This is the next article in our series covering the Employee Life Cycle;

• Recruitment and Selection
• Orientation and On-boarding
• Retention
• Performance Management
• Development
• Separation

You and your candidate decided to move past the dating phase and get married; now what? The last thing you want to have happen is to have your “spouse” show up the first day and not have their new home ready and waiting. Although orientation centers around and exists to help the individual employee, the Company ultimately reaps the benefits of this practice Consider the following benefits of a proper orientation: 

• Reduces costs associated with learning on the job
• Saves co-workers and supervisors time training the new employee, thus increasing production
• Increases morale and reduces turnover by showing the employee they are valued

According to the Institute of Management Development (IDC) employees not fully understanding their jobs cost an estimated $37 billion. So, here are a few must-haves to make sure the good feelings last:

• Plan the first week for them starting with any orientation materials as soon as you can on day one; this includes benefits, handbook, any forms needing signature, etc. If you offer benefits, send them to the candidate before the first day so they can bring any questions to the session. Make sure this phase is complete before moving on. Create a checklist for the first week items so you will not forget anything.

• Have workspace ready and waiting including computer, any other electronic items they need, work materials, etc. Cover any computer-related items up front like login and passwords and ensure their understanding of the area and equipment. Give them personal time to personalize their work area.
• Immediate supervisor and/or co-workers should take them to lunch the first day after these two items are taken care of. Introduce them to all peers, superiors and subordinates necessary.  If you have organizational charts, give them one.
• Day 2 in a new job can be very stressful if not done correctly. They arrive to work after being the center of attention the previous day feeing good about everything and it is very common to drop the ball here. Use the second and third day to arrange for them ahead of time meetings with key stakeholders, clients, peers, superiors, subordinates, etc. Resist the temptation to launch them into their work immediately. If manpower is available, assign a buddy to help them around the first week. They can help with all logistical questions and can be a huge influence acclimating the new person.
• Plan a follow-up one-on-one session on Friday (if they started on Monday) and do a head-check. Answer all their questions and ensure they still feel good about their decision to join you. Discuss their role in detail and make sure you are both on the same page. Follow up with their buddy to make sure all is going well.
• Follow-up with a 30-60-90 day review to ensure they are on the right track.

My last article talked about a number of elements comprising the Employee Life Cycle:

• Recruitment and Selection
• Orientation and On-boarding
• Retention
• Performance Management
• Development
• Separation

I would like to take a deeper look at the first element, Recruitment and Selection (more commonly called Talent Acquisition).  There are numerous questions to ask yourself before deciding the structure and process appropriate for your business. This includes but not limited to:

1. Do I hire an internal recruiter or outsource it?
2. If I hire one internally, are they an administrative recruiting coordinator, a more seasoned recruiter, or a manager?
3. Do I utilize a sourcer with my recruiter? ( Sourcers usually are responsible for working the job boards to generate resumes and generally work for an hourly fee)
4. If I outsource it, do I engage a firm on a contingency or retained status? Do they fill ALL my jobs or only the specialized or senior roles? How much do I pay them?
5. If I outsource, who internally will manage them?
6. What is my internal interview process and who will manage it?
7. Am I hiring to a successful position profile based on competencies, KSA’s, etc?
8. Is everyone responsible for interviewing trained on proper and legal techniques?
9. Am I doing background checks, reference checks, and drug testing (if appropriate)
10. Does the employment offer fit with my overall compensation philosophy, internal guidelines and policy?
11. Are we communicating the offer in writing using a weekly or monthly amount rather than annual?
12. Do I have an internal staffing process whereby internal candidates can apply for posted positions? If so, is a backfill strategy in place to accommodate internal movement?
13. Once a process is in place, do I have metrics in place like tracking cost per hire and time to fill?

The decisions you make depend on the number and complexity of your position openings, funding, headcount plan and organizational maturity.   Introducing these steps to any sized company will ensure a more cost-effective and efficient talent acquisition process.

Rick Fuelling

Fuelling Associates

http://fuellingassociates.com/

The Employee Life Cycle model has been around for a long time and can take various forms but generally consists of the following phases:

Recruitment and Selection
Orientation and Onboarding
Retention
Performance Management
Development
Separation

Taking a good, hard look at each phase of the model is a great checklist for managing your business and employee needs. The model can and should be used regardless of the size and complexity of your organization and can flex to changes in your business landscape. Each phase should be evaluated from top to bottom in great detail, keeping what works, eliminating what doesn’t and adding what you don’t have. For example, under Performance Management, processes such as employee appraisals, ranking/rating exercises, performance distribution, high and low performer identification, performance tracks for low performers, might be utilized. Forming employee groups to help in this phase ensures buy-in and aids in any subsequent workforce delivery communication. Take the time necessary during this vertical evaluation to arrive at process details for each phase. Most importantly, hold your leadership accountable to follow through on both the employee and business focus of the outcomes.

