HR Challenges During The Summer (And What To Do About Them) - Spark Hire

HR Challenges During The Summer (And What To Do About Them) - Spark HireAs an organization and as HR professionals, how do we deal with the summertime and the HR challenges that come with the season? It brings back great memories and it is a great time to celebrate. However, from an HR perspective, as well as an organizational perspective, it can be quite challenging to face.Hereare some of the things that you can do as an organization to tackle these common HR challengesImplement flexible work schedulesSome things that you should think about, a flexible work schedule. For example, if you work 8-5 typically, maybe you allow yur employees to choose when they come in. Maybe during the summertime they prefer to come in at 10 and work until 7, versus 8-5. Think about leave early Fridays. Every Friday all of your employees would leave by 2 oclock for example in the summertime versus 5 oclock allowing them to start their weekends early with their family members.Host company wide eventsThin k about what are some other things, in terms of maybe events. Fun in the sun, thats what we think about. Such as, barbeques, picnics, beach trips. Maybe you take a trip to Adventure Island or Disney Springs, go to a local park, take advantage of the springs and lakes that are there and go kayaking.Create an alternative dress code policyMaybe consider some alternative dress code policies in terms of the summertime and what that can mean. Coming to work with maybe a boat shoe, or a summer dress that you wouldnt typically do throughout the year. These are all great things to think about during the summertime so your employees have some flexibility and still enjoy that time of the season while still being at work.Provide fun food choicesThink about, what about food trucks or dessert trucks such as frozen lemonade. Everybody enjoys that. Or, hammock zones if you have a great site with some trees and a shaded area where you can have your employees go out during they day and maybe take the ir laptop so they are still being productive and utilize it maybe as a break area or to read a book and have lunch. These will offer great opportunities to also allow your employees to get in the sun.Review your PTO policyAs well as, how do we as professionals think about what we can do with such a high volume of PTO requests for example. This is a very high volume time. People want to take time off to be with their kids and families. You need to think about as an HR professional or as an organization, how youre going to manage that most appropriately.Do you review your policy annually, do you review it prior to the summertime beginning? If you dont, thats something you might want to think about because you might want to tweak it. Do you stick with adhering to compliance in terms of that policy? Whats the submission time frame for requesting? Is there a certain time frame they need to submit prior to and is it first come first serve? Whatever it is, you need to make sure youre adher ing to it so youre being consistent with that policy and applying it fairly.Manage PTO requests fairlyThings to think about are, what about an alternative? If you did have to deny someone a date, or a date sortiment of having to take time off during this year because maybe there was someone else, or several people who already selected those dates. And, from a staffing perspective, you still have to think about that. Is there an alternative you can offer to that employee that you had to deny. Such as an extra day off or something that helps soften you having to deny them that time. So, please think about how you are going to manage that time and how you are going to manage it fairly.Document your fun summertime activitiesAdditionally, how do we utilize all of these great benefits that youre talking about? Great events and bringing people together. You want to record these events, you want to talk to your team members, you want to take pictures, you want to take videos. If you share t his information via social media, whether your home pages or your website, what are some ways that you can let candidates know, heres whats going on in your organization. Snapshot interviews, little type blogs like were doing right now, have the employees share their stories.The greatest strength you have is, how can I send the message of, this is a great place to work and heres why. Tell it through your employees, have them share, heres our fun, heres our laughter. Yes, were highly productive, were very goal oriented, but at the same time, one of the requirements is that you do have to have fun here.Promote your summertime activities to help attract candidatesSharing their stories will allow everyone, all of the candidates and maybe even candidates who arent looking at the time, maybe look later to say, heres why I should work here. I feel really strongly about my coworkers, my employer as a whole and how they feel about family, and how they feel about fun. And while were still get ting things done, they still care about me as a person. To have an employee share their story, their laughter, their smiles, the candidates will see it, it will come through their eyes.So you want to make sure that you have that information out there, because your greatest recruitment tool at the end of the day is your current employees.We encourage you toconnect with Lynnette on LinkedIn.

