I am so frustrated. I really want to make this happen. I don’t get why I cannot make this happen. Have you ever felt this way? Many of us have. However, some of us haven’t applied a very simple model to see if we can make whatever we are hoping to happen actually happen. I […]
Is it in your Control? And are you Trying? Read More »
Just because a candidate wasn’t chosen for a particular position doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be a great fit for another spot on your team, or for the same position if it comes up again later. Paying attention to the quality of your candidate experience can help ensure your organisation stays at the top of their
Recruitment Tip – Don’t Discount Previous Candidates Read More »
Many hiring and recruitment decisions are still based on “gut reactions” about a candidate. The problem with those gut reactions is that they’re not often accurate. Although it can be difficult to remain completely objective during the selection and interview process, leveraging an interview rubric or scorecard can make it easier. As Ben Datner explains
Recruitment Tip – Use a Scorecard Read More »
Recruiting a great new hire can take a long time—often much longer than anticipated. Extended timelines can be challenging for your recruitment and hiring team, but they’re perhaps even more challenging for candidates. It’s hard enough to search for a new job, and if you’re engaged in a protracted interview or recruitment process, it only
Recruitment Tip – Get Clear (and Realistic) About Timelines Read More »
A diverse team is a major competitive advantage, and building one starts with the recruiting process. In addition to dramatically increasing the depth of its talent pool, a diversity-focused recruitment program provides an organisation with the opportunity to experience the myriad benefits of a diverse and inclusive team. According to research shared in Forbes Insights’
Recruitment Tip – Seek and Embrace Diversity Read More »
A great remote work program can put your organisation at the top of the list for a much larger audience of talented individuals. Modern communication and collaboration technology have made remote work more effective and easier to manage than ever. Many high-functioning teams successfully leverage a remote work structure. It’s important to remember that remote
Recruitment Tip – Explore Remote Work Arrangements Read More »
When your goal is to bring in the most qualified candidates, it behooves you to ask them the right questions. This can be different for each organisation, and that’s why it’s such an important area to focus on. A list of interview questions for one company might be grossly inappropriate for another. For software engineers,
Recruitment Tip – Ask Better Questions Read More »
As business evolves, so does recruiting. Just like sales and marketing were required to make a dramatic turn, recruiting is in a similar position. Technology has made it easier for people to learn a great deal about an organisation with a few simple searches. Many of us are aware of the groundbreaking Forrester research claiming
Recruitment Tip – Think Like a Marketer Read More »
The EVP serves to define what the organisation would most like to be associated with as an employer and defines the “give and get” of the employment deal (the value that employees are expected to contribute with the value that they can expect in return). So what are the elements required to build a strong
Recruitment Tip – Communicate a Strong Employee Value Proposition Read More »
You’ve likely already found that a top performer produces dramatically stronger results than those around them. Focusing on the quality of candidates instead of volume can be a very effective recruiting strategy. Ironically enough, LinkedIn is looking to broaden its talent pool with this new program, while at the same time dealing with fewer applicants.
Recruitment Tip – Value Quality Over Quantity Read More »
If you’re not accurately describing the position you’re hiring for, you’re at a disadvantage from the beginning. It’s crucial to be honest about the job to make sure that you’re attracting the right candidates. Maybe the job you’re trying to recruit for isn’t glamorous, or doesn’t pay at the top of the scale. If that’s
Recruitment Tip – Write Better Job Descriptions Read More »
Unless they’re astronauts, your new recruits won’t be working in a vacuum. Each new hire is going to impact the work of those around them. This doesn’t mean you need every member of a department to sign off on a new hire, but they should at least be involved. It’s important to listen to your
Recruitment Tip – Practice Collaborative Hiring Read More »
The grass may look greener on the other side, but often your staff will return and bring more skills and experience with them. It may seem counter-intuitive, but a great offboarding experience is an important element of a successful recruiting machine. Not all employment relationships terminate on bad terms, and a great deal of that
Recruitment Tip – Have a Great Offboarding Process Read More »
So often the reality of the job is very different to the fantasy sold to us during the recruitment process. The candidate experience is the first interaction a potential employee has with your organisation and its culture. When candidate experience is designed skilfully, top candidates get the impression your organisation cares about its people even
Recruitment Tip – Prioritise the Candidate Experience Read More »
If you have a good culture, then your staff will want others’ to work in your business. One strategy is to turn every employee into a recruiter by encouraging referrals. Sometimes the simplest strategies are the best: Hire the most amazing people you know Keep them consistently challenged and happy Encourage them to bring their
Recruitment Tip – Promote Employee Referrals Read More »
All senior executives should have strategic partnership management skills. What does this mean? Finding the right strategic partner is exactly the same as finding your co-founder or recruiting key hires. You’ll be working closely together, so it’s important to have a good connection. Don’t be afraid to trust your gut. If your instincts tell you that
Managing Strategic Partnerships Read More »
All senior executives should have exceptional client management skills. We continue to be amazed at how many sizeable businesses do not have a good Client Relationship Management system. From a relationship perspective it is important to establish good communication. This means asking clients how they want to communicate and how often. Using the channel they
All senior executives should have exceptional skills to deal with suppliers. A significant amount of money can be saved or lost negotiating with suppliers. Often we simply accept what we are offered without thinking of other options. One option is to talk to multiple suppliers, another it to work with a preferred supplier to find
Dealing with Suppliers Read More »
All senior executives should have exceptional Project Management skills. Projects are how businesses implement change. By definition of a project has a start and a finish. Logically everything should be then viewed as a project. Implementing this framework ensures more successful outcomes. This framework ensures that the practice of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing
C Suite Skills – Project Management Read More »
All senior executives should be skilled at managing internal communications. What does this mean? They need to ensure that they encourage sharing, input and dialog with and from their co-workers and their staff. They also need to lead by example. They need to be able to get staff buy in and take their team with
C Suite Skills – Internal Communication Skills Read More »
