For many of those who are looking at staffing services to find work, an important consideration is the kind of benefits they offer. Many staffing firms offer a variety of benefits, including health insurance, as a way to recruit and keep workers.

One international staffing service, for example, offers up to five different healthcare plans for its workers. The company also offers dental and vision insurance, along with short-term disability insurance. Other types of insurance include life insurance and accidental death insurance.

This firm also offers a retirement program — a 401(k) through Wells Fargo. And the company also has a tuition reimbursement program for workers who want to return to school. In addition to these benefits, the staffing service recently began offering legal insurance. If one of the firm’s temporary employees is buying a house or wants to draw up a will, the employee can pay a premium for help from a lawyer.

RealStreet Staffing is not an international service and therefore can’t offer the scope of benefits as mentioned above. We do offer our temporary associates a variety of benefits, including:

For Salaried Employees

• 11 Paid Holiday
• 15 Days Paid Time Off
• 401(k) with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 7 percent
• Health Insurance Coverage – choice of three plans, two of which are company-paid for our employee.
• Vision Coverage
• Prescription Coverage
• Dental Plan
• Life Insurance
• LTD

For Hourly Employees

• 401(k) with dollar-for-dollar matching up to 7 percent
• Health Insurance Coverage – choice of three plans, two of which are company-paid for our employee.
• Vision Coverage
• Prescription Coverage
• Dental Plan
• Life Insurance
• LTD

We offer these benefits as a way to allow our workers to maintain their careers as well as to provide protection for their families. For more information on the Washington Metro-area jobs we offer, as well as our benefits, contact a recruiter at RealStreet Staffing today.

Sooner or later, every person in a position of leadership is going to make a mistake, one that will also entail the obligation of an apology.  We’re only human.

It might involve a snafu on the job, some action that was taken or not taken, or something that was said that shouldn’t have been.  Once it has occurred, what then?

The first thing to do, according to Dorie Clark, New Hampshire communications director for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, is admit that you made a mistake.  If you are in charge of a business and something embarrassing has happened, you need to get it out in the open.  Without doing that, no one will be able to concentrate on business issues because they will be focusing on the mistake. Ignoring it may make you feel better, but it won’t make the problem go away.  Once you address the problem, you speed up the recovery.

Another thing that might help, according to Clark, is showing a little humor.  You have to be able to laugh at yourself.  You can’t take yourself too seriously.  If you do this, you let your workers know it’s all right for them to blow a little steam off that way, too.

Then, in order to get back on track, you need to refocus attention back on the task at hand and away from the gaffe.  You might want to take a different approach in addressing the problem, or get feedback from workers on how best to proceed.

The most important thing is maintaining the trust of your team.  If your error has disturbed that trust, the first order of business is to reestablish it.  If you or your business has made a mistake – it could be a new product that didn’t work out in the market, something you said that was inappropriate, or a public relations plan that went off track – there always will be some people who will be pitiless when you look for some sign of forgiveness.  You can’t worry about them.  What have to work to do is fix that trust with your team.

Errors happen, but communicating effectively can go a long way to repair the problem.

RealStreet Staffing can help Washington Metro construction, engineering and architecture firms meet and exceed their strategic staffing goals. Contact us today so that we may work with you to craft a staffing plan that will help your business grow and prosper.

We have lots of ways of measuring our physical well being that help us determine when our bodies are healthy and when we are pushing them too much.  But what we don’t have is a good measure of our mental well being, and it’s something we need because we’re pushing ourselves like never before.  We are doing more things, with more speed, being deluged with information, and scattering our attention as never before in history of humankind.

We really have no reliable information on good mental habits.  Business treats workers as if their mental effort were inexhaustible, an automatically replenishing resource. Yet in many organizations, the sense of being overwhelmed is one of the biggest problems workers face.  And if people don’t have reliable information about the mind and the brain and under what conditions they operate best, workers may not be aware how that is affecting their performance and their living.

Two physicians, David Rock and Daniel Siegel, have developed seven activities for mental well being.  By doing these activities every day, you will help improve your mental well being.

The first activity is focusing on a task.  When we do this in a goal-oriented way we make strong connections in the brain.  Another activity is simply taking the time to play, to do something spur of the moment or something creative, which helps make new neural connections in the brain.  Taking time to interact with other people also is important for building connections in the brain. Another way to strengthen the brain is through physical activity, as is simple reflection, turning inward to think about our thoughts and feelings.   We need to take time to relax, to just let our mind wander occasionally to help it recharge.  And we need to get enough sleep, which is crucial to mental health and the best functioning of our brain.

