The economy and the labour market
January 31, 2008
It’s all doom and gloom in the news at the moment; the economy is slowing, house prices are dropping, and “credit crunch” and “sub-prime” are now a common part of our vocabulary. News stories regularly speak of job cuts (today I’ve read that Friends Provident, the pensions and insurance company are to cut 600 jobs), and we’re all wondering whether another recession is on its way.
I’ve noticed the impact of this already on my recruitment campaigns. I’ve had several applications from people currently working in industries that have been heavily affected by the economic problems, such as loan or mortgage companies, estate agencies, or for companies that import goods from the EU and who’s profit margins have been squeezed by changing currencies. Everybody seems to be either recently redundant or quickly realising the effect the economy will have on their job security or prospects.
This could be a good opportunity for lots of employers in growing industries or companies that are looking for staff. If they have good recruitment and selection practices that can enable them to separate candidates who have brilliant transferrable skills from those who are simply unable to evolve fast enough before they become extinct, then it seems that there is a widening labour force ready and willing to take on new challenges in order to stay employable.
New bank holiday proposal
January 30, 2008
I’ve just read that the government is considering introducing an additional bank holiday on the day after Remembrance Sunday, partly to commemorate those who have lost their lives in war, and to offer more support and appreciation to the military currently serving in war-torn areas such as Afghanistan. More than 300,000 people have now signed an online petition asking the government to create this holiday.
The idea is that the day, along with other activities such as homecoming parades and open days at army bases, would give the military more promotion and highlight the work they are doing on the front line. This would then make us appreciate them more which would boost morale within the forces. Now I may be a little cynical, but is an extra day off actually going to give more exposure to the military, or would the British people just be grateful for some more time away from work? How many people in this country properly celebrate the actual festival of Easter (apart from scoffing loads of chocolate)? A great deal don’t; but we’re all eager for that long weekend of relaxation!
Perhaps the issue with people’s lack of appreciation for the work of the forces lies with the recent history of the questionable reasons the government gave for us going to war in Iraq? A better way for us to understand the work the forces are doing might be for the government to use the media positively to reduce the confusion and mistrust over what has happened.
I would love an extra day off work each year, particularly in that awful stretch of the year between the end of August and Christmas, which seems to last an eternity without a break. I’m just not so sure that it would contribute to the purpose suggested by this petition.
Confusion over discrimination
January 29, 2008
Discrimination is such a tricky subject in the workplace, and something I often debate with colleagues. It can be very hard to determine what is discriminatory, and what is a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”, i.e. what can be justified in order to maintain the effective running of the business. This is a particularly grey area when it comes to the ability to speak English clearly, as the requirement to speak and write English could indirectly put people of a certain race, ethnic origin or national origin at a disadvantage.
In my organisation, all employees are required to speak regularly over the phone to customers, communicate over email, and generate documents such as reports. I think it can be assumed that the need to speak and write clearly in English is a genuine requirement. However, the decision over what constitutes an acceptable level of English is subjective and could be argued. What if an interviewer thinks “I can just about understand the candidate but I know some of our customers won’t like it if they have trouble understanding them…”?
Having a very clear job description and person specification helps in this situation, as there are many factors to consider in the candidate’s skills and experience, with the use of English being just one factor. Balancing all the needs of the job against each other helps to establish the candidate’s all round suitability, and also helps interviewers to consider other options; for example if the candidate had excellent skills and experience but was lacking in English language abilities, could they carry out the job without the client-facing aspects? Many people might say no: no matter what they can do, if they can’t communicate effectively in English, they can’t work in this company. However, could we be missing out on a large pool of highly skilled workers with this attitude? I suppose it depends on how much of an adjustment to the workplace or the job role would be required to accommodate this type of worker.
I have been asked several times in my HR career why employers have to treat people differently if they’re from a minority group. The idea is we don’t have to treat people differently; we have to give everybody a fair chance, an “equal” opportunity. The “difference” is that certain groups are protected from discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, sex, age and other aspects. I do agree that sometimes it can feel like employers have to do a lot more to accommodate these differences, when I think the overriding idea is that the legislation is supposed to make employers treat all employees as equal. I know the legislation is there to penalise unscrupulous employers, but for others it can sometimes feel difficult to make decisions on recruitment, discipline etc without feeling nervous about the possibility of legal consequences if there is a protected group involved.
The more I read about and handle issues of discrimination, the more I find it a scary minefield. Given the unlimited compensation available for successful discrimination claimants, I just hope I don’t one day find out the hard way how best to handle these issues.
Organised, committed, self motivated – give me a break!
January 28, 2008
I’ve been doing a lot of recruitment lately, and having read what feels like a million CVs and sat through endless interviews, asking the same questions and listening to the same answers, I’ve been reflecting on what I think makes people stand out in the recruitment and selection process.