How to End a Cover Letter with a Call to Action

How to End a Cover Letter with a Call to Action How to End a Cover Letter with a Call to Action Writing a titelblatt letter can feel like a struggle between simply checking all the boxes on your job application and using the opportunity to show what makes you a uniquely qualified candidate. One part of the process that often flies under the radar is how to end a titelbild letter.The end of your titelseite letter should not be underestimated in its ability to help you move forward in the hiring process. After making your case in the previous paragraphs, you need to end your cover letter with a strong call to action to entice the recruiter to invite you for a job interview.Madeline Mann, an HR leader in the technology industry and creator of Self Made Millennial, says that while no conclusion will save a bad cover letter, it can distinguish you from another good candidate. Its all about enthusiasm, according to Madeline. Companies want people who want them, she says. If you can draw to the companys values and show how interested in working with them you are, thats a substantial advantage. Create a belastunging impression by incorporating that enthusiasm in your cover letter ending.Companies want people who want them.-Madeline MannA good conclusion, in fact, should reflect the rest of your cover letter.Set up the end of your cover letter with a strategic middleTo end your cover letter effectively, you first need to build momentum. Most recruiters and career coaches agree that by the time you get to the end your cover letter, it needs to possess the following three elementsIt tells a story about yourselfIt shows your value concretelyIt calls the recruiter to actionAlternatively, the middle part of a cover letter can also serve to handle objections and get facts across, according to Austin Belcak, who founded Cultivated Culture and helps people in their career changes.Sometimes, you dont have the traditional background or experience for the position youre seeking. Y ou can still make the case that you can do the job, but you have to prove yourself through your knowledge and ideas.You need to show the company that youve researched their issues, values, and goals, says Austin.Austin suggests leveraging the middle of your cover letter by highlighting what he calls a value validation project. For example, one of Austins clients wanted to get a user experience designer position at Airbnb, but she had no experience in the field. Instead of simply explaining in her cover letter that she was capable of changing career paths, she instead spent time researching the issues Airbnb users were facing. After presenting her ideas to the company she landed an interview so they could discuss her findings. She had something the company wasnt going to let slip away. That allowed her to end her cover letter with a strong call to action.Even if youre not able to create a slide deck or complete a project for your prospective role, the middle of your cover letter shou ld focus on how you will add more value to the company than the next applicant. This will give you a better opportunity to stick the landing with the end of your cover letter compared to a generic summary of your resume.Ending with a call to actionWhen ending a cover letter, you may be tempted to write that Im looking forward to hearing from you. That isnt a call to action. For Madeline, the end of a cover letter serves to give one last push and show interest and enthusiasm in a way that stands out.For Austin, the call to action is all about enticing the recruiter through your value validation project, like his client at Airbnb. He suggests ending the cover letter saying that youd love to hop on a call to get thoughts and feedback about the ideas youve outlined. Its a simple, useful trick, which always pleases the employer.How to end a cover letter (examples)Im excited to have the opportunity to talk about how I could join your team in its quest for XYZ value. Im particularly thrill ed about XYZ project and would love to know how I can contribute to it.I am keen on meeting with you to see what I can contribute to XYZ company as it moves on in its journey to XYZ goal. I am available at your convenience for a phone call or in-person meeting.I would love to get your thoughts on what I mentioned. I am happy to hop on a phone call at your earliest convenience to discuss how I can help XYZ company with XYZ issue.Mistakes to avoid when ending a cover letterThe mistakes people make when they end their cover letter are often the same ones they made earlier in the piece. However, they can be particularly detrimental to your chances of landing an interview if they constitute the final impression a recruiter has of you.When ending a cover letter, avoidMaking it about yourself instead of the company use sentence constructions that make the recruiter see how the company is going to from you. For example, try to use you or we instead of I.Sounding generic or robotic weve all seen these cover letters that end with the same plain paragraph. If you write one of those, the last impression youre giving is not different from those given by all other applicants.Selling yourself short the conclusion is your last chance to show off the value you can bring to the company. Emphasize it and use it as a segue into your call to action.Dont rely on your cover letterIf youve applied online, Madeline adds that you should immediately send an email or a LinkedIn message to let the recruiter know youve applied if you submitted your cover letter into an applicant tracking system.Madeline also suggests using an email tracking app, like Mailtrack or Email Tracker. This way, you can follow up when you see when and how often a recruiter opened your email.Read more about how to follow up on a job application here.