Improve Your Staffing Process by Avoiding these 5 Hiring Mistakes Managers Make Too Often

Finding and keeping great employees is tough. If your company has experienced a costly hiring mistake, you will know exactly what I am talking about. Hiring the wrong person can cost your company a lot – lost productivity, production delays, damage to customer relations, impact on staff morale, costs and time to re-hire, and termination payments are just some of the potential costs.

Below are 5 hiring mistakes that managers make too often. These actions will negatively impact the hiring process and may cause you more headaches as you try to explain to senior management why the new hire did not work out. Avoid these hiring mistakes:

1. Slow Hiring Process: Many managers miss out on hiring great candidates because the hiring process takes too long! Competition for good employees is a reality. Take a close look at your hiring process and figure out the average time from application to job offer.  On average how many weeks does it take to hire someone new at your company? If it is an unreasonably long process, find out where the delays are happening? Are good candidates moving on because they receive no feedback or feedback occurs too late? What can you do to avoid delays and speed up decision making? Delays can’t always be avoided, so how can you keep a good candidate engaged? Communication is essential. If you can provide candidates with a simple explanation, you have a good chance of keeping their interest.    
2. Outdated Job Descriptions: Lack of planning and the reliance on outdated job descriptions is a frequent hiring mistake. Basically, this mistake boils down to managers who don’t know who or what they are looking for. In the rush to get the job advertised and get a person on board, managers are not taking the time to really think about the problem, the skills needed and the right fit. Jobs change and evolve over time and in many cases you don’t need to hire someone exactly like the last person who held the job. Managers don’t take the time to clearly describe the job responsibilities or they make the mistake of delivering a laundry list of job requirements, without identifying the essential skills, knowledge and personality needed. What happens next is managers are presented with candidates who might be a perfect fit for an old job description from 2015, but can’t deliver on solving problems and issues today.
3. Focus on Talent Needed – Forget to “sell” the Company and Role: Recruitment has transitioned into a marketing function. Companies that are able to attract top talent have carefully developed their company brand and are marketing to candidates in many different ways. Too many managers focus solely on what they want and forget to “sell” the company and the role. Hiring someone new is a partnership. You are looking for a certain person with the skills, knowledge, experience and personal fit. But you are also offering more than just a job, you are offering a culture, atmosphere, training, future development opportunities and more. The recruitment process should involve some effort to present the company and role to prospective candidates – in the job ad, during telephone screening, at the interview stage and at the time of offer. Candidates are becoming more accustomed to being “wooed” by prospective employers. If you miss the opportunity to present the benefits of working for your company you could lose a potentially great candidate.  Even worse is failing to present a realistic preview of what it is like to work in your company, and hiring someone who is not the right fit.
4. Too many Steps: Hoops, Gates, Bars, and other Roadblocks to Pass. Does this describe a typical hiring process at your company? If you set up too many steps in your process you will lose great candidates. Too many steps usually means a slow process which is Hiring Mistake #1.  Candidates that are asked to complete too many steps, especially if they are not relevant to the role, will likely move on to more promising job opportunities. These candidates may move on before you even have a chance to interview them. Companies set up steps in their hiring process for valid business reasons. Unfortunately, they often make the mistake of asking all job candidates go thru all steps, even when it is not necessary for the role. Design evaluation tools that meet the needs of the individual job. Get feedback from recent candidates and hires about your process and try to eliminate unnecessary steps to speed up your process.
5. Unstructured Interview: You need a structured interview process. What happens when you just wing it? Usually you end up talking too much and not learning enough about the candidates. Interviews have been proven to be very poor predictors of hiring success. But since they are still so widely used and relied upon, you can at least improve the outcomes by having a structure to follow. Without a structure you might end up hiring the person who is most like you or who makes the best first impression. What is a structured interview? 
   • Identify the essential requirements of the job – skills, knowledge, experience, personality, and cultural fit.
   • Draft interview questions that will give you information about the essential job requirements.
   • You likely have a list of “nice to have skills” too. Draft questions about these points as well, but remember when making your decision to put more weight on the “essential requirements”.
   • Read the candidates resume and draft some specific questions about their skills sets and experience.
   • Take time to really listen – pause before you ask the next question and often the candidate will fill the void, giving you more in-depth answers.
   • Try to find out a little about the candidate’s motivation for changing jobs and interest in the role.
   • Make notes – this will help you with decision making.
   • Know about bias and try to avoid making biased decisions – hiring someone like you; first impression bias; favouring either the first person interviewed or the last person interviewed; or similarly putting too much weight on either the first or last thing a candidates says.

