Managing Employees and HR

How Many Current Employees are in Your Departure Lounge?

SBOCTeam — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:19:00 GMT

By HRExpert

Nobody likes to talk about it, even though it is happening in workplaces all across America - employees who have decided it is time to fly the coop. Departure lounges are overflowing with these types of employees - all waiting for their final boarding call.

Employees rarely start a job thinking they will tour around the company for a while and then seek greener pastures, and yet it happens all the time. Here are five things you can do to prevent employees from taking flight:

Guard Your Exits

Are employees exiting as quickly as you are hiring them? If this is the case, there is a malfunction in your hiring system. Closely examine all the parts of your hiring process to determine which pieces must be fixed. For example, suppose turnover is particularly high during the first 90 days of service. Ask yourself the following:

Are we hiring the right types of people for these jobs? Yes, it is nice to hire Ivy League graduates, but are they really well suited for beverage sales?
Are we accurately representing our jobs to candidates? If your administrative job descriptions sound more like the CEO's job, then it is time for another re-write.
Are we over-promising and under-delivering? Perhaps it is time to get real. Sure, we would all like to operate like Google, but few companies actually do. Accurately describe your work environment and let candidates decide if the fit is right for them.

Now is a great time to dust off plans you may have designed for a formal exit interview process. Start asking exiting employees what you could have done differently to have prevented them from leaving. You will then have the information you need to make changes before others fly out the door.

Formally welcome everyone onboard

Imagine a place where employees are welcomed before they even set foot on company soil. This would be a place where employees feel connected before their first official day of work. Some might even start recruiting their current co-workers to join them on this new journey. Welcome to the world of Onboarding.

Onboarding is the one chance you will get to create a positive new employee experience. Just think how productive you might have been during your first few weeks or months of employment had your current or former employer taken the time to make you feel welcomed, valued, and prepared. Come to think of it, if they would have done this, you might still be working there.

You might be thinking that you don't have time to hold someone's hand or that all employees should have to suffer just like you did. Would you feel the same if you knew that with a little effort, you would have more time to focus on other initiatives besides replacing newly-hired employees?

Make checking-in easy

Could your check-in systems use some improvements? Do your employees have to stand in long lines just to have a conversation with their manager? Are employees fully aware of how well they are performing? Or is last year's performance review still on your desk waiting to be completed?

Checking-in is a two-way street. When it comes to performance, both employees and employers should know what the other is thinking. Provide feedback throughout the year so employees can adjust their performance, while seeking feedback from employees regarding ways you can improve the management of the company.

Drop the Excess Baggage

Nothing weighs a company down more than excess weight. Do you have marginal performers hiding out behind strong team members? Are employees still in your employ who have received their fifth final warning?

In this economy, you cannot afford to have anyone or anything slowing down the momentum in your organization. Look around and begin the process of eliminating excess baggage. You will be surprised how many top performers change their travel plans once they see you are committed to building an organization of outstanding employees.

Throw in some perks

The trend of slicing and dicing employee benefits seems to be quite popular during lean economic times. Many organizations have started to charge employees for items that used to be free. But is this really a way to retain the people who you will be asking to take on more responsibility during tough economic times?

Show your employees you care. Figure out what types of perks motivate your team and then start thanking them properly.

Make these changes now and you will not have to fret the next time you hear the phrase, "This is the final boarding call..."

Bio

Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (http://www.yourhrexperts.com) and has been helping companies align their people assets with their business goals. She is considered an expert in generational workforce issues. Roberta publishes a monthly newsletter "HR Matters" http://www.yourhrexperts.com/hrjoin.cgi which is jammed with resources, articles and tips to help companies navigate through sticky and complicated HR workforce issues. Click here to read her new blog on Generation Integration http://generationintegration.typepad.com/matuson/. She can be reached at 413-582-1840 or Roberta@yourhrexperts.com.

