Want To Reduce Turnover?

What is your problem? You should continuously be asking this question. If you don't know what your problems are, your company will continue to struggle with higher than acceptable turnover. To adequately and appropriately answer the question, you must recognize that the question isn't really about you, it's about your employees. How are you influencing your employees abilities to get their work done in as effective and efficient a manner possible?

The ball might be in your court now, you may have what seems like an endless supply of qualified applicants ready to take over when an employee leaves; but this will not always be. The time is now, to prepare for change. Failure to focus on turnover reduction will significantly impact the viability of your organization.

Your employees are individuals. There is more to them than meets the eye. Are you digging beneath the surface? Be a gold digger. Gold does not sit on the surface, you must dig for it. If you're confused at how to dig, simply ask for the shovel. Ask. The fact alone that you are interested in them, as an individual, will entice them to make digging easier for you. Also, remember that while your needs are of high concern and priority, they are not your sole, and often even most important, concern and/or priority.

Start with an Employee Satisfaction Survey... Here's One For You. 

Risk Analysis & Hiring

Everything you do, hiring included, involves some form of risk. To effectively and efficiently deal with the risks associated with hiring, your job, when hiring, should entail identifying, preparing for and managing risk. Adequate risk analysis, when hiring, will ensure that you limit potential disruption to current operations and keep things as cost-effective as humanly possible.

So how do you identify, prepare for and manage risk effectively when hiring?

Let's Start With The Basics. 

Just what is risk analysis?

In its simplest form, risk analysis is an analysis that helps you properly identify, prepare for and manage problems. Specifically, what you are analyzing is the probability of something going wrong and the negative effects of occurrence.

The Steps.

When hiring, in the event that you decide (wisely) to perform a risk analysis, these are the suggest steps:

1. Identify The Risk.
   
   Identify existing and possible risks associated with the on-boarding of a new staff member. Risks you should seek to identify are:
   
   - Human Risks: Risks associated with the illness, death, injury or loss of the new hire or those that would directly impact them and/or their work.
   - Operational Risks: Risks associates with business operations.
   - Reputational Risks: Risks associated with a reduction in external and internal consumer confidence.
   - Procedural Risks: Risks associated with internal systems, fraud and accountability.
   - Functional Specific Risks: Risks associated with position specific duties and tasks.
   - Financial Risks: Risks associated with business profitability, market share, market fluctuations and available capital.
   - Technological Risks: Risks associated with technology.
   
   The list above is a great place to start when completing a risk analysis when hiring. Try as best you can, without bias or too much optimism, to look for vulnerabilities in the potential hire. If you work with others in the hiring process, ask them to do the same.
   
2. Prepare For The Risk. 
   
   Once you're aware of the possible risks associated with a new hire, you need be aware of what the likelihood of those risks being an issue are and the possible effects. The best way to prepare for a possible risk, is to assign a value to it, a literal value. How do you accomplish this?
   
   A simple formula.
   
   Probability X Cost = Value
   Example:
   
    WorkReply is considering hiring Sue. When a risk analysis was performed, one of the risks identified was a functional specific risks. The initial phase of the analysis suggested that given her previous occupational experience and the lack of direct relation to the position we are considering her for, there is a functional specific risk. Sue has never performed some of the specific duties and tasks related to the position. 
   
   To determine the probability, we need to ask ourselves 'how likely is the effect of risk to be a problem'. We decide that the likelihood of the effect of the risk being a problem is moderate, because although she has not had any direct experience, all her pre-employment testing indicates that she is more than capable of learning, in a timely manner, the position specific tasks and duties. Probability is on a scale of 1% to 99%. Probability, when preparing for a possible risk, can never be 0% or 100%. If the probability is 0%, that means the risk will certainly never be an issue. Therefor, it is not even a probable risk. If the probability is 100%, that means the risk will certainly be an issue because it will occur, guaranteed. No if's, and's or but's. It is guaranteed to happen. In this instance, you would be analyzing results, not risks. The lower the number assigned to the risk, the less likely it is to happen. The higher the number assigned to the risk, the more likely it is to happen.
   
   We decide to assign the moderate probably of 40% to Sue.
   
   To determine the cost of the functional specific risk, we need to figure out the cost of the risk. Training for the position specific tasks and duties in question would require 10 hours of training. You could determine the cost 1 of 2 ways. If the position is a direct revenue generating position, generating say $300 per day and she works 8 hours per day, she generates $37.50/hour in revenue (with her salary already in consideration), multiply that by the 10 hours of required training and you arrive at a cost of $375. If the position is not a direct revenue generating position and Sue would make $15/hour, multiply that by the 10 hours of required training and you arrive at a cost of $150.
   
   For the sake of the example, Sue's position is not a direct revenue generating position and  we figure the cost to be $150.
   
   To determine the value of the identified functional specific risk, we multiply the probability by the cost.
   
   0.40 (Probability) X $150 (Cost) = $60 (Value)
   You prepare for the risk by asking yourself the REAL question.
   
