4 Great Tips for Virtual Hiring

Canada has done a great job of fighting COVID-19. However, many companies continue to operate on the side of caution by continuing remote work. With looming uncertainty about a possible second wave of the pandemic and an uncertain timeline for a vaccine, many businesses have been turning to recruitment agencies for tips on how to effectively find, interview, and hire virtually. Here are a few tips from our HR experts at Nova Staffing that you should keep in mind when virtually hiring.

 

Select and Test Video Interview Software

Instead of a conference room or office, online video software is where the interview will be taking place. There are tons of popular video conference companies out there right now. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Make sure you research and test them out ahead of time to ensure the interview goes off without a hitch. Be sure to let the candidates know ahead of time which software you’ll be using as well. That way, they’ll have time to get it ready before the interview.

 

Keep it Professional

Interviews are not only when you’ll get your first impression of the candidate, but it’s also when they’ll make their first impression of you and the company. Try to keep things as professional as an in-person interview would be. This includes staying on schedule, having questions ready, wearing a put-together outfit, and making sure the area around you is quiet with a neutral backdrop. Remember to gently remind the candidate to dress appropriately and find a quiet spot for the interview as well.

 

Make a Connection

One of the hardest parts about remote working and virtual hiring is forging connections. Asking about job history, assessing skills, and talking about the role and company is essential, but that’s what resumes are for. Connecting with candidates and getting to know them is just as vital to know if they’ll be a good fit for the job. Try having an actual conversation with them and asking a few questions. Candidates that feel connected to you and the company are more likely to be a success.

 

Use a Hiring Agency

Many businesses are busy reopening and trying to figure out new workplace policies. That may mean there just isn’t enough time to properly find, vet, and interview candidates. Partnering with a professional staffing agency can save your company time and money by letting them handle most of the hiring process. They’ll find, vet, interview, and even train candidates so that you can focus on running your business!

 

Nova Staffing is one of the top hiring agencies in Toronto, Brampton, and the GTA. We have a team of HR experts experienced with virtual hiring that are ready to help your company with any staffing needs! Contact us today to get started.

 

Ontario Employment Outlook: July 2020 Report

The employment outlook in Canada continues to improve month by month. Ontario, and Toronto in particular, was hit hard by COVID-19. Many people in the labour force experienced unemployment or reduce hours. Canada has done a good job of fighting the pandemic, and employment continues to grow as more businesses open again.

 

Here is a handy employment outlook summary for Ontario that our employment experts at Nova Staffing compiled using the latest data from the Ontario Government July 2020 Labour market report.

 

 

Employment Outlook

Ontario’s employment outlook has been improving month by month since the pandemic setback. Of the 12.3 million people in Ontario 15 years or older, 7.8 million are in the labour force. 6.9 million (56%) of the people are currently employed as of July 2020. This is up 2.2% from June, a 150,700 job increase.

 

Ontario’s unemployment rate is also dropping each month. It is now at 11.3%, a decrease from 12.2% in June, with 886,600 people unemployed in the province last month. This is slightly above the overall unemployment rate in Canada, which is 10.9% as of July. Overall though, employment in Canada rose by 2.4% last month.

 

Employment by Age

Youth employment (ages 15-24) were hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic and have been disproportionally impacted by job losses since February. Unemployment for this age group was at 28.4% last month. Job growth has been steadily increasing, with 58,600 new jobs in July.

 

Adult employment for people aged 25-54 saw an unemployment rate of 8.8% in July, though there were 60,600 new jobs. Senior employment, aged 55 and older, is sitting at 7.8% unemployment but saw 31,400 new jobs in July.

 

Employment by Sector

COVID-19 pandemic impacted most sectors in Canada. Many are recovering nicely and experiencing job growth. Wholesale and retail trades led employment gains in July with 57,300 new jobs, followed by health care and social assistance (28,800), other services except for public administration (23,500), and professional, scientific, and technical services (17,700).

 

Unfortunately, not every industry has experienced growth. Education services continued to see employment loss, with 7,200 fewer jobs in July. However, this might change once schooling resumes in a few weeks. Business, building, and other services saw a 1,700 job loss, while information, culture, and recreation saw 1,500 employment loss.

 

Employment by Education

HR experts have always known that education and employment go hand in hand. In July, University graduates saw employment gains of 25,900 new jobs, while those with some postsecondary education gained 4,300 jobs.

 

Not all education levels saw growth, though. Those with a postsecondary certificate or diploma and a high school education led job loss with 177,200 and 83,100, respectively. Those with less than a high school education recorded job losses of 34,400.

 

Final Thoughts

Ontario continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic slowly. As more businesses reopen, employment growth will continue. Many sectors, such as healthcare, transportation, and tech services, are already looking to hire.

 

If you’re looking for employment or are a business that is looking for staffing solutions, contact us today! Nova Staffing is one of the top employment agencies in Toronto and has a team of HR experts that can help you.

