An Answer to the Fear Factor
There’s an election this month, in case you haven’t noticed.
And unfortunately, elections seem to be surrounded by fear:
candidates using fear as the motivation for why you should vote for them;
voters fearing they won’t have all the right facts;
political parties each fearing the agenda of the other;
fearing what you are allowed to say about your views in the workplace;
business owners fearing the impact of the election on economic decisions they face.
Are we about to say that Personnel Partners’ staffing services can change the world and take the fear out of it? That would be a bold statement you’d have trouble buying! But in our corner of the world, we can take some of the fear out of some of the factors.
Let’s consider one factor at a time:
Economic Uncertainty. At a time when companies need the ability to control costs or change direction quickly, temporary help offers the perfect efficiency. When unsure of the number of staff needed for a particular project or situation, hiring through a staffing agency allows access to qualified personnel in varying numbers while a business learns its true needs. As the future becomes clearer, it’s optimal to make long-term job offers to those who are already on site and working as part of your team, if the long-range plan calls for it.
If you are the temporary employee in this situation, it’s a positive for you as well in an uncertain environment. You have the opportunity to use your talent at competitive wages in challenging work. Staffing agencies like Personnel Partners offer benefits, including access to insurance and paid holidays/vacation pay, so you aren’t sacrificing those options. Meanwhile, you also reduce the fear of jumping into the wrong commitment, because you’ll see the business up close and you’ll know whether you want to join the team or just call it a good experience before moving on to the next opportunity.
Politics in the workplace. Can you talk about it? Yes. Can you terminate an employee for bringing politics to work? Yes. So, as you see, this gets complicated. Employees care deeply about issues that affect their freedom, wallets, and quality of life. It wouldn’t be realistic to think that random comments won’t happen, and it’s not wrong for political discussions to happen at work.
But it’s tricky! Employees and bosses feel negatively toward each other when they find they share differing views; even treating each other negatively or considering leaving a workplace when they feel they hold views that are in the minority. Truly, we have become a country that is forgetting how to hold differing opinions and air them respectfully.
Employers have the right and the responsibility to set the guardrails. In a private workplace, the employer has the right to limit political speech at work (although of course it must be done carefully and with caution to protect concerted activity or protected classes). Most employers’ greater concern, and rightfully so, is with overall civility at work. We see so much attention to this in our news feed and we believe that we are learning the art of communication all over again after the pandemic years.
Having all the facts. It can be scary to look through hundreds of resumes and wonder if the right employee is in there, and scary to look for a new job online and wonder what you will find when you answer a posting. If only you had a trusted advisor going ahead of you to introduce you to the person you need to meet, or to the company where you would be a good fit..
That’s where a staffing agency like Personnel Partners can take the fear factor out of hiring by personally knowing everyone involved. Sure, we use the latest technology and AI in our recruiting, resume processing, database management, and communications, but it doesn’t substitute for one human being meeting another one in person to talk about their skills, work history, experiences, and interests - and to visit their business operations to understand the culture, teams, goals, and requirements. These facts all combine to set up an interview or a temporary assignment between two parties who are already 90% of the way to a match before they even meet.
The motivation for who to choose for staffing. Maybe you fear losing control of your job search or of your hiring when you work with a staffing agency. We can take away that fear by offering 30+ years of experience with over 50,000 candidates screened and hired; with Certified Staffing Professional employment law designations; with 5-star reviews. You want to consider career focus as well. If you are looking in only one segment of the workplace, it’s helpful to work with an agency that specializes in hiring for that segment. At Personnel Partners, we believe that office staffing deserves its own focus, and that’s where we turn our attention and expertise every day.