Campus Candidates

SBOCTeam — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:43:00 GMT

Hiring recent college grads makes great business sense. Plus, given the chance, they could even teach you a thing or two

By Max Berry

Despite what some recent figures from America's job market would have you believe, companies of all sizes are hiring new college graduates at a higher rate than in years past. A recent survey conducted by CollegeGrad.com found that 60% of American companies surveyed plan to recruit more grads in 2008 than they did last year. The reasons for the upswing are many, as are the potential benefits of hiring some new grads of your own.

Graduate Perks
"Small companies drive the engines of job creation," says David Bedard, author of Graduate and Grow Rich. "Up and coming companies need young grads." In sluggish economic times, this may be truer than ever. Recruiting and training a new graduate at an entry-level salary is much more effective for a small business owner on a tight budget than seeking out a more experienced prospect who is already used to higher pay. Factor in the number of baby boomers reaching retirement age-not to mention the salary space they leave behind-and hiring an energetic young grad begins to look like the smartest move of all.

"More than anything, grads are looking for a break and a mentor," says Bedard. And a mentorship should not be taken lightly, especially when a young employee, just beginning their career and eager to make an impression, is so amenable to the ideas and strategies of a mentor.

There are logistical benefits to hiring new graduates as well: They're more tech savvy than generations past; they haven't had time to put down roots and are more willing to relocate than someone with a family; many of them are in debt, and will be extra motivated to get themselves back in the black. Plus, after 18 years of the classroom, new graduates are anxious to apply all that hypothetical knowledge to a real-world job-and they have the energy to do it.

The New American ‘Intrepreneur'
For all that new grads have to offer, an employer needs to offer just as much in return. "There is no such thing as a cradle-to-grave job anymore," says Bedard. "If [new grads] have any entrepreneurial spirit at all, they're going to want to test the waters."

This entrepreneurial desire to "test the waters" may have helped propagate the myth that Generation Y is a flighty bunch; pampered, demanding, ready to give their two weeks at the faintest whiff of a better offer. While Bedard concedes that the reputation may be earned in isolated cases, more than anything these children of the entrepreneurial age are, as Bedard puts it, "looking for the fit," the job that will satisfy their independent, hands-on ambitions.

When it comes to courting America's brightest graduates, the ability to offer them that may be the key advantage an independent entrepreneur has on a major corporation. A national or multi-national corporatioin is regimented in a way that may not appeal to this generation, one that subscribes to what Bedard has dubbed the "make-a-job instead of take-a-job mentality."

A small company can't offer a new graduate the signing bonus or inflated salary that a large company can. What it offers instead for a young person, hungry to find their fit and test their skills, is a stake in the future of a company, be it through stocks, profit sharing, or simply a more tactile handle on day-to-day operations. According to Bedard, a small company offers a twenty-something the chance to "be an entrepreneur within a job, to feed their desire to make decisions on the front line." Employees who look for the chance to do just that are what Bedard likes to call "intrepreneurs."

Small companies are also more likely to offer their employees flexible hours, providing for a better work-life balance, which, according to a recent CollegeGrad.com survey, now surpasses financial considerations for employees aged 21 to 30.

A Turning Tide
"More graduates are going for newer and younger companies rather than blue chips," says Bedard. He's right. Another CollegeGrad.com poll, conducted in February 2006, found that 70% of recent graduates surveyed would prefer to work for a small or mid-sized company than a large one. This may be due to growing suspicions-after years of corporate reorganization, downsizing, and, in the worst cases, outright scandal-about the scruples of many large corporations. "I see more emphasis in college and business school on ethics," says Bedard. "Ethics is a buzz word on campus and that's a good thing."

But as America's graduates begin to think outside the box as to where, and with whom, their first jobs can be found, America's entrepreneurs should keep their minds just as open. Don't rule anybody out too soon. Bedard recommends looking to smaller schools-those prowled less frequently by major corporations looking to make hires-and community colleges. "Community colleges are way ahead of four year schools when it comes to teaching entrepreneurship," he says. "They make it a part of their culture."

The benefits of making Generation Y a part of yours could be substantial.