Author: Christina Boland

The unemployment rate is at an all-time low. Organizations have to be more competitive to attract new talent and prevent current employees from quitting.

To stand out as an employer, it’s essential to provide relevant and attractive benefits that help your employees. Here are three to consider offering that will allow you to recruit and retain high-performing EHS workers:

• Health and wellness benefits. Traditional health benefits, while extremely important, are getting increasingly more expensive for employers. One popular way of managing healthcare costs is providing health savings accounts to staff. These allow for tax-free savings that can be used to pay out-of-pocket expenses that aren’t covered by health plans.

Also consider extending healthcare coverage to opposite- and same-sex spouses if you don’t already. The majority of organizations offer this benefit, with 95 percent of those surveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management (SRHM) in 2017 providing it versus 71 percent in 2014.

Other health and wellness benefits that more organizations are offering are standing desks for employees to use when they’re working in the office, as well as paid gym memberships to promote exercise and healthy living.

• Work-life balance opportunities. Having the ability to balance work and life is a significant benefit for employees. With so many things going on in workers’ lives, organizations that encourage work-life balance are going to attract and retain more people than those that don’t. Consider offering telecommunicating opportunities and flextime, which allows employees to choose their work schedule, when possible. Some companies also offer perks like free coffee, cafeteria food, and on-site parking to help employees save time when it comes to going out to get coffee or lunch, or looking for a parking spot.

• Options for retirement savings and loan relief. Today’s employees are struggling to save money and repay loans. In research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the majority of employees surveyed were saving for retirement, but 40 percent of them said they have less than $50,000 saved. Consider offering some kind of 401(k) or similar contribution savings plan if you don’t already.

Additionally, more and more companies are starting to offer student loan assistance. According to SHRM, 88 percent of Millennials say that student loan repayment assistance is an important benefit for organizations to provide.

Companies frequently fail to communicate the benefits they offer to current and potential employees. Make sure your workers are aware of these benefits that could significantly help them in their lives and allow them to perform better at work. If you want to grow your business, and attract and retain the best EHS employees, consider offering these competitive benefits to help you stand out as an employer.

Adapted from: The Benefits That Will Attract – and Retain – Tomorrow’s Talent, Todd Wasserman, EHSCareers.

Hiring talented EHS employees can be quite a challenge. You probably have many candidates applying for an open position, but only a small number of them are actually qualified for the job and could do it well.

Here are some tips for refining your overall hiring process to increase your chances of hiring the best EHS candidate for the job:

• Evaluate your job applicants’ practical experience. You want to hire an employee who is both qualified and has experience in your industry. However, you won’t necessarily find the perfect candidate. Concentrating on applicants who have practical experience is essential because they will more easily be able to integrate into the new job and learn new skills. You also won’t have to spend as much time and money on training when the new employee already has the level of practical experience needed to do the job.

• Test potential employees. When you test candidates, it helps you get a better picture of their learning capabilities and analytical strengths. It allows you to dig deeper than just the candidate’s resume. Even if the job applicant has a great resume and they interview well, they might not be completely truthful. Testing allows you to determine if they have many of the skills they say they do.

• Consider whether candidates will mesh well with your organizational culture. It’s important for employees you hire to have similar values as your company and get along well with colleagues. When you ask applicants questions regarding their work history during interviews, it will help you determine if they are prone to work conflicts. Additionally, reference checks can help you find out more information on whether they worked well with former bosses and co-workers.

• Continue making improvements to your hiring process. As you hire new employees, you’ll learn what works best for your organization to find candidates who are the right fit. Be sure to make the requirements of the job as clear as possible to potential employees, so they know what to expect. Consider getting other team members involved in the interview process to help you make better hiring decisions, as they will affect the entire team.

• Find career-oriented candidates. As an employer, you want to hire workers who are committed to their career and are going to stick around long term. Pay attention to the length of time candidates spent at previous jobs. They don’t necessarily have to have spent several years at each previous company they worked for, but make sure they weren’t hopping from job to job every few months. 