All senior executives should have exceptional Project planning skills. What does this mean? The definition of a project is something that has a start and an end. When executives manage their day to day activities as they would a significant project, they are more effective. Project planning is a discipline for determining how to complete
C Suite Skills – Project Planning Read More »
All senior executives should have exceptional Meeting Facilitation skills. What does this mean? Meetings provide an avenue for contribution at both an individual and collective level. The health of the workplace “tribe” and their sense of belonging is most demonstrated here. However, meetings re often the least effective form of communication in organisations. To have a
C Suite Skills – Managing Meetings Read More »
All senior executives should have exceptional managing outcome skills. What does this mean? To manage outcomes, the following steps should be followed: Identify where you are and where you would like to be. Provide clarity on your intentions to reach your goals. Identify primary dependencies and deliverables. Develop a clear strategy and share your strategy
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All senior executives should have exceptional skills to develop key performance indicators and hold their team to account against them. What does this mean? The organisations Strategic Plan should be underpinned by annual Operational Plans. The Operational Plan will then identify Key Performance Indicators needed to be met to deliver on the Strategic Plan. A
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Many aspects of employee conduct and performance are covered by workplace policies and procedures such as the Code of Conduct, Performance and Misconduct Policy, Attendance and Absenteeism Policy etc. Prepare policies that cover the various issues in your business, back them up with procedures (which are steps for implementing the policies in a practical way)
Policies and Procedures Read More »
The National Employment Standards sets out a scale of redundancy payments based on an eligible employee’s years of continuous service with the employer and the employee’s age. However this pay scale does not apply if, immediately before the time of the termination due to redundancy, or at the time when the person was given notice
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Termination of employment due to redundancy is a form of dismissal by the employer. It carries with it the concept of involuntary termination of the employee’s employment. However, rather than being a fault-based dismissal, redundancy is usually caused by factors such as economic conditions, business efficiency, or technological development. Generally speaking, termination of employment due
What is Redundancy? Read More »
Some types of termination situations only happen rarely. These may include abandonment of employment by the employee, repudiation of the employment contract by either the employer or employee, death of the employee, or the employee is unable to continue working (or to resume work), because of long-term injury or illness. Many of these situations will
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Employers should note the following issues when a termination of employment occurs: The termination must be lawful, eg not in breach of contract, equal opportunity, discrimination or other legislation, and in compliance with any award or agreement that covers the employee and there must be a valid reason for the termination. The date and reasons
6 things an employer needs to know about termination Read More »
A simple definition of unsatisfactory job performance is a gap between the employee’s actual performance and the level of performance required by your business. There are three basic types of poor performance: Unsatisfactory work content — in terms of quantity, quality, etc; Breaches of work practices, procedures and rules — such as breaching work health
Performance Management Read More »
A useful way to think of performance management is to think of it in terms of both employee conduct and employee performance. Employee conduct refers to the enforcement of the employer’s rights in matters such as breaches of company policies and procedures; dishonesty, and criminal and other breaches of the law which harm the employer.
Managing employee conduct and performance Read More »
Many employers refer to their policies and procedures in their employment contracts. However, to reduce the risk of a breach of contract claim, they should avoid making them terms of the contract. For this reason the HR Advance Contract of Employment expressly excludes the incorporation of policies. Very small businesses may regard putting a bunch
Don’t confuse policies with contracts Read More »
Clients should have policies that cover the various issues relating to pay and conditions in your business and back them up with procedures (which are steps for implementing the policies in a practical way). You should also ensure they are widely publicised, explained to employees, and that employees clearly understand them. Common areas relating to
Policies and Procedures Read More »
An employer’s key obligation in relation to employees’ pay and employment conditions is to comply with all the relevant legal requirements. You should study the documents that affect these areas — legislation, awards and agreements, individual employment contracts and organisation policies/procedures — and set up a compliance system that ensures you are able to continue
Employers’ Legal Obligations Read More »
“Conditions” refers to conditions of employment and employees’ entitlements. The broad areas covered include the following: hours of work — covers full-time employment, part-time employment, casual employment, ordinary working hours, overtime, “non-standard” hours (such as weekend or evening work or working on public holidays), shift work, fixed-term/fixed-project contracts, flexible working hours, rostered days off, meal
Employee Conditions Read More »
Paying employees covers the following areas: Payment of ordinary wages and salary, as required by legislative minima, award, agreement and individual contract provisions Overtime payments Shift loadings and allowances Other allowances, eg for first-aid, travel, entertainment Salary packaging — providing other benefits as components of the overall remuneration package Deduction of income tax from employees’
This offer of employment is a legal expression of the employer’s intentions. The range of choices will depend on the entity which employs the employees as well as individual considerations. The possible choices available are: Award — for which award covers the relevant employees, see Award Links. An award should always be supplemented by a
You can use a Recruitment Checklist to guide your recruitment processes. It provides a “warning list” at each stage of the recruitment process, alerting you to particular issues of which to be aware. Once you have decided to recruit a new employee and have collected the necessary information, the next step is to decide who
The Recruitment Process Read More »
You could consider alternatives to recruiting a new employee that may be more cost effective. These can include: reallocating existing employees; redesigning the job; changing work hours or working arrangements; outsourcing the work; or using contractors or labour hire workers. Look at the longer term needs of the business, however these options should not be
Do You Need a New Employee? Read More »
How do you recruit quality employees when it feels like all the good ones are taken? There are several steps that business owners can take to help increase their chances of recruiting and retaining high quality, motivated employees. 1. Start with a plan. We all know that planning is important but surprisingly it is an
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