Happy Monday! (I know, it’s only Friday) III

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Another way to make Mondays happy – Avoid the meetings!  One of the most common reasons for dreading Mondays seems to be meetings.  Especially Monday morning meetings.  Here at Specialized we avoid those like the plague, now.  I’ll admit back in the day we started our week with a Monday morning staff meeting.  What were we thinking?!  The mindset was to kick off the week but in hindsight, moving that meeting to mid week was one of the best things we ever did.  Oh the memories of watching people drag themselves into the office, the silence, it still makes me cringe.   If you absolutely can’t avoid a Monday meeting at least consider making it later in the day.  Prepare for those meetings on Friday, gathering and organizing data and reports so that’s not on your plate Monday morning to start haunting you Sunday evening.  You might take that to the next level by mixing up the meeting format.  Let’s face it, conference rooms are boring!  Why not meet at a local coffee shop and support a local business?  How about a walking or hiking meeting in a park? (as recovering traditionalists this is one of our favorites)  For those of you facing a meeting this coming Monday, get your stuff together for it today and dust off those walking shoes.  It’s going to be a beautiful day in Western PA. . . just saying! 

Happy Monday! (I know it’s only Friday) II

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A few weeks ago I talked about how to make Mondays less painful, starting with doing some things on Friday to lighten your workload on Monday.  Maybe you tried it – maybe it worked!  Consider this, making some fun lunch plans could actually make Monday’s fun?  Something to look forward to?  Friends? Co-workers?  Even if you work virtually, how about a virtual pizza party?  Here at Specialized the team enjoys getting together pretty frequently and food is typically a common theme :)    For years I sat at my desk straight through lunch, especially on Mondays, just focused on getting through the day.   Taking a break and having some good food, conversation and laughs can really make a difference.  Come on try it.   You gotta eat!

 

How to have a happy Monday

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How is it that Monday gets such a bad rap anyway?  Apparently in the 1700’s workers had too much fun on weekends and called off on Mondays – which became Blue Monday and eventually the Monday Blues.  It’s common for people to dread Mondays, even starting to feel the ‘blues’ on Sunday in anticipation of Monday.  This makes me sad   : (

We shouldn’t have to dread Mondays.  So here are some ideas to help make Mondays more positive – dare I say – even happy:

Try tackling one or two of those things you don’t like doing on Monday before you leave work on Friday?

Make Sunday a healthy day!  Eat well, do something good for YOU!  Go for a walk, hike, ride a bike, read a book, spend some quality time with family.  And get a good night’s sleep.

Now that you’ve woken up rested and rejuvenated how about planning something fun for Monday like lunch with the team or an activity after work with friends?  Something to look forward to, right?

So there – a few ideas to help make having a ‘case of the Mondays’ less like a case of the blues and more like a case of the giggles!

New Year’s Resolution Derailed? Hit the Reset Button!

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It’s January 20th.  Here in Western PA it’s a balmy 33 degrees and snowing – sideways.  I can’t lie, it’s a hard kind of a day to get and stay motivated, especially telecommuting in my cozy apartment wearing fuzzy warm sweats.  Still, my New Year’s resolution was to improve our social media presence, so here I sit.  I’ve been told I’m creative, even articulate, and funny.  So this shouldn’t be so hard, should it?  Why do so many New Year’s resolutions fail anyway?  Studies have shown 80% fail by February.  Right about now I’d like to see an 80% chance of some darn sunshine in the forecast, but I digress, back to the topic of choice.  So I’m off track with this resolution.  So what.  Now what? So how many of you are aboard the same train veering a little?  It’s only January 20th so, hey, it’s not too late to hit the reset button!

Let’s ponder upon…..and be honest.  What’s causing the failure?  Was the goal S.M.A.R.T. to begin with?  Take a look back at the last few weeks, before it’s too late.  What can you learn?  Pinpoint the obstacles and weaknesses.  I’m not disciplined enough. Take some time and even seek some guidance to identify ways to do things differently to overcome them moving forward.  Now let’s add some accountability. Let’s face it, some of us are way better at holding others accountable than ourselves.  If that’s the case – get yourself an accountability partner.  A friend, peer, colleague, even (dare I say) a boss!  Just make sure it’s someone you’ll enjoy kicking your butt.  If you don’t see another post from me next week ping me on social media – there, the world is my accountability partner.  That’s settled so you need a new plan?  Time it out and document it.  I like to use my calendar and set the end date for the overall goal first.  Then work backwards, calendaring each ‘step’ goal that will get me to the end goal.  Mine is now specific enough to include the % of increase in social media stats which I’ll track weekly, monthly, quarterly. Which is always fun to do on a freezing cold, gloomy January day since I’m now looking at June, July and August and visions of biking, kayaking, blue water and sunshine are dancing in my head.  And again, reeling myself back in.  Time to build some new momentum, which I much prefer over building a snowman.  Not too late, new plan, double shot espresso and dark chocolate, new energy, that’s it.  I’m hitting the reset button on this one!