• Consider hiring a recruiting firm. An EHS staffing team is well versed in the industry and job market, and knows where to find the most talented candidates. A staffing firm can help you refine your recruiting strategy, save significant time and money, and hire the best candidates for the job. Aarcher Talent offers a series of staffing solutions, including permanent placement, temp-to-hire, and contracted staff services to help you find the right candidates for your open positions, so be sure to visit our website to learn more.

Finding and hiring great candidate who can do the job well can be a time-consuming process. However, it’s well worth the time when you hire an employee who helps to push your company forward. Implement these tips to hire the best EHS candidates and grow your business.

Adapted from: 8 Ways to Ensure You Hire the Best Candidate, Brenda Savoie, RecruitLoop.

Most Millennials are now in their early and mid-thirties, and Generation Z is starting to enter the workforce. Generation Zers are anyone born after 1997 and make up 27 percent of the U.S. population, outnumbering Millennials and Baby Boomers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Gen Z “has remarkably different views on themselves, society, products and services than any past generation, including the close-in-age millennials,” says Jaclyn Suzuki, Innovation, Insights & Strategy Consultant at MADO, a boutique consulting firm.

How will this impact your EHS programs? Here are some important ways to prepare your company to work well with the talented Generation Zers entering the workforce:

1. Maintain transparency. You must be clear on your organizational values and what you stand for. Gen Zers want to work for companies that are making a positive difference in the world. This generation will quickly recognize businesses that are dishonest or insensitive.

2. Encourage work-life balance. Gen Zers value working for companies with flexibility. If you haven’t already incorporated flexible hours and/or locations into your business, consider rethinking your strategy. You’re much more likely to attract intelligent and creative Gen Zers when you offer these types of benefits that allow them to balance their work life.

3. Challenge your Generation Z employees. Gen Zers will appreciate it when you give them the autonomy to create plans to solve complex organizational issues. Challenge them to work beyond the current systems in your business. Encourage them to use critical thinking and speak up in the workplace.

4. Allow them to challenge you. Gen Z has more access to media and information than previous generations and won’t hesitate to dig deeper into an issue. Be prepared to answer more questions that provide insight into the way things are being done in your organization. Gen Zers look for ways to make things more efficient and won’t be afraid to question a business program or system when they feel as though they can devise a better, more efficient way of doing it. Don’t simply “tell” Gen Zers that this is the way it is, but keep open communication and answer all of their questions thoughtfully.

With the entrance of Generation Z into the workforce, things may look quite a bit different than what you were accustomed to in the past. If you aren’t open to adapting your company to the youngest generation, you risk a lack of growth in your business.

Adapted from:

Generation Z: Latest Characteristics, Research, and Facts. Business Insider.

Generation Z… They’re Here! Drena Howard, NAEM.org.

Securing talented EHS employees can be a challenge. That’s why it’s critical to create a strong interview process to help you find and hire the best candidates for your organization.

Here are some helpful strategies for developing an improved interview process to ensure you’re hiring well-qualified EHS staff.

1. Establish your company values. Be sure to define your company identity — what are your core values and mission? If you don’t communicate these to your job candidates, you risk hiring people who don’t fit well into your organizational culture. When you have clearly defined organizational values, you’ll be more likely to find employees who align with and support them.

2. Don’t avoid asking the basic questions during interviews. Sometimes it’s good to get back to the basics when it comes to interview questions. When you are trying to ask complex questions, it can be easy for you to get carried away. Consider including some of those basic, but essential questions in your interviews to help you gauge those important, but sometimes overlooked skills, such as the ability to communicate effectively, be adaptable, and work well with the entire team. You may be talking to a very skilled EHS professional, but if they aren’t able to work efficiently with team members, it could mean they may not be the right fit for your company.

