Like it or not, a key to being successful in the workplace is learning how to get along with everyone, even the those who drive you crazy.

Call them toxic, call them nuts, call them weird (and sometimes you also call them “boss”), learning how to enjoy your job and do your job well while dealing with difficult coworkers is a great skill to have. However, it’s a skill that usually has to be learned. Here are some tips on how to get along with difficult coworkers.

If your difficult coworker is your boss, you have our sympathy. However since you probably want to keep your job — at least until you can find another one — you’re going to learn how to live with him. Never belittle, confront or yell at your boss. Avoid putting him down with your coworkers when he’s not around because word can and often does leak out.

Troublesome co-workers come in many different forms. There’s the backstabber, taking credit for work you did. There’s the guy who loves to gossip. There’s the drama queen. And let’s not forget the meddler and, possibly the most difficult of co-workers, the take-no-prisoners competitor

In order to alleviate the problem, You should approach a difficult coworker sooner rather than later. Don’t confront and don’t yell. Ask the coworker if the two of you could meet together in private and then bring up your concern. Your conversation might start something like this:

“Steve, I noticed the other day that you told our supervisor that the marketing idea our team came up with was yours. I remember all of us talking about it and brainstorming on it. Perhaps I misheard you. Could you explain your comment to me?”

Or: “Jane, Mary told me that you mentioned to her that my husband and I are having difficulty. Please understand that anything of that nature I tell you is confidential and I hope you won’t do it again May I have your word on that?”

A firm but gentle approach often can work wonders, especially with co-workers who undermine your ideas, authority or privacy. Often, all it takes is a short conversation such as described above for the individual to stop.

In fact, if you can find something — anything — to appreciate or like about a coworker you dislike, comment on it in a positive manner. A little appreciation can go a long way to forging an alliance, allowing the two of you to work together better, even if you never become truly friendly.

Sometimes, though, a heart-to-heart conversation between two professionals doesn’t solve the problem — some people really are petty, self-absorbed, über competitive, etc. If toxic behavior continues, and especially if it starts affecting the quality of your work or even your health, you may have to notify your manager or your company’s human resources department.

If you’re looking for your next terrific position and live in the Bay Area, contact Bayside Solutions. We can help place you in temporary, temp-to-hire and direct placement positions with some of San Francisco’s finest companies.

We’ve all done it: hired someone who just turned out to be truly awful employee or, at the least, someone who never moved above mediocre.

Here are five common mistakes just about every hiring manager has committed, and tips on how to avoid them.

During an interview, stop talking! The point of an interview is to get to know the job candidate talking, not to hear the soothing sounds of your own voice. Listen 80 percent of the time and you’ll learn a lot of valuable information about your candidate. Watch how she responds to your question about why she left her previous employer. Note how he perks up when he talks about how he’s read your annual reports for the past five years and learned that you doubled in size in that time and then baldly states he wants to work for a winning company just like yours! You also may want to consider using behavioral interview techniques so that you can learn how your candidate handled challenges and opportunities in previous jobs.

Be sure the candidate is very clear regarding the job’s duties and expectations. Will she be expected to travel two days a week in her sales job? Does the PR person need to pitch to X number of media professionals a week? Will the administrative assistant report to two or three managers? This helps clear up any misconceptions about the job (she thought she traveled two times a month; he thought he would be supporting a group of five directors, etc.)

Don’t place so much emphasis on the  first interview. Aim to take your first impression of a candidate more lightly than you probably are inclined to do. Realize that many people who interview can end up not being a good employee. In addition many people get very nervous during interviews and clam up. That awfully “nice” and “quiet” person could become quite testy once he’s been on the job a few weeks. Meanwhile, many truly shy people can sometimes be quite wonderful contributors to your company’s success.

Aim for several interviews (at least two) before making your choice. See if you can get others to sit with the candidate as well. You also may want to give some personality tests to see if a person’s talk matches her true personality. For example, regarding sales positions: some experienced interviewees can be very gregarious during an interview but then clam up when facing sales prospects. Test for the correct sales personality.

In addition, be aware that there’s a dark side to every positive personality trait. A “caring” person can go overboard and become too involved with office personalities. Conversely, someone who’s proud of her “I get the job done” trait could become so pushy around others as she strives to complete tasks that she alienates her co-workers.

Ask the exact same questions of each candidate for the same position. This way you’ll be able to compare candidates using the same criteria. You’ll be better able to compare candidates’ strengths and weaknesses. Develop a ranking/rating system for your interview process.