The CV or application form is the applicant’s one and only chance to get noticed by the company they wish to work for, but considering this, there is surprisingly little careful consideration put into this stage by so many people. If I see “I work well individually and in a team” or some variant of this sentence one more time I’m actually going to lose the will to live. It’s not that these attributes aren’t what I’m looking for; it’s just that most people who apply seem to have them, so how am I supposed to pick out the best person?
I’ve just been chatting to a colleague whilst we were screening a CV, and he seemed to think the applicant had over-sold his CV to the point where my colleague was wondering why the applicant was even looking for a new job. I thought there was promise in the CV as the applicant had at least tried to show something different to the norm by listing specific achievements and properly selling himself, rather than just saying “I am very organised, self motivated and committed”. I guess it’s a matter of truth. Expressing your skills and experience in a way which makes them sound impressive and attractive to employers is fine; telling lies to make your CV sound better is not. This is where effective interviewing should come in.
Some people are naturally confident in interviews and don’t have to try to hard to sell themselves. For everyone else it can be a nightmare. For me, the main thing to remember is to exemplify your answers. Interviewers want to know that you can do what they’re asking, and they want proof! If I’m asking someone how they will cope with the pressure of telesales, I don’t want to just hear that they are very resilient; I probably won’t believe them. If they tell me about a situation they dealt with that required resilience, and the outcome of their actions, I am more inclined to warm to the abilities of the candidate. Even candidates who are fairly inexperienced can do this, by drawing on situations from other areas of their lives. And I’m more impressed when the candidate does this without prompting. Basically, I don’t want to sit through an interview repeatedly asking “and can you give me an example of that?”
In the recruitment and selection process, candidates need to use only the experience they have had to sell themselves to the prospective employer, i.e. they must not fabricate events that didn’t take place. The skill is in presenting this experience in a way that stands out from the rest – a way which covers all the necessary attributes the employer is looking for without them thinking “I’ve heard it all before”.
Welcome!
January 25, 2008
Welcome to HR Girl, my new blog where I will be discussing issues and developments relating to HR which I have come across in my work. Hope you find it interesting and useful. Check out my earlier post about staff retention – how can we keep valuable employees?
How can we keep valuable employees?
January 25, 2008
We all know in business that it’s much easier and more cost effective to keep an existing customer than go out and find a new one. It’s the same principle for staff. Recruitment and selection is a costly and time consuming business, and there’s no point having sophisticated recruitment processes that bring in top class employees, only to watch them walk out of the door again within a year. In industries requiring specific technical skills (such as in IT or web-based industries) the market for good candidates is now extremely tight, which means that not only do recruitment strategies need to become more sophisticated, but companies need to do more to keep those valuable highly skilled workers.
A really important part of the HR Professional’s role is to develop strategies for staff retention. This is complicated because, of course, people are hard to please and what helps to retain one person may not appeal to everyone. Diverse workforces bring exceptional benefits to companies, but also a diverse set of needs and desires to be satisfied. A parent of young children may enjoy a fantastic childcare voucher scheme and flexible working hours, whereas other staff may be interested in financial incentives, training and progression opportunities. So what can we do? Here are some of my top retention tips:
- Exit interviews are a great way of finding out exactly why an employee wants to leave the company. You will find a surprising amount of information about issues within the company is forthcoming once someone has decided to leave! Exit interviews also give the employee a feeling of closure, and they are less likely to take away a negative attitude towards the company if they feel they have been listened to, and that their opinions may be taken on board for future employees.
- Find out what your existing workforce thinks. Exit interview information is invaluable, but why wait for someone to resign before you ask them what can be improved in their work experience? Consultation with staff can take many forms, including surveys, representative committees and suggestion boxes. Periodic appraisals and reviews provide an opportunity for line managers to get to know exactly what makes their staff tick, and what the company can do to make them feel happy at work.
- Build strong and trusting relationships with your colleagues. As a HR professional, you need to be visible, available and approachable, so that employees are able to speak to you when they have issues, ideas or suggestions. Building effective working relationships will help you to find out and understand what’s really going on in your workforce.
- Try to offer a set of benefits that will appeal to the widest possible range of your employees, using the knowledge you have gained from consultation and general discussion. This could include financial benefits such as a pension or bonus scheme, but also covers more intangible provisions such as company culture, teamwork, flexibility, communication and autonomy.
Remember, many people will eventually move on, and a small amount of staff turnover can be a positive change, bringing fresh ideas and renewed enthusiasm. You need to understand what is behind the figures, rather than simply taking a percentage turnover and starting to panic if it’s high, or thinking you have nothing to worry about if it’s low. Remember that everything you do in your role could have a positive or negative effect on employee retention.