The physicians aren’t recommending that businesses drop everything and radically change in order to allow employees the time to incorporate each activity.  But they are saying that people should be more aware of these activities that help lead to good mental health and should make an effort to engage in some of them as often as possible.

When you’re looking for a position in the engineering, architectural or construction fields, contact a recruiter at RealStreet Staffing, your Washington Metro staffing firm. We look forward to hearing from you.

If you were upset at hearing about air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job, you shouldn’t be, according to Tony Schwartz, a business consultant.  The problem here is basically biological.  We have evolved to be awake during the day and to sleep at night.  The later it gets, the more tired we become.  Some of the worst accidents in history occurred at night – Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, the Exxon Valdez running aground.

The government did a study about the effects of napping on the night shift and found that the more time the air traffic controllers had to sleep, the more alert they were.  Other studies of airline pilots showed the same thing.

What all of this points to is the fact that our society does not value rest and recuperation as much as it should.  And this hurts us all.  When we have a lot to do, rest and sleep usually are the first things to go, even if by cutting out sleep we do a poor job.  Businesses tend to judge their employees purely by the number of hours they put in, rather than the value they create.

But rather than get to work early and stay late, it would be better to get to work at little later and leave a little earlier, and take a few more breaks at work.  The fact is, if you do this, you will be more alert and do a better job.  And you will be more productive, because you will get more things done in a smaller amount of time.

You can see for yourself if resting more really does work, according to Schwartz.  For the next few weeks, try getting about 20 to 30 minutes of sleep between 1 and 3 p.m. You shouldn’t sleep for more than 30 minutes, or you will wake up groggy.  Then, at the end of the day, see how productive you were during the time after the nap.  You will be surprised at how much of a difference it makes.  If for some reason you don’t have the opportunity to sleep for a short time, find some other way to get some rest during the work day.  The best time schedule for this is to do it every 90 minutes.

The bottom line, according to Schwartz, is that there is nothing more important to improving your productivity and effectiveness at work than making sure you get enough rest.

RealStreet Staffing helps Washington Metro-area businesses in the construction, engineering and architecture sectors find productive and effective professionals. If you’re a Washington Metro engineering, construction or architecture firm looking for help in sourcing terrific professionals, contact us today!

One of the most vexing things for otherwise talented and ambitious business professionals is when they fail to reach their full capabilities, when they are less productive than they could be.

Often this is because they are reluctant to take on new challenges and new ventures, preoccupied with the worry that their performance in this new area will not measure up to the way they have performed in the past.

Because of their ability, they may not have struggled all that much to acquire the expertise they have, and they are unwilling to risk the reputation they have gained in attempting something new where they feel they  might embarrass themselves.  Even when they do encounter problems, these high-achievers are usually reluctant to ask for help, again out of concern for the way they feel it would reflect on them.

If you are one of these people, there are ways to manage yourself out of these mindsets and into excellence.  You need to do a self-examination and try to identify the things that are preventing you from taking on new challenges, the things that raise your anxiety level.

Also, you cannot let the past interfere.  Often we make comparisons between something we did in the past and something we are doing now, and we tend to assume, if the past event didn’t turn out well, that something similar might happen again, although there usually is no basis for such a belief.

When this happens, it is useful to ask yourself some questions about your assumptions.  In the past negative experience, why did you take on the challenge?  Why do you think you had difficulty with it?  Did you ask for assistance?  Does your viewpoint about what happened match the view of others?  In hindsight, what would you have done differently?  When you are able to see more clearly how the past event differs from the current challenge, it will be easier to tackle the new challenge.

Another thing to do is develop and use a support network.  Those who are outstanding performers generally don’t believe they need any help.  Or, again, they may be afraid to ask for help out of concern for how it may affect their reputation.  But in doing this, you are simply holding yourself back, depriving yourself of valuable advice that may help you.

Also, it is important to look at the big picture, to think long-range.  This helps you put things in perspective.  When you look at the big picture, small mistakes don’t seem so catastrophic.  And so you are more willing to take more risks.

Have you been putting off looking into new opportunities because you’ve heard “it’s tough out there?” If so, let RealStreet Staffing help you find a great position in the architecture, construction or engineering sectors in the Washington Metro area. Contact a recruiter today!

Keeping a diary is ordinarily not something we associate with a work strategy, but recording daily thoughts and events can actually help in providing focus to what we are doing, in giving us more patience, in providing ideas to help with planning, and in helping with personal growth.

