During your strategic planning have you been considering what a nationwide increase in hiring will do to your company’s hiring plans?
In this economy, companies have been forced to do more with less – fewer bonuses and raises (if any), fewer employees. This contraction in resources has put additional pressure on those remaining employees to keep up the pace and quality of better times. However, this could end up being a ticking time bomb. As soon as the economy, and subsequently hiring, picks up, those overworked employees could be among the first to leave.
This is a big topic in recruiting and needs to be talked about. At a recent lunch with panel members on the HR special interest group for TechAmerica, we decided to pull together an event to find out if and how people are addressing these concerns.
Employee loyalty was a big part of the discussion. One could make the argument that if you still have a job during one of the hardest recessions in most people’s careers, there is a certain amount of loyalty deserved to the company that helped keep food on your table. We were split on it, however, we did agree that there are always other parts of the company culture that factor into it. One committee member made a great point; statistically people don’t leave primarily because of compensation.
Lou Adler, a regular contributor on ERE, wrote an article that validates our conversation and highlights some of our major concerns. Check it out [here]
Here is a survey about employee satisfaction and economic recovery survey you might want to participate in. Check it out [here]
Stay tuned for the date of the TechAmerica event we are putting together. As soon as we iron out the details with the contributors we will post the information.
- Jeremy Barnaby, Partner and COO
One of the most difficult challenges facing hiring managers today is determining who will be the brightest, hardest working and best asset to their team and company. Despite the profound importance of this decision, there are several real life blunders that can compromise someone’s ability to choose the best from the rest.
1. Gut Feeling
This is one of my favorites. A hiring manager I worked with several years ago told me that they have an acute “gut feeling” for picking successful hires. The problem with relying on this alone is that it’s not a reliable measure. Sure, there are clues that candidates give in an interview that might give you the “gut feeling” they are wrong for a job (i.e. they claim to be detail oriented but show up 15 minutes late for the interview and refer to you as Janet when your name is really Kristy); but, on average the “gut feeling” you get should encourage you to gather more information to confirm or contradict your suspicions. The feeling you get should not be ignored, but it should be complemented with other things like behavioral interviewing to truly help predict a successful hire.
2. Disorganization
Some hiring managers purposefully opt not to prepare interview questions ahead of time, relying on intuition to guide them through conversation. The risk involved with this method is that it can give the impression of disorganization to the candidate. Questions may arise in their mind about whether the interviewer is serious about hiring for the position if they have not taken the time to prepare prior to the meeting. Not only can this affect the candidate’s view of the individual, it can influence the candidate’s view of the company as a whole. The candidate experience is extrememly important to attracting top talent.
3. Grilling candidates
This method of interviewing is sometimes used to see how candidates deal with high-pressure scenarios. Some believe that if a candidate can answer questions well under fire, they will perform will in the job. A word of caution: not all jobs have high-pressure situations like this and candidates can easily misunderstand the practice. If the job entails high-pressure presentations, have the candidate prepare a 10-15 minute presentation on a topic they might encounter on the job. Using real, on-the-job scenarios in the interview will give you a better understanding of how the candidate will fit in the role, or “try before you buy.”
4. Assessments
Assessments can be very effective in predicting someone’s success in a role. They provide additional sources of data and many of them are statistically tied to helping you make a better hire. The criteria, however, is that the assessment is only useful if it is connected to something they would either be required to know or do in the role you are hiring them for. An assessment of their Excel formula skills is only a good assessment if they are required to know how to create and use formulas in their day-to-day work.
Hiring is far from easy, but you can control some of the elements mentioned above and drastically improve your odds of hiring the “A” player you want.
– Kevin Servino, Recruiter
Join us Wednesday, December 16, 2009 from 1:00 p.m. through 2:00 p.m. (PST) as we partner with the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) to present What’s to Come? Talent Management Post Recovery, a live webinar workshop. Generator Group’s VP, Talent Management, Elaine Lees, will discuss how companies are approaching 2010 to manage the workforce and its related financial costs in ways that enhance prospects for future growth.
There are few people, even among those who count themselves an expert, willing to make predictions about when the economy will take a significant turn for the better. A recent Business Week issue even offered alternative viewpoints on the same cover – right side up – the economy is getting better, upside down – it’s getting worse. But in either case, many experts do agree on one point: even when the recession has officially ended, it is likely that volatile global economics are going to remain with us well into the next decade or beyond.
Companies today find themselves walking a fine line. They need to manage costs aggressively, but they also need to take actions now that will ensure superior levels of performance as business conditions improve. ”This adjustment to a ‘new normal’ will be difficult for many organizations, particularly in the area of talent management,” said Ann Obenchain, vice president of member services and marketing for OIA. “Even though the outlook for 2010 is one of cautious optimism, businesses still need now, more than ever, to maximize and energize their workforce.”
What’s to Come? Talent Management Post Recovery is free to participate in. To register [click here]