The continuing weakness in the economy, skyrocketing healthcare costs, along with uncertainty in healthcare reform efforts, are the prime movers in the increasing joint efforts among human resources and finance. Each department complements the other in helping to deliver healthcare to employees – human resources, with knowledge about employee demographics, will take the lead in determining what types of health coverage to invest in, while finance plays more of a role in choosing the plans based on costs, according to Gale.

And a recent survey of HR and finance leaders confirmed the close working relationship, noting that HR sets the strategy for healthcare, while finance handles the budgeting.

Working together is easier if HR people know something about the language of finance and are able to quantify their reasoning, according to some HR professionals. For example, one HR official works together with his company’s chief financial officer to do a cost-benefit analysis of the firm’s healthcare program. The packages includes a wellness program, which includes health education, exercise classes and incentives for getting regular checkups and watching what you eat.  This HR person was able to gain support for the wellness program by showing how much healthcare costs at the company have dropped since the program began – even though the company began offering increased coverage to employees. The program essentially paid for itself through reduced costs.

The cooperation between HR and finance also can lead to some unconventional changes that have not only improved the healthcare for employees but also led to steep reductions in costs. For example, Harris Corporation, an IT company located in Florida, has built a medical imaging center at its business. The project worked so well that the company has since added a pharmacy and a healthcare clinic staffed by doctors. The project came about through the efforts of HR and finance working together.

This project not only has saved the company millions of dollars, according to company officials, but has also improved employee healthcare, because the company is able to more closely monitor what services are needed the most and customize what it delivers to meet employee needs.

When looking for temporary workers for your San Antonio-area company, call upon Trinity Staffing to find you highly skilled and reliable professionals for your short- and long-term assignments. We look forward to serving you!

But what is the best way to handle criticism? Business strategy consultant Dorie Clark offers a few tips.

One thing she counsels against is lashing out, erupting in a self-righteous rant. Take time first to cool off. And then consider what the criticism is and how best to handle it. You may want to engage the person by acknowledging the points he or she has made, and then replying in a polite and deliberate manner with a rebuttal.

Think about whether or not you may be overreacting. When we receive criticism about our work, our first response is visceral and emotional, and seen through this veil of emotion the attack may appear to be a lot worse than it actually is. Our imaginations begin to take over and we assume the person is out to make us look bad or ruin our reputation when that may not be the case at all. One well-used piece of advice about responding to criticism is to go ahead and write an angry letter in response, using all the vitriol that you can muster, and then tear the letter up, or delete it.

Also, Clark says, keep in mind that you wouldn’t be getting criticism if what you are doing or saying is not important. You must be making an impact if you are getting people to respond. Being criticized severely may lead you to a crisis of confidence and a self-questioning of your work, but you have to realize that you won’t make an impact without upsetting someone. You can’t please everyone all the time. In fact, if someone is criticizing you publicly, it might even be an attempt on the individual’s part to raise his or her profile by attacking someone of substance.

When you need help with your recruiting and staffing, engage the expertise of professionals at Trinity Staffing Services. We’ve been helping San Antonio-area companies find great workers for temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments for more than 15 years – and we intend to continue doing so for the next 15 (and beyond)! Contact us today!

A lot has been written about putting your best foot forward on your Facebook or LinkedIn profile. Be careful, the advice goes, about what you put on them that could reflect poorly on your judgment or character.

Social media specialists also advise to be careful about the pictures you put on your site that could reflect poorly on you. But there is another picture that often does not get enough attention, or enough thought, when it appears on a site – your profile photo.

According to Kelly Dingee, a strategic recruiting manager, there are a few things to keep in mind when you post your picture on professional networking sites. First, she says, do not use a fake photograph of yourself. Avoid the drawings and the caricatures or the cartoon pictures.

Be careful what kind of image the photograph gives of you. For example, Dingee says, if you are a woman, avoid things like tube tops if you are going to put just a head and shoulders photograph on your site – everyone looking at the picture will know you are really not nude in the photograph, but that is the impression it will give.

