Provisional Blog

The sun is out. The birds are singing. And your employees are gazing longingly out the windows, rather than focusing on work. But with so much to do, summertime slacking can have a big impact on productivity and, ultimately, your bottom line. So what can you do to keep your employees engaged? From offering summer hours to partnering with a temporary staffing agency in Spokane, here are 4 tips:

1. Ramp up recognition efforts.

During the summer, it’s more important than ever to give your employees a reason to come to work. You can do this through targeted recognition efforts that highlight an employee’s hard work. For example, host a recognition awards luncheon honoring employees who have gone the extra mile; or offer extra vacation days to employees who achieve important goals. The bottom line is that an employee who feels engaged and rewarded will also feel more accountable and more connected to the company.

2. Offer flexible summer hours.

Keep your employees motivated through the workweek by offering summer hours. For instance, let them leave early each Friday, or have every other Friday off during July and August on a rotating basis (so your office is always staffed). The promise of some added time off during the summer will not only boost morale, but it can help you attract and retain top talent. That said, continue to measure and monitor performance and productivity to ensure this arrangement works for your company.

3. Create a common area outdoors.

If you have the space, create a common area outside where employee can go to eat lunch or take a break. Put benches or picnic tables outside so they have a place to sit while taking in the fresh air and rejuvenating.

4. Work with a temporary staffing agency.

If you’re having a hard time maintaining adequate staffing levels during the summer, whether due to vacations or flexible summer hours, consider working with a temporary staffing agency in Spokane. A temporary staffing agency can provide you with skilled and dependable employees for a variety of positions, whether to fill a last-minute need or on a weekly, part-time basis.

If you’d like to learn more about tapping into the power of temporary staffing, please contact Provisional. Since 1994, we’ve been a trusted source for temporary staffing solutions for employers throughout Spokane. We can help you find the people you need, when you need them.

Contact us today to learn more.

As a business leader, making decisions is a part of your everyday life. Sometimes decisions are “no-brainers”; while others are much tougher. Regardless, you will be defined by the decisions you make and the outcomes you achieve, good or bad.

Different leaders take different approaches to making decisions. In her book, 10-10-10, author and wife of former GE CEO Jack Welch, Suzy Welch talks about a fast and logical approach she uses to make important decisions.

When faced with a tough decision, she proposes that you think about what the consequences of your decision will be in:

• 10 minutes
• 10 months
• 10 years

It doesn’t have to be exactly 10 minutes or 10 years; you may want to think about tomorrow or next year. But the goal is to evaluate how the results of important decisions will unfold in the immediate short-term, medium-term, and long-term periods of your life, while staying true to your values.

According to Welch, people tend to make decisions on one extreme or the other – how it will affect them immediately or far into the future. But with the 10-10-10 approach, you are forced to consider various points in your life as well as what you value at those different points. For example, if you’re the parent of small children, you may place a higher value on time at home than when you’re single or an empty nester.

Perhaps a decision has you paralyzed because you are concerned about its immediate implications. But what if 10 months from now or 10 years from now, that decision netted great rewards? It may be easier for you to emerge from “decision paralysis” and move forward thinking in those terms.

In addition, according to Welch, the answers you garner through this approach not only can help you make sound decisions, but they can also help you to explain your choices to the people who will feel its impact, such as your staff and company management.

So the next time you’re faced with a difficult decision, try the 10-10-10 approach. It could remove some angst from the decision-making process and help you make clear, well-reasoned choices.

If one of your difficult decisions involves staffing issues or whether or not you need to hire, Provisional can help. As a temporary staffing agency serving Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, we can give you access to skilled temporary and temp-to-hire employees to get the work done, without adding to your overhead. Contact us today to learn more about our temporary staffing services and how they can help your bottom line.

More and more Northwest companies are looking to temporary staffing in order to increase flexibility, improve productivity, and control costs. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in February 2005, there was an average of 1.2 million temporary help workers employed everyday; by the third quarter of 2010, that number jumped to 2.6 million, the fastest recorded increase since the staffing industry began keeping statistics.

But gone are the days of temporary workers being uses solely for administrative or clerical work. Many of today’s temporaries are skilled professionals, from managers to accountants to marketing specialists. Moreover, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, the U.S. Department of Labor declared that temporary work is transitioning from low-skill level jobs to positions that require specialized expertise or training.

And in a time when you may still feel hesitant to hire more full-time staff, these skilled temporary workers can help you get the job done, while also driving profits at your company. Here’s how.

Increase flexibility.