3. Make a point of asking the big questions as well. In addition to asking your job candidates those basic questions, be sure to include some of the more difficult questions that may make your applicants have to think a bit during the interview. This will help you to bring innovative and forward-thinking employees into your organization. Example: What would you implement to improve the company’s safety strategy?

4. Be honest with job candidates. Make sure to clearly articulate the position’s responsibilities. Don’t try to make the job sound better than it is in order to increase the chances that a candidate will accept your job offer. If you hire someone and they realize the job doesn’t match what they anticipated, they will likely quit very quickly. Ask job applicants if they have any questions for you after the interview and answer them honestly. Establishing trust early on will ensure new hires will be committed to doing a great job and staying with your company for the long term.

5. Work to continually improve your interview process. It can take some time to perfect your strategy for interviewing job candidates. You will find what works well for your organization as you continue to interview applicants. It’s essential to make some changes each year to stay up to date with the constantly changing business world. Hiring a recruiting firm like Aarcher Talent can also help you refine your entire hiring strategy and secure the best candidates for your open positions.

Hiring is a difficult but critical responsibility that you have to deal with as a manager. Making sure the interview process goes smoothly is vital to hire the talent who will drive your business forward. Implement these strategies to help you get your interview process in shape to ensure you hire the best candidates.

Adapted from: How to Ask the Right Questions to Get the Best Candidates, EHS Insight Resources, EHS Insight Blog.

There has been a huge increase in talent scarcity in the job market over the last few years. There are more jobs available now than ever before and not enough qualified candidates to fill them. How can your organization overcome the challenges of job scarcity and fill open EHS positions with talented people? Here are some strategies to help you:

1. Stop trying to fill open positions with specific skillsets. Instead of focusing on certain technical skills, concentrate on finding employees who are quick learners and can adapt well. Look for talent that fits well with your organizational culture and believes in your core values. It’s easier to train employees on skills than it is to teach them to be aligned with your company culture.

2. Leverage technology to your advantage. With so many advancements in technology, you don’t necessarily have to look for potential job candidates in your immediate area or relocate recruits. Embrace opportunities to expand your workforce across the country and even globally, and use technology to stay connected with your employees on a daily basis.

3. Clearly define your company’s values and communicate them to employees. Today’s employees want to work for organizations that have similar values to their own. It’s essential to develop and articulate company values that demonstrate how you would like your business to be a positive force within the community. Provide opportunities to your workers to take part in meaningful ways.

4. Nurture talent within your company. Align your job needs with current staff members’ career goals whenever possible. When you invest in your employees’ career development, you’ll create a more productive and engaged workplace, and increase retention.

5. Work with a recruiting firm who understands the talent market and your industry. You may need to revamp your recruiting strategy as a result of the challenges from talent scarcity. A recruiting team will help you create a strategy to overcome these challenges and exceed your organizational goals.

Whether you’re looking to fill a permanent position or add specific skillsets for temporary projects, Aarcher Talent offers a series of staffing solutions, including permanent placement, temp-to-hire, and contracted staff services. We’re happy to chat with you about our services and how we can help you find the right candidate.

Adapted from: Employers want to know: How will talent scarcity affect my business? Bradsby Group, BradsbyGroup.com.

There is currently a talent labor shortage where unemployment has reached record lows. Organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to fill open jobs with talented employees and prevent current staff from quitting.

Here are five recruiting and retention challenges that are impacting companies in 2019 — and how to handle these challenges in your own organization.

1. Managing Time

The HR department has a diverse range of responsibilities, including reviewing resumes, interviewing candidates, training new employees, and building the company’s culture. Because HR specialists are so busy with the everyday tasks, it’s difficult for them to find the time to focus on bigger-picture goals.

“HR is about people, and HR staff need to focus on improving people’s performance, not managing paperwork and building PowerPoint [presentations],” said Laura Handrick, an HR analyst at FitSmallBusiness.