   What is the REAL question?
   
   Let's go back to the example, Sue.
   
   In Sue's case, the REAL question we need to ask, when preparing for the risk associated with hiring Sue is NOT if she qualified for the job based on her direct previous experience.
   
   The REAL question we need to ask, when preparing for the risk associated with hiring Sue IS....
   
   
   Can we afford the risk of $60 to hire Sue and make operations more effective and efficient? 
   
   
3. Manage The Risk. 
   
   Once you have identified and adequately prepared for the risks associated with hiring someone, you need to make sure you are prepared to manage the risks. It is important to consider the costs of managing risks, in whatever way you manage them, because if it is not cost-effective, it is not justified. When it comes to managing the risks of hiring, you have 3 options:
   
   - Use your existing resources.
   - Accept (and seek to minimize) the risk.
   - Invest in and acquire new resources.
   
   Conducting a proper risk analysis when hiring may require a little more work on your part, but it will be cost-effective in the long and short term. Also, a proper analysis should aid in the accuracy of your employee reviews, clearly showing you what progress is, or is not, being made. 

The Killer Employee

There's an employee who can kill your organisation in such a sophisticated manner, that you won't see it coming or even know it has happened - until it's too late. Yes, one person can SERIOUSLY do a lot of destruction. Because of this fact, it should alarm you to know that more than 65% of your clients/customers will stop doing business with you because of a single interaction, with a single employee.


The killer employee.


The killer employee can do real damage. So what are you going to do when they strike?

Will your organisation have an executive apologize?

Will you just mail out a check?

How much with the PR campaign to repair the damage cost your organisation?

What are you going to do?

What can you do?

Know your employees. Know what they do. Know what they think about what they do. There are also things to be done before they become an employee:

• Define your customer service expectations during the on-boarding process. 
• Include your customer service standards in the job descriptions for positions you are looking to fill. 
• Create an internally distributed document/booklet, that is constantly updated and reviewed, solely dedicated to the customer service standards of your company. 

Avoid the killer employee. 

Shoes To Fill

Some positions are so complex, require so much skill and expertise that you wonder which is harder, the job, or finding the right person for the job. While talent may surround you, qualified talent, for the job you need completed, is most likely in short supply. So what are you to do? How are you to meet the needs of your organisation, with this void?

Start by recognizing that talent, qualified, quality talent, is out there.

You can't continue to look for a size 22 shoe in a regular department store shoe department. It's time  for you to head to the specialty store. The shoes you need to fill, are simply too big, too special, for a regular shoe department.

If you want to continue to walk around with shoes that are too small and deal with the embarrassment, you most certainly have that option. However, if you wish to get shoes that fit, you need the best. Get to the specialty store!

Like specialty shoes, specialty talent is something that everyone wants. Ask anyone who shops at a specialty shoe store and they'll tell you that things can get nasty once you're there. There aren't too many size 22 shoes in town to begin with, but if you find the only pair, at the only store in town, are you going to just let someone walk away with the shoes? That same mind frame is necessary when looking at your specialty talent. Everyone wants them. They are are far and few between. You must be prepared to compete for the talent you require.

Things can get nasty. Be Prepared.

Contact WorkReply Today.

Hostile Work Environments

Discrimination is never acceptable. 


Prejudice is never acceptable.  


Workplace discrimination, a hostile work environment is never acceptable. 

Employee FCP's

Is your company helping employees by answering questions about the management of their portfolios and retirement accounts? To do this, many employers are now offering financial counselling. Should your company offer this as well?

Attract Graduates Today

Attracting recent graduates may be a challenge for your organization. Maybe you're looking for the ultimate employee- with the perfect educational, occupational and extra-curricular experience? Attracting these people, the top talent, the cream of the crop, has more to do with YOU than THEM.

Training

Coaching and developing the skills of your staff is defined as training. More often than not, a company has designated personnel to train its staff. Still, the trainer must be trained. Here, we meet a problem. Most organizations train trainers on how to train, not how to select. If the person responsible for training knows not how to select, it matters not, how well they train.

There is no perfect solution or formula for talent selection. Understanding this, as well as the necessity of failure for success, it is noted that the most effective method for determining the best candidate, is through a performance evaluation. Functioning in the fullest of capacities before talent acquisition is key to selecting not only the best current fit for the position, but also, and maybe the most important, the candidate who will provide your organization with the greatest ROI in the long-term, according to their ability to successfully be trained.

The Challenge

Can YOU promote positive change and challenge misconceptions about the skills and talents of individuals with disabilities?


Enter the "What can YOU do?" Video Contest!
About the Contest

The Campaign for Disability Employment’s “What can YOU do?” Video Contest is an opportunity for YOU to promote positive change by illustrating that at work, it’s what people CAN do that matters.

This national video contest promotes the talent and skills that people with disabilities bring to America’s workplaces and economy, in support of the CDE’s national effort to increase the employment of people with disabilities.

