Commitment doesn’t seem to look the same as it did in the workplace of the past. Employees coming and going, changes in the economy inciting fear over job stability, and reorganized business plans are causing a revolution in what the employee of the Millennium Generation experiences and reacts to in the professional arena.

The actual definition of commitment has five different applications:

com·mit·ment

1. the act of committing.

2. the state of being committed.

3. the act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself.

4. a pledge or promise; obligation: We have made a commitment to pay our bills on time.

5. engagement; involvement: They have a sincere commitment to religion.

What commitment looked like to Gen X and the Baby Boomers was a worker bee that stayed at a desk or reported during specific shift hours. Employers could count on the visual and physical appearance of a warm body. But to the new generation entering the arena, commitment looks a whole lot more virtual than physical. When management is looking for the reassurance that work is being done, previous experience was much more tangible.

Does work style equate to productivity?

The difference in this new generation’s work style doesn’t mean failure or lack of productivity. On the contrary. Because of the virtual opportunities in smart phones, laptops, webinars, and cloud storage, newer workforce entrants may end up working longer hours outside the office than if chained to a brick and mortar scenario.

Before drawing conclusions, determine what work needs to be done and whether the virtual tools available can supply the vehicle to job or project success. The measurement is no longer going to be an employee’s steady arrival at the office. A more practical measurement is whether the work is actually getting done.

This new generation of tech savvy individuals also has a superior understanding of networking and community voice. Encourage responsible participation in social media and virtual tools and you will see just how bright, flexible, and creative the Millennial workers can be when everyone thinks outside the box.

Everything changes.

When your company is willing to explore the benefits of the techie, flexible, and creative opportunities rather than fit a square into a circle, the changes might bring some surprising benefits.

Need some more help? Consult with The Lee Group to help your company transition into the new generation.

Electrical Engineer positions available in Hampton Roads, VA.

(Multiple Opportunities). Relocation assistance available.

Contact me for full job descriptions! Please email resumes to jon.rohrer@theleegroup.com

Manufacturing Electrical Engineer- Provides electrical engineering support to implement and/or design of production equipment and/or systems. Support production line startups and continuous improvement. PLC (writing, programming) experience, Visual Basics, Robotics experience & knowledge of electrical codes.

Product Electrical Engineer- Provides electrical engineering support for a wide range of products. C# C++, codes, circuit board experience

Manufacturing Automation Electrical Engineer- prepares and implement process equipment and automated equipment required for production, assembly and/or filling operations. Work with third party vendors to procure automated equipment. Experience with PLC’s, HMI, Robotics, Vision Systems,

CAD, NEC codes.

R&D Electrical Engineer- Provides research and development support for prototype electronic and electromechanical systems. Experience with Pro E,CAD/CAM and system interface, embedded hardware and software, prototypes.

Software Engineer/Electrical Engineer- Designs, documents, develops, and tests embedded firmware.

Sets up custom build environments. C++ C# programming, code knowledge, standard interface tools,  and debugging

A new group of employees is replacing retiring workers. But who are these people and why don’t they respond the same way the outgoing force responds? 

Is the entire workforce going to be entitled?

Labeling generations and their characteristics isn’t new. There’s often a new title given to certain birth years, such as the Baby Boomers, born 1946-1964, who tended toward dynamic attributes such as experimentation, individualism, free-spiritedness, and orientation toward social causes.

Baby Boomers are the generation in the process of exiting the workforce while the new Generation Y enters. Generation Y, born approximately 1983-2000, is also called the Millennial Generation. Their label describes their attributes as self-oriented, praise-seeking, wealth focused, and a strong community-mindedness.

How does the Millennial Generation impact you as an employer?

The key in working with any group of people is to find the common core values, behaviors, and attitudes.

Recognizing the incoming work force’s attributes gives employers insight and tools to use when dealing with young people who often aren’t used to the same work ethic or sense of pride in the workplace or longevity in a position.

However, their desire to earn higher levels of income correlates to bringing in higher levels of income. Utilizing praise, building internal relationships, and encouraging the drive to earn will pay off for employers in a positive work environment. It will create a stronger sense of loyalty between employees who’ve become friends, and result in a raise in the bottom line.  

How does an employer motivate a new Generation Y employee?

Job satisfaction for the Millennial Worker means creating a sense of attachment: building in praise, a sense of value in the pay and benefits, and helping them build friendships within the company. A supervisor who uses negative reinforcement will find the chairs in his department empty.

Building regular recognition and peer-to-peer support groups may be the most beneficial for today’s employers. Think about how these young people attended school dances and events. They have a crowd mentality that encompasses friends around them.

