under the new reform policies, employers with 50 or more workers must offer affordable coverage, or pay a penalty fee.  By partnering with Essential Personnel, your company can stay under the 50 employee limit, diminishing healthcare expense and reducing exposure to liability.  Essential Personnel can staff full-time, part-time and temporary employees.

For large corporations, school districts, and city and county governments, Essential Personnel can keep employees under 30 hours per week, bypassing the employer healthcare coverage, mandate.

Also, with IRS regulations, there is a loophole for employers of “variable-hour” employees, such as Essential Personnel, since it is not clear upon hire if an employee will have consistent weekly hours, the companies get up to 12 months to determine if the person is full time and qualifies for health benefits.

A good example of a variable-hour employee would be a substitute teacher, or a seasonal worker.  By hiring through Essential Personnel companies can dodge the intricacies of how these employees will affect their bottom line and health insurance costs.

Essential Personnel can act as a consultant for your HR department with questions you may have about the impending Healthcare Reform Act.  We are continually educating our staff to ensure that we are aware of all of the new legislation connected to the reform and how it will affect businesses of various sizes.

The Affordable Care Act
Since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed back in March 2010, we’ve endured endless rhetoric, numerous court challenges and a nail-biting presidential election to see what form the law would finally take. And although the dust has not yet completely settled, it’s time for your company to gear up for the changes that are about to come.

• Beginning in 2014, the “pay or play” provision takes effect. If you have more than 50 full-time employees, you must offer an affordable health care plan or face penalties of up to $2,000 per employee, excluding the first 30 workers.

• To avoid penalties, health insurance must cover at least 60% of the actuarial value of medical costs, and the insurance must be offered to at least 95% of full-time employees.

• A full-time employee is one that works an average of 30 or more hours per week. Employers may “look back” up to 12 months of past employment to determine if an employee is full-time (i.e., if an employee worked more than 30 hours * 52 weeks, or 1,560 hours, he would be considered full-time).

• For new hires, employers will have to offer health insurance day one, unless the employee is considered variable hour, which are those for whom the firm cannot reasonably determine if they will average at least 30 hours per week. For variable-hour new hires, the employer may wait up to 12 months to then “look back” and determine if the employee was full-time.

• Affordable coverage means that the health insurance you offer must cost less than 9.5% of an employee’s household income (this is for single coverage, not family coverage).

• Staffing firms are well suited to help employers cost-effectively manage the ramifications of the PPACA for part-time and project-based staff. As their direct employer, the staffing company is responsible for paying healthcare benefits and ensuring compliance for the temporary and contract workers you use, and because many temporary employees choose to work less than the 1,560 hours
per year, the effective healthcare burden per hour may be less from a staffing firm than when employers hire workers directly.

• If your organization’s headcount hovers around the 50-person cutoff, you can reduce your directly employed full-time staff and use contingent staff or contract employees to handle the additional workload as needed.

The Avoidant Economy
As a result of the Great Recession, today’s businesses now operate in an “avoidant economy” – one where they delay hiring decisions, hoard cash, fear adding overhead and desperately want to mitigate risk. And things are not likely to change anytime soon. In fact, the avoidant mentality is becoming even more pervasive, as volatility, uncertainty and fear continue to prompt leaders to pause before making decisions and choices.

Still, you need to get work done and capitalize on our recent economic upswing – and that requires people! Specifically, people with skills that are becoming increasingly scarce. For employers, this
will require:

• Creating a greater sense of urgency around forecasting staffing needs and proactively sourcing talent.

• Improving employer branding to make your firm more desirable to top talent.

• Finding creative ways to “manufacture” talent by finding people with transferable skills.

• Testing a wider range of sourcing methods to find new ways to attract talent.  Staffing firms can play a significant role in reducing friction in the avoidant economy, by:

• Providing faster access to the workers with hard-to-find skill sets.

• Functioning as a true partner to employers, by developing a proactive staffing plan to meet talent needs, overcome workforce challenges and capitalize on opportunities.

• Identifying safer, more cost-effective ways to get work done.

