Strategies for Human Resources

SHR Newsletters: On Hiring

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Have you reviewed your hiring practices recently? Anecdotal evidence indicates many organizations are still suffering from bad habits picked up in the recession when way too many applicants existed for any vacancy and some organizations had slashed their employment staff. A quick blog search will tell you more than you want to know about what applicants and employees are saying about employers' hiring practices. Rebuilding a poor reputation takes a lot of time and effort.

But many employers are not bad; just mediocre at hiring. Such practices hurt your bottom line and leave you without the talent needed to achieve your goals. A quick review will help you clarify where you are versus where you want to be.

Some questions you might want to ask yourself, your hiring managers, and your HR staff include:

Do we have a hiring strategy and plan tied to our strategic or business plan? Are they current? Are we measuring our effectiveness?
Have all our interviewers been trained in hiring and interviewing practices? Do interviewers use them?
Do we have an effective employee referral process? And, how effectively are we using other sources?

Employee turnover rates are climbing. 2005 surveys still show that 30-55% of employees are thinking about leaving their current employer. Meanwhile labor force demographics are changing and, in some markets, unemployment is already quite low. Your organization may already be growing or your plan may call for future growth. Your ability to attract and hire the quality and quantity of talent you need in the short to mid-term is directly influenced by the quality of your hiring process.

Is hiring improvement really worthwhile? See the data in Watson Wyatt's Human Capital study's summary at: http://www.watsonwyatt.com/research/resrender.asp?id=w-488&page=1

If a review of your current position indicates a need for improvement, here are some resources:

See also last month's newsletter at: http://www.shrinsight.com/articles/newslttr_labor_force.php

And, finally for this month: My clients know I think it is critical to an employee's success and retention to have an organization, function, and position orientation -- in addition to all the administrative paperwork for a new hire.

This Harvard Business School article will give you an excellent example of a management-level orientation that could be adapted to your needs. Getting New Managers Up to Speed http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4884&t=leadership The usual employee-orientation process needs to be retired. In this article from Harvard Management Update, savvy companies explain how to jump-start the success of new managers. Tip: Set up meetings, use technology, and coach newcomers.

Your feedback or suggestions for future Insight On topics are welcomed, patra

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