Using temporary staffing allows you to respond to market demands quickly and seamlessly, without adding to your overhead. You can also get the professionals you need to cover maternity, vacation, or sick leaves. In addition, depending on your unique requirements, you can “hire” temporary workers to come in for a few hours a day, or full-time for several weeks or months.

Improve productivity.

If your company is operating at maximum capacity, temporary workers allow you to meet the demands of your customers, while ensuring your full-time employees don’t suffer from burnout. Mistakes, increased absenteeism, and lower productivity occur when employees feel overwhelmed and overworked. But when you use temporary staffing to handle the extra work, your core employees can focus on their main tasks and maintain efficiency in the process.

Control costs.

Since temporary workers are employed by the staffing agency, not by you, you don’t have to worry about salaries and expensive benefits. In addition, temporary staffing can assist you in reducing other overhead costs, such as overtime accrued by your full-time staff or severance payments associated with letting full-time staff go. And finally, when you no longer need the temporary worker, you can end the arrangement without having to worry about the negative publicity associated with company lay offs.

The bottom line is that temporary staffing can help you get the expertise and help you need for short-term projects or increases in demand, without incurring the costs of a regular, full-time employee.

If you’d like to learn more about how our temporary staffing services can help you drive profits at your Northwest company, please contact Provisional today. We can work with you to develop cost-effective solutions that meet your staffing needs and help your business grow.

The economy is recovering, business is picking up, and your financial picture is starting to look better and better. But there’s still plenty of uncertainty out there – causing you to rethink whether you really need to hire or not. On the one hand, you’d be able to take on more work; on the other hand, you’d be adding to your fixed overhead.

What can you do?

One answer is temporary staffing. Temporary staffing can help you deal with all kinds of business hassles and headaches. For instance:

High Cost of Benefits.

Limit your benefits expenses by using temporary employees. Most temporaries received some benefits through the staffing company.

Hiring Mistakes.

With temporary workers, you can audition potential full-time employees. You can get a sense of their attitude, work ethic, and skill level, all in a true work setting. As a result, you can reduce the risk of making a hiring mistake.

Hot Projects.

You may have a project with a tight turnaround and need some extra help during a certain time period. Temporary staffing can help you complete projects on time and on budget. And once the project is done, you can simply release the temporaries.

Skill Gaps.

Gone are the days of temporary staffing agencies only placing clerical or warehouse workers. Today, you can access workers on a temporary basis with a variety of skills, from accounting to IT.

Seasonal Up-ticks in Demand.

If you know your company is considerably busier during certain times of the year, you can plan ahead with temporary staffing.

Costly Overtime.

Rather than paying your core staff overtime, consider bringing in temporary help instead. You’ll not only avoid expensive overtime, but you’ll also help limit employee burnout.

While temporary staffing certainly won’t solve every business problem you face, it does offer a variety of solutions to many challenges. If you’d like to learn more about how temporary staffing can help your Spokane, Washington company, please contact Provisional.

We are pleased to announce that Provisional has been named the Silver Winner in the “Best Temporary Staffing Firm” category on Inland Business Catalyst magazine’s “Best of Business” list. The purpose of the list is to offer professionals the top options for business-related products and services, such as temporary staffing, in the Northwest. Firms are voted onto the list by readers and fans of the magazine

“We’re absolutely honored that so many people in the business community voted to name Provisional one of the best temporary staffing firms in Northwest,” said Megan Shover, Recruiting Manager at Provisional. “While we’re proud of this success, we also recognize that it wouldn’t have been possible without the continued loyalty, support, and trust of our clients and candidates.”

Learn more about how you can benefit from working with one of the Northwest’s best temporary staffing firms.

As a Spokane employment agency, we know that balancing the right amount of staff with workflow can be a difficult task. Some companies hire too many employees, wasting thousands of dollars, while other companies are understaffed, which leads to employee burnout and less productivity.

So how do you know when it’s the right time to hire? Ask yourself these questions:

• Over the past few months, how many times have I had to extend deadlines in order to meet demand or complete a project?
If you answered “every day,” or “every week,” then you may be understaffed.

• How many times have employees called in sick over the past month?
If you’ve noticed a recent rise in sick days among your staff, it may be due to stress and burnout. Your employees could be over-worked and over-tired because they are trying to do too much.

• Have your employees taken advantage of their time off and vacation days?
Many times, in a bad economy, employees become fearful of taking any time off. They think their employer will see it as “slacking” and they will therefore be the next person on the chopping block. But this can lead to burnout and less productivity. So encourage your employees to take an appropriate amount of time off.

