Addressing Sexual Harassment

Right now, our nation is being slammed by daily reports of companies and individuals that are receiving new sexual harassment claims. Thanks to Harvey Weinstein blowing the lid off the top of the entertainment industry’s harassment scandal, victims everywhere are making a stand, demanding to be heard.

Here’s what HR departments can do to help protect companies against harassment claims and to minimize the potential for employees becoming harassment victims.

  1. Hold a Team Meeting – A powerful way to send the message that workplace harassment is not acceptable is to hold a company meeting. Employers need to express that if anyone feels uncomfortable, threatened or demeaned, they need to report this to their supervisor and HR department. Create an open space, so employees know and understand that you have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and you want it reported immediately. Emphasize that both sexual harassment and assault are criminal offenses and no matter someone’s position in a company, there is no tolerance for this type of criminal behavior.
  2. Shared Definitions – Create definitions of what defines harassment. Many studies show that when harassment is precisely defined, more people will report these criminal incidents. This helps in two ways:
    1. Employees are better able to understand and recognize harassment, which allows them to report any workplace violations.
    2. Employees have greater ownership of the company culture, which makes them feel more positively towards their work environments.
  3. Confidential Reporting System – It’s important to have a confidential reporting system in place so that employees can feel free to report harassment without fear of retaliation. Trauma effects every person differently, which is why it’s essential that a workplace environment offers a confidential reporting system.
  4. Shared Accountability – Every individual in a company needs to be held accountable for their actions, whether it’s the president or a mail clerk. An organization should emphasize a culture where no harassment is tolerated and that all colleagues, managers or executives are called out for their poor behavior.
  5. Cultural Impact – It’s crucial that companies regularly reinforce the zero violence and harassment policy. Here are some practical ways to do this:
    1. Explain – All employees and managers should have a clear understanding of how sexual harassment and assault issues are prioritized by the company, what their roles are in implementing policies and protocols, exactly what accountability for these illegal actions entails and what channels will support victims.
    2. Reinforce – Regularly reinforce a company’s zero harassment policy through newsletters, annual reports, social media, board meetings and one-on-one supervision.
    3. Pulse – Stay up-to-date on what is going on in the office as fear of retaliation can prevent employees from providing feedback. Regularly check-in with employees, conduct performance reviews and send out anonymous culture surveys.

Ninja Gig supports your position to hire the best candidates for your company to help create a zero-tolerance harassment workplace. To attract the best, brightest and most talented candidates for your company, consider using online job applications. These employment applications are easy to customize, which means that HR departments can tailor them to specific job profiles.  Sign up today for a 30-day free trial of this amazing software!

Biggest HR Challenges

Today’s companies face ever-evolving workforce threats – ranging from cyber breaches, workplace violence to mental health issues and employee well-being – today’s HR professionals must comply with a myriad of laws.

Here are some of the top HR challenges that companies face in 2018.

  1. Harassment – Courtesy of Harvey Weinstein, harassment has plagued America in both the entertainment, political and media industries over the last several months. Employers must have zero tolerance harassment policies, which are in print to protect employees.
  2. Drug Testing and Substance Abuse – Opioid addiction dominated the headlines in 2017. Managing and addressing drug use and testing is a challenging issue many employers face. Employers should implement a drug-free workplace, putting policies in effect that prohibits the use of drugs on work premises and during work hours.
  3. Employee Handbooks – An employee handbook should contain workplace policies, the employer’s mission and goals, and information about discrimination, harassment, leave and paid time off and employee benefits. Handbooks should remain up-to-date at all times, being closely monitored for changes to federal, state and local laws.
  4. Well-Being and Mental Health – To ensure that workers are productive and have low absenteeism rates, physical and mental health needs to be addressed by companies. It is important that HR professionals employ sensitivity, as well as FMLA and ADA rules when it comes to dealing with physical or mental ailments. Employers may also wish to add substance abuse services and behavioral health treatments that extend beyond what medical insurance plans may cover.
  5. Workplace Violence – In a day and age where mass shootings, terrorist attacks and bomb threats are becoming all too common, employers should implement a safety plan to help protect the workplace should one of these unfortunate incidents occur. Additionally, consider requiring background checks on applicants, implementing a zero-tolerance workplace violence policy and not allowing weapons on the premises.
  6. Recruiting – Employment numbers are low, which means that it is an employee’s market for job hunting. This is putting the burden on employers to attract and find the best talent for their organizations. Use online job applications to help manage and organize information for candidates. Additionally, companies can easily post their job openings online and on social media outlets, creating personal job applications that match the skill sets of an ideal candidate.
  7. Cyber Breaches – 2017 saw some major data breaches. As cloud-based systems become more popular, companies will need to ensure that private and confidential information is protected in the event a cyber breach occurs.