 

6 Reasons to Use Temps as a Staffing Solution

It’s rare for a business to have a constant workload and employment needs. More commonly, companies experience seasonal increases in workload and hiring needs. While hiring permeant employees is always an option, making use of skilled temporary workers is another staffing solution businesses should explore. As a temp staffing agency, we’ve seen how beneficial temporary workers can be to a company. Here are a few reasons you should look into using temp employees.

 

Relief Workload Increase

A lot of industries will see an increase in workload at specific times throughout the year. This season workload increase can put a lot of stress on full-time workers, causing employees to become overworked and disgruntled. It can also cause businesses to spend significant money on overtime costs. Using temporary workers can provide relief, taking on some of the increased workloads.

 

Save Time and Money

Unless you have a job expected to last six months or longer, your company would probably save time and money utilizing temporary workers. Hiring temp workers is often cheaper than permanent employees, which usually require benefits as well as salary. It’s not just cost savings either- using temporary workers can save your business time as well. When you employ a temp employment agency, they are responsible for recruiting, screening, and hiring them, with some even taking on training as well. This allows your company to spend time on actually running the business rather than looking for new workers.

 

Prevents Under and Overstaffing

As workloads fluctuate throughout the year, maintaining the amount of staff you need can be hard. Overworking full-time employees can decrease morale and increase employee turnover rate. Hiring permanent staff during the busy season can also have a negative impact, leading to overstaffing once business slows down again. This can lead to increased labor and termination costs. Temps are a great staffing solution for this issue as your business can easily use them when needed only.

 

More Flexible Workers

A huge benefit of temporary workers is the flexibility you get with them. By working with a quality temp staffing agency, you’ll have access to skill temp workers when you need them and then send them back to the agency. Temp employees also have more availability then full-time workers, making them an ideal staffing solution for less popular tasks and shifts such as overnights or weekends.

 

Access to Expertise

Temp workers used to be viewed as having a lower skill set than full-time employees. These days, temporary employees are highly valued for their skills and aptitudes. Temps can bring specialized skills to your company required for certain projects that current employees may not have. They can add value to your business, even on a short-term basis. If you’re looking for specialized skills, it’s important to find a temp staffing agency that has a pool of quality candidates in your industry.

 

Evaluate Employee Without Commitment

Just because you hire a temp employee doesn’t mean you can’t make them a full-time offer if you find they’re a good fit. Some businesses employ temporary workers to see their abilities without committing. Using temp workers is also an excellent way to get work done while searching for the perfect full-time candidate for the job.

 

If you’re interested in using temporary workers as a staffing solution, contact Nova Staffing! As one of the top temp employment agencies in the GTA, we’re skilled at finding quality candidates to fit your staffing needs.

 

How to Staff Following a Pandemic (Without Destroying Your Budget)

Is your business looking to staff after the pandemic? Here are a few tips on how to do it without destroying your budget!

 

This is the first time in recent history we have experienced a lockdown due to a pandemic. Many people have been furloughed, some laid off, and some others have decided it’s an excellent time for a career change. This begs the question, “how do I staff my business? “

 

Recall Your Furloughed Staff

Obviously this is the fastest way to have experienced staff get you off the ground and running. Starting with returning staff members is the quickest way to get your staff back up. As a bonus, they already know the company and job well so your business can pick right up. Welcome them with open arms and with full communication. If they don’t want to return then you should. If some of them don’t want to return, refer to the tips below. 

 

Get Referrals

If you haven’t already asked, “who do you know?”, you should start. This is one of the most cost-effective ways to recruit because, let’s face it, those closest to you and your business should know what the ideal person looks like best. Start with referrals from clients and fellow employees, but don’t feel as if you can’t ask family and friends as well. 

 

Recruit Yourself

If you have the time to source, recruit, screen, and hire yourself, why not do it? It can, but not always, save you money on recruiting by doing it yourself. Beware though, only you can do the Cost/Benefit analysis of doing it yourself versus increasing your sales and business yourself. Decide which is more worthy of your time and if working on your business is more important, consider the next tip. 

 

Hire Professionals to Recruit

No business can know everything, which is why companies tend to focus on their core services and products so that they can provide extensive knowledge and expertise for that area. In the same way, staffing agencies are experts in hiring. While internal recruitment is great, an HR agency has the time, resources, and expertise that you may not have. A professional staffing agency can save your company money and time by finding qualified candidates for your hiring needs.

 

This is a great time to spend the time to revamp your company and staff. There are tons of quality and experienced people looking for work right now just waiting to join your company. If you’re looking for staffing solutions contact Nova Staffing today. We’re one of the top recruitment agencies in Toronto, Brampton, and the GTA. We have a team of HR experts ready to help you meet your staffing needs!

 

5 Questions Employers Should Ask About Reopening

While other countries such as the U.S. continue to see a rise in case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths, Canada has been mostly successful in reducing the spread of COVID-19. Now that the country is slowly beginning to open, employers face tough decisions about reopening and welcoming employees back into workspaces. Before making the call, here are a few questions our HR experts at Nova Staffing think employers should ask themselves.