Let Bayside Solutions take the often tedious, lengthy and highly subjective interview process off of your to-do list. Our Bay Area staffing firm can bring you skilled and professional workers for temporary, temp-to-hire and direct hire assignments with just a phone call. We look forward to hearing from you.

If you’ve been working at one employer for a few months and think it’s time for a promotion, here are some ideas to help you do so.

First of all, promotions go to those who deserve them. Who do extra. Just because you’ve worked at a business for two years doing the same thing doesn’t mean a promotion comes automatically. Those who get promoted have earned it.

So, do the work. Be a positive force. Have enthusiasm. Aim to do your best every day.

Do you have the skills and education to do the position you seek? Do you walk your talk and do as you say you will. Do you have the necessary degrees, if a certain degree is necessary? Are you continually upgrading your skills? Do you do more than “just enough”?

When you’re given a challenging assignment, do you embrace it, or do you whine (and if you do whine, we hope you don’t do so at work!)?

Don’t rest on your laurels. That is, if you finished a terrific project last month, don’t sit back and do nothing. Instead, focus on giving it your all on the tasks and projects before you now. Only you care about how well you did yesterday; your boss is going to care big time about how well you do tomorrow.

Volunteer for projects. Take initiative. Solve your boss’ problems.

If you’re an assistant manager and are gunning for the manager position, do your work as a manager would. Demonstrate that you already have what it takes to be a manager now.

Document your successes. Write them down. Do them today because six or nine months from now, when it’s review time, you — and your boss — will have forgotten. You can this success document to put together a case for a promotion because you’ll probably have to….

Ask for a promotion. If you want to be promoted, you’ll more than likely have to ask for it. Be prepared to present your case to your boss in a professional manner, reminding her of your accomplishments, how you’ve helped your employer grow, save money, get new clients, run more efficiently, etc. State your case clearly and use any documentation you may have on hand (your success log, an “atta girl” letter from you boss, etc.) to prove your case.

If you’re ready to promote yourself into a new position, give Bayside Staffing a call. We have some terrific temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments at some of San Francisco’s best companies. Contact us today.

The days when temporary employees worked as “fill-in” workers when a company’s regular workers were out sick or on vacation are long gone. Instead, temporary workers often are highly skilled workers such as doctors, nurses, CEOs, architects, designers, lawyers, computer programmers, etc.

Of course, temporary employment services continue to provide the country’s businesses with warehouse workers, administrative assistants, receptionists and general laborers, but the “face” of today’s temporary worker is changing to one who possesses high-level skills.

In fact, according to an American Staffing Association Intelligence Report,
Staffing Employees: Extraordinary Human Resources:

• Staffing employees are better educated than the overall workforce, with 74 percent having at least some college education (compared to only 62 percent of the overall workforce.
• Staffing employees who prefer temporary and contract work are more likely to hold a bachelor’s degree and earn higher wages.

In addition, many people who work for temporary employment firms do so because they enjoy the variety and the chance to learn new skills temporary assignments can give them.

They also see temporary work as a bridge to a regular position on a company’s payroll. In fact, many people who work for a staffing service see the service as the way to find a full-time position. As the ASA Intelligence Report states:

“Everyone knows that there’s no such thing as a truly permanent job. But most staffing employees and most staffing clients want something staffing firms have to offer: a bridge to permanent employment.”

• Most staffing employees who want a permanent job get one eventually—43 percent get hired by the staffing client.
• Almost 25 percent of those who got a permanent job say they did so faster because of their temporary or contract work.
• Fewer than half of staffing employees are actively seeking permanent employment on their own — most are either using their temporary job as their only way to search for a position. (some just prefer the temporary/contract work).

“As the world economy evolves and agility becomes absolutely essential for success in the global marketplace,” the report states, “the smartest companies are taking bold approaches to staffing,” the report states. “Increasingly, they are eschewing the traditional hiring model. They are moving away from hiring processes that can take weeks or months to recruit, interview, screen, and negotiate with candidates to fill a single opening. They no longer see the wisdom in filling every position with a permanent employee whose real cost to a company only begins with a salary and extends to benefits, payroll taxes, vacation time, holiday pay, and a host of other expenses.”

To read the full Intelligence Report, click here.