Ninja Gig offers customizable online job applications. Sign up today for a 30-day free trial and see how much easier your recruitment efforts can be!

Employee Wellness Programs

Employee Wellness Programs can help promote healthy employees, which means that companies experience greater productivity, a reduction in employees’ stress and an increase in morale. Wellness programs can help educate employees to make healthier and smart decisions that reduce health care costs and absenteeism. Studies also show that the costs of implementing this type of program are minimal compared to the significant number of benefits.

What is a wellness program?

A wellness program helps employees become aware of things, and through this learning process teaches them how to make better, more informed and healthy choices. It focuses on keeping bodies running in top condition, helping employees understand the importance of mental, physical and social needs to operate at maximum functionality.

What types of things are covered?

Government studies show that obesity is on the rise among adults and school-age children. Many employees have unhealthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels, as well as a high body mass index. One reason is that many employees spend hours sitting in front of a computer screen every day, creating more mental and physical stress and less physical activity.

Who benefits from these plans?

While employees benefit from having support for losing weight and being healthy, employers benefit from having healthy employees. Studies show that these programs can help boost employees’ self-esteem, self-image and overall well-being.

Additionally, healthy employees have fewer sick days, less work-related injuries and worker’s compensation claims. Creating a more reliable workforce is very beneficial, translating into a cohesive work cycle that produces a better bottom line.

What types of features do these plans offer?

Wellness programs can cover an array of health-related issues, such as nutrition, quit-smoking programs, physical fitness, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings and stress management.

When advertising the benefits and perks of working for your company, remember to include Employee Wellness Programs. It shows that companies and organizations genuinely care about the health of their employees.

Are you looking to simplify your company’s job application process? Consider Ninja Gig’s customizable online job applications that help you attract the best, brightest and most qualified applicants for your organization.  Sign up now for our free trial, and start simplifying hiring immediately!

How AI Can Work for Your Company

In the face of Stephen Hawking’s untimely death, Artificial Intelligence has dominated the headlines. Some people, such as Hawking, believed that AI had a destructive potential, while proponents say that it helps provide automation for jobs.

Here are the top ways your company can explore integrating AI into daily tasks and how to effectively address employees’ concerns about this hot-button topic.

  •  Complement, Not Replace – Encourage employees to understand that AI can complement the workforce, not replace their positions.  AI technologies are relatively limited, but AI can work alongside employees to improve communication channels, helping direct calls to appropriate departments and decreasing wait times. This will help boost overall satisfaction scores. One such company is China Merchants Bank. They used AI to replace the front-line support, allowing their staff to focus on more substantial, complex problems.
  • Educate – Educate your employees about the benefits of AI. Within the next five years, AI technology will grow leaps and bounds, and it’s essential that companies and employees recognize the benefits of this strategic opportunity. Look for areas within an organization that can benefit by incorporating AI.
  • Jobs to Manage AI – In the face of adding AI for repetitive or straightforward tasks, companies will need to create a department and positions to oversee AI. AI isn’t foolproof, which is why human interaction is still essential. AI can help replace lower-level tasks in many day-to-day operations while freeing up employees to perform more complicated tasks that require monitoring.
  • Human Touch – As AI evolves and makes a place in our workforce, human resources departments should strive to keep a human touch to companies. Human Resources skills are by nature analytical, which means that an emotional component is essential to maintaining a smooth-running organization.

