Articles by Amy Shanks

Experienced recruiter with a passion for the business - always striving to improve the level of service and innovation for our clients. I believe in acquiring talent beyond expectations resulting in a strong client partnership that allows us both to focus on what we do best.

February 28, 2012 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

KARMA IS A B*TCH WHEN IT COMES TO RETENTION

**KARMA IS A B*TCH**

The New Year is truly a time for people to embrace change in all aspects of their lives – diet, exercise, relationships and oh yes, their CAREERS.

The U S Bureau of Labor Statistics January 2012 report shows the unemployment rate at 8.3% with an increase of 243,00 new jobs. An improved job market is great news for the economy and certainly great news for employees who are considering a change.

“Companies that don’t think about employee retention, that basically rest on their laurels and think ‘the economy will take care of us, where are they going to go?’ Those are the companies that, as soon as the labor market picks back up their turnover rates are going to go from 5% to 50%, and it will happen overnight.” – Mark Murphy – The Deadly Sins of Employee Retention.

Columnist Joyce Rosenberg sees this as “Time for a Chat” for smart leaders to begin checking in on employees who may be biding their time to trade up and make a move. The employer should actually do far more listening than talking. Of course, it is best to talk regularly with employees about how the company is doing and how happy they are with their jobs. If “The Chat” gets pushed aside and isn’t a priority, the employer unfortunately may find his/her first opportunity to be with an exit interview – payback time. If the employer fosters an open environment for honest feedback, then there can still be time to gather important information in order to retain their most valuable resource.

Since many employees are less than forthcoming (because they believe their feedback is of no value) about their reasons for leaving, it doesn’t hurt to look at the research AS WELL as ask. A firm specializing in employee surveys (HR Solutions Inc.) compiled a top ten list of what employees want using 2.2 million responses from employees in 2,100 organizations. Some of them seem like “no brainers” but do employers actively consider and use them in day to day management?

THE LIST INCLUDES:

Higher salaries
Internal pay equity, especially the differential in pay between new and long term employees
Benefit program – health/dental insurance, retirement, vacations
Micromanaging
Pay increase for merit, making it clear what contributions merit additional compensation
Responsiveness of HR departments to employees
Favoritism – A perceived since of fairness
Communication and availability of supervisors and executive management
Too heavy a workload
Facility cleanliness

So how does an employer or leader consider the needs and concerns of their staff in order to retain them and avoid the costs associate with training, and effect on morale -not to mention the actual monetary loss involved in an extensive candidate search?

Start by hiring the right people in the first place. A professional search firm can be invaluable in the candidate selection process. Competency screening saves time and money in the big picture by finding employees who are a fit and whose goals, dreams and desires match YOUR culture. Then, consider these practical reminders of positive practices to retain employees – an ongoing process and one good managers will recognize and personalize to their particular corporate climate:

It may sound corny or simplistic but begin by practicing the Golden Rule. Treat each employee the way you would want to be treated if you were in their position and as professionals.

*Demonstrate respect.

*Offer attractive, competitive benefits packages.

*Provide opportunities for people to share their knowledge through training sessions and mentoring.

*Offer performance feedback and praise good work.

*Make work fun.

*Enable employees to balance work and life by providing flex time.

*Involve them in decisions whenever possible.

*Recognize excellent performance and link it to pay.

*Offer bonus potential on personal and company success.

*Celebrate success.

*Staff adequately.

*Stand for something bigger than yourself. Establish and nurture organizational traditions such as food drives during the holidays and community involvement.

*Provide opportunities for career progression.

*Promote personal and career growth through training.

*Establish common goals and responsibilities so that they feel they belong.

*Encourage friendship at work. (SHRM Career Journal.com survey)

Of course, these are broad areas and we know that many times it is the small things that really count and can be deal makers if you wish to foster loyalty. Think of small things that help the employees manage their lives better such as dry-cleaning pickup and delivery or the encouragement of professional development.

Retention of valuable, trained, dependable people must be a priority or the improved job market may find your firm raided by firms that offer more employee centric environments or are perceived as presenting opportunities they were denied heretofore. Anyone out there remember the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the candidate market? Remember perception is everything —and Karma IS a B*TCH.

What are some perks you have been offered that made you loyal to an employer? What keeps you there?

January 16, 2012 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

THEY ARE NOT ILLEGAL OR EVEN IMPROPER BUT THEY SURELY CAN MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE –

BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS!!!!

Behavioral Interview Questions are situational and are designed to uncover your skills and talents (competencies). These are questions that make you think and reveal qualities about yourself indirectly – They can make you uncomfortable because you are required to “think on your feet” and decide exactly what personality trait/work habit the interviewer is looking for. How do you answer the question and make yourself appear competent? Some of these questions are in the category of “When did you stop beating your wife?” They have an underlying assumption that you did something wrong – “Tell me about a time you did not properly handle a disagreement with a coworker.”

