How to Upskill Your Workforce    

Here’s what to focus on to better train and educate your employees.   

1. Understand the talent gap: Where exactly are the knowledge gaps? What do you need to make sure your employees are capable and qualified to order to help your business succeed both now and long into the future? Technology skills, in particular, will become crucial to every area of your business, from finance to marketing to sales and HR. Are your employees and departments ready to learn what it will take to support whatever future work requires?   
2. Hire those who are hungry to learn: When it comes to ensuring that your workforce is prepared to take on new challenges and participate in employee-offered training is to find the people who love to learn. Whether these are people you identify when you’re first hiring for a role, or current employees that you work with or management helps you find. Upskilling really starts with finding the people who want to keep learning and see growth as an opportunity, as opposed to those that see “development” as a chore or company-issued mandate.   
3. Strengthen your in-house training: You might not have an in-house trainer, but you can still have effective training for employee development and upskilling. Start small by using YouTube tutorials or SlideShare presentations and begin to formalize small training groups and regular sessions to enhance needed skills.   
4. Find a training pro: For certain tech skills and training sessions, it makes sense to partner with an outside educational professional who can help develop and lead training classes and programs. There are many professional education and training companies who can help your company tackle tough training tasks, but businesses can also partner with colleges, universities, local technical trade schools, and more in order to bring in some additional resources.   
5. Consider apprenticeship or mentorship: One of the best ways to grow the skills of your current workforce is to match up employees with another expert in your company. This is particularly helpful for companies to do when they’re working on succession planning and strategy. It’s important that the knowledge and skills that exist within your company don’t get lost when someone moves on or retires. Passing along education and training from person to person can be valuable in both ensuring there are fewer knowledge gaps, as well as improve team collaboration and cross-business relationships.   

Are you looking for niche talent to close the gap? 

Businesses who are thinking about the future need to focus on their present and figure out what they have and what they need to get where they want to go. If you’re looking for the right talent – from the tech-savvy to those with advanced training skills – give our expert team a call.   

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Here’s what to avoid: 

1. Don’t look at education only: A well-known school or graduate degree doesn’t necessarily tell you if a candidate will be good at a job. Remember that education is only one part of what has shaped a candidate, and a more critical factor might be if they’re agile and smart enough to do the job, which isn’t always apparent by graduation alone.  
2. Don’t focus on the brand name of past employers: Looking at prior employer experience can be a helpful tool that gives you a foundation of information about your candidate, but getting too hung up on past employers can be a mistake. The resume is a launching point and a good source of initial guidance. The most important thing to do is focus on the candidate and not get hung up on a past employer. Even if that company was successful, you can’t correlate their success with your candidate. 
3. Don’t hire someone who knows only what you need them to know: Hiring on skills alone can hurt your business. It can end up driving you to focus on the wrong talent, leaving qualified people behind. Relevant experience can be a tremendous asset, but what can be much more important is the desire to learn and the ability to deal well with the need to be constantly improving. If they can talk about complex topics intelligently, they can likely learn the requirements of the job and excel at the role. Ultimately, hiring someone who has a basis of knowledge but is also teachable is good for your business.  

The truth is that hiring – where there is so much qualified talent in the market – can take a long time and be very difficult.  

Our expert team can help.  

With years of IT hiring experience, we keep up with the needs of the industry and can spot great talent easily, helping you find the best fit for your open positions. Get in touch with our team today.  

The post Struggling to Hire Good Developers? Here is What You Might be Doing Wrong appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

Here’s why being more honest with your boss can help your workplace happiness.

• Bosses are busy: We’re all busy and sometimes our workload and responsibilities cause some things might go unnoticed. If you feel like your work quality is being overlooked or you aren’t getting the direction you need for projects, talk to your boss directly. There’s a good chance that they aren’t ignoring you, but that they’ve gotten caught up in their own work and need an honest reminder of something they’ve missed.
• Bosses can create change: Your boss can often be the most direct route to change. If you have a coworker who constantly makes inappropriate comments or doesn’t contribute to projects, your boss may be able to directly step in and help create some change. If not, they can help you escalate issues to whoever can help. If there are issues on your team that are affecting you, chances are they’re affecting someone else too and letting your boss know can improve the situation for everyone.
• Bosses have bosses too: Your manager reports to someone. They have a responsibility to their boss to manage productive teams. This means your boss has a vested interest in your success and your job satisfaction; anything that makes you a better member of their team is not just good for you but can help them look good too.

Honest workplaces are healthier workplaces. Honest communication can always be conducted in a respectful and professional way and can help prevent future problems down the road. If you don’t feel like you can be honest with your boss directly, think about who in management or leadership you could speak with honestly.

If you’re looking for a new job or better company fit, get in touch with our team. Over our history, we’ve established excellent relationships with organizations and we’re experts at matching skilled employees with new employers. Call us today.

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Employees feeling frustrated can lead to performance and even retention issues. If you have employees who like to self-manage and aren’t being given an opportunity to do so, or employees who feel stifled at work, they can become disengaged and start to look for new opportunities.