At first, keeping a diary may seem a little awkward, and you may feel that you could be making better use of your time.  But recording thoughts on a daily basis can have valuable results.

By using a diary about work, you can gain a focus to help determine your strengths and to identify the things you do that give you the most satisfaction.  You may learn where you can be the most effective and successful in your workplace.  By sitting down to write each day and writing out your thoughts, you learn patience.

Your journal will become a record of your progress, and an aid in helping you to pinpoint where you might have made errors.  It will help you gain perspective on your career – looking back over time, it may show that what appeared to be huge obstacles were actually only minor disturbances.  It may even become habit forming.

Psychological research has also shown the value of writing about daily experiences.  Writing about traumatic or stressful events helps a person develop a stronger defense system to adversity and actually helps improve overall health and sense of well-being.  It may even lead to some unexpected discoveries.

One of the most important benefits to be gained from keeping a diary is personal development.  Keeping a daily diary will help you to gain a new perspective on yourself and your job and what you need to do to make yourself better.  One person who kept a diary noticed that in reading over his entries, he had a rather pessimistic attitude toward his days’ activities.  He now tries to approach new activities with a more optimistic frame of mind.  Another person said that keeping a diary helped him learn more about how to motivate and get along with the members of his team at work.

If you’re an experienced professional in the architecture, engineering or construction sectors in the Washington, DC area, bring your resume to RealStreet Staffing. We can place you in temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments with some of the DC area’s top employers. We look forward to hearing from you.

In the world of classical music, orchestra musicians are notoriously unhappy – with a job satisfaction lower than that of a prison guard.  While at the same time, the people at the top of the job satisfaction ladder are chamber orchestra musicians.

It is this dichotomy that has important lessons for everyone on how to lead and learn in business and in life, according to Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.  For him, the difference in outlook between the two comes down to leadership.

In the large orchestra, the management is top down.  It is for the most part a very autocratic arrangement, with the conductor having all of the power.  In the chamber orchestra, however, each player is pretty much autonomous, and the players cooperate to perform.

Taking his cue from the chamber orchestra, Zander sees his job as a conductor to help the musicians he is conducting achieve their best performance.  They need to look at possibilities, not limitations.  The same is true for businesses, which are taking note of Zander’s approach.

To look at things in terms of possibilities, we must realize that all of our actions are the result of a choice.  We can do things as we have always done them, or we can make the choice to question the assumptions we have always had.  Zander uses a piece of music as an example.  We can play the music as it has always been played, or, by questioning our assumptions about it, and reinterpreting it, we can change it into something altogether new.

As part of his leadership style, Zander now focuses on what he can offer to society, not just what he can accomplish for himself.  Looking at things this way takes the image of success and failure out of the picture.

When it comes to managing and solving problems, we all have choices, Zander says.  We can take on a problem with a range of different attitudes – fear, anger, boredom.  But we also can see the possibility inherent in each situation.  And looking at the possibilities in each problem will lead us to take a hard look at our assumptions because it is these assumptions which are often obstacles to making real innovation.  In every organization, we all need to look at the assumptions we make and make those assumptions explicit so that we can examine them and adjust as needed.

If you’re looking for a great new position in the engineering, architecture or construction sectors in the Washington, DC area, conduct yourself on over to RealStreet Staffing. We’re waiting to hear from you!

A recent study has shown that the way managers are viewed is likely to change in the future as more women move into management positions.

Currently, only about two percent of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women.  And so when most people think of leaders, they envision a male in the position.  But in some businesses, women have moved into leadership roles, and in these areas, there is no stereotype of who a leader is.

Another survey has shown that these stereotypes of leaders as men have been an obstacle for women who want to move up the corporate ladder.  Because of these stereotypes, surveys have shown that businesses are not fully using the talents and abilities of the women in their organizations.  Women make up more than half of the people serving in management, professional and related jobs, but only a little more than 15 percent of them were corporate executives at Fortune 500 companies.

The research has shown that it is not women’s management style that is to blame for the dearth of female executives but gender stereotyping.  And because of this stereotyping, companies are losing out on a lot of female management talent.

Men are still seen as capable of better leadership because of gender stereotyping, which often puts women in a no-win situation, as they are faulted for whatever methods they use.  For example, if they act according to gender stereotypes, they are thought to be too soft, but if they oppose those stereotypes, they are thought to be too hard.

Female executives are held to higher standards than men, but they receive less compensation.  They often have to work even harder than a man just to get the same level of recognition.

