Some of us are good at making our dreams a reality. There are others that don’t dare to dream.  Malcom Forbes once said, “When you cease to dream, you cease to live.” Dare to live by systematizing how to make your dreams your reality using the replicable process below.

• Visualize. Make all the jokes you want; visualization works. If you asked the most successful athletes in the world, I bet they employ this technique. The pro golfer envisions the ball going into the cup — every time. When you wake up in the morning, what drives you? What do you assume is at the other end of that day?   Using visualization gives you a road map from point A to point B.

• Plan. Plan work and work the plan. Think about what happens when you don’t plan. How do you feel? Is your list of accomplishments small or large? How do you know when you get “there” if you have not defined what that is?

• Commit. You will lose focus without commitment. Each day, my wife creates a physical list, the old-fashioned way with pencil and paper. A certain magic happens when you commit something to paper. It becomes real.

• Track progress. Have some small goals that are relatively simple to make a reality. Think of it like a “gimme” — a small win that takes the pressure off the big hurdles motivates you to keep moving forward. As a woodworker, three-quarters of my enjoyment of a project is planning it, with the goal in mind, taking one bite at a time. Building the measurable success factors and milestones fuels the drive to attend to the goal.

• Review. At The Applied Companies, our strategic plan is based on what the reality was at the time of creation. External factors come in to play that may not have been incorporated. We continually check the environment and, as a result, we learn and are more efficient and we break bad patterns.

• Celebrate. There is one true thing about achievement — it feels good. Human beings need and want to celebrate and have fun in the process. There is a different kind of fire there that spreads and that energy is contagious. In the purest sense, when you work hard, you play harder.

• Next steps: Achieve, repeat, live.

Written by Jim Annis President/CEO of The Applied Companies, which provide HR solutions for today’s workplace. Celeste Johnson, Tom Miller and Nissa Jimenez, Applied’s division directors, contributed to this article.

Applied Staffing Solutions is holding an offsite Hiring Event at the Bourbon Square Casino (1040 Victorian Avenue, Sparks, Nevada) in the newly renovated Balcony Banquet Room – Wednesday, August 21, 2013 – 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.  Some of the Applied Staffing Solutions’ 100+ long-term positions are the only way for job seekers to showcase their skills and “get a foot in the door” at great northern Nevada companies.

Employers depend on staffing services to supplement and enhance their Human Resources recruiting efforts. Long-term temporary and temporary-to-hire positions offer a win-win framework for employers and job seekers. Employers get to see a candidate’s skills and character in action before they make a hiring decision while continuing to meet their company goals.  The candidate receives the opportunity to flex their skills and talents while observing the company’s culture and environment - see what they are really like day-to-day.

Some job postings details are on our website www.AppliedStaffing.com Jobs include, but are not limited to:

Direct Hire: Safety Coordinator. Long Term Temporary/Temporary-to-Hire: Data Entry Clerks, License Processors, Customer Service Representative, Asset Management Coordinator, Receiving Clerk, Inbound Receiving Clerk, Shipping Clerk, IT Technician, Field Service Technician, CNC Machinists, CNC Machinists Mill & Lathe Operator, Sheet Metal Welder, Machine Assembler/Fabricator, Fabricator, Furniture Upholstery Industrial Sewing, Entry Level Seamstresses (GREAT Opportunity must be 18+ years of age, eager to learn ), Picking/Packing and Warehouse positions and more!

We appreciate you posting this at your facility or passing it forward to job seekers.  Thank you for working together to help put northern Nevada to work.

 Written by Susan Fix, The Applied Companies Community Liaison Partner. Fix has worked 16 years in staffing services performing outside sales, recruiting, permanent and temporary placement coordination, career counseling, customer service and social media/business.

Have you been intellectualizing that business continuity planning is important? Just like in golf, having desire, information, skill and technology is one thing, execution is another. We handle payroll for thousands of people and have an obligation to get employees a paycheck, even during a disaster. We hired Galena Property Services to help us create a formal plan where I am not the point person but the mouthpiece in a crisis. Responsibilities have been delegated so no undue burden lies with any one person. Consider the components of the plan:

Risk assessment – We established a grid with likely disasters, what is the probability of occurrence, and how each would impact employees, clients, property and our business. We ranked them low, moderate, and high whereas earthquake is number one, followed by flooding and loss of power.

Crisis Action Team (CAT) – The CAT takes key areas and assigns a responsible party to ensure communications sync up in the event of a tragedy. We designed a “grab and go” laminated one sheet synopsis of each person’s role and their responsibilities, specific contacts, explicit ER instructions, i.e., “pending an incident which impacts life or safety of business call 911 then call CAT.” We’ve spelled it out like a kindergartner because what usually takes nine seconds to comprehend under normal circumstances takes 40 seconds under stress.

