Old Versus New Thinking in Staffing

Navigation the Staffing Industry in a Millennial World

Recently my family and I took a trip to Las Vegas for a soccer tournament for one of my kids. While there, we stayed with my sister and spent some time with her. At her house we starting talking about video games with my kids as well as some of the games we played as kids. This of course began a competition of Super Mario Brothers. We played this game along with some others all weekend in between soccer games, eating, and occasionally leaving the house.

Isn’t it amazing the difference in games from when I was a kid (Atari, Asteroids, Combat, Pac Man, and even Super Mario Brothers) to what is available now? The graphics are ridiculous and seem so real. You can play online with others and communicate with them while playing without needing a phone attached to a 20 foot cord.

So much has changed in the past 30-40 years. The staffing industry is no different.

Old Staffing vs. New Staffing

How we advertise/recruit for potential applicants. We used to be able to put an ad in the newspaper and you would get plenty of applicants to come into your office. Now we scour social media and utilize various online job boards as the main source of finding qualified applicants.

The way we onboard new applicants for a particular client. We now E-Verify every applicant. More and more clients perform drug tests, require background checks, and additional skills testes testing prior to assignment to a job.

The way we hire and work with internal staff. It is not the same.

I was in a meeting a month or two ago and one of the topics that was presented was the idea of old and new thinking when dealing with employees. This came from Hoboken411.com.

I have to admit that when we addressed this topic and went over these items my thinking seemed to side in many areas of the old thinking mentality. Thank goodness I could relate to some in the “new thinking” section as well.

Now I am not advocating that it is all or nothing on each of these areas of thinking – different situations demand different thinking. I do love topics like this because it allows me to consider how I do things, how the world changes, and how I can continue to improve.

Be Adaptable

Nowadays we have to think differently. Those new wave of employees are different. They have grown up with a computer in their hand. They have instant access to all types of information. They flat out think different because the environment demands it. I believe the best we can do is to gather the information and create a customized plan for each situation.

There is no “one fix” for everything. The ability to draw in all types of information and then be able to adapt and utilize that for each situation will enable us to get the desired results.

This is true in video games as well as in staffing. I challenge you to think differently in terms of how you hire and work with your employees. It will definitely up your game. And you’ll need to do that to have a chance of beating me in Super Mario.