• Are your overtime costs consistently on the rise?
Another sign that you are understaffed is rising overtime costs. It means simply that you don’t have enough employees to get the work done during the workday.

• Have you had to turn down new business ventures or opportunities because you don’t have the right talent?
If you don’t have employees on staff with the skills you need to take on new opportunities, then you’re going to lose your competitive edge.

• How much are you using temporary or contract employees?
If you are consistently using temporary employees for the same tasks in the same departments, it may be time to consider hiring a full-time staff member to perform those tasks.

• Are you implementing ideas from your business plan or marketing strategy?
If not, then lack of time and energy may be to blame. There’s a reason you create a plan and goals for your business each year, and if you’re not able to execute those plans or meet those goals because you have too much to do, then it may be time to hire additional staff.

By asking yourself the above questions, you should now have a better idea about whether or not you need to hire more people. If you have any questions – or are looking to hire more temporary or full-time employees – please contact Provisional. As a premier Spokane employment agency, we can take on the task of sourcing, screening, and hiring, so you can focus on other priorities, like running your business.

Rightsizing. Downsizing. Whatever you want to call it, eliminating employees can be an unpleasant proposition. While layoffs are sometimes a necessary business strategy, there are some cost-saving steps you can take to reduce your overhead – and the likelihood you’ll have to cut staff.

Step 1:
Decrease Hours Worked
Think about offering a four-day work week, or ask your staff to trade some pay for extra time off.

Step 2:
Reduce Wages
Consider asking your employees to take a temporary cut in their pay.

Step 3:
Allow Attrition
When an employee retires or leaves the company, assign their tasks to your existing employees, rather than hiring a new person.

Step 4:
Support Leaves of Absence
Let employees take leaves of absence with full benefits for a certain time period. Tell them they’ll have a job when they return, but it may not be the same job with the same pay.

Step 5:
Limit Overtime
Place limitations on the amount of overtime an employee is allowed to work. Also, consider hiring temporary employees if you have a sudden rise in demand, which can oftentimes be less expensive than overtime.

Step 6:
Offer Early Retirement
Offer an early retirement package to eligible employees.

Step 7:
Freeze Hiring
Don’t bring on additional staff until you feel like things have stabilized. If you do need some extra help, consider temporary staffing instead.

Step 8:
Create a Shared Ownership Plan
Let employees trade in some of their pay for company stock.

Step 9:
Allow Job Sharing
Let two or more full-time employees convert to part-time and share a position.

Step 10:
Temporary Staffing
Use temporary staffing to meet rises in demand without having to pay overtime or hire more full-time staff.

As a Northwest employment agency, we’ve helped many companies throughout the region avoid laying off full-time employees through the use of temporary, strategic staffing. If you’re in a position where lay offs seem imminent, please contact Provisional. We may be able to help.

Having trouble finding qualified professionals? Need more flexibility in your workforce? Dealing with a high rate of turnover? Trying to manage too much overhead?

Most employers face these problems at one time or another. But by working with a reputable Seattle staffing firm, you can overcome these issues and build a stronger business. Here’s how:

Problem #1: Lack of qualified talent.
Solution: Develop a great network.

Most staffing firms, like Provisional, develop relationships with professionals who excel in their career fields. As a result, they can provide you with access to a large pool of well-qualified employees with a variety of skills from throughout Seattle and the Northwest.

Problem #2: High turnover.
Solution: Hire a staffing firm to search deeper.

Hiring someone who isn’t a fit can be stressful and expensive. But quality staffing firms spend the time necessary to source, screen, and evaluate a variety of candidates. You’ll wind up with an employee you can depend on, without having to spend the time and energy finding and interviewing people.

Problem #3: Not enough flexibility.
Solution: Tap into the power of flexible staffing.

Do you ever feel overstaffed or understaffed? If you do, you’re not alone. But if your business needs are fluctuating, then why is your workforce staying steady?

Flexible staffing can give you access to the temporary employees you need to take on a big new project or deal with an increase in demand. On the flip side, when demand dips, temporary employees can be easily released and you only have to meet payroll for your core group of permanent employees.

Problem #4: Too much overhead.
Solution: Use temporary employees.

By using temporary employees, you can convert fixed expenses to variable since you’re only pay for temporaries when you need them. You can also reduce or even completely eliminate the amount of overtime your permanent employees work. In addition, you can reduce the cost of benefits since temporary employees receive benefits from the temporary staffing agency – not from your company.

Interested in learning more about how a staffing company can help you overcome these – and other – common business problems? Contact Provisional today.