We spend the majority of our day at work, with our co-workers.  With this much time spent together, conflict is inevitable. This is not necessarily a bad thing.  Conflict is a normal part of the work environment, and no one is immune to workplace tensions. When we come together to resolve conflict is when we solve some of our greatest problems and when we create some of our greatest solutions.

Handling and resolving conflicts is one of the biggest challenges that managers and their employees face, because it is (well) hard.  The way to handle this is not to ignore the situation or pretend that nothing is wrong.  The way to handle conflict is to have – what many people call – the “difficult conversation”.

Here are 5 tips to make your next difficult conversation as productive and stress-free as possible:

• Don’t procrastinate.  In order to reach a productive outcome, you must first have the conversation.  When we have to do something that is outside our comfort zone, it is very tempting to simply put it off until “later”.  However, if you are waiting for the perfect time, that time will never come.  Perfection is something you make – not something you find. Stop procrastinating and talk. If it helps, set an appointment; they are harder to wiggle out off.
• Remember that conversations are not about winning or losing. Conversations are not about beating the other person into submission.  They are not about winning.  When someone “wins” in a conversation, both people lose.  Difficult conversations should be about compromise and understanding; they should not turn into combative situations where the participants talk over one another, don’t listen and are only focused on making their own points.
• Don’t rehearse.  People react better to conversations than they do speeches.  When you know things are going to be tough, it’s tempting to practice what you’re going to say ahead of time. However, that is how you prepare for a speech, which is a performance that is only focuses on getting points across. It is important to take the time to fully understand where you stand on an issue and be confident in your ability to express that understanding, but you do not need to practice your sentence structure and use of conjunctions.  You are having a conversation, which includes focusing on the other person.
• Do not make any assumptions. Everyone – at one point or another – has made a bad assumption.  Don’t assume that you know where your employee/co-worker is “coming from” or what her intentions were or how she views the problem.  Instead focus on perspectives, achieving mutual understanding, compromise and solution-building.
• Ask questions and paraphrase. Again, this is about communication.  In order to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion, everyone involved must be “on the same page”.  There have been many instances where participants have walked away from a conversation with a completely different understanding of what was said and decided.  One of the best ways to ensure that there is no confusion is to paraphrase what you hear and ask clarifying questions.  Solutions come much easier when everyone understands.

These are just a few suggestions of what I have found to be successful in the past.  What have your experiences been?  Have you found other strategies helpful when having a “difficult conversation”?  If so, I would love to hear about them and compare notes and ideas.  Comment below and let’s get a dialogue started.  If you like what you read, The Snelling Blog to your RSS feed.  I look forward to hearing from you!

As the CEO of Snelling, I have seen this industry grow and change phenomenally over the last several years.  Rising labor costs, especially those associated with workers’ compensation insurance, health benefits and unemployment taxes, as well as uncertainty around the Affordable Care Act, have led to an increased use of temporary and contingent workers.

With this growth comes a choice, as workforce management firms compete for your business. Promises of competitive advantages, higher quality workers and lower costs permeate the landscape.  Snelling comes to the table with these same promises and much more.  We have been an industry leader for years, and that knowledge is summed up in our People + tagline.  With Snelling’s People + you know that you are getting a quality workforce management partner – one who not only says all the right things, but can prove it.  At Snelling, we are:

People + Proven Results

For over 60 years, Snelling has provided complete workforce solutions to their clients….whether it be a temporary team of workers to help with demand fluctuations or the perfect candidate for a full-time position. In every office across this country, we apply our experience and knowledge to provide you with the unique solution designed to meet your specific need.      Read the rest of this entry »

It is a fact.  Businesses are more profitable with engaged, satisfied employees.  Unmotivated, burnt-out (or burning out) employees hurt your business – in both tangible and intangible terms. In order to maximize profits, improve your employer brand, and become a best-in-class employer, you need to help your burnt out employees.

What is burnout?

Employee burnout described a worker who is disengaged from his job. There are some primary causes of burnout, including stress, overload, boredom, and/or poor working conditions.

In many ways, employee burnout is a nationwide epidemic. Companies (of all shapes and sizes) have been trying to do more with less for years. Promotions have ground to a standstill. Recognition programs were cut to the bone. Stresses of all different types raised the issue of workplace bullying and hostile work environments.

The working wounded are everywhere…..in every company.     Read the rest of this entry »

There is a strong relationship between a company’s profitability and its employees’ engagement levels.  Profitability – especially during a small window of time – is of extreme importance to seasonal businesses.  A lot of money has to be made during the peak sales period in order to survive the “valley” of low sales.

Because of this, employing quality seasonal employees and keeping them engaged is of upmost importance.  If you do not focus on them and their level of job satisfaction, you could easily isolate your customers, lose business and (therefore) lose money.

In many ways, you must focus on their satisfaction levels in the same way as your full-time (year-round) employees.

For example, you must:      Read the rest of this entry »

By David Allen, Snelling.com

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) is intended to ensure that persons who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, Reserves, National Guard or other “uniformed services” are allowed to seamlessly return to civilian employment.

