Author: talentnavig

Psychologists have long studied tasks and teams in the workplace. A common question among psychologists is “are tasks better done by one person or several people in combination?”  Well, research has shown that a task is done better and more effectively by several individuals in combination, which is why most companies support the use of teams. But what is it that makes a team so effective?

Balanced roles among team members has shown teams to be more effective and efficient.  If there is a balance of skills and abilities among the individuals of a team, the team is said to be more effective.

Excellent communication between all parties also yields an effective team. Team meetings are productive in the workplace, and even if team meetings are not present it is still important that there is open communication between team members to be as effective as possible. Gaps in communication can lead to less effective teams.

Trust your team members! Trust means that you are relying on your team members to do their job.  This is essential to an effective team because it provides a sense of safety and puts an individual’s mind at ease knowing that their team members are doing what they are supposed to.  This leads to team members feeling more comfortable to open up, take risks, and expose vulnerabilities, all of which increase a team’s productivity and effectiveness.

Clients of winning agencies are 2.5 times more likely to be completely satisfied.

Greenwood Village, CO – February 16, 2017 – Talent Navigation Experts, a leading staffing agency in the Technology industry, is pleased to announce today that we have won Inavero’s Best of Staffing® Client Award for providing superior service to their clients. Presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, Inavero’s Best of Staffing Client winners have proven to be industry leaders in service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their clients. On average, clients of winning agencies are 2.5 times more likely to be completely satisfied with services provided compared to those working with non-winning agencies.

Focused on helping Colorado based companies find the right people for their job openings, we received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 98% of our clients, significantly higher than the industry’s average of 29%. Award winners make up less than 2% of all staffing agencies in the U.S. and Canada who earned the Best of Staffing Award for service excellence.

“We excel at developing relationships with our clients and candidates, because we understand their business and technical needs and we provide quality matches with a guarantee.”

“Staffing firms are giving top companies a competitive advantage as they search for talent in North America,” said Inavero’s CEO Eric Gregg. “The 2017 Best of Staffing winners have achieved exceptionally high levels of satisfaction and I’m proud to feature them on BestofStaffing.com.”

Talent Navigation Experts is a boutique staffing firm in Denver, delivering all your recruiting needs. We’re more than just headhunters; we provide the best-in-class service for both Denver companies and top talent they want to recruit.

About Inavero
Inavero administers more staffing agency client and talent satisfaction surveys than any other firm in the world. Inavero’s team reports on over 1.2 million satisfaction surveys from staffing agency clients and talent each year, and the company serves as the American Staffing Association’s exclusive service quality partner.
About Inavero’s Best of Staffing

Inavero’s Best of Staffing® Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their clients and job candidates. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on BestofStaffing.com – an online resource for hiring professionals and job seekers to find the best staffing agencies to call when they are in need.

Lack of Positivity in the workplace can be detrimental to office productivity.

Positivity is the practice of being or tendency to be positive or optimistic in attitude. Have you ever been on edge and trapped in a negative down spiral? It takes a toll, doesn’t it? It’s easy to become jaded and allow ourselves to think negative thoughts.

Practicing positive self-talk can be beneficial. A simple sentence such as; ‘I can do this,’ can clear your thoughts of all panic, broaden your mind to see all possible solutions, and greatly boost your productivity. Positive self-talk is a direct spin-off of positive emotions. It is the physical manifestation of your psyche encouraging you, and it’s proven to have numerous benefits. Unfortunately, research shows that 80% of an average person’s thoughts in one day are negative and self-deprecating. Only 20% of our inner dialogue even remotely resembles positive thoughts.

Let’s challenge ourselves to change the way we allow ourselves to think. There are some major benefits that come from positive thinking. You tend to be less stressed and have a greater overall well-being. Your mind has a powerful effect on your body. Your thoughts and attitudes can have a particularly powerful influence. You are more likely to achieve something if you tell yourself that you can!

Even if positive thinking doesn’t come naturally to you, there are plenty of great reasons to start cultivating affirmative thoughts and minimizing negative self-talk. We can do this! Let’s start to share our positive energy and watch it spread throughout the offices where we work.