An outstanding strength in the Generation Y people also is in the level of acceptance for people different than themselves. They show less discrimination than any other generation. This acceptance of diversity is a benefit to employers today.

In summary

Yes, the new generation coming into the workforce is different than those planning to retire in the near future. Extensive studies show what really matters to the Millennial Generation.

For an employer, sometimes the hard part is getting used to someone new. But then again, the perfect mentors are those preparing for retirement. Baby Boomers want to know the place they’re leaving behind is in good hands. Build a strong relationship between these two and reap the rewards.

Let the Lee Group help consult and build a strong workforce in your company.

What happens when an employer must fire or replace someone?

You’ve seen it happen. An employee is frazzled, unhappy, and failing in the position you expected he or she would succeed. Sometimes it’s a personal problem that can be resolved with a little intervention. When that’s the case, a short sabbatical or leave of absence may clear up the issue. Everyone has awful things happen in life and needs the support to get through tragedy or illness.

But when it’s job related, what then? 

When is termination in position the right decision?

Sometimes it’s appropriate to terminate an employee for intentional infractions like theft, regular rudeness to customers or fellow workers, dishonesty with company time or materials, inability to perform the duties, no-showing with no explanation, under the influence while on duty, sharing or selling company secrets, instigating internal company strife, disregarding policies, and more.

The key is intentional versus accidental behavior. Many accidental problems can be resolved with direct communication and retraining. But intentional misbehavior is a character flaw that isn’t resolvable. Be sure you understand the difference in termination linguistics because you are legally responsible in different ways for a lay-off versus a firing. Use the correct terminology.

When is replacement or changing positions the right decision?

Previous articles discussed testing. It is a way to find your employees’ top skills and job fit. (Please browse through those articles for some great tips.)

Often an employee isn’t quite right for one position, but is a valuable team player. If the employee has the right attitude and a sense of personal desire to achieve, switching to a different position within your company may be the perfect solution.

But prior to a knee-jerk reaction or announcement, allow the employee to express his or her feelings and test to find strengths. The person may be just as frustrated as you are with the situation. However, with thoughtful and patient communication, you’ll keep a great employee and see both your employee and company succeed in this opportunity.

The Lee Group offers extensive screening and recruiting practices, client specific training and testing, and we offer consulting to help your business succeed. Our team is motivated and proud of our ability to make a perfect match for our clients the first time, every time. Start experiencing The Lee Group difference. Phone 757.873.0792.

There are a lot of ways to get training, but one fabulous opportunity comes with a business coach. A business coach has not only walked the path but also has been very successful in the field he or she coaches. They know your specific industry, challenges, and best practices.

Business coaches have your personal growth in the business setting as their number one goal. With a business coach, employees naturally become more effective and productive. An effective coach doesn’t tell the employee what to do but allows the employee to take part in the dialogue. By having an active role, the employee is much more likely to be adaptable and internalize (or “buy in to”) the desire for professional growth and development.

How are business coaching and mentoring different?

Many managers may act as business coaches but may not actually be good coaches. Theirs isn’t a warm and fuzzy position, although positive and supportive feedback is crucial to a successful coaching relationship. Instead, it is a position meant to grow and mature skills. This Forbes article pulls no punches about business coaching.

The relationship is about success on the job, skill and career development, not personal development. However, the coaching relationship can have the feeling of mentoring. The difference is mentoring may take on the additional role of personal development. Think of mentoring as personal and business coaching as professional development.

Can mentoring and business coaching work together?

It’s often common for a business coach and his or her client to build a strong relationship of trust. Sometimes that coach sees the need to mentor a personal issue in order for the business concept to succeed. It’s a wise business coach that perceives a personal matter can block success in the job arena.

However, it’s very important for that coach to speak only to the fine line of that one situation. A business coach should not become involved in a client’s personal life or angst.

Straight-forward coaching resources.

There’s a Dummies book for everything, and yes, there’s one for business coaching too. Coaching and Mentoring for Dummies is a great manual to help not only train management, but also is a great idea for business owners and human resources personnel to use to increase understanding. In learning about business coaching, there’s less chance of misunderstandings, misinterpretation of duties, and expectations.

Other places to explore are actual certification and credentialing programs like the International Coaching Federation and the World Association of Business Coaching.

Should your business step into the world of business coaching? Contact us at The Lee Group to explore this fascinating and very successful idea with our consultants.

Freshly graduated from high school or college? What real world skills does an employee need to enter the workforce? Does it depend on the industry or field of work? Not exactly. There are some basics everyone needs to be grounded in prior to entering the real world of work post graduation. 

What skills should graduates already have?

