Adding “Cultural Fit” into Your Hiring Practice
A healthy selection process is a lot like good gardening. Companies that fail to pay attention to and critically assess the cultural fit of job candidates are missing a fabulous opportunity to plant healthy seeds and thus shape the future of their “organizational garden.” They are also apt to inadvertently sew seeds that will not grow well in their soil. Worse yet, they may allow “weeds” to slip in. The result is a lot of unnecessary work and waste. A most successful workplace was a major plant start-up in southeastern North Carolina. A multi-national organization was building an electro-mechanical, metal fabrication…
Evaluating Cultural Fit
Savvy hiring officials are looking for more than great job skills, qualifications, education, and experience. They wish to employ applicants that are the best “cultural fit” for their organizations. They seek candidates whose past behaviors reflect belief systems, values and attitudes that are consistent with what they will experience in their new surroundings. They believe that determining cultural fit up front will improve learning curves, workplace harmony, morale, teamwork, efficiency, and the tenure of valuable talent. Several best practices have emerged as effective tools in evaluating cultural fit that forward-looking organizations would do well to take heed of. First, the…
Finding the Next Generation of Manufacturing Leaders
With Minnesota experiencing a 4.6% unemployment rate, according to Twin Cities Business, the labor market is tight. As a manufacturer with high demand for products and a workforce edging closer and closer to retirement age, you are not only concerned about finding employees to keep the day-to-day operations going, but also employees who can be future leaders and keep the company moving forward. The Manufacturing Leadership Community recently cited that attracting Millennials into manufacturing is critical to developing a pipeline of future leaders. By 2025 Millennials (born early 1980s through early 2000s) will make up 75% of the workforce. What…
Why Taking Vacation is Important
With August in full swing, summer in Minnesota will soon be coming to a close. If you haven’t taken a few days off or just one (or even a half day!) to enjoy your favorite summer activity, there is still time! Did you know taking vacation time can actually improve your productivity at work? Forbes reported that more than 40% of American workers do not use all of their allotted vacation time. This is despite studies finding that taking vacation improves worker productivity, health and overall workplace morale leading to increased employee retention. Unfortunately, workers are leaving time on the…
Volunteer and Reduce Employee Turnover
Did you know: two hours of helping others per week results in higher satisfaction with life? Happier employees are more productive than unhappy ones, reports Christina Desmarais for Inc. Offering volunteer opportunities can help reduce employee turnover. In her article, Ms. Desmarais spotlights an Indiana-based chain of mobile phone stores which has implemented a “culture of good” through regular employee volunteer programs and events. The program is making an impact to employee satisfaction. When its 800+ employees were polled about the program, 86% said the program gives them a sense of fulfillment in their work, 65% said it has encouraged…
How Do Your Employees Bond?
It is summertime and for many companies also a time to build company culture and deepen employee and team relationships. Enter the sometimes “dreaded” employee engagement event. All joking aside, sporting events, golf tournaments, happy hours, movies, dinners, picnics and boat outings are all very popular employee-outings here in Minnesota. A recent article in the Twin Cities Business Magazine even sited paint ball as a growing choice for local corporate team building events. The article featured local medical device manufacturer, Minnetronix, pitting engineers against operators in an ultimate “do or dye” team building event. Big or small, simple or extreme,…