As we build on our goals for 2016, there are some common employment and staffing themes and trends we see as an essential part of the year ahead.

We are now well into the New Year. If you ask any emerging or established business what they see as challenge in 2016, number one on their list will probably be recruiting and retaining talent. As technology continues to evolve, it plays an increasingly important role in the way companies approach the talent search and the hiring process.

Below are some of the staffing trends that we see as part of the landscape for 2016.

Staffing Trend #1 — A focus on recruiting innovators

Being aware of this trend is important for every organization looking to hire new staff. Some of the most innovative companies in the world like Amazon and Google have higher productivity and revenues than other organizations, and it’s mainly due to its environment, corporate culture and their focus on hiring innovators who are said to produce at least eight times more than the average worker in the same role.

Like birds of a feather, innovators flock together as well so referrals are likely the best way to identify and recruit more innovative staff. To get more innovators on your team, work with a staffing consultant to put together a process for identifying innovators within your organization and using online resources.

Staffing Trend #2 — Take a forward-looking approach to recruiting

Looking forward is one of the best things an organization looking to hire can do. In business, it is best to be prepared than be surprised. Last month we shared our thoughts on succession planning, which is a part of the looking forward approach. To continue that line of thinking, shift to a future-focused approach because making management aware of upcoming talent issues will give them the time to prepare and plan solutions so that it doesn’t mess with productivity.

Staffing Trend #3 — A focus on retaining existing employees

A common issue for many organizations is that they are unable to retain talented employees. However, a little known fact is that Canada is ranked number one in the world for having the most internal hires. In 2016, organizations will be more conscious of the fact that keeping talented, happy employees on board will do more for its bottom line, productivity and staff morale.

Every company is different, so trends don’t impact every organization in the same manner. However, if your organization hopes to succeed in an ever-changing marketplace, the key is to first identify the trends and then adapt accordingly to make sure you stay in the mix.

The Ontario Government Announced new details this week about the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP).

On January 26, 2016,  Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister of Finance Charles Sousa announced new information on the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan update. ORPP details include information regarding the structure of ORPP benefits, compliance and enforcement, plan comparability and member participation.

There was some speculation, before the new year, that the ORPP might be put on hold and replaced by a Federal overhaul of the CPP. We now know this is not the situation. The Ontario Government will be going ahead with the ORPP implementation beginning January 1, 2017 for large employers.

For a summary of the ORPP, read the Fusion Blog from September 2015 – ORPP Implementation.

Looking for more on the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan update, read the latest ORPP news release, information on additional design details and guide to the ORPP for Employers.

 

Requests for Workplace Accommodation can be confusing and challenging for Managers

Requests for workplace accommodation are becoming more commonplace. Not sure whether you must accommodate a specific employee request? Find out more about accommodation and your duty as an employer under the Human Rights Code.

Human Rights Code

The Human Rights Code (HRC) provides for equal treatment in employment and protection against discrimination and harassment. The following are protected grounds under the HRC: age, ancestry, colour, race, citizenship, ethnic origin, place of origin, creed, disability, family status, martial status, gender identity/expression, record of offenses, sex, and sexual orientation.  