Most high school graduates know how to use a computer, type at a reasonable rate, read at a minimum of an 8^th grade level, and do basic math. These skills have become expectations for these young adults. But they are still not enough to secure a dream job in this tough economy.

College graduates often have higher reading levels, stronger computer skills, and a reasonable understanding of how to research for answers. Still, this is not enough real world experience for landing that dream job among such hearty competition.

What basic skills does the real world require?

According to a wikipedia article on job skills, The U.S. Department of Labor identified sixteen generic skills. These included everything from time management to people skills. But beyond personal growth is the hard task of learning daily, on-the-job skills that are marketable and dependable. Build a proficiency over a lifetime in the work-world by starting with the basics.

Foundational business task skills

It’s important for a resume to stand out. It proves the applicant knows how to write a summary of credentials and experience which highlights his or her compatibility to the open position. Writing a resume means the applicant understands basic forms have a structure and logical process. It shows literacy, glimpses maturity and illustrates capability to write and proofread basic sentences.

Math is another crucial skill. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are necessary in most businesses simply for balancing a cash drawer or payment batches. Additional basics in accounting, statistics, geometry, and algebra comprehension rounds out the most business reporting in a large portion of companies.

How can monthly and quarterly reports be handled if there’s no entry-level comprehension? Without some working knowledge in the advanced mathematical arenas, it’s nearly impossible to take an employee up the corporate ladder. Go-getters might like to know about learning for free to improve their job skills.

Computer skills are fun for entertainment but crucial for social media marketing, spreadsheets, writing proposals, reports, and other business documents.

Every person entering the workforce now should understand how to use a word processing program (most use MS Word), basic spreadsheets like Excel, and understand the basics of computer operations and Internet use. It’s too time consuming for an employer to train computer usage when inventory, time clocks, and client files are now kept digitally.

Do you need more basic office skill training? Does one of your employees have great people skills, but lacks in an area crucial to their position?

The Lee Group offers both training and temporary opportunities to solve either dilemma. In a temporary position, an employee can gain business skills he or she doesn’t have but has an aptitude to achieve.

In training, an employer keeps a valuable person both they and clients like while increasing that employee’s success. Contact the Lee Group to find a temporary placement to allow training time, choose a temporary position to gain more experience, or schedule training for valuable employees.

Watching an employee falter who you thought would be great in the position isn’t easy. But how do you help them get their confidence in a new or changing position?

On the job training (OJT) isn’t just for interns.

OJT is a perfect opportunity for growth and learning on the job for anyone. But OJT is an amazing chance to help someone grow who hasn’t felt confident in a new or changing environment. Sometimes that’s an employee who has been with your company for years.

Reduce payroll costs and increase workforce flexibility.

Often payroll costs are significantly reduced by retraining or offering additional training to an employee that might otherwise be eliminated as business needs morph. Our mercurial economy, changing insurance laws, and technological knowledge seems to be in hyper drive. Hiring someone new with the skills already in place may seem like the best course of action, but an employee who has proven loyalty and dependability may be the right person for ever-changing business needs.

Keep valuable employees.

Most employees not only welcome new training opportunities, but may see the chance to learn something new as a confidence builder in their company too. That confidence strengthens resolve to stay in the fold and support an employer who helps them to continually grow professionally.

Very few people prefer to stagnate. As an employer, you may end up preventing attrition of valuable employees by enriching goals and employment experience.

Word of mouth matters.

Keeping people employed, training in new or needed skills, and building confidence in your company infuses trust in the community your business serves. Word of mouth travels fast. The words you want your employees using are those of belief, loyalty, and enthusiasm.

A program set up for on the job training could well be one of the most valuable decisions your company ever makes! Contact The Lee Group today and let’s start to talk.

Financial Accountant

Responsibilities:

• Timely preparation of the month-end closing process, quarterly and annual financial statements in accordance to local and international standards.
•  Responsible for the calculation and the filing of tax data and for the reporting to the Headquarters
• Complete additional projects in the field of international finance and accounting as needed
• Advise all our subsidiaries in all relevant issues to the accounting according to U.S. GAAP.
•  Complete accurate and timely work

Qualifications:

• You completed a professional training as a qualified accountant.
• Minimum 3-5 years practical experience in the field of finance and accounting
•  Open to occasionally business trips
• SAP experience
• Fluent in spoken and written Spanish and/or Portuguese is desirable

Please email resumes to parnethac@theleegroup.com

Rewarding employees for saving their co-workers from injury reinforces the team, recognizes the individual, and adds a touch of heroism to your work force. Reward systems that focus on workplace safety can motivate more than they’re intended. Moreover, reward systems can add to job satisfaction, team-building, and healthier employees.

