13 minute read
tranSForMIng teaMS
5 steps to hiring and retaining talent in 2022
Iwas recently sharing a cab with the business owner of a print manufacturer heading to an industry conference where I was slated to be a presenter on workforce trends and solutions. He turned to me and said, “Okay, then tell me… where the heck did everyone go? Where are the workers and how do we get them to come work for us?”
Where indeed! Unfortunately, they have gone to a variety of places and for a variety of reasons. Some have quit their jobs because of continued COVID hesitancy, some because of ongoing child care challenges, some have quit to join new opportunities and the chance to earn more money and gain more workplace flexibility, and some have quit just to take a much-needed break, knowing that when the savings run low there will be ample job opportunities for them to jump back into the labor market.
What’s an employer to do? Well, it starts with a shift of mindset and these five steps:
Step 1: Imagine the talent you want and SWOT them!
Who are you looking to hire? Is it someone with maturity and experience? Someone with less experience but lots of enthusiasm? Someone local or someone remote? We encourage our clients to visualize the talent they seek and work to understand what their desired employees are looking for. What do they want? Too often, business leaders fail to recognize the unique needs and wants of their talent and focus instead on what they as employers want.
Don’t know what your desired hires want in their lives or in their jobs? Just ask the ones who already work for you and who are in the same demographic what they want and like about their jobs. What are their strengths and opportunities and how can you maximize those assets while minimizing the weaknesses and threats that they may possess?
Step 2: Shift your marketing spend
How much of your marketing budget are you spending to tell your story to attract talent? My guess is very little. I have spent endless hours exploring corporate career sites and company job boards and few of them show any effort to attract talent. Instead, the marketing is often re-constituted sales material that, from a potential employee’s perspective, is boring and uninspiring. Revamp it! Show prospective employees you understand who they are and what they want. Use videos, social media and testimonials to tell the stories of employees just like them. Show community. Show opportunity. Show your culture. Maximize social media. Yes, create a TikTok video! Don’t know how to do this? Find someone who does and put your marketing resources here.
Step 3: Remove barriers
Try this: grab your smartphone and log on to your website and look for your career site. Is it easy to find? Next, look at your job openings. Do they look cool and would a Gen Z be inspired to apply? Remember, 90% of job seekers look for jobs from their mobile devices. Next, try applying using your mobile phone. Not easy? That’s a problem because the vast majority of employees in the first 10 years of their careers are applying for jobs using their mobile devices.
Q. Our company is requiring all employees get vaccinated for COVID. We received a request for an exemption to the vaccination requirement on the basis of a sincerely-held religious belief. Can we require some form of documentation or verification?
A. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employees cannot be required to get a vaccine if it violates their religious belief, practice or observance or their sincerely-held belief. Employers do not need to accept general statements or form letters, but should require documentation from the employee’s personal religious leader explaining the reason the vaccine violates the person’s beliefs.
It’s important to note, the religious leaders of most major denominations have stated that mandating vaccines does not violate the tenants of their faith and have come out in support of COVID-19 vaccines in the name of public health and safety.
Keep going—did you fill out the employment application? Hard, right? Having to search for the names and phone numbers and addresses of previous employers and educational institutions and then having to populate the application fields using your smartphone is close to impossible. Simplify your application and keep revising until it’s easy to complete.
Don’t forget to capture candidates who start applications because if they bailed before completion, it’s likely not because they are uninterested but because it was too hard to complete. They still may be interested.
Step 4: Use your imagination
Wages are going up… fast. In order to remain competitive, many employers are paying more for talent than they budgeted and then they face internal inequities with their existing talent pool. Yes, pay is important, but so are other things. Young workers want to do well, but they also want to do good. How can you help them do that?
Most young workers would take less pay for more time off. They want to travel—how can you help them do that? Who wouldn’t want a leased car or a holiday vacation rental as a perk? Stop thinking only about pay and look for innovative and creative perks and benefits that can attract and inspire the talent that you want.