New Hire Technology
According to a recent CareerBuilder study, 38% of employers have positions for which they cannot find qualified staff. Sound familiar? If so, new technology may help you connect with the talent you need. Here are a few key statistics and ideas from the SI Executive Forum presentation:

• Transform data into insights. Analytics (i.e., Big Data) now allows you to predict employee and job seeker behavior, thereby providing an amazing opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in recruiting and hiring. For example, data analysis can indicate when your company is going to experience increased turnover, or help you identify individuals who are about to start their job search.

• Leverage technology in the recruiting process. 71% of workers surveyed by CareerBuilder said that searching for new opportunities is part of their “regular routine.” To find the best candidates, go
where they’re looking – which is online!

• 75% of workers use mobile to search (hint: what does your mobile recruiting app look like?)

• 25% of all visitors to CareerBuilder were mobile

• 63% use search engines

• 25% use career sites

Building an Uplifting Service Culture
An uplifting service culture is one in which every employee – not just the customer service department – strives to truly take care of customers by creating value for them (however they define that value). With every service interaction, your company has the opportunity to really “wow” customers. Unfortunately, many businesses define service interactions too narrowly. In reality, every single customer touch point – from the moment a potential customer becomes aware of your company through and beyond the final invoice – is a moment of truth; an opportunity to deliver amazing service.

Make sure you consider all of the ways your business “serves” your customers:

• Products and services. Obviously, the quality of your goods and services matters; but even the ways you package/present them impacts the service customers receive. Revisit your offerings and  packaging regularly, continually updating them to best serve customers’ needs.

• Writing. Every form of written communication, including emails, direct mail and more traditional business correspondence, provides opportunities to serve your customers better – and show them that you care.

• Phone and in-person contact. Train and empower every employee who interacts with customers to provide exceptional service in every interaction. Whether it’s a tour, a sales call, a customer complaint or a simple request for information, make every conversation an opportunity to create value for customers.

• Website. Your website should be less about you and more about serving your customers needs. Provide easy access to the answers they need and to resources which will help them in their jobs – and
make it simple for them to get in touch with a real person.

• Social networks. If you have a social media presence, give someone primary responsibility for actively managing your accounts and promptly addressing customer requests and comments. Social media provide unique, intimate and real-time opportunities to engage and serve your customer base.

• Mobile. Yep, even your mobile app needs to be user-friendly and keep the customer’s needs at heart. The surprising upside is that improving the service you give someone else also benefits your organization. Providing uplifting service to others naturally enriches your relationships, improves your network of support, and contributes to your own success. This year’s Staffing Industry Executive Forum showed that there are lots of challenges and opportunities for employers in today’s operating environment. Everything from massive healthcare reform to talent scarcity and heightened service expectations are drastically changing our world of work.

Staffing firms can play an increasingly important role in navigating the complexities of hiring and workforce management. They can help you access hard-to-find skill sets, reduce overhead and liability, improve productivity and service levels, and manage the uncertainty inherent in business today. To learn more, contact Essential Personnel today.

Once you arrive at the interview, it is time to present yourself as the person for the job.  Here are some tips:

1. Be on time, actually, be 10 minutes early.
2. Shut your cell phone off.  Better yet, don’t even bring it with you.
3. Dress appropriately.  You should always dress one level nicer than the dress code.  If they dress business casual, wear a tie, if they wear ties, wear a suit.
4. Let the front desk person know you are there, reaffirm the name of your interviewer, thank him or her for their time.
5. Make sure you are not chewing gum, or a mint. Leave yourself free to talk.
6. Offer a firm handshake and look your interviewer in the eyes.
7. Exude confidence.
8. Be prepared with an informative statement about yourself, companies you have worked for, your transferable skills, etc.
9. Be positive and kind, talk about your successes in your career.
10. Take the time to think of answers when you are asked questions.  Don’t blurt out something because it is easy.
11. Ask questions about the job position and the expectations.  Then listen to the answers.
12. Follow up with your interviewer; send a thank you note or card, as well as calling a few days later.