This law is not about finding veterans new civilian jobs, but about providing that returning service members are reemployed in the job that they would have attained had they not been called away for military service, with the same

• Seniority
• Status
• Pay
• Benefits (to a certain degree)

Returning veterans, who are eligible for USERRA “protection”, must have had 5 or less cumulative service years (with some exceptions) in the “uniformed services” while with a particular employee.

Employer Obligations

As an employer, you have certain obligations. These include:

• Placing the employee on a military (or other appropriate) leave of absence if you received appropriate verbal or written notice.   The USERRA does not require an employer continue paying the employee’s salary; however, you are free to do so.  You are also able to pay out vacation or other similar leave accruals, if the employee requests it.        Read the rest of this entry »

By David Allen, Snelling.com

There is a talent war going on. People, for the first time in years, are willing to leave the “relative” safety of their jobs for new opportunities.  Companies (again for the first time in years) are willing to take the chance – in terms of time, money and effort – in hiring new employees.

This is where the two sides collide.  Job seekers are looking for a good match – one that will make them comfortable with the idea of leaving and that will pay them well. Employers are looking for their best-fit employee – one with all the skills they need, the ability to fit in culturally and the desire to stay longer than 6 weeks.

This is an exaggeration – said to highlight a point – but the reality is that companies want to make the right hiring decision.  Because of this, they need to assess the candidate through background checks, reference checks, résumé analysis and interviews.

The interview is the most crucial part of this process.  Read the rest of this entry »

By David Allen, Snelling.com

Everyone does it.  We make assumptions (and you know what they say about assumptions!); then we use those assumptions to make decisions.  Sometimes we are lucky and everything works out fine; sometimes we are wrong – dead wrong.

This happens during the interview process…usually (according to Monster) within the initial 30 minutes when the candidate and hiring manager first meet in person.  As hiring managers, we attempt to mix what we know about an applicant on paper with the person sitting in front of us.  Sometimes we make judgments quickly – sometimes too quickly, based on 1 or 2 comments or actions, or simply by looking at a candidate.

Stereotypes, Biases, Preconceptions…Oh, my….

We all carry prejudices and stereotypes in our head.  The accuracy, validity and/or righteousness of those feelings are beyond the scope of this blog, which is simply trying to help you to identify stereotypes and negate their effects during the interview.    Read the rest of this entry »

By David Allen, Snelling.com

The numbers (as reported by CareerBuilder) are interesting:

1. 39% of employers are concerned that they will lose top talent this year
2. 25% of employees state that they plan to change jobs in the next 2 years

Few things cost a business as much as unexpected talent departures.  The Society for Human Resource Management estimates that it costs $3.5K to replace one $8/hour employee when all costs were considered.  Other sources put the average cost to hire a new employee (not including training) at approximately $19K.

Everyone wants to retain good workers.  But how can managers and business owners move beyond the lip service of “yes, I do” to the practical steps for doing so?

Is it just a matter of compensation? The answer is “yes” and “no”.  Your payscale and benefits package must be equitable, fair and competitive.  That is the basic requirement to lower turnover.  However, there are other things you can offer your employees.  In many respects, the answer is not with community pool tables, on-site fitness facilities, or the ability to bring your dog/cat/goldfish to work.

Today, the answers lie more within the basics of the job, the culture of the company, and the managerial capabilities of the executive team.  Read the rest of this entry »

By David Allen, Snelling.com

If you have a “busy” season, you might be tempted to simply hire for quantity vs. quality when bringing on seasonal workers.  However, this could lead to trouble.  If you do not take the time to properly source, hire and onboard your seasonal workers, you could easily isolate your customers, lose business, lower your workers’ productivity and (generally) lose money.

In a way, hiring seasonal employees can be one of the most important things you do.  These workers come onboard to help you run your business during your most profitable time of the year.  For example:

• Barnes &  Noble approximately makes 30% of sales and 90% of operating income during the 4^th quarter
• 1-800 Flowers reported to CNN that they do about 10% of their annual sales in the run-up period to Valentine’s Day.
• GameStop derives much of its sales during the holiday period.  During this last holiday, that amount reached $2.88 billion.

So if you business experiences some level of seaonality (and over 80% do), you will probably have to bring in help during your peak season – whenever that might be.  Here are 5 tips to remember:

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Allen, Snelling.com

I would like to start off this blog post with a shameless plug for the Client Resource Hub found on the Snelling website.

This is where we help employers understand the ways that today’s companies acquire, cultivate and retain talent. Want to learn how to avoid worker misclassification lawsuits?   Visit the Client Resource Hub.  Want to better understand co-employment issues or learn to write an employee satisfaction survey?  Visit the Client Resource Hub.  Want to learn how to write an effective job description?  Visit the Client Resource Hub – after you finish reading this blog.

No matter what I write about job descriptions, I will not be able to address everything in 600-700 words (the average length of these weekly blogs).  So if you want more in-depth information on the subjects that are introduced in these blogs, visit our Client Resource Hub.

Ok, shameless plug over…now on to job descriptions.

The importance of a well-written job description cannot be understated.  If you currently have an open job, pull out its job description and read it.  Can you picture the perfect person for that job?  If not, then you will need to rewrite it. Read the rest of this entry »