September
30 - October 5, 2002
When companies hire my firm to recruit
for an open position, we first ask them when they want the new employee
to start. Too often, their answer is “ASAP!” or “Yesterday!” One
hiring manager, with the seriousness of a funeral director told me
that he had needed someone to start “…two weeks ago.” This
frantic response is often the result of some unexpected crisis that
created the need to hire someone fast.
Open positions originate for a myriad of business reasons. However, there are some occurrences that contribute to an all-too-common phenomenon that I call, Crisis Hiring. This happens when a company is forced to hire new employees without exercising the appropriate amount of review and evaluation. Employee terminations, medical leaves, voluntary resignations and spikes in sales volume cause time constraints in employers’ normal hiring cycles. The effect on the organization is inevitable: the wrong candidate is selected for the job.
The Peril
Critical employment criteria such as skill set, solid work history and industry experience are sacrificed in favor of expediency. Personality fit is also overlooked when the desire to get a body in the chair overpowers the need to hire quality talent. Although meeting all of the job criteria is important, a poorly matched personality will have the greatest impact on the unique culture of a small business.
Unfortunately, small and family-run companies are more susceptible to crisis hiring than larger organizations. This has less to do with the way they are managed and more to do with the size of their workforce. When a company is run with 20 people (rather than 2000), every new employee has the ability to make his or her mark on that company. How soon did it take for your newest employee to make an impression? In a service-oriented market, employees will reflect the overall quality of an organization as much as its end product.
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From Crisis to Opportunity
Can you avoid crises? Heck no! But you can protect your organization from crisis hiring by proactively managing turnover. Just like your sales strategy, a turnover management strategy can be incorporated into your company’s overall business plan. The small amount of time required to prepare for employment-related crises will yield enormous savings in the cost and frustration resulting from a poor hire.
Since autumn has begun, lets frame this plan in terms of household insulation. A well-insulated house keeps the cold out, the heat in and the utility bills low. Like pink fiberglass, a well-constructed turnover plan will keep your business from wasting money when the storms blow in. Your company has probably done most of the work already, so the following steps will help you form a cohesive structure that can be implemented quickly.
1. Know your functions: Formal job descriptions are the first step to insulating your company from the crisis hire. Whether you have 5 or 50 employees, the functions of their positions should be clearly defined in writing. It is very stressful to write a job description at the same time you’re recruiting for the job.
2. Know your people: Sounds simple until you’re asked to describe your unique company culture to a candidate or a recruiter. Make sure that you can clearly communicate the personality traits that best fit your organization. A left-brained, intuitive person is bound to fail in a right-brained, analytical office.
3. Be realistic about tenure: Do you know the average number of months your receptionist is likely to stay on the job before wanting something new? Do you want to bet that it’s less time than you hope for? |
Estimate the amount of time a given employee can remain productive in the same role and note it on the internal job description. You can now plan for career development as well as turnover.
4. Prepare your sources: When you need to replace the AR Manager who just gave two weeks’ notice, what phone numbers do you call first? Who do you talk to? Select your recruiting sources ahead of time and understand their costs and processes – it will insulate you from unpleasant and expensive surprises when you start your search.
5. Formalize your interview process: Smaller companies generally lack a professional human resources manager. As a result, their application and interview process tends to be ad hoc, which wastes time and increases the legal risk to your company. Know what you and other managers are going to do and say before you interview your first candidate – then do and say the same things with every interview that follows.
As with most business planning, turnover management is not rocket science. It takes some time – a rare resource in a frantic workweek – but it produces great ROI.
Although no company can score 100% when hiring employees, it can build a high-quality talent pool by implementing smart recruiting practices. Don’t wait for a crisis to think about your next hire. Good things come to those who … plan.
By Kevin F. Flemming,
Director of Sales & Marketing
INTEGRITY Personnel, Inc. |