It’s Time for the 2023 Butler Eagle Reader’s Choice Awards!

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We’re busy voting for our favorite Butler County businesses!  We’re super proud to be a 2022 Gold Award Winner and you can help us keep the honor by picking up a copy of today’s Butler Eagle (if you’re an online subscriber look for your electronic ballot) and voting for Specialized Staffing in the ‘People, Places & Things – Employment Agency’ category and be eligible for over $2000 in prizes by casting your ballot!

 

Why resolutions fail and how to make yours stick this year.

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Past studies have indicated that up to 80% of new year’s resolutions fail by February.  FEBRUARY?!?!  80%???  What’s up with that?  Listen to Lisa and Tracey talk about ways to make your resolutions (business or personal) stick this year!

https://anchor.fm/wisr-lets-talk/episodes/Specialized-Staffing-e1sqh7d

Stop losing good candidates, seriously.

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Hiring Managers:

What’s your first reaction when you miss out on the awesome candidate you really felt good about because your interview process took too long in comparison to another company who got to the point of an offer faster?

  • COMPLACENCY: “I get it. That’s just what the market is like right now and there’s not much I can do about it. He / She was a desirable candidate and I’m not surprised they didn’t last long on the market. I wish them the best of luck. Let’s keep looking.”

OR

  • FRUSTRATION: “I’m so ticked off! We’re missing out on the good ones. They keep getting other offers before we  come to a decision. Now we’re back to square one.”

What type of hiring manager to you want to be? (I know what type we want you to be – And the type that candidates want you to be;  Someone who at least tries to do something differently to change the outcome).

Think outside of the box on how you can speed up your interview process – Or choose to do nothing different and hope for better results.  The problem with the latter is, here at Specialized our vision is “Success for Everyone” and in our experience, doing nothing different and hoping for better results leads to success for no-one.

Not sure what you can do differently? Let’s be partners and have a chat about it. You just might be surprised at some of the creative ideas and options we can drum up together. Need some help getting your wheels turning? We have several creative suggestions to share, and we bet the ball starts rolling from there.

– Joey Lerch, Sr. Recruiter

Is Your Business an Employer of Choice?

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Candidates by and large want to work for certain organizations.  What do these organizations have in common that attracts great people and keeps them?  Listen as Lisa and Tracey discuss how to become an ‘Employer of Choice’ on WISR 680 ‘Let’s Talk’.

We’re looking for the next addition to the Specialized team!

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We search our little world over to find awesome people to work with our customers.  Our customers are awesome companies in the North Pittsburgh region.  We are a small but mighty team, and we believe we impact the lives of our candidates & employees as well as the success of our customers businesses.

We’re looking for the next addition to our own team.  This new role is primarily business development.  Working mostly remotely and collaborating with your team, you’ll help to develop new business by identifying and pursuing opportunities using various resources and established tools and techniques.  Around here we switch up activities based on business need, so when we’re super busy because you’ve done such a great job developing new business, you’ll help your team by jumping over to the fulfillment side and assisting with things like screening candidates, talking with references and other stuff.  This is a full-time opportunity that offers a competitive compensation package including salary + incentives, excellent benefits and world-class sales training.  We both offer and require a flexible schedule.

Are you afraid of a little hard work?  (That’s a trick question!  If the answer’s ‘no’ keep reading….)

Are you jazzed by helping other people?

Do you have a high energy level?

Do you listen well and have good conversations?

Are you focused working on your own?

Do you like going out and meeting people face to face?

Are you good at getting what you want?

Do you like to set goals and achieve them?

Can we trust and depend on you?

Are you good with technology and social media?

Can you be serious AND have fun?

 

If this sounds like you, and you’re interested in learning more about what it’s like to work with us, email lisag@thebestworkwithus.com