Step 5: Focus on flexibility
It’s no surprise that after more than a year of working from home, employees want to maintain some form of flexibility. Those who cannot work from home want that flexibility, too. Survey after survey show that employees will be more loyal, more engaged, and will even accept less pay to obtain more workplace flexibility. Not sure how to do that? Ask your employees how to create and maintain a flexible workplace, regardless of job role.
Claudia St. John
SPHR, SHRM-SCP, President Affinity HR Group contact@affinityhrgroup.com
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Hampton Sells PNW Lands
Chinook Forest Partners, Seattle, Wa., finalized the purchase of 50,747 acres of timberland in northwest Washington from Hampton Lumber, Portland, Or., and Family Forests.
Hampton Lumber manages timberland in Washington to help supply its sawmills in the communities of Morton, Randle, and Darrington. The acreage purchased by Chinook Forest Partners was part of Hampton’s 145,000-acre timberland acquisition from Weyerhaeuser earlier this year. Included in this transaction are 35,867 acres in Chelan and Kittitas counties and 14,880 acres in Snohomish and King County.
“The acquisition of these lands from Hampton Lumber represents an important strategic expansion of Chinook’s management footprint,” said managing partner Scott Marshall. “We are excited to apply Chinook’s forward-looking approach, while working with Hampton and the community to bolster a legacy of sustainably-managed working forests in the region.”
Hampton Lumber CEO Steve Zika added, “Under Chinook Forest Partners’ ownership, these lands will continue to be an important source of logs for our sawmill in Darrington, while the proceeds from this sale will allow us to invest in additional timberland nearer to our mills.”
USNR Revamping HQ
USNR is investing in a major renovation of its world headquarters office in Woodland, Wa. The project will be split into two phases to maintain usable office space for on-site staff and seamless operation of critical services during construction work.
Having last been updated in the early 1990s, the Woodland office was due for a refresh. The workspace is being completely reimagined with a modern floorplan to foster collaboration, communication, and creativity.
On the heels of major tooling investments and process improvements in the Woodland manufacturing areas, this office remodel will be the latest in a series of projects across USNR facilities worldwide. In 2016, the firm moved to a new facility in Jacksonville, Fl., and in early 2020 a completed a full remodel of its office in Söderhamn, Sweden.
Stimson Strikes Eco-Deal
Stimson Lumber Co. has struck a deal for a conservation easement on 27,289 acres of timberland it owns southeast of Libby, Mt.
The easement, held by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, bans development, protects wildlife habitat and landscape connectivity, and provides public access and recreational opportunities on the property. In return, Stimson retains ownership of the land and is permitted to sustainably manage it for timber.
The easement—a collaborative effort between Stimson, FWP and The Trust for Public Lands—concludes the second phase of the Kootenai Forestlands Conservation Project.
“Stimson Lumber Co. strongly supports working forestlands which provide quality recreational opportunities, excellent fish and wildlife habitat and a healthy environment,” said CEO Andrew Miller. The General Store, Spokane,
Wa., applied to build a 15,000-sq. ft. Ace Hardware with garden center in Liberty Lake, Wa.
Ace Hardware franchisee Brad Christianson purchased a 3-acre former Albertsons property in Yakima, Wa., to open his 4th local Ace.
International Wood Products,
Clackamas, Or., has expanded its distribution agreement with Windsor Mill to include WindsorONE Protected S1S2E and S4SSE trim boards, specialty boards, traditional mouldings, and exterior brickmould. IWP is representing WindsorONE products in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming.
Specialty Forest Products’
branches in Spokane and Tacoma, Wa., and Bozeman, Mt., now carry MoistureShield Vision, Elevate and Vantage composite decking for the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii.
UFP Industries received
UL listing on its V343 2-Hour Fire Retardant Wall Assembly for ProWood FR Fire Retardant.
Viance launched a website focusing on its newest preservative for the wood utility pole market— UltraPoleNXT.com.
LP Building Solutions was selected as Home Depot’s 2021 Merchandising Partner of the Year in the Lumber category.
Combilift was honored as 2021 Family Business of the Year by Energia, Ireland’s largest supplier of green energy.
Softwood Lumber Board will
pledge $420,000 in matching funds to the USDA Forest Service’s 2022
Wood Innovations Grant Program.