In 2017-2018 we will start seeing more and more of the newest generation of professionals entering the workforce. The iGen, or Gen Z (people born after 1996), are still technically Millennials but they have different beliefs and drivers from the current 20-30 somethings. As the 4th active generation of working professionals enter the marketplace it is now more important than ever to realize that building and leading multi-generational teams is critical to an organization’s success.  As Talent Navigation’s previous blog post “Millennials -Who & what to expect” explains, there are a multitude of personalities, many who may not have the same drivers or goals as the GenX population, so leading with yesterday’s mindset is almost assuring your front door will be a revolving one.

We’ve all seen reports, studies, commentaries and more on the differences between generations, including strengths and weaknesses, so we won’t discuss that here but if you’re not aware feel free to Google it (I’m sure a Millennial can help you). What we need to be focusing on is not the differences of each generation but the similarities. We all want to be happy. We all want to succeed. We all want to support the teams we work with and be accepted at work. So, what’s getting in the way? “ME”.

With the world using social media at a hyper-velocity it seems more and more often that we see posts on every possible social platform that says “look at me”. Here’s what I had for lunch, here’s my dog looking in the mirror, here’s my child eating paste. That “Me” mentality has become so normal it has affected how we work together. As a staffing agency and solutions provider, the team at Talent Navigation Experts sees and hears far too often when speaking with candidates as well as hiring managers “It’s not my job” or “Nobody checked for the latest release” or “I can’t hire someone until the VP gives me budget approval” or “These Millennials have no work ethic or are too lazy”.  All these problems revolve around being a victim. This toxic thinking is poisoning you and your team, especially the younger generations learning how to conduct themselves at work. As leader’s it is our responsibility to own the solution and communicate that ownership to our employees.

“It’s not my job” becomes “I’ll find out where the gap happened and I’ll fix it”. “Nobody checked the latest release” becomes “I’m going to work with my team to ensure we all understand why it’s important to pull the latest version”. “I can’t hire until the VP gives me budget…” becomes “I must not be communicating effectively with my VP so they can understand our situation. I will get the necessary information together and schedule time to discuss it with him/her”. “These Millennials have no worth ethic…” becomes “I’m going to set the standard for performance and motivate others to follow me”. The shift is simple. Ownership. Even if it’s not your fault, it’s your fault for not owning the solution. If you’re not getting what you want/need to succeed, ask yourself “what am I doing to create a solution and am I communicating that effectively”. This mentality shows our multi-generational teams that finger pointing and making it someone else’s problem is not how we win. The I in Team is you. It’s me. It’s everyone from the top to the bottom. I will own the solution even if it’s not my job. I will help make the team better. I will be the lighthouse to show them the right way to behave.  With this leadership approach, used by EVERYONE, we will help various generations erode their differences to work together and find solutions by saying I will do it.  Doing this consistently, and holding others accountable when “the victim” shows up, will make everyone feel responsible for the success of the group and get rid of “me”. The iGen will be the perfect group to emulate the “I own it” mentality but we must start using it today with our current teams.

With graduation approaching quickly, workforce’s will be faced with more of the newer members of the millennial generation (AKA Gen Y.) It is hard to know how to approach this generation and understand what to expect. Millennials age range from mid-thirties to late teens, and is considered the largest generation since the baby boomers. They have change the culture of business’s forever.

The below stats were taken by Inc.com to quote the article. “Millennials are now the single largest group within the work force, and will soon become the biggest consumer group, too. Understanding, and being able to engage with, Millennials is going to determine how successful your business will be.”

The Stats:

• Median salary across Gen Y is $39,700.
• 75% see themselves as authentic and are not willing to compromise their family and personal values.
• By 2025, they will account for 75% of the global workplace.
• Millennials are carrying a total of $1 trillion in student debt.
• Over 63 percent of Gen-Y workers have a bachelor’s degree.
• 48 percent of employed college graduates work in jobs that don’t require a four-year degree.
• 45 percent believe a decent paying job is a “privilege,” not a “right.”
• 64 percent of Millennials would rather make $40,000 a year at a job they love than $100,000 a year at a job they think is boring.
• 88 percent prefer a collaborative work culture rather than a competitive one.
• 74 percent want flexible work schedules.
• 50 percent do not believe that Social Security will exist when they reach their retirement age.
• 92 percent believe that business success should be measured by more than just profit.
• 40 percent of Millennials think that blogging about workplace issues is acceptable, compared to 28 percent of Boomers.
• 80 percent of Gen-Y say they prefer on-the-spot recognition over formal reviews and feel that this is imperative for their growth and understanding of a job.
• 70 percent have “Friended” their managers and/or co-workers on Facebook.
• 71 percent don’t always obey social-media policies at work.
• Millennials are connected to an average of 16 co-workers on Facebook.
• 56 percent of Gen-Yers won’t work at a company if they ban social-media access.
• 69 percent believe office attendance is unnecessary on a regular basis.
• Millennials stay with their employers longer than Gen-X workers did at the same ages; in fact, more Gen-Xers spent less than one year at any one job.
• 35 percent of employed Millennials have started their own business on the side to supplement their income.
• 54 percent either want to start a business or already have started one.
• About 37 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds have been underemployed or out of work during the recession, the highest share among the age group in more than 30 years.
• 84 percent say that helping to make a positive difference in the world is more important than professional recognition.
• They’re more loyal to employers than previous generations.
• The top ideal employers of currently employed Millennials are Google, Apple, Facebook, the U.S. State Department, and Disney.
• 41 percent of Millennials have no landline at home and rely on their cell phones for communication.
• Millennials value community, family, and creativity in their work.
• Millennials are not just virtually connected via social networks; they value the role that they play in these communities.
• Millennials are considered multitaskers extraordinaire, though brain science tells us that multitasking is a myth. More likely, they are apt at switching tasks quickly enough to appear to be doing them simultaneously.
• Millennials are the most racially diverse generation. Only 56 percent of Millennials are white, compared to 73 percent of Baby Boomers (52- to 70-year-olds). Millennials are almost twice as likely to be Hispanic as older Americans (19 percent versus 10 percent), and more likely to identify as African American (15 percent versus 11 percent) and Asian (6 percent versus 4 percent).
• They are more tolerant of different races and groups than older generations (47 percent versus 19 percent), with 45 percent agreeing with preferential treatment to improve the position of minorities.

The article breaks down the millennial generation for you in two sentences. “In short, many Millennials are overeducated, under-employed, heavily in debt, and looking to make a difference in the world–either working for themselves, or in a company that doesn’t just focus on profit. They also want to work in a collaborative, flexible environment that doesn’t require them to be in the office all the time, and one that will allow them to utilize social media.”

To many older generations these wants are silly, and as a part of the millennial generation, I would agree some are. But to understand us you must know us first. This article is to show you what we as a generation find important and what we hope to find at our place of business, but just like you not all are alike. My advice on what to expect from most of our generation. Hardworking, kind, fearless, creative and collaborative team players. Your team will only grow stronger with this generation to be the best #dreamteam but don’t take my word for it, dial 303.771.3277 and let a Technical Recruiter at Talent Navigation Experts help you hire the right workers for your culture and team!

1. Stop driving to lunch… get outside and walk. Winter is here and believe it or not that’s created more opportunity for you to burn some extra calories. Your body has to work hard to stay warm, requiring more energy (calories) to be expended to do so.
2. Bring homemade food to work. Eating out is expensive and it often seems impossible to find anything truly healthy out there. You’ll save some money, possibly learn to cook, and feel better.
3. Take the stairs. This seems so obvious but how many of us actually do it? Take a short break every hour and climb top to bottom and even circle the building a few times.
4. Drink more water. Water helps facilitate digestion, flush out colds, keep you awake, relieve a hangover, and keeps you hydrated so you don’t feel the need to reach for the sugary drinks!
5. There are lots of exercises you can do right at your desk. Here’s 10 of them: http://time.com/4019563/exercise-work-desk/

A healthy body yields a healthy mind!

At TNE, we create custom marketing packages for our candidates for each opportunity. One of the most important parts of the marketing package is a targeted resume. A targeted resume means you adjust it for each opportunity you pursue in three main areas.

1. Professional Profile | Summary- write a description including why you are a great fit for the specific opportunity you are applying for on the top of your resume. You may be thinking, I put a lot of work into my summary and don’t want that time an effort to be wasted. Good news, you can use most of the content you already wrote but make additions and subtractions based on the job description.
2. Technical Skills – if you’re an IT professional then including a Technical Skills / Skills section is a great idea. Make sure all the technologies in the job description and match your experience are included as well. Note, hiring managers may ask technical questions based on your skills section, so be prepared to talk about your experience. You can also add in soft skills that the job description is looking for.
3. Professional Experience- add bullet points including responsibilities and skills that match the job description and match your qualifications. Note, be sure you are comfortable explaining what you add to your experience, don’t over sell and put everything into your own words, never copying and pasting from the job description itself. It is impactful to write bullet points as accomplishment, also include some that are not in the job description.