She recalls a presentation she gave recently where she was talking about a top-notch job applicant she had. The person was perfect for the job opening, and Dingee was showing everyone the person’s social media page to highlight her accomplishments. But everyone focused on the person’s picture instead. The reason was that the person was wearing a strapless top and had cropped the picture at the shoulders, giving the appearance that she was naked. A little forethought and this problem could have been avoided, Dingee says. You need to think about the impression you are giving with your picture.

She also says to avoid including your children in the picture. They also do not belong on a professional job networking site.

Human resource workers are human beings like everyone else, and like everyone else, they make quick judgments about people from looking at their pictures; it’s just human nature. So, if your photo is a little quirky, a little off the beaten track, it may get human resource’s attention, but not in a good way. Look at your social media profile photo picture as you would when dressing for an interview, Dingee says. Make it appropriate, because first impressions count.

If you think your Facebook or LinkedIn profile could use some “proofing,” come to San Antonio’s Trinity Staffing Services. We’ll be happy to take a look at your profile and offer our suggestions for improvement. We look forward to hearing from you!

More recently, some companies are asking candidates to solve word problems, riddles or puzzles as part of the interview. This type of technique is especially prevalent in the information technology and financial investment industries.

Microsoft and Google are well known for using riddles or complicated brainteasers as part of their interviewing process. Some Wall Street firms also routinely use brainteasers or ask candidates to solve math or probability questions as part of the interview.

And the question has come up as to how effective these techniques really are. Can they really do a better job of telling whether someone is the best person for the job?

There are differing opinions on this. The people who use these techniques argue that using these types of problems enables them to see how the candidate’s mind works, the thought processes the person uses to arrive at an answer. This information is just as or even more important than whether the candidate gets the right answer or not, advocates say. It shows the candidate’s ability to think outside the box, the argument goes.

Others are less enthusiastic. Some who work in the information technology industry say that there is little support for this technique among job candidates. They call them “parlor tricks.”  They argue that this technique really does little to determine who the best programmers are – that there have been great programmers who did poorly on these problems, while mediocre ones have done well on them. They are a poor gauge of future success, according to critics. Having knowledge is important, some critics say, but even more important is being able to apply that knowledge to get a result.

So, while the brainteasers and puzzles may help to give some insight into the ability of a job candidate, they should not be given undue weight, and should be considered along with other assessments.

If you need help vetting job candidates for your San Antonio-area company, turn to Trinity Staffing Services. We can conduct preliminary interviews so that you meet with top candidates only. Contact us today!

Almost half of the plans that have defined contributions have added or are planning to add some kind of low-risk retirement investment options to act as a hedge against inflation, according to a survey by Mercer Investment Consulting.

These options have become more popular since the economic meltdown occurred and stocks lost value. With the volatility in the market, people are more wary of investing in stocks and are looking for safer types of investments, but still want to avoid losing value to inflation.

Investments known as Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, have become the most popular type of low-risk, inflation-hedge option, used even more than combining different kinds of assets to reduce risk.

Of the more than 230 companies that responded to the survey, one-fourth said they offer TIPS, while more than 10 percent use combinations of Treasury bonds, real estate investments and commodities as inflation hedges. Another 10 said they planned to add some type of investment to protect against inflation in the coming year.

The investment companies offering these plans are doing it to help people diversify their portfolios in order to manage risk. It is an attempt to give people more tools to do this.

TIPS are now among the investments that are growing the fastest, according to Mercer officials.

Target date funds also have become more popular. These are funds that contain different types of assets, such as stocks, bonds and cash, which reset the mix of assets automatically according to a particular time frame. These types of funds also contain inflation-protection assets. The funds have become popular because they make it simpler for investors to keep their asset mix where they want it, without having to make the calculations to do it themselves. More companies are using these types of funds because they are friendlier to investors who may not be as knowledgeable about the market.

Still, about half of the companies surveyed have no plans to offer assets geared specifically toward inflation protection. They consider their current fund offerings to adequately address risk and inflation concerns.

