Celebrating 47 Years of Staffing Excellence
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WISCONSIN IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
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With the state Supreme Court striking down the extension of the Governor's "Safer at Home" (shelter in place) order, businesses across Wisconsin are slowly starting to reopen their doors after two long months. While it may not be a quick or easy recovery, we are all looking forward to starting the process of rebuilding, and optimistic about the prospects of a brighter, healthier, more prosperous tomorrow.
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Returning to Work - The New Normal
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Many Wisconsin businesses are already starting to get back to business, but it will be anything but business as usual for quite some time.
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As long as there is no cure or vaccine, COVID-19 Coronavirus exposure and illness will continue to be a very real threat. Caution will still need to be exercised to ensure the health and safety of yourself, your employees/coworkers, and any customers or visitors to your workplace.
For the foreseeable future, people will expect (demand) that companies continue safety and sanitation procedures like frequently cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and high-touch areas, allowing for maintaining physical distancing, and having hand sanitizer and tissues readily available. Plexiglas barriers have already sprung up at many businesses, and you can expect to see them become even more commonplace… possibly permanently. Many companies will continue the practice of taking the temperature of all employees before the start of the shift or workday (although it should be noted that many of those that have the virus are asymptomatic).
Despite all of the changes in how we do business and interact with coworkers, customers, and our fellow citizens going forward, we’re proven that Wisconsinites, Americans, and the human race, is very resilient. While we’ll all be more vigilant, we’ve shown that we can adapt and overcome great adversity, and come through it stronger and wiser for the experience.
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Post COVID-19 Economic Recovery DOs and DON'Ts
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DO
consider leasing rather than purchasing new systems, vehicles, or machinery until you’re certain business will continue running strong long-term. The same goes for staffing your company. Rather than hiring new employees onto your payroll, utilize Flex-Staff assigned employees to adjust your workforce to match your workload until things stabilize.
DO
continue taking precautions to ensure the health and safety of your employees including practicing physical distancing, requiring personal protective equipment (PPE), and sanitizing common areas and high-touch surfaces frequently.
DO
run as lean as possible, without sacrificing the quality of your product or service. Take this opportunity to improve processes to make your company more efficient.
DO
show patience and compassion to your employees and your customers. Everyone is struggling right now, and they may need your support and understanding, even if they don’t specifically ask for it.
DON’T
lose sight of what made your company successful to begin with. There will be new opportunities on the other side of the recession, but there will also be tempting get rich quick schemes. Do your homework before considering any new business offerings, investment opportunities, or the addition of any new product or service lines.
DON’T
expect or assume that things will return to normal overnight (or even this year…). They may, depending on the industry you’re in, but it’s safer to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
DON’T
forget to recognize the hard work and sacrifice of your front- line employees that have stayed on the job and kept your company going during the quarantine, or who have waited anxiously at home to be called back to work.
DON’T
waste the opportunity to learn from the experience of the past two months. Go forward with a new appreciation of the simple pleasures in life, and with renewed faith in your ability to weather the storm.
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With the loss of a record 20,500,000 jobs in April, the U.S. unemployment rate soared to 14.7% from 4.4% in March. This is the highest unemployment rate since the great depression, when it rose to 25.5% in 1932.
The number of jobs lost in April alone far exceeded the 8,700,000 total jobs lost in the 2008 recession. During that recession the unemployment rate peaked at 10% in October of 2009.
On a positive note, nearly 79% of those laid off expect to be called back to their jobs once the pandemic is behind us.
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Seven Tips For Staying Positive
1. Find the optimistic viewpoint in a negative situation
– Ask yourself questions like, what is one thing that is positive or good about this situation? What is one opportunity within this situation?
2. Cultivate and live in a positive environment
– Who you choose to spend your time with and the input you get from sources like the TV, the internet, and magazines will have a huge effect on your outlook. It is essential to have influences in your life that support you and lift you up instead of dragging you down.
3. Go slowly
– Even if you have to force it by walking, talking and eating slower – your mind and body will calm down, and it becomes easier to think things through clearly again and easier to find the optimistic and constructive perspective.
4. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill
– Ask yourself, will this matter in 5 years? Or even 5 weeks?
5. Don’t let vague fears hold you back from doing what you want
–The worst thing that could realistically happen is usually not as scary as the nightmare a fear-fueled mind can produce.
6. Add value and positivity to someone else’s life
– What you send out you tend to get back from the world and the people in it. So give value and spread the positivity.
7. Spend your time in the present moment
– It becomes so much easier to access positive emotions and to stay practical about what you can actually do about something in your life. When you get lost in the past or future, mistakes from the past being replayed over and over in your mind, and can drag you down into pessimism.
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Ciji Hansen
Staffing Specialist
Appleton
13 years
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Kris Merten
Branch Manager
Chilton
25 years
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INGREDIENTS
6-8 medium potatoes
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
1-2 tablespoons oil
1 large onion, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 pounds ground chuck
2 cups beef stock
1/3 cup flour
dash Worcestershire sauce, to taste
1 pound frozen corn, thawed
melted butter
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INSTRUCTIONS
Peel, cube, and boil the potatoes. Add butter to the milk and warm until the butter melts. Drain potatoes, salt and pepper to taste and whip with an electric beater with the warm milk/butter mixture. Add the beaten egg and whip lightly. In the meantime, heat a large skillet over medium low heat, saute the onions in oil until they are translucent (soft), add the garlic and stir for about a minute more, remove from pan and reserve. Turn heat to medium high and cook ground beef until browned, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. Once the meat is thoroughly cooked, whisk the flour into the beef stock and pour it over the beef, add the dash of Worcestershire sauce, return the onion/garlic mixture to the pan and let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes, until thick. Season with salt and pepper. Pour this mixture into a 13 x 9 glass baking dish and top with the corn. Spread the mashed potatoes on top, and sprinkle liberally with melted butter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly.
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QUOTE
“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” - Bob Marley
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