Celebrating 47 Years of Staffing Excellence
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As we welcome the start of a new year
and a new decade, we at Flex-Staff would like to wish all of you a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year. We're here to provide the employees your company needs to achieve its full potential for success and profitability.
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Uber Replaces Staffing Services!
(Well... Not really)
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Uber, the ride sharing app/company that rendered the taxi industry nearly obsolete has now ventured into the world of temporary staffing. With Uber Works, Uber’s on-demand staffing app, companies can request workers, and workers can sign up to be matched with job openings. Unlike with a staffing service, these employees are not employees of Uber, the company that assigns them.
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So whose employees are they? Well, depending on the nature of the relationship between the worker and the company, some could be classified as independent contractors, much like Uber drivers are. Of course that classification has led to a legal “gray area” in some cities. In an attempt to remedy this, Uber Works has partnered with TrueBlue (formerly known as Labor Ready) to assume the employer-employee relationship of these workers, and associated workers’ comp, unemployment comp, and other liabilities. This essentially means that these workers are actually still employees of a staffing service, the only difference being that they were assigned by an algorithm rather than an actual person.
While Uber argues that this is a
benefit
of their system, many would argue that it is their biggest drawback. This technology may increase the speed of matching the worker to the assignment, but taking the human element out of what is unquestioningly a "people business" will most certainly come at the cost of the quality of the match. Uber Works is like your aunt trying to set you up on a blind date with someone she’s heard good things about, but never actually met. Why not? You’re both single, right?
Only time will tell how popular (or successful) this new technology will be, but one thing is worth remembering… If the role of a staffing service in the hiring and placement process can be replaced by an app, then presumably the role of recruiters and hiring managers at traditional employers can as well.
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DO
have a written policy manual
DO
ensure that every employee has read, understood, and has signed off on those policies
DO
enforce those policies fairly and consistently.
DO
recognize that there can always be an exception to any rule
DON’T
make policy exceptions for one employee unless you’re prepared to do so for the next person that asks
DON’T
suddenly enforce a policy that you’ve been overlooking for months or years without advance notice to your employees
DON’T
neglect to review your company’s policies regularly (times change…)
DON’T
write any policies that may unfairly impact any religious or ethnic minority employees, or anyone in any EEOC protected class
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ACA Mandate Ruled Unconstitutional
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Last month the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans struck down the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that Americans carry health insurance as unconstitutional, but did not rule on the constitutionality of the ACA itself.
The panel agreed with Texas-based U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s 2018 finding that the law’s insurance requirement, the so-called “individual mandate,” was rendered unconstitutional when Congress, in 2017, reduced a tax on people without insurance to zero.
The court did not rule on how much of the Affordable Care Act is no longer valid without the individual insurance mandate. That means that the ACA still remains the law of the land… At least for now.
The decision sends the case back to a judge who already ruled once to throw out the entire ACA, but with some guidance.
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Ten New Year’s Resolutions for Business
Even if last year was your best yet (and especially if it wasn’t), you know there’s always room to be better. The end of a year is a good time both to celebrate your successes so far, and to look for ways to improve upon what you did last year. Here are ten New Year’s resolutions to consider in 2020.
1. Review and update your business plan - Simply the practice of sitting down to review and update it will help you go into the next year with a more clear and defined idea of what your priorities are and how to best to achieve your goals.
2. Consider your staffing needs for the New Year - If any of your current staff are overwhelmed, it’s probably time to hire more employees to help spread the work around. While bringing new employees onto the team can be expensive, if they help your business run better and achieve more success into the year to come,
then it’s important to take the plunge and build out your ranks.
3. Check in with your customers - It’s important that you work to understand who your customers are, why they buy from you, and what their experience with your business is. Encourage feedback on every purchase and customer service interaction.
4. Revisit your pricing –Changing your pricing always involves a little risk, but every so often you should revisit what you’re charging now and consider if you should raise or lower your prices.
5. Look into new software solutions - Review your current tech products to confirm whether or not they’re working well for your needs now. If your employees find the software you have now hard to use, or feel there’s missing functionality they really need, then it’s time to look at your other options.
6. Create a customer review policy - Commit to reading every review and responding. Good reviews should receive a “thank you” message, while bad reviews should receive an attempt to fix whatever the reviewer is unhappy about.
If you find trends in the feedback people give, turn those into action items to make your business better in the year to come.
7. Improve your marketing plan - Determine which of your current campaigns and tactics are providing the best results. Change up your current marketing mix based on what’s working the best for you now.
8. Do a website review - Test out how your site works both on desktop on mobile. Make sure it’s intuitive for your customers. Look for issues like broken links, or images that no longer show up.
9. Beef up your security - Your customers trust you with their information. Take
basic precautions
to keep your networks and secure information safe.
10. Get more locally involved - Get out there and make connections with other businesses in your community, speak at local events, seek out mutually beneficial partnerships, and consider local causes you can donate or otherwise contribute to. Becoming part of the community will only make your business stronger.
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Amanda Staab
Staffing Specialist
Manitowoc
2 years
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Eric Greening
Staffing Specialist
Green Bay
2 years
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Ginger Cunningham
Senior Staffing Specialist
Appleton
6 years
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SPICY GARLIC SHRIMP AND QUINOA
Serves 4, at only 260 calories per serving
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INGREDIENTS
FOR THE QUINOA:
½ Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ t chili powder
1 C uncooked quinoa
salt and pepper
2 C low-sodium vegetable stock
2 T fresh parsley, finely chopped
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FOR THE SHRIMP:
½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
½ lb raw tail-on shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
¼ t chili powder
salt and pepper
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
fresh parsley, finely chopped
juice of half lemon
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INSTRUCTIONS
QUINOA: In a fine-meshed strainer, rinse the quinoa under cold running water. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, or until the onion softens slightly. Add the quinoa and ½ teaspoon of chili powder. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté for 1 minute, then add the broth. Bring to a boil uncovered. When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the water is absorbed, and the quinoa is cooked and tender. Remove from heat, add the parsley, and mix well.
SHRIMP: While the quinoa is cooking, cook the shrimp. Heat ½ tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the shrimp and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of chili powder. Season with salt and pepper, and sauté until no longer translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Mix the quinoa and shrimp together, drizzle with lemon juice, and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Serve immediately, while still hot.
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QUOTE
“You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream a new dream.” - C. S. Lewis
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