When you need help with ramping up the number of people on your staff for either temporary or direct-hire assignments, call upon the expertise of the recruiter’s at San Antonio’s Trinity Staffing Services. We look forward to hearing how we can help!

What companies and human resource departments need to work out are ways to pass off more responsibility to employees to be able to apply what they have learned, Paskoff says. People may know what they need to do, but the question is will they actually do it. The remedy for this is not more knowledge, but better habits and continual commitment and action, Paskoff says.

To really make the learning stick, employees have to make specific, clear, daily changes in their work routines. They need to realize that learning is a process that includes action; it’s not a one-shot deal of just going to class. To help maintain the learning, employees can keep records of what they are doing to implement what they have learned, and they can work with others as way to stay committed.

If companies really want to change employee actions and make those changes permanent, they need to show employees the importance of what they have learned in clearly worded messages. They can put simple rules in place to maintain the changes, rules that will apply on a daily basis.

Workers should then record what they are going to do to change their behavior, and every day keep track of what they have done that resulted from what they have learned, Paskoff says. This should take only a few minutes a day. Workers also should talk about what they are doing with others in structured group meetings, either face-to-face or online. These meetings can be short, but they should be ongoing, on a regular basis.

Employees can take other steps l to reinforce their learning. It is all a matter of the employee applying what he or she has learned, and holding the employee accountable for implementing the lesson, Paskoff says. Setting up support systems for doing this will go a long way toward achieving change as a result of learning.

If you’re looking for great workers for your temporary, temp-to-hire or even direct-hire assignments at your San Antonio-area firm, give Trinity Staffing Services a call. We look forward to hearing from you!

In 2006, climbing the corporate ladder was number six on the priority list for employees, as far as what they wanted out of work, according to the Corporate Executive Board Company. In 2011, advancement had fallen to 12th place on the list.

Part of the reason for the lack of drive to advance may be the weak economy, according to business writer Ed Frauenheim. With the volatility of today’s stock market, stock and stock options – one of the traditional executive perks — don’t hold the value they once did for employees.  Plus, as more workers have been laid off (and employees see that the mid-level ranks have thinned, making the management jobs more challenging), workers feel that the extra demands aren’t worth it.

The weak economy also may have caused workers to consider a less materialistic mindset and a shift to a more spiritual outlook, one where building purpose in life and more connections with others has taken on new importance.

Employees are working harder than ever, but they just don’t appear to be as interested in going after the promotions.

With this being the case, employers may want to rethink the incentives they provide to employees to keep them engaged, Frauenheim says. With stock options becoming more unreliable, companies may want to increase salaries and benefits to attract qualified applicants for management jobs. Companies also may want to take another look at their mission statements, and look at providing employees with more meaningful work, whether it be through greater responsibility and autonomy, volunteerism or community involvement.

Another thing that might help reengage employees is providing more flexibility at work. More flexibility with work schedules, as well as redefining job responsibilities so that they are not as onerous, may induce workers to look to the next level. Making these changes may be in the best interest of the company as a whole. If the only people willing to take executive-level jobs are those willing to give up any semblance of work- life balance, are they the well-rounded people companies want in the executive suites?

Let 2012 be the year your San Antonio company takes itself to the next level regarding staffing. Contact a recruiter at Trinity Staffing Services to learn more about our recruiting services. We look forward to hearing from you!

There are a number of things to watch out for if you decide to have a holiday party, according to Shanti Atkins, a human resources consultant.  Take care, because if you don’t, you could end up with a lawsuit.

One thing to avoid, says Atkins, is asking people to work during the evenings or weekends to get ready for the party and not paying them for it. This might get you in trouble with wage and hours violations, and making employees work while not on the clock could get you in trouble.

Also, because workforces are so much more diverse now, it is also better to refer to the celebration as a holiday party rather than as a Christmas party. You might be offending some workers who are not of the Christian religion.

Be careful what clients you invite. It doesn’t take a legal expert to see that inviting the purchasing officer for a government contract that your company is trying win, and then giving that person an expensive gift, may get you into trouble. Be aware of ethics and compliance guidelines regarding gift giving.