Previous Winning Video

"Meet Sue" By Blake Watson 

Click Here For Contest Details

3 Interview Questions To Avoid

Friendly. Harmless. Deadly.


More employees, more problems. Seriously! 


When hiring a new member of your team, do you know what questions to avoid? Some questions you may consider to be friendly or harmless can cause more harm than you ever thought imaginable. Hiring an individual is serious business and done wrong, you could be in serious trouble.


Avoid asking the following questions during job interviews:

How Old Are You?

Age related questions are never, never, never.... NEVER appropriate to ask a candidate during a job interview. Age is such a hot issue that there is Federal law prohibiting discrimination based upon ones age. If you, for whatever reason, must inquire about a candidates age, do so by asking more appropriate, more indirect questions, such as: Are you over 18? ... This question is generally safe to ask. 

When Did You Move To The United States?

You can and should always verify a persons legal right to obtain employment in the United States. However, you should never ask a candidate directly about citizenship or their birth country. 

Are You [Insert Any Religion Here]?

I can't ever imagine a time when a candidates personal religious affiliations would ever be any of your concern. You should never ask about a persons religious affiliations. Because some religions observe certain days/holidays as days when work can not be done, you can ask about a candidates availability. When asking about a candidates availability, you should always inform the candidate that your organization does make reasonable exceptions for people to exercise their religious beliefs. 

Above are 3 interview questions to avoid asking candidates during job interviews. There are many more questions you should avoid asking interviewees to avoid legal issues. Educate yourself. Hiring is serious business. 

Why You Should Hire The Unemployed

1. Positive pr for the brand of your organization.
2. Tax incentives.
3. Possible missed opportunities. 
4. Those that have been unemployed for an extended period are less likely to quit. 

Hiring People That Fail

"I've come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy."

-Tony Robbins

_________________________________________________________

The failures of your employees are the successes of your employees.

When you hire people that have made mistakes and/or allow people to make mistakes after you have hired them, you hire/have hired people that are forced to look back at their mistakes, figure out what went wrong and strategically execute a new plan of action. While all employees won't do this, any employee worth their salt, worth your time and consideration, will do, and has already done this. When hiring candidates for your open positions, ask them, directly, how they have accomplished this. Ask them what and how they have learned from and improved upon due to their failures. If they can not answer the question or they claim to have always been successful in their professional endeavors, they may not know what has made them successful; therefor, chances of them being able to duplicate past success, if it exists, will be slim to none.

To truly demand success from your employees, you must first, and always, demand failure. If your employees are not failing, they are not learning. If you employees are not learning, they are not advancing. If your employees are not advancing, they are not of value to your organization. If your employees are not of value to your organization, you are wasting your organizations time and resources. Mistakes proceed both innovation and success, both of which are at the heart of all successful organizations.

Demanding success by demanding failure starts during your hiring process. Ask about previous failures during your interviews with candidates. Getting candidates to acknowledge their previous failures is the first step. After you get candidates to acknowledge their failures, you then, and only then, can see if they have the ability to turn their failures into successes. While everyone can fail, not everyone can convert their failures into successes. Without a candidates ability to do this, you can not intelligently require that they be successful; they simply do not possess the ability to do so. Success requires the ability to successfully fail. All failure is not successful failure.

The 2012 PT Employment Package

What happens @ the organization you represent when an employee needs to transition from full time, to part time, for whatever reason? Whatever the reason for the transitional occurrence, the transition itself must be done in a tactical manner. 


In this year, 2012, if you plan to transition, individually, or as a member of an HR team, a full time employee into a part time employment capacity; there are two main things you need to consider...


Employee Compensation


On both ends, the organizational and employee end of the spectrum, employee compensation is of the utmost importance when an employees make the move from FT to PT. Both parties have an interest in making sure that the new compensation model is fair, especially when compared to the old model. 


You also need to decide if the employee will be allotted the continuance, if received already, of whatever benefits it is that you offer. Remember, there is no legal definition of a part time employee, nor is there a federal law requiring that you continue to offer benefits to part time employees. This is particularly beneficial if the reason for the transition is to increase corporate profits. If the employee will potentially walk as a result of the transition, you may want to consider continuing to offer benefits as an incentive to stay. If you offer health insurance, check with your provider and see if they impose any hourly requirements for employees to receive health insurance. 


One additional thing to consider, in relation to employee compensation is participation in a 401 (k) plan, or any retirement plan you offer. Employees who work at least 1,000 annual hours MUST be offered the opportunity to participate in any retirement plan, including 401 (k) plans, that your full time employee's participate in. Remember that your waiting period for participation can be up to 1,000 hours worked OR 12 consecutive months of employment. 


Employee Workload 


Before considering employee compensation, when deciding if a transition will be beneficial to your organization, you ALWAYS need to make sure that individual and team duties, tasks and responsibilities will not suffer, directly or indirectly, as a result. More importantly, you need to make sure that the transition will not impact the overall customer experience, AT ALL!!!