Friday Night Flick

The lovely gentleman on the radio informed me this morning that this weekend’s weather will be scalding hot and suffocatingly humid.  Thank you weatherman, I hadn’t noticed yet despite the fact my hair went from straight to a fro in the .5 seconds it took to open my front door and face the day.

Despite the oppressing weather all is not lost.  It presents you with the opportunity to catch one of the most lighthearted comedies of the summer, Horrible Bosses.   

Now while I do recommend using your Friday night to catch this film, I in no way advocate for you to emulate the bosses portrayed.  It is a bad idea.   You will not make friends.  Hence the film.  In the spirit of good bosses that do not have films made about plots to do away with them, here are some tips from John Baldoni of CBS on improving relationships with your staff.

• Be the  first to speak:  Remember where  you came from.  You weren't always the CEO, everyone starts somewhere so don't be unapproachable.  Say hello to your cubicle bound employees while you walk the office.  Start up a conversation in the lunch room.  By being unapproachable and extremely distanced from your employees you send the message that they don't matter.
• Keep it light: Yes business is business, but everything isn't business.  Nor is it all bad.  Smile, talk about neutral topics like the weather or how they are.  Once you're more familiar with an employee talk about common interests like sports, tv shows, etc.  This will build self esteem and confidence in your employee.  It will allow them to shine.
• Ask good questions: By asking good, relevant question and being receptive to whatever answers are thrown your way you encourage employees to speak up and could gain invaluable insight into various aspects of your organization.
• Listen more than you speak: Your responsibility is to start the conversation, once its underway, sit back and listen to whats being said.  The danger is not in what you know its in what you don't.

March of the Toys

Today is a good day for Rhode Island and we have Hasbro to thank.  According to the Boston Globe, Hasbro will be expanding into downtown Providence in the coming months.  With this expansion come 284 new jobs as well as a mind blowing 24 million dollar investment into the city.

Hasbro will be taking over the former Blue Cross and Blue Shield building.  Some employees from the Pawtucket headquarters will be transferred to the new offices downtown which are set to house roughly 500 employees.  While the new offices are being renovated, 150 employees will be temporarily operating out of 10 Dorrance St.  Once the Providence renovations are complete the company plans to begin renovations on their Pawtucket headquarters.

Currently around 1,400 Rhode Islanders are employed by the toy giant.  Kudos Hasbro!

The latest and greatest

Hope everyone enjoys our newest feature, Candidate of the Month.  Please check back the second week of every month to see our superstar in their respective field.  Also don't hesitate to call us whenever you're looking for someone to wow to you.  We have terrific candidates everyday, not just during the Candidate of the Month post.

Hot off the Press! July's Candidate of the Month!

Meet July's Candidate of the Month!

Suella

Sales and Marketing

• EDUCATION: 2010 University of Colorado at Denver, Communications Major
• WORK EXPERIENCE: Four years solid experience in sales in marketing
• SKILLS: Extremely tech savvy, familiar with all social media outlets, and able to organize and run campaigns from the ground up

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City Personnel provides the highest caliber of staffing in the area.  Besides having talented sales and marketing candidates we also have provide candidates for all levels of legal staffing, accounting, human resources, medical, and other office positions.  For a more detailed look at Suella's background, or information on any of our other candidates, please contact City Personnel at 401.331.2311 or by email at resumes@citypersonnel.net.

All is well that ends well

Were you busy last month?  Maybe installing new cubicles or perhaps getting desk supplies for a lovely new hire?  My hope is that you were, but if not all is still well in the world as June turned out to be a much better than expected month for job growth.

The Associated Press reported that in June businesses hired twice as many employees as originally predicted by economists.  The latest estimates for June job creation come in somewhere between 120,000-200,000.  That’s a quite a figure.  Also, more small businesses say that they intend to increase hiring in the coming months.  In fact 15% of small businesses say that they presently have positions open.  Better news yet is that applications for unemployment have fallen to a seven week low.

This sunny outlook on job growth was released a day prior to the government’s employment report which is largely regarded as the best source for the job outlook.  Why the turn around?  Sources have suggested that it stems from gas price decline and a slight pickup in the Japanese economy as it recovers from the devastation there earlier this year.

Only time will tell if the job market is turning around, but it’s nice to see a light at the end of the tunnel.  Do you have any openings in your office?