Another thing to avoid is an open bar, Atkins says. In fact, you may want to set up some way of controlling alcohol consumption so things don’t get out of hand. Before the party, it is also a good idea to let employees know that excessive drinking at the party is frowned upon. Also, stay away from the mistletoe – you want workers to get to know each other better, but not that much.
Also, if you are going to have employees as part of the entertainment – such as skits or roasts — plan ahead to make sure the activity doesn’t get out of control.

Don’t threaten employees about showing up for the party, such as telling them they will have their pay docked if they don’t show up. Another legal landmine. You want everybody to come, but you cannot make them come.

Finally, Atkins says, remember – and make sure all employees know – that even if the party is at a location other than work and not during work hours, the same company rules and policies are still in effect because the party is still a work-related event.

When you need great workers for your temporary, temp-to-hire or direct-hire assignments at your San Antonio company, give Trinity Staffing Services a call. We look forward to hearing from you!

About two-thirds of workers in the United States have acknowledged very high levels of stress in their jobs, which include feelings of fatigue and loss of control.

This is not a good sign for companies, which are asking workers to do more than they have before. People are working more hours and are under pressure to perform. This is all part of cost-cutting measures at companies due to the recession.

The stress that employees are feeling can create a vicious circle – the higher workload overwhelms the balance between work and life outside of work, which only further increases the stress on the job. About 40 percent of the workers surveyed said that a greater workload was the main cause of their increased stress levels. Other factors that led to more stress included conflicts with other workers, balancing work with personal life and concerns about job security.

About 34 percent of the workers surveyed said they lost about one hour a day because of stress. Stress also led to higher rates of absenteeism. More than half of the workers in the study missed one to two days each year, and almost one-third were out three to six days a year because of stress. About 18 percent of workers were out more than six days a year because of stress.

Research done on the financial impact of stress shows that it is significant. Greater absenteeism, turnover, loss of productivity and insurance costs from stress cost businesses about $300 million a year, according to the American Stress Institute.

To handle the stress, more than half of the workers surveyed said they take more breaks at work. A little more than 10 percent said they take personal days to handle the stress. Others, however, said they simply try to work harder as a way of dealing with stress.

Don’t stress about finding great employees. Trinity Staffing Services has been helping San Antonio-area companies find great employees for more than 25 years – and we want to help yours! Contact us today for more information.

If you are looking for a job, this part of the application process may appear like some kind of barrier to overcome, but there are good reasons why companies do it, according to business consultant Amy Gallo. She recommends that rather than seeing this phase in an adversarial way, the applicant should look at ways he or she can work with human resources to get past this step.

It’s no secret that most of the job applications get tossed without a hiring manager ever seeing them. In fact, about 95 percent of all candidates never make it past the human resources screening process. Because of this, the applicant really needs to take this part of the process seriously and try to see human resources as a friend rather than an enemy.

Gallo recommends rethinking how you view a company’s human resources department. It is true that its purpose is to weed people out, but instead of looking at it this way, focus on how you can show HR professionals that you are the best person for the job, and a good fit with the company. You should take the situation not as a chore, but look at it as an opportunity to show that you are a better candidate than everyone else.

You also may believe that the people in human resources don’t really know what the job requires. While it may be true that they don’t know all the technical aspects of the job, they do have a generally good idea of what the hiring manager is looking for.

And yes, getting through the screening process means avoiding typographical errors on your application/resume and making nice with the human resources staffer, but don’t rely just on good grammar and being nice to get you through: work to convince the person that it’s your skills and knowledge that set you apart.

In preparation for talking with human resources, be sure to research the company thoroughly. This means doing more than just checking out Web pages on the Internet. Try to contact people in the company through social media and find out what they have to say.

Finally, and this should come as no surprise, prepare for the interview questions you are likely to be asked, such as why you are interested in the job, and what kind of person you are.

The recruiters and staff here at Trinity Staffing Services are here to help job seekers find new opportunities at some of the San Antonio area’s best firms. Contact us today to learn more about the temp-to-hire, long-term temporary and direct-hire opportunities we have available!