While each phase is rich in content, it is important to understand they work hand- in- hand to create the culture you desire. To ensure a solid foundation on which to build this model, you should start by evaluating and building a solid core consisting of your mission, values and vision. Make sure you take the time to do this right as these form the building blocks on which your culture will reside. This is a GREAT opportunity to leverage your organization as your market differentiator while branding yourself as an employer of choice. You want the buzz on the street to reflect all the good things you do in designing, developing and delivering the business results through your employees due to a robust, rich employee life cycle.

Rick Fuelling

Fuelling Associates

http://fuellingassociates.com/

Quick Tip Video from Richards Rodriguez & Skeith LLP

The HIRE Act - A Tax Credit for Employers

We all affect people.  So why not affect them positively?  Here are some time-tested methods to make a profound difference, all of which will make you a lot more interesting and attractive to others (and to yourself).

BE A LISTENER:  Sounds obvious, doesn’t it?  Most people know active listening is important.  So ask yourself.  “Am I the type of person that listens, or am I the type that waits to talk?”

How should you listen?   Pay attention not only to words, but also to tonality and body language.  Raise your antennae for special gifts, traits or talents.  Then point them out.  Most people listen for what they need from the other person.  Shift your listening for what’s truly unique or special about the person with whom you are speaking.  Then point it out.  Try it for a day.  Then a week.  What would result if you adopted this way of listening for the rest of your life?

Do you listen for emotions?  How would you rate your level of empathy and sincerity?  Facts, data and information are valuable, but people, relationships, and emotions are profound.  Next time you’re listening to your child, friend, prospect or customer, feel what they are feeling and respond with empathy versus intellect.  

BE EMPOWERING:   Unique gifts and problems occur differently to everyone, so show others how to make better use of what they already possess.  It all lives in perception.  Your perspective can help others create a wonderful experience that they previously didn’t know existed.  Most people are so mired in the future or past, that they miss out on the opportunities staring straight at them in the present.  Be their eyes and ears and help them see the value of what’s already all around them.  

Provide people with ideas that can be easily retained and transmitted.  Learn to communicate information, truths and concepts in bite-sized packages.  Make these packages easy to understand and share.  In short, try to be concise and provide simple, worthwhile, interesting things to say.

BE HUMAN:   None of us behaves perfectly, so be vulnerable and acknowledge your weaknesses.  It is such an adult thing to do.  Being fully accepting of your whole person, including the faults is liberating for you and others.  Showing humility permits others to also feel comfortable in being not-perfect.   Use your human qualities of caring and nurturing so you can really get down to the business of truly helping others.

BE INQUISITIVE:   Create new worlds in people’s thinking, feeling and priorities.  Don’t be afraid to challenge a strongly-held belief or assumption or create a new paradigm or distinction.  Spread your tough-love generously, but always offer a soft (and strong) place to land. 

BE PERCEPTIVE:  And notice the good stuff.  Acknowledgement of accomplishment is fine, but praising people for who they are instead what they did is profound.

Focus on the person behind the accomplishment or problem.  Helping a person get more in touch with who they are and what they really care about will always help them produce better results in everything they do.

BE SHARING:   Offer people meaningful and interesting concepts, projects and tools.  If the popularity of Reality TV is any indication, most people must be pretty bored.  If you happen to be up to something worthwhile and are willing to let people share in your project, many people will gain meaning from joining you.  Not only from playing, learning and participating, but also by the game itself and the interesting people they’ll meet along the way.  So if you’re working on a cool project, share it and affect a bunch of other people.

BE REAL:   Don’t try to profoundly affect others.  For some reason, this is harder than it sounds for many people.  Sincere Interest and Infinite Curiosity rule the day.  The objective here is not to try to affect others.  Acting sincere or pretending to be interested are oxymoronic.  They will get you nowhere — fast.   However, what you can do is be trustworthy and caring for others and share the stuff above with those who want to receive it.  

If you do, you WILL have a profound effect on others and on yourself.  I know—all this sounds like a pile of new communication skills to learn.  If you go for it, there will be some adjusting.  But, this shouldn’t feel like work.  It is fun and rewarding to EVERYONE involved.  It takes no extra time or preparation.  All it really takes is a simple commitment to begin to make a bigger difference in people’s lives.

Copyright ©   Joe Zente  2010.   All Rights Reserved.

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