MoistureShield unveiled a new MoistureShield Valued Partner certified contractor program, offering pros training, support, loyalty rewards, and labor warranty program.
US LBM scored exclusive naming rights for the inaugural Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge basketball doubleheader Dec. 19 in Las Vegas.
Next month International Wood Products, LLC, Clackamas, Or., will open a new building materials distribution facility in Post Falls, Id.
Situated between Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, the new location is in the heart of one of the fastest growing housing markets in the U.S., creating excellent growth opportunities for IWP and its team members. The core team at this location will include several current team members, instilling IWP’s values and service expectations right from the start.
IWP VP Jason Allen said “Our new location will position IWP to provide a higher level of service to our existing customers in this service area, and to expand into additional markets in western Montana, central Idaho, and beyond.”
Tribe Renovating Arizona Sawmill
The White Mountain Apache Timber Co. is investing to update the small log line system at its mill in Whiteriver, Az.
The mill is located within the Fort Apache Reservation, where nearly all the raw timber is sourced. The tribe operates both large log and small log mills.
This upgrade for the small log mill will install new hold down rolls and new spiked carry over rolls on the infeed of the line, and replace the worn components. The changes will bring the equipment up to current standards, improve reliability and throughput, and reduce maintenance.
The existing PLC controls and optimization platform will be replaced with USNR optimization, and will increase recovery and uptime. The new lineal scanning system will utilize 4 BioLuma 3900L sensors. The BioLuma 3900L delivers the highest speed UHD laser profiling for the most demanding lineal applications. The PLC controls system will be based on the ControlLogix platform, and will control the infeed from the merchandiser through to the log line outfeed separator.
This project is scheduled to be completed early in 2022.
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Barrette Rebrands Decking, Rail Lines
Barrette is consolidating several of its individual brands under the Barrette Outdoor Living umbrella.
DuraLife, Xpanse Greater Outdoors and RDI will now be known as the RDI Collection within Barrette Outdoor Living. This move is intended to leverage the full power of the manufacturer’s brand to create more value and brand equity for the overall business.
Concurrently, Barrette launched a new brand campaign and tagline, The Outside Company.
Preservative Makers to Combine
Specialty chemical manufacturer Arxada (formerly Lonza) is joining forces with Troy Corp., Florham Park, N.J., a leader in microbial control solutions and performance additives.
As part of the deal, Troy’s owners will invest in the combined company.
The partnership is a logical next step in Arxada’s strategy to strengthen its offering and enhance the capabilities of its Microbial Control Solutions business. Troy has broad expertise in paints and coatings, wood protection and preservation, and more. As well, Troy invented 3-iodo propynyl butyl carbamate (IPBC), which Arxada does not currently manufacture. Troy operates production facilities in Germany, Netherlands, Thailand and Newark, N.J.
From reducing air pollution to using renewable energy as a power source, U.S. homeowners have an overwhelming desire for more information, more choices, and more action across the industry for eco-friendly construction materials and practices, according to the 2021 3M Home Renovation Study.
“Homeowners are now inspired to choose construction materials that both serve their conventional purpose and make a positive impact for the environment,” said 3M’s Josh Orman. “It’s encouraging to see consumers and 3M taking action to improve our environment.”
The majority of homeowners surveyed (74%) agree that using eco-friendly construction materials would make a strong impact to the environment, and 70% plan to buy eco-friendly materials for their next renovation.
Not only do those homeowners find eco-friendly products appealing, but they are also taking the advice of others to influence their purchases; for example, 52% of homeowners surveyed stated they would be more active in considering eco-friendly materials if their friends and family were integrating eco-friendly options into their lives.
“Essentially, what homeowners say and do highly impacts those in their circle of influence,” said Orman. “Consider the positive ripple effect of homeowners making eco-friendly choices that educate and influence their friends and family in the process.”
Homeowners believe most in recycling and reducing waste as the top activity that will positively impact the environment. Eliminating single-use plastics, using renewable energy, reducing air pollution and selecting energy efficient products round out the top five.