Taking advantage of opportunities to automate and digitize tasks will help HR manage their hours more effectively. This will allow them to devote time to larger initiatives, like boosting employee morale and determining ways to hire more top performers.

2. Gaining Leadership Support

Sometimes it’s difficult for HR to gain buy-in from the C-suite in order to accomplish organizational goals for talent acquisition and employee retention. However, it’s essential for leaders to support these efforts that ensure staff is more engaged and productive, which decreases turnover and helps the business save money. If you are an organizational leader, work with your HR department to elevate these initiatives, and ask HR to educate you on any organization-wide issues they see that they can help resolve.

3. Finding and Hiring the Right Employees

It can be difficult to find talented employees who fit in well with the job position and your organizational culture and values. But, a bad hire can quickly cause low productivity and morale among an entire department. Working with a recruiting firm can help you find and hire employees who are committed to producing high-quality work and understand your company’s goals.

4. Staying On Top of Ever-Changing Regulations

It’s essential that employers are well versed in the complex employment laws in the locations in which they are conducting business. Employers face compliance challenges as their organization expands into multiple states or countries. Be sure to engage in the training you need to stay on top of these important laws.

5. Building a Strong Organization Culture

Communication is key to a solid company culture. When you fail to effectively communicate your organizational goals, changes and expectations to staff, it frequently decreases morale and leads to a toxic workplace culture that can negatively impact customer interactions. As a leader, make sure you are communicating your company’s values and mission to employees on a regular basis.

It’s critical to stay on top of these five challenges to keep your organization running smoothly and sustaining growth as we move into the second half of 2019.

Adapted from: Viewpoint: 5 Significant Recruiting and Retention Issues for 2019, Dave Delaney, SHRM.org.

Hiring a recruiting firm can be a critical part of an organization’s talent acquisition plan. However, many people have some misconceptions about the role that these companies play. Here are some common misconceptions about recruiting firms — and why they aren’t true.

1. They only care about quickly placing a job candidate. Recruiting firms aren’t just trying to rapidly fill open positions. Instead, they take the time to work with organizations to ensure they find candidates who are great long-term fits for their strengths and personalities. They don’t view it as a success if a job applicant is hired and then quits just a few months later.

2. Recruiting companies are only worried about the money. A huge misconception that many people have is that recruiters only concentrate on making money and not on their client’s best interests. That simply isn’t true. Most recruiting companies care very much about helping their clients and ensuring that the organizations they are working with hire the best candidates for their open positions and organizational cultures. They are focused on learning as much as they can about the employer they’re working with and potential job candidates.

3. They’re solely focused on finding people jobs. A recruiting company’s objective isn’t just to find people jobs. Their role is to find people for jobs and organizations. Recruiters are first focused on the company they’re working with and the job position they are trying to fill. They concentrate on the job requirements and organizational culture, and then consider which applicants will best fit that role. Recruiters are ultimately working to find a mutual benefit for both the employer and job candidate.

4. Working with more than one recruiting company is better. Some people believe that working with multiple recruiting firms will produce better results. However, it’s more effective when you build a strong relationship with one recruiting company. It’s essential for the recruiting firm to know all the details of your professional objectives with the positions you’re trying to fill. It’s much easier to develop this type of relationship with one recruiting company as opposed to three or four.

A recruiting firm can be a great partner in helping your organization hire the right candidate for an open position. Consider working with one to help you make the hiring process run more smoothly and ensure you hire quality employees who have long-term futures at your company.

Whether you’re looking to fill a permanent position or add specific skill sets for temporary projects, Aarcher Talent offers a series of staffing solutions, including permanent placement, temp–to–hire, and contracted staff services. We’re happy to chat with you about our services and how we can help you find the right candidate.

Adapted from: 7 Misconceptions About Recruiting, Wes Washington, BoazPartners.com.

Hiring a new EHS employee is a difficult process. Not only do you want to find someone who has the right skills, it’s also essential that this person fits well with your organization’s culture.