Women who are assertive as leaders are stereotyped as cold-hearted and not friendly, but if they take on a more feminine leadership personality, they are considered poor leaders.

All the research shows that businesses need to develop plans for how to combat these stereotypes so that they can get the best use out of their female management talent.  Educating employees about these stereotypes and their effects was listed as a key method of changing attitudes about women and leadership.

Organizations need to give all workers the resources to enable them to be more aware of the skills that women leaders have and how stereotypes can harm organizations.  Businesses also need to look at new ways of counteracting stereotypes in the workplace.

RealStreet Staffing can help you find exceptionally talent for all levels within your organization. Whether you’re looking for entry-level architects, engineers or construction professionals on up to project managers and beyond, we can help your Washington Metro firm. Contact us today!

Can money buy happiness? Some people believe it can. Yet more and more research is finding that…it depends.

Researchers are finding that several factors affect how money affects happiness. These factors include important things such as if a person lives in an industrialized or third-world nation. Other factors are what people spend money on, as well as what people do with their time and how people compare their income to others.

Surprisingly (to those who believe that he with the most toys at the ends wins), researchers are finding that, beyond a minimum level, the amount of money we earn doesn’t have too much to do with how happy we are. Studies do show that the richer we are, the happier we are, but people in rich countries aren’t that much happier than people who live in poorer countries.

What the research does show is that happiness is relative — it’s how we compare ourselves to others that raises or lowers our happiness quotient.

Basically, researchers say, it’s hard to grasp the connection between happiness and wealth. In fact, it’s difficult to come up with a definition of what happiness is that covers all cultures.

Wharton researchers, for example, looked at hundreds of thousands of people in 150-plus countries and found that how developed a country is tied in with the happiness of its citizens because the wealthier nations could afford to spend more on technology and science, thus leading to longer and healthier lives for their people.

Researchers also found that how well we believe we stack up to our friends and neighbors also has a an impact on how happy we are. An individual is much less happy if he or she is the only one in his or her circle to lose a job. That same individual isn’t as unhappy if surrounded by many people who also lost positions, researchers said.

In addition, when asked what makes them happy, researchers found that most of us say having good relationships with family and friends and making a contribution to society were given as answers more often than having money.

If you’re ready to make new friends and connections with a new position in the Washington Metro area, give RealStreet Staffing a call. We’ll help you find work in some of Washington DC’s top engineering, construction and architecture firms. We look forward to hearing from you!

There are many things in life you can give up that aren’t very beneficial: fatty foods, sweets, or a sedentary lifestyle. However, if you cut down on the amount of sleep you get every night you are setting yourself up for some tough times.

We all need a sufficient amount of sleep to function at our best, yet sleep often is the first thing to be sacrificed when we have a million and one things to do and little time to do it.

Cutting off an hour here and an hour there may not seem like much but the cumulative effect can be highly detrimental. It can significantly affect the quality of our work as well as our mood. Even though the affects may seem minor, sleep loss reduces our ability to learn and affects our memory.

So how much sleep do we generally need? Studies show that most people require seven to eight hours of sleep a night to feel comfortably rested. Research shows that less than three percent of the population can get by on less than seven hours. Unfortunately, the majority of the population is routinely getting fewer than seven hours of sleep every night.

Less sleep can translate into diminished production on the job. Studies show that individuals who excel at their jobs typically get more sleep than the general population. Consider a study in which a leading violinist reported getting an average of eight and a half hours of sleep every night while fitting in an hour nap during the day. This individual told researchers that next to practice, sleep was the next most important factor to improving his performance. Now that is an endorsement.

Getting a better night’s sleep has a lot to do with routine. The earlier you can get to bed, the better it is for you. Also, try to go to bed the same time every night. Doing so helps you to avoid staying up too late and running the risk of a poor night’s rest.

It is also recommended that one prepare for bed about 45 minutes in advance. That means ending busy activities first so you can begin to relax. Engage in calming activities such as reading a book, listening to relaxing music and even drinking a warm liquid such as milk.

If your mind is like a spinning Rolodex of unfinished projects, take time to jot them down before you go to bed. If you don’t, you run the risk of scanning over these projects in your mind and making it harder to fall asleep. This is the time when you want your mind to be as uncluttered as possible.

Relax. Your job search is in good hands when you come to RealStreet Staffing. We can help professionals in the construction, architecture and engineering sectors find terrific positions with some of Washington Metro’s best employers. Contact us today!