Here are some ways to tell if your employees need a little space.

They ask to do things differently

Sometimes, employees will ask directly if they can handle tasks in a different way. Perhaps you’ve been compiling reports with a specific database or in a specific format. If the folks responsible have new suggestions, hear them out at a minimum.

Think their suggestions through, but if the new ideas seem like they would work, give the go-ahead on a trial basis. Be sure to get back to the person who suggested a new way whether you approve or not. If the trial works, congratulate them on the new idea.

It’s important not to micromanage. If the position and company allow it, give your employees as much latitude as possible in deciding how and when to accomplish tasks. When you have a team objective to fulfill, discuss the steps to achieve the goal with them. Let them determine the steps to accomplish the objectives as much as possible.

They ask for flex time

Do you get requests to come in an hour earlier and leave an hour later? Requests for flex time are often signs that your people either need or want schedules outside the 9-to-5 norm. Whether they want it for family responsibilities, to attend school, or achieve other goals, it’s a request for more elbow room.

Your answer will likely be determined in part by the company and department policies and needs. In some organizations, a certain number of people need to be around from 9 to 5, either to meet customer needs or to work together. But in other places, flex time is the norm. If you can grant a flex time request, and want to, be sure to do it in such a way that you have coverage of all needed work. Otherwise, employees not working on a flex schedule may come to resent it.

How a Staffing Firm Can Help Your Business

Want advice on employee engagement, morale, and retention? Staffing firms can provide valuable assistance on all these questions, plus advice on recruiting in the current business environment. We’re happy to help. Contact us today.

The post How to Tell If Your IT Employees Need a Little Space appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

1. Plan for openings: Identifying those who might be moving into retirement is the first step structuring a strategy to handle pending job openings. Looking at the people who have occupied these roles and identifying what has made them a strong, successful employee can help you with everything from writing job descriptions to recognizing what’s necessary for a replacement hire.
2. Assess all positions: Are there any roles that can be or should be phased out of your organization? Any positions that can be combined with another to create a more streamlined, efficient workload? When a wave of retirement comes through, it’s a good time to analyze if there are any positions that can be eliminated or combined to save
3. Think about training: Is there any way that a current employee looking to retire can contribute to the knowledge base of your business? Even if they can’t train their replacement, they may have useful project experience or other expertise that future employees or the business overall can benefit from. Asking retirees to complete a “legacy survey” or giving them another type of knowledge transfer opportunity can help grow to make the transition more successful.
4. Pay attention to your pipeline: There may come a time when there are more open roles to fill than there are people applying to positions. Keeping records and resumes on file can help you find talented people faster so you have fewer disruptions of business.

The health of your organization depends on the people making decisions and doing the work of driving business. Having a plan in place to handle pending retirements is important is securing your continued success.

If you need help filling your upcoming openings or planning your hiring strategy, give us a call today.

The post Are you Ready for the Baby Boom Retirement Wave? appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

Here are some of the top tips for using LinkedIn to network effectively.

• Don’t add strangers to boost connection numbers: Many people believe that a high follower or connection count on your LinkedIn profile automatically translates to being a thought leader or industry expert. This can lead to people connecting with a lot of random individuals they don’t know or aren’t even related to your industry or interests in the hope of seeing a boost in recruiter contacts or catching the eye of hiring experts. This tends to backfire as it ends up clogging your LinkedIn feed with irrelevant information and drowning out the things that may be important or helpful.
• Watch your industry: The best place to start building your network in a genuine and effective way is to follow leaders in your industry who you admire, from CEOs and entrepreneurs to marketing experts and authors. You can also make connections with people who work for brands you love or at companies you hope to one day work at. If you’re actively job hunting, you may want to connect with industry recruiters as well.
• Don’t forget to follow businesses and brands: Following interesting or relevant brands gives you insight into happenings in your industry and also puts you in touch with job listings, as most businesses will cross-post their job opening on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn continues to help professionals make valuable business connections and nurture their networks. In addition to having insight into professional opportunities, LinkedIn allows recruiters and companies to get better, faster insight into your career interests and accomplishments.

If you’re looking for additional resources and contacts in your job search, get in touch today. We use our expansive network to connect candidates to the best jobs to help grow their careers.

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If you’re going to take the time and energy to learn a new language to help boost your job prospects, what language should you learn? Most studies will say that Spanish is worth the investment. How can Spanish help you?

• Spanish is a global language, with speakers in the US, Mexico, South America, and Europe. Spanish is already the most spoken non-English language in America, with over 37 million people in the US speaking Spanish as their first language, and the Hispanic population of the US is estimated to be 30% by 2050.
• Spanish is easier than some other language. It’s phonetic, with basic grammar that’s relatively straightforward and it has many vocabulary words that are similar to English, making it an easier language to master for native English speakers.
• Spanish makes it easier to move. Learning Spanish means you’ll be better prepared to interact with customers and communities in certain parts of the US, and also allow you to move through international travel situations easier, which is important for business or personal travel.