Hiring the wrong individual can significantly impact your company. It can affect your business negatively in several ways, including:

1. Lost time and money. When you’re searching for an employee to fill a position, you spend a great deal of time putting together the job ad and interviewing candidates. Once you’ve hired someone, you also invest time and money into training him or her. If you hire someone who isn’t the right fit, your company’s resources take a big hit.

“According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the cost of a bad hire is at least 30 percent of the employee’s first-year earnings,” says Forbes.

2. Low morale among employees across the department or even the entire organization. If your new hire doesn’t work well with your current employees, you could see a big drop in productivity and motivation among your team. A negative mindset is contagious, so if your new staff member has a poor attitude, it will likely spread to your other employees, resulting in a toxic work environment.

3. Loss of trust from and broken relationships with customers. Poor hires may turn off customers and clients. This will significantly damage your organization’s reputation and negatively impact sales.

4. Legal problems. Bad hires can also result in legal issues for your company. If your employees aren’t following important rules and complying with regulations in their work, your organization could land in court and face an expensive lawsuit.

Hiring a recruiting firm can help you avoid the cost of a poor hire and find a candidate who is the right fit for your company. They can help you develop a strong job description that will attract top talent and market the position to the right candidates who will work well with your current team.

Whether you’re looking to fill a permanent position or add specific skill sets for temporary projects, Aarcher Talent offers a series of staffing solutions, including permanent placement, temp–to–hire, and contracted staff services. We’re happy to chat with you about our services and how we can help you find a candidate who is a perfect fit for your company.

Adapted from: The cost of a bad hire is much higher than you think, Bradsby Group, BradsbyGroup.com.

Organizations want to retain their best employees for as long as possible. However, top performers are frequently the first to leave their companies. Not only does this cost your business time and money, it impacts the staff members on your teams as well.

Here are five common reasons employees quit and what you can do to prevent this from happening in your organization:

You aren’t challenging them in their work. When top talent isn’t challenged at work, they quickly become disengaged. These employees want to work toward important goals. Be sure to give them opportunities to use their strengths and leverage their skills in the workplace.

2. You aren’t providing them with opportunities to grow their career. Just because your best employees are already talented, it doesn’t mean they don’t want opportunities to learn new things and build their careers. For high performers, professional development isn’t simply about gaining skills, it’s about opportunities to broaden their skillsets and convert those new abilities to advance their careers. Provide your staff with ways to expand their skills, such as taking a course to acquire new EHS skills, pursuing a certification, or shadowing a colleague in a senior role.

3. You aren’t giving them the recognition and validation they need. When employees don’t feel like you appreciate their work, they typically stop producing high-quality work, become disengaged, and start looking for a new job. Providing a staff member with validation and recognition can be as simple as letting the individual know that they did a good job on a project.

You can even go one step further by discovering what motivates each of your employees. For some individuals, it could be showing them public recognition, and for others, it could be privately telling them that they’re producing high-quality work. If you customize the way that you provide your employees with recognition, it makes your appreciation more sincere and will likely be more appreciated by your staff.

4. You’re overworking them. When you have a top performer, it can be easy to get into the habit of providing them with extra work. You have to be careful when you do this though. You must find a balance between giving an employee work because they’re the best person to handle it and just piling on additional responsibilities because other employees weren’t able to finish it. If you’re relying on your highest-performing employees to do more work, consider giving them a promotion and salary increase. If you just give them more work without changing anything else, they’ll likely start looking for a new job that can better meet their needs.

5. You aren’t compensating them fairly. Your best-performing employees are aware of their value, and if they’re not being compensated properly, they’ll quickly start searching for a new job. Compensation isn’t simply about money. Many times, an organization’s budget doesn’t allow for a large salary increase, so it’s critical to look at other benefits you could give employees to provide them with the best work experience and prevent them from looking for a new employer. It could be a title change that allows for increased responsibility, mentoring opportunities from senior leadership, a flexible schedule or extra paid vacation days.

