Daily Biz Solutions

by M. G. White

It’s important for every business to have a plan in place to keep their workplace as secure as possible. Requiring ID badges for employee and contractors is one of the most important security strategies that any company can use. Badges provide a great way to determine whether or not someone is properly authorized to be on the business premises, as well as tracking who has been in certain areas at certain times. They can even be used to limit access to restricted areas so that only specific, pre-approved personnel and contractors can gain access.

Requiring ID badges is something that can go a long way toward limiting the potential for unauthorized access to your company’s place of business. They also provide a quick way to identify anyone on the grounds who shouldn’t be there. While management might be hesitant to implement a badge requirement, believing that doing so would be costly or time consuming, that just isn’t the case. With the right equipment, it’s not difficult to create security ID badges – nor is it expensive. Quality badge equipment is surprisingly affordable, especially when you think about how important such a security measure can be in terms of your operational security plans.

With a quality id badge maker such as the equipment available from the Beresford Company, you can quickly and easily create badges for your company’s personnel and other individuals who are authorized to access your work site. Anyone can learn to operate this type of equipment, so you can easily make creating badges part of the orientation process for new hires and part of the security check-in process for all visitors. Check it out at www.beresfordco.com so that you can get a good sense of what it would take to start implementing this important security procedure in your organization.

As a small business owner, managing the recruitment process can be quite stressful and overwhelming. It’s hard to find the time necessary to devote to recruiting, screening and interviewing prospective hires when you have a position that needs to be filled. After all, every time you post a help wanted ad, you probably find yourself flooded with inquiries from people who are not remotely qualified for the positions that you are hiring for.

Working with an employment staffing agency rather than trying to do your own recruiting can result in finding the right people for your open position much faster, with much less effort on your part. That’s because staffing services are able to streamline the recruiting process, identifying candidates with the skills and traits that you need, sending you a short list of pre-screened candidates to choose among.

A professional employment staffing agency is able to manage all aspects of the hiring process for you, from placing recruitment advertisements to taking applications, giving assessment tests, and deciding who to interview, and narrowing down the field to candidates who are viable options for your hiring needs. The time that you save when filling open positions if you use a staffing agency versus dealing with this very time consuming task makes outsourcing this function well worth the cost.

The end of the year will be here before you know it! Have you given some thought to what you can do to recognize team members who have really gone the proverbial “extra mile” in their jobs this year? If your organization doesn’t already have a corporate awards program, you certainly might want to consider starting one.

Corporate awards programs focused on recognizing employees for their accomplishments can be a cost-effective way to provide tangible recognition to members of your workforce who are truly outstanding. These programs can go a long way toward boosting employee morale and helping your company retain top performers for the long haul. After all, it is a simple fact that employees who feel valued experience the highest levels of job satisfaction and are likely to stay with their employers.

It only makes sense that people like to work where their efforts are not only appreciated, but also recognized and respected. Starting an employee awards program is a great way to create a culture of appreciation in your company. Whether you start holding an annual awards banquet where star performers receive crystal trophies as a token of appreciation or if you opt to distribute plaques or other types of award pieces at regular staff meetings, your efforts are sure to have an overall positive impact on your workplace.

If you are a director with a nonprofit organization, chances are that screening and hiring new employees is an important part of your job. If you approach recruiter workers to join your team the same way you would look for applicants for a for-profit business, you may find that you are not enjoying the level of success that you would like to see.

Recruiting employees to nonprofit jobs is not the same as hiring personnel to fill positions in for-profit companies. That’s because there are often significant mindset differences – and expectations – when people are searching for employment in the for-profit sector rather that individuals seeking careers nonprofitspecific. While the skills used at work in both sectors might be quite similar, both options don’t appeal equally to all job seekers.

It’s generally in your best interest to focus your search efforts on job seekers who are specifically interested in nonprofit careers and to target your recruitment advertising efforts specifically to reach individuals who are actively looking for
non profit jobs. This will help ensure that you are making the most of your recruiting budget and that you are not spending time reviewing applications from – and holding interviews with – people who really not well-suited for not-for-profit work.

As a leader within your organization, your actions and attitudes set the tone for the culture. If you want to figure out how to increase employee engagement, finding the answer to that question has to start with looking inside yourself. As a leader, do you inspire the members of your workforce? When they look at you, do they see someone they will willingly follow? And, are you perceived with someone who has the skill, the savvy, the know-how and – most importantly – the integrity to guide the organization forward into the future.

You can’t really teach employees how to be engaged. However, you can teach leaders – including supervisors, managers and informal leaders across all levels of the organization – to create a culture where engagement is likely to occur. The FISH philosophy is a powerful tool for providing leaders with the information and skills they need to be positive forces for their employees and play an active role in creating a culture characterized by engagement.

Setting the stage for engagement through effective leadership is an essential key to enjoying the benefits of having a truly engaged, productive workforce. The secret to accomplishing that lies with making sure that leaders are properly trained and that they are fully committed to setting an appropriate example for employees. That’s the only way to ensure that the culture of an organization is one where engagement can not only exist, but also flourish, grow, and characterize every action that is taken.