If your company is looking to incorporate AI technology and needs to create an AI department or hire higher-level employees to handle more analytical tasks, consider using online job applications to help sort through and catalog qualified candidates. Ninja Gig offers the convenience of online employment applications, which dramatically cuts down on paper and the time spent by Human Resources departments finding potential candidates.  Sign up now for a 30-day free trial, and start accepting job applications immediately!

Why Millennials Hate Performance Reviews

The latest surveys show that today’s modern Millennials detest annual performance reviews. These traditional types of yearly reports can be detrimental to your future workforce. Millennials are defined as those born after 1982, and they are the future of our great corporations.

Why They’re Bad

Here are the top reasons why Millennials want companies to reconsider traditional reviews.

  • Undermine Confidence – Studies show that over 60% of Millennials feel “blindsided” by annual performance reviews. Going one step further, nearly 75% say they were unaware of how their peers and managers felt about their performance. Since these types of discussions generally only focus on the negative and not the positive, almost 50% say that traditional reviews make them feel as though they can’t do anything right.
  • Anxiety and Mistrust – Infrequent performance reviews can be overwhelming, and since it takes one year of data and compiles it into a one-hour discussion, many employees do not trust the accuracy of these reviews. Nearly 25% of Millennial employees have reported calling in sick with anxiety about their upcoming reviews. Almost 60% say that their managers are not prepared to provide helpful feedback during these discussions. Lowers Morale – Because poor performance reviews can negatively affect morale, surveys show that these are the results of holding these traditional meetings.
    • Approximately 25% start looking for a new job
    • 35% of employees begin complaining to coworkers
    • 15% of employees cry or swear

So, what can your company do to institute more helpful feedback that attracts talented young Millennials?

Instead of only holding a review annually, Millennials report that more frequent performance reviews would improve their professional development and growth. Nearly 85% of Millennial employees would prefer these highlights in more frequent reviews.

  • 40% would like to see more specific feedback instead of vague performance results that don’t give them information about how to improve their current performance.
  • 32% don’t like having a one-sided review and would prefer it includes open dialogue.
  • 32% believe that annual reviews are detrimental because they replace regular, ongoing feedback.
  • 31% feel that the feedback they receive is unfair.

Try to implement more regular feedback instead of only relying on annual reviews. This will help you attract and retain more qualified, happy employees. After all, employees that enjoy their jobs are more apt to stay longer and produce better results.

Ninja Gig offers the convenience of fully customizable online job applications. You can create a job questionnaire that allows you to attract the best, brightest candidates. After all, most Millennials report that they only job hunt online.

Strategies to Help Your Team Avoid Disaster

Everyone preaches about how teamwork can help companies excel, but while professional athletic teams can rely on teamwork to score a goal or a point, many companies cannot lead their employees to successful team endeavors.

So how can human resources departments help lead their company team to success?

  • Avoid Individual Tasks, Assign Collective Goals – We’ve all been in meetings where the big boss assigns a project and then looks around and expects everyone to magically work together. Instead of expecting your team to divvy up tasks, try open communication. Assign each teammate their own responsibility, while making them all accountable for the final project. This gives room for people to cooperate, but not for one person to avoid tasks and fail the group.
  • Encourage Mutual Respect – Successful teams all  have one common element – they encourage respect, recognizing members’ strengths. Instead of viewing everyone as threats, team members treat one another as though they are assets. Consider having your company implement a peer recognition program. This helps team members acknowledge individual capabilities, while simultaneously contributing to overall team success.
  • Celebrating Winning – Don’t single out one member from a team, but instead reward and recognize everyone equally. Whether it’s a company-wide shout out for recognition, a lunch, happy hour or a gift, make sure to treat everyone equally.