As an EHS employer, you have to ensure you’re giving your staff the tools and resources they need to thrive in their jobs and their careers. If you want employees to stay engaged and work for your organization long term, it’s essential to provide them with a positive workplace experience.

Adapted from: 6 Reasons Your Best Employees Quit, Ashira Prossack, Forbes.

Finding the right talent for your organization can be challenging, and the process can be even more difficult if your company is in a niche industry, like the environmental, health and safety (EHS) field. That’s where a recruiting firm can help.

Here are some important benefits of hiring a recruiting team to help you fill open job positions:

1. They help your organization save time and money. A major benefit of working with a staffing company is their ability to significantly reduce the time it takes to hire and the resulting opportunity cost. Using an internal team to fill an open job position, especially in a niche industry like EHS, can cost your business money because these people are devoting time to the hiring process instead of revenue-generating responsibilities.

A recruiting firm works with you from the start of the hiring process, helping you to create the job applicant brief and select candidates for you to interview based on the skills you’re seeking. This decreases the time to hire for your organization since you will only interview applicants who meet the requirements you set.

An employee can generate three to fives times his or her annual salary as revenue, according to studies. That’s why leaving a job position open for a long period of time can result in a great deal of lost revenue. Although some companies are hesitant to work with a staffing firm due to the cost, the fee paid to a recruiting team is frequently far less than the cost of leaving the job role vacant for a long time.

2. A recruiting firm has experience filling roles in your industry. A staffing team has an in-depth understanding of the talent in the job field. Their market knowledge enables them to find the highest-quality candidates for the job. A staffing company has likely determined the most efficient methods and benchmarks for the recruitment process. They also serve as a good recruitment partner by providing you with advice on important trends and changes in the market. They know how these trends affect the talent pool and can potentially impact your business.

3. They have access to a wider pool of job candidates who could be the right fit for your organization. When you’re trying to fill a vacant position, it’s not only about finding someone with the right skills. You also want to find an individual who fits in well with your company’s culture and works well with the team. A recruiting firm will understand your business needs and goals to find potential candidates who would be great fits for your organizational culture, resulting in increased productivity and retention.

Additionally, staffing firms work with multiple organizations, so they typically have a better overview of the talent pool in the industry than an internal recruiting team would. As a result, staffing teams have the ability to source candidates who weren’t necessarily actively looking for a new job role but could be the right fit for your company. Recruiting firms spend a lot of time building a network of candidates for possible future job opportunities. They frequently have long-standing relationships with candidates, so they are able to use their extensive networks to connect you to a wider range of talent in your industry.

4. A recruiting firm can help you establish an effective employer brand to attract the right candidates. If you want to attract top candidates, it’s essential to develop a strong employer brand. Skilled candidates who are looking for a new position typically have multiple job offers. That’s why it’s important to stand out by establishing a solid employer value proposition and communicate it through your hiring process. Staffing firms can help you make the recruitment process consistent and positive in order to prevent candidates from having a negative experience. They can provide you with guidance for effectively “selling” your organization to job candidates to ensure you’re attracting and securing high-quality candidates. A recruiting company can help you strengthen your employer brand to increase the chances that job applicants choose to work for your organization instead of another one.

If you’re looking to fill a vacant job position in your company, consider hiring a staffing team to serve as a recruitment partner that will understand your business goals and your industry. They will help you save time and money, and enable you to find a high-quality candidate who is the perfect fit for your organization.

Whether you’re looking to fill a permanent position or add specific skill sets for temporary projects, Aarcher Talent offers a series of staffing solutions, including permanent placement, temp–to–hire, and contracted staff services. We’re happy to chat with you about our services and how we can help you find the right candidate.

Adapted from: The Benefits of Using a Specialist Recruiter to Find Talent, Selby Jennings, PhaidonInternational.com.