Learning Spanish can open many doors for you, personally and professionally. Communication is the key to success in business dealings in any industry and having an additional language to be able to communicate with can help you move up in your career and feel confident in more situations.

Our language is staffing, which means that we’re fluent in finding qualified candidates their next job. If you’re looking to make your next career move, call our team today. Our experts can help you find your next role.

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1. Ask their motivation: It’s okay to be straight up with an applicant in an interview. Ask them why they want to work for your company or in that position based on their previous experience and credentials. They may be really passionate about your organization or willing to start in a lower ranking position to switch industries.
2. Check references: Ask your candidates for references and check on them. Call or email past bosses and coworkers to get a better feel for what kind of worker the candidate is and see if their golden resume has glowing reviews from people to go along with it.
3. Do a background check: Some businesses do this as a routine, and it’s worth considering. A criminal record or past legal or money trouble shouldn’t necessarily automatically disqualify a candidate, but it may be important for consideration. A background check, for instance, might reveal that an employee couldn’t be working where they said they were on their resume because they weren’t in the state at the time.
4. Hire on a trial basis: If you have a good feeling about someone and want to see if they actually have what it takes, offer them employment on a trial basis. Offer them employment contingent on a performance review after 30 days. Observe your new employee and make sure that they are as good in your office as they are on paper.

Most employees aren’t out to dupe you and an honest conversation can go a long way. Candidates can have a lot of different reasons and motivations for deciding which jobs to apply for, regardless of their past experience. It’s best to assume as little as possible but also be looking out for what’s best for your business.

If you’re looking for a vetted, experienced candidate, get in touch today. Our talent network and industry experience help match you with the best candidates every time.

The post Is that Candidate Overqualified, or Simply Overstating their Qualifications? appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

But are they invested in you? Here are a few ways to tell if companies truly value their employees.

1. Communication: Life happens, even in the workplace. A few days without a follow-up call or email isn’t an unforgivable transgression that means they don’t value their employees. But if you’ve reached out for updates and haven’t heard back at all, or if weeks go by without a word, that’s probably a sign that’s something is wrong. Whether it’s a lack of process regarding recruitment, or there’s some internal drama or trouble that’s pushing backfilling the position. This might mean that employees and communicating well with existing and potential staff aren’t the highest priorities.
2. Reviews: What do other people have to say about working there? Whether it’s on Glassdoor or talking to a friend who referred you, current employees are usually able to give the best insight into how employers treat their employees. From what perks and benefits are offered to how promotions are handled to the philosophy around work/life balance, the people who’ve experienced the company first hand are a valuable resource in understanding if a business is invested in their people.
3. Benefits and salary: This isn’t always the best measure to judge whether or not a business is invested in their people, but it can be a part of it. A nonprofit isn’t going to pay like a Wall Street corporation, but salary and benefits should always be fair and appropriate for the industry and discussed openly. If a company can’t discuss salary after an offer in an open and honest manner, they may not value their employee relationships.

If you’re looking for a place that you want to know will value your time, skills, and experience, get in touch today. Our clients are looking for hardworking & talented people like you to partner with in growing their business.

The post You’re Invested in your Company, are they Invested in you? appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

1. Get comfortable: Your workspace matters. Having the right setup where you spend most of your time every day is important. If you need a standing desk or monitor arms to help you feel more comfortable, make a case to your boss. If your office is always cold, bring a blanket from home. Focus on what’s fixable and will make you more comfortable.
2. Do one thing at a time: Multitasking is a sure way to increase stress. Focusing on one task at a time can not only help reduce your mental stress, it can make you more effective and productive, lowering your stress further as you see your to-do list shorten.
3. Curate your playlists: Whether it’s music for the drive home or a playlist to keep you energized at work, music has the power to reduce stress and increase focus.
4. Avoid conflict: No one wants to deal with drama at the workplace. Keep everything professional and stress-free by avoiding gossip, not engaging in political or religious discussions, and keeping relationships friendly, professional, and platonic.
5. Stay organized: Disorganization increases stress. Having a place for everything – from paperwork to in-progress projects – can increase your mental and emotional energy by not having to track things down. Keeping your work computer, desk, and file cabinets organized and clean can help save your sanity at work.
6. Take breaks: It’s okay to step away from your desk or take a walk after a meeting. Getting some fresh air or taking a water break can keep stress levels low and improve mindfulness.
7. Focus on clear communication: If you need to ask a question for clarification, ask. If you are unclear on expectations, get more information. People’s stress can increase when communication is absent or unclear, so make sure you get as much information on projects and expectations as possible.

Work stress can happen, but it doesn’t have to be a day-to-day struggle. Mindfully managing your stress at the office can help you enjoy your days more and increase the quality of your work output and work relationships.

If you’re looking for a change because your job seems to be high stress with no end in sight, get in touch today. We can help you find a position that might help you gain a little more peace of mind.

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