Ninja Gig offers online job applications. These types of applications are easy to customize, which makes it simple for human resources departments to find the most qualified applicants for companies.  Ready to start accepting job applications online?  Sign up today for a 30-day free trial of this exciting applicant tracking system.

Policies for Employee Resignations

A common question that some employers have is once an employee resigns and if they leave under less than ideal circumstances, can you request that current employees not socialize with them?

While you can’t ask employees not to socialize with former employees, it is a good idea to institute some policies that pertain to employee resignations.

  1. Guest Policy – A good general policy for businesses, work environments require some structure. Consider implementing a policy about guests visiting. This can include friends, family and former employees.
  2. Avoid Choosing Sides – Whether an employee leaves involuntarily or voluntarily, they can still maintain friendships within the company. Take the high road and don’t make employees choose between their jobs and the company and a former co-worker. Employees need to be treated as adults and held accountable for maintaining a professional behavior.
  3. Follow-Up – If an employee doesn’t show up or call, try reaching out. While you can interpret this as a resignation, they could have also been involved in an accident or had an emergency arise.
  4. Well Wishing – If an employee resigns, always wish them well. Even if the employee had a terrible work ethic and was not a good fit for the company, it’s still best to exercise dignity and respect in these situations.
  5. Discuss Goals – If an employee gives his two-week notice to resign, take that time to discuss current projects and transitions. You want to make sure that the transition is as smooth as possible for the company.
  6. Offboarding – Always answer questions about what happens to employee’s benefits if they are leaving. They may have questions about their medical, vacation balance and 401(k), etc.
  7. Exit Interview – Conduct an exit interview. Whether your organization conducts them before or after the employee leaves, encourage open conversation and honesty to facilitate a better, improved work environment for current and future employees.
  8. Workload Discussions – Look into how the company will absorb the workload if you don’t hire a replacement before the employee departs. Whether companies pay additional overtime to current employees, hire a freelancer or temp or look at other options, it’s important to explore these early on.
  9. Employment Attorney – Never hesitate to contact legal counsel if you have any questions about how to handle employee resignations.

Ninja Gig offers the convenience of online job applications, which makes it simple for employers to comply with necessary paperwork regulations, while also hiring the most qualified applicants for their organization.  Sign up today for a 30-day free trial!

What does Ninja Gig include in Online Job Applications?

Ninja Gig offers online employment applications, making human resources departments’ jobs easier. Accepting online job applications is efficient and makes sure that your company helps to attract the most qualified applicants.

Create Customizable Applications

Now you can create custom applications for every employment opening in your company. Whether you’re a high tech firm or a carpet cleaning company, you can customize the questions you ask or simply use our default template to create your own application. If you have positions that require lengthy questions, there’s no need to worry because with Ninja Gig there is no limit to how many questions you can include in the application.

Unlimited Features

With an unlimited number of applications, small and large companies benefit from our easy to use software. So whether you have 1 or 100 job openings, you can take advantage of Ninja Gig’s flat $39 monthly fee.

You can even use our job board integration feature to automatically publish to several different job boards, including but not limited to Indeed, GlassDoor, SimplyHired, and more. Now you can save money on expensive advertising budgets and maximize your time by turning this option on and pushing employment opportunities out to several different channels. This guarantees you’ll attract a wide variety of qualified candidates.

Mobile Friendly Applications

To ensure that you attract the best candidates, we have included a mobile-friendly feature that allows applicants to apply for jobs right from their mobile devices easily. While more lengthy applications will be more straightforward for applicants to complete on their laptop or desktop devices, restaurants and cleaning companies will especially appreciate this feature, as the majority of their applicants are more likely to use mobile devices when applying for jobs.

 

Ninja Gig also includes these other awesome features:

  • Website Portal – You can get your own NinjaGig website portal that allows applicants to complete their application.
  • Language Support – To make your job easier, the Ninja Gig website can translate the application into Spanish or other languages. This is perfect for a wide variety of industries as you can make sure applicants can complete the application in their first language.
  • Admin Portal – You can securely log in and manage all your job openings in one area. You can also change any account settings, review and manage all applications and much more.