Does the interviewer want to know that you admit your mistakes and learn from them?

Is he/she looking for a positive attitude? Both would be good guesses.

In answering these, just like any other questions, a helpful hint is to research the company and the position to determine qualities that a useful employee would exhibit. Desirable work traits or competencies are many and varied depending on the position.

Qualities such as integrity, leadership, motivation, sensitivity, tenacity, risk taking,decisiveness, delegation, assertiveness, diplomacy, energy, adaptability – the list is huge and specific for the type of job. If this is a “front desk” position, then you would be expected to have good people skills and positive energy for sure. Answer accordingly. If the position will require negotiation skills, you might be requested to discuss a time when you had to use your powers of persuasion to get someone to do something. TAKE YOUR TIME. ASK FOR CLARIFICATION IF NEEDED. THINK! ESPECIALLY THINK WHAT THE UNDERLYING PURPOSE OF THE QUESTION IS.

Consider the STAR method. S.T.A.R. = SITUATION, TASK, ACTIVITY/ACTION, RESULT. Prepare to include all these areas in your answer. Recommendation – spend no more than 50% of your answer on the S,T, and A and 50% on the R. What did you learn? Details of what exactly happened in the proposed situation are not as important as your result.

Why not practice by looking over sample behavioral questions? Conceptualize possible replies. Discuss possible answers with a trusted person who has had success in the area for which you are applying or with your recruiter. Let us recruiters work for you. Ask for help with specific questions that could be a problem for you. We are always ready to provide help in interview preparation.

Following are some questions to explore and to experiment with answering:

Tell me about a time when you had to deal with two co-workers who didn’t get along with one another.
Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision that affected those with whom you worked. What was the outcome?
Describe a time when a co-worker approached you and criticized your work. How did you handle the situation? What was the outcome?
Tell me about a time when you had to persuade someone to see your point of view. What tactics did you use? What were the outcomes? What did you learn?
Give me an example of a time when you used creativity to complete a project, work with someone else or develop a new idea.
Describe a time when you were assigned a task but were provided little direction about how to complete the task. What steps did you take to complete the task? What was the outcome?
Describe a situation when you had to get a job done in spite of an unforeseen problem.
Give me an example of a time you had to convince others to conform to a policy you didn’t believe in.
Tell me about a time you made a successful presentation to a prospective client.
Give me an example of a time when you failed to meet a goal. What did you fail to do? What were the consequences? What was the outcome?

Just for fun, consider some atypical interview questions which might be used to determine your creativity or ability to think quickly.

If you were a knife, fork, or a spoon, which would you be and why?
Sell me something in this room, anything.
If the tables were turned, how would you interview me?

Good luck. Consider sharing some behavioral interview questions which stumped you at the time but wish you had another chance at. What was the question, how did you respond at the time of the interview and how do you wish you had answered?

PREPARATION IS KEY.

“It’s not the will to win that matters -everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” Paul “Bear” Bryant

“By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin

January 9, 2012 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

YOU WANT THE JOB? – WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU ANSWER?

You really want this job. You certainly want to be pleasant and congenial, but out of nowhere you are hit with a question which makes you feel uncomfortable – a question which is inappropriate or maybe even illegal; what do you do?

Leslie Cobb with the US Labor Department division of Labor/Employee Relations reminds candidates on the government workplace website that “it is illegal not to hire candidates because of their race, color, sex, religion, national origin, birthplace, age, disability or marital/family status.” Interviewers are not to ask questions which would elicit such information. These questions can be subtle in nature but designed to discover information which a candidate does not have to answer.

Concerning national origin, an interviewer should not ask you, “How long has your family been in the U.S.? It is, however, acceptable to ask, “Are you eligible to work in the U.S.?

An interviewer may legally ask “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” It is not acceptable to ask “Have you ever been caught driving drunk?”

You may not be asked “What religious holidays do you celebrate?” If it is a business necessity to work on weekends, it is okay to be asked “Can you work on weekends?”

Questions related to age such as “What year were you born?” or “What year did you graduate?” are not okay, but it is okay to ask if you are over the age of 18.

Questions related to marital status and children are off limits as well. You cannot be asked “What does your husband/wife do?” or “What are your child care arrangements?”

If it would be asked of all applicants, an interviewer may ask if you can work certain hours.

You should never be asked “Are you on any medication?” or “Do you have any pre-existing health conditions?” If all applicants would be asked, then it is okay to ask “Can you perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation?”

Other illegal questions:

“Was your military discharge honorable or dishonorable?”
“Have you ever brought a lawsuit against an employer?”
“Have you ever filed for Worker’s Compensation?”
“Have you ever been sexually harassed?”
“How much do you weigh?”
“Do you use drugs or alcohol?”