The Resources – We assume everyone is following the playbook to minimize chaos. Our CAT binder has emergency instructions for all CAT members and is the comprehensive “source” for any type of business interruption. Each team member possesses a thumb drive with the entire binder contents. There are step-by-step instructions, for example if the servers go down, what we would need to bring up from day one to two weeks’ worth of process. Vendor partners (property managers, telecommunications, banks, and IT consultants) participated and identified elements not thoroughly considered, clarified our assumptions – some realistic and others not – about how they would help, and made our plan more well-rounded.

Considerations – What we found is that a business continuity plan reflects corporate values. Ours is the wellbeing of our staff. Our plan helps leadership sleep at night and helps employees feel secure. We are working through the plan, executing drills, and notifying our clients about expectations during certain disasters. In a parallel process, we are seeking rate reduction in our various insurance policies.

If you asked your employees, clients, and vendors about how well your company is prepared for a disaster – would they respond confidently?

Written by Jim Annis President/CEO of The Applied Companies, which provide HR solutions for today’s workplace. Celeste Johnson, Tom Miller, and Nissa Jimenez, Applied’s division directors, contributed to this article.

It’s that time of year again when nostalgia is king, chrome rules and hot cars are rumbling in the streets. Hot August Nights is THE classic car event hosting tens of thousands of visitors in northern Nevada. With all the excitement and interest generated and so many of our residents volunteering during the event, what a great opportunity to host a HAN Employee Day.

Pick a day during the week – Friday’s are always good – and welcome your staff to dress like its 1972 or older (the HAN car registration criteria). 1950’s attire is always popular. If anyone in the company has a classic car not registered in HAN, invite them to park in the company’s parking area in front of your building for a mini show and shine. Bring in burgers, fries and Coca-Cola for lunch, turn on some rock and roll and let your employees know how much you appreciate how they “show and shine” for the business.

If you need a tip on where to find men and women’s vintage fashions, try the locally owned Junkee Clothing Exchange. Owners Jessica and Troy Schneider have been in business five years as of May 2013. The recycled clothing and affordable antiques cover all types of costumes and centuries with a large focus on the 1920’s – 1990’s. Plan on spending lots of time going through the treasures located at 960 S. Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada, (775) 322-5865.

A Hot August Nights Employee Day is just one more way to make your establishment a great place to work by providing an opportunity for employees to relax and enjoy each other’s company.  

Written by Susan Fix, The Applied Companies Community Liaison Partner. Fix has worked 16 years in staffing services performing outside sales, recruiting, permanent and temporary placement coordination, career counseling, customer service and social media/business.

This is the second article in the series, “How to Fire.” The first article focused on why employers should fire employees and the good and amazing things that can result for the organization. This article focuses on how to fire up the employees that remain.

Keep the star players happy

Spending money is not imperative. Our casual days and potlucks are key to our workplace satisfaction. We thrive through open communication, revving everyone up with Monday morning staff meeting and monthly staff meetings.

Sorting out those diamonds in the rough

We ensure that those employees who want to advance their career have every opportunity to do so. Our benefits plan generously offers reimbursement for an accredited institution credits.

Having to say good-bye to nice people

A few months back, we had to course correct for some decisions made years earlier. We had a position that was not truly being utilized the way we had envisioned it. We had to let someone go, someone that everyone generally liked, a nice person. Leadership had to do a lot of explaining: the market changed, the business line morphed and the job duties were not needed. We were containing the emotional piece and concentrating on workflow.

Resetting the course

When we do say goodbye, employees need to heal for a while. You can’t expect human beings that experience layoffs or firings to be back to normal and 100 percent a few days later. If you have 80 of your employees buy into your company’s vision – you’re golden. There will always be someone that will stand a someone else’s desk and complain a little bit. We’re experimenting with some new processes that proactively focus on the good resulting from a separation and good things in general:

• On our new employee’s first day, their desk is ready, pre-printed business cards are at that desk, and they get a little welcome gift in the form of a Starbucks gift card.  No more waiting two weeks to be productive.
• We reward longevity through time and service certificates for people to display.
• We’re firing everyone up on increasing gross profit by tying it to our bonus plan, which forces employees to question what they do every day and create positive change.
• When employees receive a compliment, we’re sharing it with the entire organization via email.

Getting employees fired up can move them from feeling like a victim – or their fear of becoming the victim of a firing or layoff – and move them to take action in a hopeful, energized, inspired and resilient way.

Written by Jim Annis President/CEO of The Applied Companies, which provide HR solutions for today’s workplace. Celeste Peterson, Tom Miller, and Nissa Jimenez, Applied’s division directors, contributed to this article.