 

Ninja Gig makes hiring online super simple.  Sign up today for a 30-day free trial and see how easy hiring online can be.

Restaurant Industry Predictions for 2018

Making sure that your restaurant stays up-to-date on the latest trends ensures happy customers. More profitable restaurants also help attract and retain the best employees.

If you haven’t incorporated these restaurant technology trends into your business, consider doing so this year. If you aren’t comfortable integrating technology into your restaurant, hire a professional office manager that can help.

  • Mobile Payments – While only about 20% of restaurants offer mobile pay or payment options through a custom app, more than 60% of restaurant-goers prefer using this technology when it is available.
  • Kiosk Adoption – Nearly 39% of restaurant owners experience an improvement in their restaurant’s efficiency when incorporating a kiosk into their business. 49% of diners say that ordering meals through a kiosk actually improves their overall experience.
  • Digital Receipts – Digital receipts are on the rise. 7% of restaurant-goers prefer receiving text receipts, while almost 40% prefer email receipts. However, only 28% of restaurants offer text receipts and 40% offer email receipts.
  • Guest Technology – Diners prefer being able to make reservations online, have guest WIFI available during their dining experience and order their meals online.

If you haven’t incorporated technology into your restaurant, NOW is the perfect time to do so. Nearly 73% of restaurant-goers say that technology helps to improve their overall dining experience. Once restaurants implement the technology, 95% of owners say that technology dramatically improves their restaurant’s efficiency.

Ninja can help you find the best, brightest and most talented restaurant employees that also have the necessary tech skills to take your business to the next level. Using our simple online employment application, you can attract potential applicants, easily manage and organize resumes and contact applicants to follow up.  Sign up today for a no-obligation, 30-day free trial and start accepting employment applications online immediately!

Interview Techniques to Hire Great Nurses

As the demand for nurses continues to grow, it’s vital that your organization find a skilled nurse that has staying power, especially since the industry sees a high turnover rate due to stress.

The cost of hiring a new nurse can be between $50,000 to $60,000, so it’s important that you qualify nurses in their interviews, which helps increase the chances that you’ll hire the right nurse for the job.

Here are five essential interview areas to focus on when interviewing nurses.

  1. Non-Clinical Behaviors – Instead of only focusing on clinical behaviors, when interviewing nurses, focus on both technical and soft skills. Nurses can be great on machines but cannot multitask or work well in fast-paced environments.
  2. List Qualities – Every nursing environment is different so hiring managers need to be aware of what types of skills are needed for every treatment position. To help find the right candidate, ask other nurses to list the specific skills that make someone an excellent candidate. This can help you compile a list of specific skills and behavior-based questions.
  3. Behavioral Questions – Make sure that you ask the right questions and then listen to the answers. Make sure to ask questions where you can hear the candidate’s perspective on what gives them the greatest job satisfaction. For example, “Tell me about a work experience where you were productive, satisfied and energized. What were you doing?” If the applicant says that they helped teach and educate patients about diabetes or they say they improved workflow by incorporating new technology software, you’ll have a better idea where the applicant fits into your organization.
  4. Awkward Silences – One of the biggest mistakes hiring managers make is speaking too soon to fill the silence. Make sure you give candidates enough time to answer questions, especially giving them extra time to think through difficult or challenging questions. Sometimes it’s best just to sit and wait for an answer. Don’t fall for superficial answers. If you don’t feel as though you’ve received enough information, say that you understand it’s a difficult question, but you have no problem giving them a minute or two to think of a more detailed answer.
  5. Don’t Rush – Rushing to hire a nurse is never a solution. Take the time to find the right person for the job. Finding the right nurse is more effective than having a revolving door of nurses.

To easily manage applicants, consider using an online job application. These types of applications make it easy to search for candidates with specific job skills. Additionally, you can archive job applications, so your organization complies with paperwork requirements.  Ninja Gig makes hiring online a breeze.  Sign up today for a 30-day free trial and see how easy it can be to hire using online employment applications.