 

When is the right time for employees to return?

The right time to welcome employees back to physical workspaces depends on a lot of factors. Employers should look at local case numbers, review whether social distancing is possible, consider whether being in a physical workplace is necessary, and review other health and safety policies. Many employers are even making the call not to bring people back at all. Instead, they’re choosing to adopt a work from home model.

 

Who should return to workspaces?

The pandemic showed many businesses that their employees are capable of working effectively out of the workplace. Our recruitment agency has seen more employers adopt work from home guidelines as a result. Your company may want to consider allowing remote working for eligible employees. Employers that decide not to continue remote work should bring workers back slowly in phases. This will enable you to stress-test workspaces in the new environment so you can make any necessary changes before all workers return.

 

How can we protect returning employees?

Employers have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of their employees. This means adopting social distancing practices, implementing mask-wearing, increasing cleaning schedules, doing temperature checks, altering sick leave policies, and more. Employers should make a complete plan for how you’ll protect workers once they return. How are you going to check for illness? What are you going to do if an employee has symptoms such as a cough or a fever? What about employees that live with high-risk individuals? All of these questions need to be considered beforehand.

 

What should we do about sick employees?

Although case numbers are dropping, welcoming employees back into physical workspaces increases the chance of encountering COVID-19. Employers need to have a policy in place to identify and handle what happens if an employee is infected. Our HR experts also suggest creating new sick leave guidelines for other illnesses as well. Employers also need to think about decontamination if an ill employee comes into the office and what would happen if other workers who came in contact with them.

 

How do we communicate returning to workspaces?

Times are tense right now, so it is essential to have a clear plan before communicating with employees. Employers need to answer all of the questions above and have solid guidelines in place before they start discussing returning with employees. Make sure you give employees enough time between announcing reopening and requiring them to come in. Be open to discussions as well. Remember that many employees may have children or high-risk family members that make returning to workplaces more complicated. It’s important to work with employees during these times. Open and honest communication will be crucial.

 

Nova Staffing can help if you’re looking for hiring solutions from experts to aide with reopening your business. Our employment agency is one of the best in Toronto and the GTA, with a team that is more than capable of helping your business finding, hiring, and training any new hires you need to reopen successfully. Contact us today to get started!

 

Establishing Work from Home Guidelines as an Employer

Even as restrictions begin to loosen, COVID-19 continues to change how everyone’s personal and professional lives operate. As a result of the pandemic and the on-going limitations, many employers have decided to adopt work from home policies on a more permanent basis.

 

There are tons of benefits of adopting a work from home policy, and as one of the top employment agencies in the GTA we’ve seen how this employment style can benefit both employees and employers. Companies need to establish a defined remote working policy though. Below are some important factors to consider when developing work from home guidelines.

 

Determine Who Can Work from Home

Not every employee is an ideal candidate for remote work. Some employees don’t work effectively with little supervision and some roles cannot operate outside of the workspace. Before establishing a remote working policy clearly define which roles can work from home and what the standards for that are. Maybe employees need to be in the role for a certain amount of time before they can remote work or establish a trial basis so that employees can prove they can still effectively work in a home environment.

 

Clearly Define Expectations

It’s very important for employers to clearly define work expectations for all remote workers. Employees should know exactly what is expected of them each day. This makes it easier for you to determine whether working from home is effective or not. Expectations should include types and frequency of communication, work hours, availability, and quality of output. Make sure employees know exactly what you want them to do, when you want them to do it, and how you would like it done.

 

Choose Communication Methods

One key thing our employment agency learned when working from home during the pandemic is that communication is key. Effective communication can be one of the biggest challenges in managing virtual employees, so employers need to decide how and when communication happens. Encourage employees to regularly check their emails or internal chats and have their phones charged and on hand. Employees may even want to schedule regular video or voice calls to check-in.

 

Clarify Expenses Covered

One of the perks of working from home for both employees and employers is reduced costs. Employees get to save on commuting, while employees can decrease office costs. However, there are other costs associated with working from home. High-speed internet, phone data, office supplies, and furniture, as well as electricity and other utilities all need to be taken into consideration. Employers should decide which expenses they’ll cover, whether they’ll provide an allowance, or if they’ll provide other means of compensation.

 

Keep Employees Engaged

The one downside to working from home is that the boundaries between personal and professional life can get blurred. This can be an issue for some employees. It’s important for employers to regularly make sure employees stay engaged with both their work and the company. It may take a little more effort to create ties to the company and other employees if they’re not in the same office, but employers need to foster a strong company culture, even virtually.

 

Final Thoughts

Working from home is a growing trend that has only increased as a result of COVID-19. There are tons of benefits for both employees and employers, such as more flexibility, increased efficiency, and reduced costs. Remote working can be hugely beneficial for companies as long as there are clear guidelines established beforehand.

 

If you’re looking for HR solutions from experienced professionals, Nova Staffing can help. Our employment agency is one of the best in Toronto and the GTA, and our team can help your company find, hire, and train new employees that will be working from home. Contact us today to get started!