Resources
EMPLOYERS
If you are like most employers, struggling to hire folks from Black, Latinx, and other marginalized communities, you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Amongst the “great resignation”, we as workers are getting fed up with how we are treated. When we typically spend more time with our bosses, our teams, and our work than our families, it makes a big difference how that time is spent. It is, and will likely remain for some time, a candidate’s market. We know that employers are being pushed to not only “talk the talk” but deliver on promises of creating more equitable and inclusive environments.
One of the best ways to connect with a diverse group of candidates is to build relationships within specific communities. As we have worked at Cinder to include more people in the workplace, we have learned that these efforts are essential to building trust and ensuring that you make meaningful changes to your organization. Here are 5 key steps for finding and engaging with a community that you are not currently attracting:
Linda is an amazing networker, and a friend of Cinder. As a Kindness Catalyst, she champions the profound benefits of kindness through her work as an author, professional speaker, and consultant. She lives in Oregon with her husband of 26 years, and they have two spirited young adult children and two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Ginger and Remy.
Alice is friend of Cinder and an amazing networker. As a vice president and partner at BPG Wealth Management, she’s a veteran when it comes to building lasting relationships. Alice is also a frequent public speaker on the topics of “Why Women Need to be in Charge of their Money” and “Your Network is Your Prosperity – How to Build a Strong Network by Paying it Forward”.
Kirsten is a friend of Cinder and an amazing networker! She has been connecting with people throughout her career as a broadcast news journalist, attorney, and business leader. After many years working for nonprofit foundations such as OHSU and Doernbecher, Kirsten founded Illumination Coaching. Her work as a leadership coach and consultant unites her communication expertise with her passion for authentic connection and helping people reach their full potential.
Marcus is a friend of Cinder and a phenomenal networker! He is a senior recruiter at Instrument and has worked with a wide variety of organizations, recruiting everybody from veterinarians to C-level executives. As an equity consultant and community advocate, Marcus is dedicated to building diverse ecosystems within the innovation economy. Over the past few years, he also led several diversity and inclusion initiatives at Cloudability.
Anyone who has spent time networking will tell you – it isn’t always easy. It takes energy, dedication, and a bit of bravery. Many people avoid networking at all costs, but with a bit of practice and the right approach it can bring amazing value into your social life and career. If you thrive on making connections and love learning about people – what they do and more importantly, why they do it – you’ll connect with awesome people. Becoming a networking pro takes time, but if you follow these essential principles, you’ll be well on your way towards networking effectively and authentically:
Last year, Cinder partnered with First Tech Federal Credit Union to create an incentivized savings plan that rewards employees for good saving habits. We were thrilled to renew the program for 2019 and even doubled the potential saving rewards to $200!
Organizations committed to diversifying their hiring practices face a variety of challenges. Consciously expanding your hiring pipeline to incorporate demographics that you have been excluding requires an honest look inward and a clear path forward.
Will Elliott is a friend of Cinder and a remarkable networker. Will has been working in the real estate industry since 2008, both as a property manager, and now as a broker. After living in the Portland area for almost a decade, he moved back to Hawaii in 2017 to work for Cushman & Wakefield ChaneyBrooks and use his experience to bring value to the community in Hawaii.
Lou McKellar is a friend of Cinder and a fantastic networker. Having worked for large companies in the Bay Area, Japan, and Portland, he brings a wide range of networking experiences to the table. Lou has worked in sales, marketing, and HR, and he is currently a Human Resources Manager at Intel.
Scott Zellmer is a friend of Cinder and a phenomenal networker. He has worked as an engineer for cutting-edge companies like Micro Systems Engineering and RevMedx. As a partner at Arpeggiate Consulting Group, he uses his 30+ years of experience in technology development and manufacturing to help small businesses grow.
Staffing Services can give you great flexibility to increase your workforce for seasonal peaks, provide coverage for planned absences, or help with well-defined projects that require unique skill sets. When you need temporary staff, it’s almost always best to work with an agency to find candidates and fill these positions. Most temp placement fees are billed as a markup on the employee’s hourly rate.
It is always challenging to evaluate someone’s technical skills and cultural fit in a relatively brief and highly-charged interview process.
Some agencies provide “managed services” (aka “statement of work” or “outsourcing”) to do work outside your core business – for example, janitorial services, security services, IT services or web development services. Services like these can be short-term or they can last for years. It all depends on your organization’s needs.
In theory, hiring on your own is a good way to save money. In practice, discovering the best talent, establishing a consistent process, and finding the time to do it all can be a huge headache for companies without internal recruiting and HR teams.
To hire on your own, you’ll need existing internal resources that can commit the necessary time and skills to filling your open positions. Depending on the size of your company, this could be you, your HR team, or the hiring manager.
The global market for mobile applications keeps growing and growing, creating a huge and steadily increasing demand for new app developers. Portland, OR, has become a hotspot for these developers.
Beaverton, OR (12/9/14) – Cinder Staffing announced today that the company captured the #9 spot on the Portland Business Journal’s (PBJ’s) list of Top 10 Metro-area Staffing Firms for 2014. The PBJ article announcing the results cited an expanding economy as part of the challenge for the regional job market. It also shared feedback from its “Top Staffing Firm” surveys that IT and engineering industry positions, in particular, can be the toughest to fill.
Beaverton, OR (6/18/15) – Cinder Staffing announced today that it has been named the Portland Business Journal’s Fastest-Growing Private 100 Company (PBJ100) for 2015. Cinder’s status as #1 on the list was revealed during a live countdown at the popular annual PBJ100 event, held on 6/17 in Portland. Click here to see the live video.