Accommodation

What is workplace accommodation? Sometimes people need individual arrangements so they can do their job equally – this is called accommodation under Human Rights Code. A request for accommodation may be for a short period of time or it may be required on an on-going basis.

Workplace Accommodation may include:

• modifying duties, standards or rules
• changes to facilities or workstations
• use of assistive devices
• alternate work arrangements or time off work

Workplace Accommodation is not:

• creating a new job
• assigning non-productive work

Most employee requests for accommodation under the Human Rights Code will be based on disability, family status or creed grounds. For example:

Person with a Disability: Employee who is returning to work after an illness requests a chair at the service counter so they can sit down for part of the day.

Family Status: Employee requests change in hours of work (start and end day ½ hour earlier) in order to pick up children from daycare.

Creed: Employee requests a day off work to celebrate a religious holiday.

Responding to a Request for Workplace Accommodation

Not all employee requests will be covered by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Consider the Request

Each request should be carefully considered based on your employee’s individual circumstances. Often you can make simple changes in the workplace that will satisfy your employee’s needs. The changes may result in improved productivity and employee dedication. Treat your employee fairly and respectfully at all times.

Is the request covered by the Ontario Human Rights Code?

Carefully review your employee’s request for workplace accommodation to determine if it is covered by the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Solutions

There are often multiple solutions that will meet the accommodation needs of your employee. You do not have to immediately accept the solution proposed by your employee. Meet with your employee and ask questions. Consult with medical or other professionals if needed.  Explore a variety of options before making a final decision.

Decision

Before making a final decision ensure that you:

• understand the law – Ontario Human Rights Code,
• treat each request in good faith,
• consider your employee’s individual circumstances,
• work with your employee to collect information,
• explore a variety of solutions,
• consider Health and Safety requirements,
• choose a solution that best meets your operational needs and meets your employee’s need for accommodation.

The information provided is an overview. Your situation is unique. Refer to the Human Rights Code or contact Fusion Career Services for advice.

Succession Planning – Why Your Company Needs a Talent Management Strategy?

One of the many rules in life is to be prepared for the unexpected.  Anything can happen at any time…a sudden leaky roof or an emergency medical issue. Whatever it is, being ready with an emergency fund in your back pocket is what it means to be prepared. The same holds true for business. Many successful businesses owe their strength to strong leaders and teams. The equivalent to an emergency fund in business is a talent management strategy that looks out for the future of your organization.

Also known as succession planning, it is defined as a process for identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key business leadership positions in the company. Succession planning increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they become available.

The concept of succession planning should become an important part of any companies strategic planning, but not many have adopted it. Not having a strategy that plans for the future can be seen as a weakness for a company’s future. Depending on the nature of your company, it could take a few years to create a succession plan. Here are three steps for developing your plan:

1. Put your plan in writing. Once you have a decided to move forward with a talent management strategy, put your plan in writing. Working with a staffing specialist can help you to develop that strategy by determining the staff that you need, if they are in house or require external recruitment and the core skills that are required to build a good succession plan for your company.
2. Find & train a new manager and/or team. If there is already a member of your team that possesses the core skills to become a good leader, start training them now. One idea used by many is to provide mentorship to these talented individuals. If you don’t have the skills in house, then start the search for new employees. With the help of a staffing specialist, you can tailor a search that is specific to the needs of your company. They can help you to find the person that fits your specific niche or the person that has the core tools that your organization can build upon to make a great leader and team.
3. Have a Plan B. Things don’t always go as planned. It could be that an employee you have in mind for a key role is not interested or not ready to move on to another role. For this reason it’s always smart to have a back-up plan that allows for change.

The New Year has begun and it’s now time to think of your businesses future beyond 2016. Creating a successful talent management strategy will help you to ensure the success of your business for years to come. A succession plan shouldn’t be a quick, do-it-yourself project, but a strategy that incorporates everything from legal and accounting advice to transition planning. The first step to a successful 2016 is working with a staffing specialist to secure your businesses future with a strategy that works for you.