If you’re a company doing business in the Bay area, Let Bayside Solutions help you maximize your human resources efforts. We’ll be happy to demonstrate how using our staffing service can help your company become more agile and more profitable. Contact us today!

Most of us want to do well at work. We take pride in a job well done and in putting the effort necessary to help the company for which we work succeed.

There’s probably no one among us who doesn’t like recognition for our work, whether it be through an “atta girl” from the boss, a commendation from the company’s CEO or a promotion and raise.

Still, just doing good work and hoping higher ups notice and reward you for it without you asking will get you… probably not much other than the self-satisfaction of doing a job well.

Here are some tips to help you impress your boss:

As you perform your duties, keep the whining to a bare minimum. Don’t commiserate with your co-workers; don’t let yourself be sucked into a never-ending vat of negativity that occurs all-to-often at workplaces. You don’t have to be Pollyanna, but you should work to keep a positive attitude while at work. If you must vent, do after hours (and never with co-workers; word gets around).

Volunteer for projects others avoid. In fact, to become more visible to higher ups elsewhere in your organization, offer to work on company-wide projects, such as the HR diversity counsel, or the United Way committee. Take initiative and get things done — without being asked.

Become the go-to person for something. In another words, hone some skills in at least one aspect of your position that are difficult to master, so that when your boss needs someone to handle this critical aspect of a project, she knows to go straight to you.

Give 100 percent. Meet your deadlines (or, if missing one is unavoidable, come to your supervisor as soon as you know so: explain the reason why the deadline will be missed and be sure to give your boss a new deadline. Do what you say you will do; be reliable.

Keep your skills up and learn new ones. Ask you boss if you may attend educational conferences. Sign up for one-or two-day workshops (with your boss’ permission). Show your supervisor you have a yearning for learning; never just coast along.

Keep a “bragging file” of all the things you accomplish. Note any times you completed projects before the deadline, under budget, etc. This file will come in very handy when you sit down with your boss for your annual review. In fact, if you’re itching for a raise/promotion, writing a short report detailing all you’ve accomplished can go a long way to helping your boss see in black and white why you deserve a promotion and a nice raise to go along with it.

If you’re looking for your next terrific position and live in the Bay Area, give Bayside Solutions. We can help place you in temporary, temp-to-hire and direct placement positions with some of San Francisco’s finest companies. Contact us today!

What business isn’t looking to control expenses? Staffing firms offer many effective solutions for reducing overhead, managing operating costs and improving organizational performance. Used effectively, staffing services can save you more than they cost.

Here are some key ways you can use contract staffing to reduce costs in your organization:

Convert fixed expenses to variable.
Develop a plan to staff your business strategically. Minimize the number of permanent employees on your staff to the level needed to sustain your core volume of work. Proactively plan to bring in extra help when it’s needed.

Bring in expertise on an as-needed basis.
Temporaries can deliver the experience and skills you need without impacting fixed expenses. As an added benefit, temporary “experts” are often less expensive than consultants.

Lower benefits costs.
Limit benefits expense by using temporary employees. Most temporary employees receive only limited benefits which are paid by the temporary staffing service. Companies with extensive benefits programs may not want to offer full benefits to all employees. Using a temporary staffing, payrolling or employee leasing service may make it possible to offer more limited and cost effective benefits programs to these employees.

Eliminate overtime.
Use temporary employees to reduce the amount of overtime worked by your permanent staff.

Reduce training costs.
Reduce training costs and learning curves by bringing in temporary employees who are trained and have experience using the skills you need.

Streamline recruiting.
Use a permanent placement service to eliminate the cost and time involvement associated with advertising, screening resumes, interviewing, testing and reference checking applicants.

Lower payroll expenses.
Eliminate the costs associated with processing and administering your company’s payroll and benefits by using a payroll or employee leasing service.

Reduce unemployment claims.
Using a temporary in place of a short-term employee prevents an unemployment claim from affecting the client company.  Legally, payrolled or leased employees work for the company providing the payrolling or employee leasing service. All claims affect the staffing service’s unemployment rating, not yours.

Eliminate operating inefficiencies.
Inefficient functions can be outsourced to services that can perform the work more effectively. The outsourcing service should be able to reduce expenses and improve performance while allowing your company to focus on its core competencies.

Develop a Strategic Staffing Plan for Your Organization
At Bayside Solutions, we help clients evaluate their current workforce and develop a strategic staffing model to help lower overall employment costs and access the skilled talent they need.  Discover more about Bayside Solutions contract staffing services.