 Play the game and build your team safety.

Having a team attitude in the workplace, rather than isolating individuals, is one of the most important features of workplace safety. Gamification is the concept of playing a game to earn team points. With this concept, team players are more aware of one another’s needs, focused on the team’s safety, and able to help them reach goals because of healthy interaction.

 People who feel they’re part of a team—something bigger than themselves–have a higher level of job satisfaction when they realize they can rely on team members, trust one another, and gain personal satisfaction by helping their members.

Job satisfaction and workplace safety results when reward systems are in place.

Be creative in the rewards systems your company uses for workplace safety and team-building. Some employers have a “pot of goals” where funds are deposited monthly. Those funds can be used for events, office parties, gift certificates for gym memberships, and a variety of entertainment ideas.

Some of the best ideas offer fitness/health incentives that doubles as a support to the corporate bottom line. A healthier employee produces at higher levels while costing less to support in benefits packages. Consider both individual and team rewards for strong safety records and implemented safety suggestions.

Remember monthly small goals should build to an annual celebration.

Some companies have been known to rent a movie theater and invite only their corporate families to see a special red carpet experience after a great year. Others used 50% of the monthly funds for individual rewards and allowed the remaining 50% to compound for the annual big event. Whatever reward system your company chooses, be sure it’s fun, interactive, and non-punitive.

Team-building means friendships are also built between employees.

Because team-building also builds friendships, subsequently, members don’t want to see a coworker hurt. Therefore, training employees matters in workplace safety because employees want to care and need to care about others with whom they work. Caring people are safer people who have a high sense of job satisfaction.

Do you need help creating a workplace safety rewards system?

The Lee Group will share both its resources and the time and talents of its employees to better the lives of those we serve. Contact us to speak with an excellent consultant.

Fatigue is a major player in workplace accidents. Americans push hard in a workaholic society.

While getting ahead, being a driven personality is a great trait for employers, it’s only good if the employee is getting enough rest regularly.

Overtime hours, project deadlines, and contracts based on weather can wreak havoc on an employee’s sense of equilibrium. An accident is the last thing anyone wants because someone was too tired to react appropriately. Yet, fatigue can be one of the primary downfalls of an achiever’s strength.

Fatigue strikes both the physical and the office worker.

Monotony seems like it could be the easiest culprit, and boredom is always a tough one. Some personalities really like repetitive tasks while others would rather swan dive into a raging river than repeat the same activities or tasks day in and day out. Whether monotonous or boredom, skills can dull and mental agility can wane. These factors can lead to loss of productivity or quality.

However, neither is the “wrong” kind of personality. Each is suited to a needed position. Even someone who is a perfect fit for a job runs into boredom now and again. Inserting a special project on occasion can break the routine. Everyone needs to be given opportunities to develop skills and talent as well as to break from routine now and then. It helps ensure motivation.

Other factors that can cause fatigue.

Employees who stay on a computer all day may be more bothered by eyestrain. Additionally, neck, back, and wrist fatigue from standard desks, chairs, and recurring use of equipment can develop over time. Long-haul drivers, constant mechanic vibration, or the noise of a low buzz from equipment, and cyclical tasks can lull the most reliable person into a less than alert state. One already tired person is a disaster waiting to happen on your company dime.

How do you help an employee when fatigue is the factor?

Did you know eye doctors are prescribing computer glasses now? This prescription is specially made for someone working at specific distance from a computer screen. Ergonomic keyboards, chairs, and mouse pads help alleviate the stress because every day tools create the beating of repetitive use that is dangerous to workplace safety.

An important note: not all ergonomic tools fit every body type. If you’re helping your employees avoid pain and fatigue, be sure the tool fits the person and not just a random sampling of average-sized workers.

Suggest an eye check appointment. Replace old chairs, keyboards, and offer alternatives like tall exercise balls as office chairs. It’s a very inexpensive option to long hospital stays. You might be surprised by the response and up tick of your company’s productivity!

Other creative ideas.

• Offer, when possible, simple solutions like employees earning gym memberships paid or matched by the company, shoulder massages once a week by a therapist with a massage chair, or small exercise bands to use during breaks.
• Encourage all your employees to take part in fund- raising 5K, 10K, and 25K runs for both their health and the example to set for others.
• Build a company rewards system that nurtures success for your team and helps employees overcome one of the worst workplace safety issues—fatigue.

The Lee Group’s areas of expertise are broad and skillfully developed. We strive to maintain exceptional customer service in everything we do. Contact The Lee Group today and let’s talk about your goals.