And the list goes on and on. In fact, I imagine we could compile a truly interesting list.

WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS IN THIS SITUATION?

*BRIEFLY ANSWER THE QUESTION -IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE IN DOING SO
*RESPOND TO THE INTENT OF THE QUESTION.
*IGNORE THE QUESTION AND CHANGE THE SUBJECT.
*REFUSE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION.

According to For Dummies website, you could always verbally “punch out” an interviewer. Suppose you are asked a question relating to your sex, you could cite Title VII, which says that basing employment decisions on sex is illegal, and then say that the question is discriminatory in nature. If up to this point the interview has been going well and you would really like to have this job, you may consider other options.

It will best serve a candidate to be tactful. Try and determine what is really being asked and then respond to what pertains to the position being sought.

There is usually a point in the interview process in which the interviewer asks if you have any questions about the company or if you have any additional information about yourself that you would like to add. This is your opportunity to determine if YOU would like to self disclose anything about yourself that would require an employer to provide an accommodation for disability or maternity needs or might lead to an awkward, embarrassing or illegal situation for the employer. Any such disclosure would need to be accommodated by assurances that you can perform the responsibilities of the job.

If you choose to disclose no personal information, then you may come across as secretive, or if you disclose too much, you may be perceived as “needy and high maintenance.” Of course, you don’t want to appear as either.

Bizarre, inappropriate questions are another topic all together. These are the questions which in and of themselves are not illegal, but which make a candidate wonder about the intentions of the interviewer or maybe even his/her mental state – Questions like “If you were at a departmental meeting and a coworker put his hand on your thigh, what would you do?” or “Is your girlfriend white?” Now thinking back, I’m sure we all could make a list of these strange, weird questions.

What has been your strangest interview experience?

September 26, 2011 by Amy Shanks Leave a Comment

CAN YOU TEACH OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS?

Since 2010 when the baby boomer generation began retiring in record numbers the workforce changed and continues to change as more and more competent workers redefine “work.”

This can be good news to employers who will now have a pool of available workers (recently retired but still wanting work) and for whom money is no longer THE most important factor in choosing a job. Boomers, many of whom have left long term positions early or are eligible to leave, should be looked at differently. Do you want to retain baby boomers eligible for retirement or do you want to consider them for new hires? Well, maybe. The sheer numbers of these employees have caused some two dozen industries to create an organization– the Alliance for an Experienced Workforce – its purpose to find creative ways to retain baby boomers.

Working with Baby Boomers, can you teach an old dog new tricks?

So, what do these older workers want? How can they be retained or rehired by new companies avoiding what some business analysts are calling a huge knowledge gap?” Research shows that these potential and recent retirees want “quality of life.” Part time work, flex scheduling and job sharing are all a trend driven by this demographic-many of whom cannot financially afford a full retirement or are just not ready to slow completely down.

Gen X managers are faced with the challenge/opportunity presented by this talent pool of older workers. Managers can tap into this employee resource by creating a climate for the older worker, keeping them active and productive and thereby benefiting from experience that is invaluable.

Think about some specifics to remember when hiring and managing workers much older than you – think telling your mother or father what to do!!

Avoid stereotypical thinking. Older workers are as varied in personalities as are workers in every age group.
Communicate clearly and specifically. Don’t say “take care of this for me.” Give a specific request with a specific date of completion.
Have an awareness of range of ages that classify one as an “older worker.” A “young” recent retiree of 55 will need to be treated differently than a worker of 70+ who just wants to keep active or may need to work. Each group will require different management approaches, just as a recent college grad of 22 and a 35 year old worker are treated differently.
Respect the life experiences of those who have “been around the block” and learned from the “school of hard knocks.”
No matter their age or prior experiences, expect to train older workers. The up side, of course, is that training time is usually reduced.
Be aware of and address these workers security needs such as medical coverage ad financial planning.
Motivate them – that is a manager’s job after all. They may not be expecting to advance with the company but remember to recognize them when they do a good job.
Don’t be concerned about your image as “the boss.” Most of them were bosses at some point themselves. Just lead the department – no need to posture. These workers get the hierarchy of corporate life.
Be flexible when at all possible. Remember that flexibility is important to workers in this phase of their life. For most, it is more important than money.

This does not necessarily translate into a shorter work day!! Think creative scheduling that gets the job done.

Consider allowing the older worker to mentor younger workers. Most are eager to share knowledge and experience. Of course, managers have to get a sense of who is able to mentor and who is receptive to being mentored. This is where a manager needs to use his people skills. You don’t want a mentor who is going to bore with stories about the “way we used to do it,” or has a condescending “know it all” attitude.

Do older workers still make good workers or good potential workers? Of course they do, but managers need to keep in mind that they also may require a somewhat different type of management. As these baby boomers redefine work, don’t forget you may want to consider making an effort to retain them or even hire them for available new positions.