Temp-tation
February 2020
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Celebrating 47 Years of Staffing Excellence
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WEBSITE UPDATE COMPLETED!
If you have not visited our web site lately you're in for a surprise. We've recently undergone a complete overhaul of the site to increase not only its appearance, but its functionality and ease of use as well. Click the link below to check out the changes.
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Number of Union Workers Hits Record Low
The percentage of American workers in unions fell to a record low in 2019, extending a long slide that began decades ago, and shows little sign of abating.
The number of unionized workers slipped from 14.74 million in 2018 to 14.57 million last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result, the share of workers belonging to unions dropped from 10.5% to a new post-World War II low of 10.3%.
Union membership has been declining for decades. The share of the unionized workers peaked at just slightly over 25% in 1953, and it remained above 20% until 1980 before beginning a long slide. Nearly half of all union workers work in government. The bulk of them in education, and public safety jobs such as firefighting and law enforcement. Some 7.5 million private-sector workers were members of unions, mostly in manufacturing, utilities, transportation and telecommunications. One-third of all government workers belong to unions, but the share of private-sector workers in unions was just 6.2%.
Jeffry Bartash - MarketWatch
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Employee Discipline and Discharge DOs and DON'Ts
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DO
counsel the employee before considering discharge whenever possible and practical to allow the employee the opportunity to change their behavior or improve their performance.
DO
clearly explain to the employee what rule or policy was violated, or in cases of performance issues, where the employee is failing to meet expectations, requirements, or standards.
DO
give the employee a performance improvement plan consisting of what changes need to be made or what specific goals need to be met, a timeline for making those changes or meeting those goals, and what the consequences will be for failing to make those changes or meet those goals.
DO
thoroughly document any employee counseling. In cases of more severe infractions you may want to have the employee sign their performance improvement plan.
DO
have a witness for the counseling or discharge meeting in cases of more severe infractions, when counseling a member of the opposite sex, or if you are concerned that the employee may become hostile.
DON’T
accept excuses for failure to follow rules or policies, but you can still listen to reasons. (Keep an open ear and an open mind - There may be better ways to do things.)
DON’T
allow the employee to make the meeting about
other
employees by saying that others are doing the same (or worse) things.
DON’T
give multiple “second chances” to repeat/habitual offenders who fail to make the changes you have demanded of them. This can negatively impact the morale of your other employees, and cause them to lose respect for your authority.
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Trial Program to Increase Employment of People with Mental Health Disabilities
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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) has selected 12 states and the District of Columbia to participate in its Visionary Opportunities to Increase Competitive Integrated Employment (VOICE) initiative. The chosen participants will receive support to help them develop policy designed to increase employment opportunities for people with mental health disabilities.
Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and
Wisconsin
will receive intensive policy consulting, technical support, and peer mentoring to increase competitive integrated employment for people with mental health disabilities. “Competitive integrated employment” is work in typical community settings where most employees do not have disabilities, and where an employer pays them directly at the greater of the minimum or prevailing wage.
States participating in the VOICE initiative may self-direct their hours of peer mentoring support, with many choosing to help employment services providers transform their service models from segregated settings – where people with disabilities work apart from others – to integrated settings. States may also form communities of practice for service providers or develop training on topics such as customized employment. Customized employment involves personalizing the relationship between an employee and their employer to meet both parties’ needs, as well as individual placement and support.
DOL.GOV
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After being laid off from 3 jobs in the past year, Joe was hired to work in a warehouse. Unfortunately, one day he lost control of the forklift and damaged a pallet of product. Surveying the damage, his supervisor shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, Joe, but I’m going to have to withhold 10 percent of each paycheck until you’ve paid back the cost of the product you destroyed.” “How much will that cost?” Joe asked. “About $5,000,” the supervisor replied. “Finally!” Joe exclaimed. “Job Security!”
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Simple Business Tips to Beat Your Competition
1.
Focus on leads, not sales –
We all want to spark business growth and increase revenue, but the way you do this in a sustainable way is to focus instead on the building of a loyal database of avid fans.
2. Don’t sell products, provide solutions –
Like it or not, most folks out there aren’t searching for your brand, they’re just looking to solve a problem or find a particular
type
of product. Explain to the customer in simple, straightforward terms how your product or service – and your delivery and price point – solve people’s problems and make their lives easier or more pleasurable.
3. Always optimize your pricing –
Dropping prices doesn’t necessarily raise sales. If you position yourself as a premium brand, then your customers aren’t necessarily value-driven in the first place, and cutting prices could even tarnish your brand. If you are at the value-driven end of the market, on the other hand, don’t assume slashing prices means incurring a loss. Low pricing can help you rapidly onboard a heap of new customers who may also buy other items in your shop and return again.
4. Hire friendly customer-facing staff –
Whether consciously or not, people are more likely to buy a product if they like the sales assistant. Be rigorous in hiring people who are genuinely cheerful, friendly and outgoing. Make sure your training program teaches them to adopt a consistently friendly approach that puts customers at ease and makes them feel like a priority.
5. Give something for nothing (or very little) –
Why not give your happy customers a voucher with their purchase to redeem on your products and services? If they love what you do already, they’re only going to love you more for this. And it practically guarantees they will return to your store again because people hate to waste freebies! When they return to your store to redeem their voucher, they may buy other items too.
6. Use social media smartly –
Try to give your brand some ‘personality’ when you write updates or posts. Develop a tone of voice that aligns well with your brand identity. Seek to inform, help, entertain or amuse.
7. Own your niche –
Sometimes it’s better to be a master of one discipline than a jack of all trades. Admittedly, multiple revenue streams do spread your risk: if one falters, others can take up the slack. Nevertheless, consumers often associate ‘specialists’ with higher quality products or services than generalists.
Faye Ferris – JeffBullas.com
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Mike Hackbarth
President
Appleton Headquarters
26 years
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Beth Pieper
Area Manager
Manitowoc - Sheboygan
21 years
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Jessie Wensink
Branch Manager
Green Bay
2 years
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Steve Kamrowski
C.E.O.
Appleton Headquarters
24 years
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EASY LOW-CARB MOUSSE PUDDING
INGREDIENTS
Heavy Whipping Cream
Sugar Free Jell-O Instant Pudding (any flavor)
INSTRUCTIONS: Make the instant pudding according to the package directions, only substitute heavy whipping cream for the milk. Use a hand mixer to combine the two, place the mixture in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken it up a bit, and then continue using your hand mixer until you get the consistency you like. (It gets super thick and fluffy!)
N
OTES: For a lighter version that’s still much fluffier than regular pudding, try using half whipping cream and half milk. Try freezing it! It makes an amazing sugar-free, ice cream like dessert. Put it in a pie crust or use it in a layered dessert. Top it with fruit (raspberries are good with the lemon flavor). Use it as a dip with vanilla wafers or graham crackers.
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QUOTE
“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. - Lou Holtz
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