You may feel your resume is too long after adding information in all three areas listed above. No problem, just take out some the experience and / or skills you have that the job description isn’t inquiring for. Keep all the variations of your resume you create so it will be easier each time to make changes.

Your TNE Recruiter is always happy to help you with your resume, especially when we are putting together your marketing package for a specific opportunity. Give us a call if you have any questions and we will be here to help you.

303.771.3277 | www.talentnavigation.com

The current situation

With the rapidly growing technology and finance/accounting market in Colorado its more important than ever to get more ROI from your staffing partners. In 2016 Denver alone was projected to add 45,000 new jobs and with that comes the painful process of hiring. In 2010 the average time to fill for each position was 12.6 days but in 2015 that number has jumped to 22.9 days. What changed? Many things have impacted these numbers but there are a few key points to hone in on. With the increase in demand for faster releases (i.e. DevOps), many hiring managers don’t have the time to commit to a rigorous schedule of reviewing hundreds of resumes that probably aren’t qualified and finally interviewing between three to five candidates for 30+ minutes each. The hiring manager’s time is at an all-time premium so the candidates being presented need to be top-tier candidates who are not only screened thoroughly but also fully committed to the process.  A large majority of candidates being presented by many other firms are barely a “buzz word” match much less a performance and culture match which slows down the process.

Your reputation

Due to the high volume of opportunities in IT as well as other markets, and the shift in demographics in the workplace, it is not only imperative for you to sell your brand but also to partner with those who can also sell your brand effectively. Because of this shift, candidates today spend three times more energy in researching and comparing your organization to your competition. Each candidate spends on average 49.7 seconds reviewing a job posting before deciding if they’ll apply. That means you have less than one minute to get your message across and attract that ideal passive candidate. On average, consumers (i.e. job seekers) visit at least three different sources to research your company and read on average 7-8 reviews before applying to a position. Poorly written job descriptions, slow (or no) feedback after applying, and how the employee or consultant is managed while working for you greatly impact your reputation and even with the spike in job growth, Denver is still a very small and tightly knit community.

Where we come in

At Talent Navigation, we strive to go beyond the “grocery list” job descriptions and the “bullet list” resumes. We invest time to meet with our hiring managers either in person or via phone to understand your business, your strategy, and your culture to get a sound picture of what type of person would be good for your organization. Then we dig into your project to understand your deliverables, your technology stack, and the nuances of the position you’re looking to fill to help us target the right candidate for you.

Our process

Once we gather all the pertinent details of what you’re looking for, our recruiting team uses our proactive approach to finding the right candidate(s) to initiate the interview process. Our recruiting team goes through training each week to update their knowledge on a wide spectrum of technology from DevOps, Security, Application and Mobile Development, UI/UX Design, Business Intelligence and more. They learn the tools used in each role, how developers work, they see the code and understand what the trends are for each technology stack to be able to screen candidates with scrutiny. With this technical knowledge, and their proactive approach, they target passive candidates who are currently excelling in their current roles. We use performance based interviewing techniques to understand not only what the candidate has done in their career but what they’re capable of and if they can add value to your team. Once we interview several candidates we only submit three candidates for each position knowing that your time is valuable and we’re confident at least one out of three will be what you need. With the knowledge, we gain from meeting with your hiring managers our recruiters sell your brand with intimate knowledge and enthusiasm as if they worked directly for your organization. They sell the culture, the interview process, and the career opportunities they would gain for working on your team. Not only to we sell your brand but we’re also your P.R. firm. If there’s a hiccup in the process, if timelines are delayed, or if you’re waiting for budget approval our recruiters are trained to handle those concerns and ensure the candidate feels comfortable with the process and remains committed.

What this means to you

Working with Talent Navigation improves your ROI and reduces time to fill because you will receive only a few highly qualified candidates for your opportunity; candidates who have been through a rigorous interview process and have committed to moving forward with your organization. We navigate the interview process to coordinate schedules for you and prepare candidates on what to expect to make the most out of everyone’s time. We also improve your brand because Talent Navigation also performs any necessary P.R./damage control and overcoming objections along the way to ensure you can focus on more important things.  Finally, we offer HR training to our clients on trends, employment laws, regulations, and compliance to ensure you’re never at risk during an employment audit.

Isn’t it time to reduce your vendor list and go with a firm that has the knowledge and experience and can sell your brand as well as you do?