Here's to a Bright Holiday Season!

Now that we're in the holiday season, it's a perfect time to reflect on the people and partnerships that make our work meaningful. At Workbox Staffing, we’re especially grateful for employers like you who work to support growth and success in the areas we serve. This year, as businesses everywhere navigate new challenges, we’re reminded that resilience, adaptability, and dedication are the true cornerstones of our work together.

In this month’s issue, we’re focusing on resources and strategies to help you finish the year strong and set the stage for a successful 2025. Whether it’s tips for workforce planning, insights on industry trends, or a quick look at community involvement, we hope you find something valuable in this issue to support your team’s continued success.

Thank you for being part of our Workbox Staffing community. We hope you and your team had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with connection, gratitude, and a well-deserved break. Here’s to the hard work we’ve achieved together—and to a bright path forward!

What to expect in this month's newsletter:

• Featured Blog:?While there are certainly challenges in hiring talent, there are proven solutions to overcome them. Our latest blog post covers this so you can attract and retain team members.
• Industry News: Well-being plans offered by companies have wonderful intentions - but plan participation is often lacking. We have tips to help encourage employee engagement.
• HR Trends: Some of the most interesting insights and trends we're watching this month.
• Safety: Lagging and leading safety indicators are incredibly important for keeping teams healthy and productive.
• Social Impact: Learn about the new Workbox resources guide to help team members get ahead.

Navigating the complexities of talent acquisition and retention has never been more critical – or more challenging! From skill mismatches to lengthy hiring processes and shifting candidate expectations, HR professionals face many obstacles that can feel downright overwhelming. But understanding these common challenges is the first step toward finding practical, effective solutions.

Our latest blog post–12 Common Hiring Challenges HR Managers Face (and Solutions to Overcome Them)–explores strategies to tackle those issues head-on. These strategies range from streamlining your hiring processes and mitigating unconscious bias to enhancing communication and aligning recruitment efforts with organizational goals.?

Effective solutions like those not only improve the candidate experience but also foster a culture of inclusivity, innovation, and employee satisfaction within your organization.

Discover how to transform hiring roadblocks into opportunities for growth by reading the full post. Take the first step toward building a more effective and engaged workforce today!

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Broken Employee Well-Being Plans

Many organizations have expanded their well-being programs in recent years, but participation often falls short. While nearly 80% of employees have access to well-being benefits, only about 25% take advantage of them. This gap highlights a common issue: well-being plans that don’t meet employees’ needs.

Taking that into consideration, here are four signs that your well-being plan could use some improvement:

1. No Feedback. If employees weren’t consulted during the plan's development, it likely doesn’t address their preferences.
2. Poor Communication. Employees may not understand the benefits or how to access them.
3. Lack of Trust. Employees may hesitate to share information if they don’t trust how it will be used.
4. Low Participation. If signups don’t translate to usage, something in the program is misaligned.

The unfortunate part here is that a well-executed plan can drive higher engagement, with nearly half of employees who use well-being programs reporting high engagement levels. For non-users, the level of engagement drops to around 30%.

Tips for building an engaging well-being program include:

1. Tailor Your Offerings. Customize initiatives for different needs, such as student loan support, physical health resources, or mental well-being tools.
2. Gather Employee Feedback. Regularly survey employees about their needs and interests.
3. Involve Organizational Leadership. When leaders champion and use the programs, employees are more likely to follow.
4. Train Managers. Equip leaders to promote inclusivity and help employees navigate offerings.
5. Track Program Effectiveness. Use data to measure participation and outcomes, then refine your approach.

Learn More Here

HR Trends to Watch

Here are some interesting insights and trends we’re watching this month at Workbox Staffing:

• Employees at organizations with equitable leadership practices–including creating better workplace civility by appreciating employee perspectives–are 19 times more likely to rate an organization’s culture as good or excellent.
• Over 80% of employees don't fully understand their benefits, presenting challenges for open enrollment.
• Reskilling and upskilling programs are becoming strategic priorities to help retain workers as AI changes skill demands.
• A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE shows that kindness at work can boost well-being and reduce stress.

Safety Lagging & Leading Indicators?

Did you know that our safety team keeps track of lagging and leading indicators to identify safety trends in the workplace? This month, we want to take a look at what these mean, how we use them, and why they are both so important for keeping our associates safe.

In industry terms, lagging indicators measure some aspect of safety performance after the fact. A classic example here is an injury rate because the injuries have already happened. These indicators are reactive and past-focused.

Conversely, leading indicators are proactive and intended to predict future safety performance. Reporting hazards or near-misses and collecting safety improvement suggestions are good examples of this kind of indicator. So, too, is tracking the number of safety meetings and workplace safety inspections.

At Workbox Staffing, we track both leading and lagging indicators to get a complete picture of our client’s safety culture. We engage our associates to reinforce and reward their attention to leading indicators.?

Our safety team routinely visits our clients to help them identify leading indicators that can save them costly fines and injury claims with proactive action. These visits typically entail our safety team members stopping in to introduce themselves, meet the EHS/HR team, and get a sense of the culture of safety in client facilities.

These visits can provide valuable expertise that keeps your entire team healthy and productive. If you’re looking for insights beyond your OSHA 300 logs, connect with your area rep to schedule a complimentary safety evaluation.?

For information from OSHA about leading indicators, check out this link.

Workbox Resource Guides

The Workbox Staffing team has been hard at work creating resource guides highlighting state-level services that remove barriers to employment and help your team members get ahead. Find valuable information on programs to support transportation, child care, skills training, and more here:

https://www.workboxstaffing.com/candidate-resources.

Have any questions? Want to see how a staffing agency could help you reach your goals?

Feel free to reach out and let us know!