5 Recruitment Tips From Santa
Have you ever thought about how Santa finds his workforce? And how did he get them onboard? Christmas is, after all, a very busy time!!
How urgent is that hire?
Have a role that you need to hire someone urgently? Follow these tips to make your hiring process more efficient.
What is the True Cost of Hiring a Bad Employee?
What Is the True Cost of Hiring a Bad Employee? All companies go through the usual cycle of employees coming and going over the years. Ultimately, you hope that they stay a few years before leaving and add value to the business along the way. But what about those times you have employed someone who ended up costing you money? Have you ever sat down and calculated what this ‘bad hire’ actually cost you in time and money? A mistake in the recruitment process which leads to an employee termination can cost an employer between half and two-thirds of an employee’s salary. For example, an employee on a salary of $60,000 that leaves within the first 12 months of employment will cost you $33,000 or 55% of their salary. Direct costs will include (advertising, selection process, formal training/induction, severance). Indirect costs can be as much as $10,700 (interviewing time, informal training, productivity loss, mistakes, failures and missed business opportunities). Other studies have suggested that the total cost of replacing a professionally-qualified employee may be as much as the equivalent of one year’s salary and for senior management employees it may be well over one year’s salary. So how do you prevent these kinds of mistakes in your business? First of all, don’t hire out of urgency. We’ve heard too many clients say that a warm body is better than nobody. This makes our team cringe as a bad hire is far worse than leaving a position vacant until you can find the right person. Here are four more costs to consider when you hire in haste and finish up with a dud: The impact internally. Especially in a small business or business unit. If other employees have to fix mistakes, pick up the slack or put up with unprofessional work habits they will become resentful, morale will suffer and eventually these valuable employees will quit. The impact externally. In this day and age of social media, the impact of employees who have poor stakeholder communication skills can be immediate and very damaging. Your hard-won company reputation and brand goodwill can be quickly lost with an employee who is careless or thoughtless. Performance management. The time you will spend managing poor performance instead of coaching and developing other employees will be a distraction you can do without. Manager’s reputation. Everyone makes a bad hiring decision every now and again, however, if someone establishes a pattern of bad hiring then they get a reputation as a manager with poor judgement and guess who will be heading for the exit next? Ultimately, the cost of a bad hire is significant. It can bring down a team, manager or an entire organisation. Whilst there are no guarantees, taking the time to cast a wide net and doing your due diligence in selecting employees is well worth the effort and will minimise the chances of making a bad hire and maximise your likelihood of making a choice that pays off in the long term. Eva Grabner Managing Director Elite Executive Pty Ltd www.eliteexecutive.com.au Cairns | Brisbane
Do you have a Recruitment Strategy?
Do you have a recruitment strategy? There are a few questions I ask my clients, especially when we are meeting for the first time. Two key questions are “How do you recruit new people into your business?” and “What recruitment challenges do you have?”. I find that most clients will have the same challenges no matter what industry they are in. We can’t seem to find people quickly enough. There is a shortage of skilled and experienced people. It’s costing us too much money to recruit people. I then ask what their recruitment strategy is. Most businesses will not have one. They will have a business plan, a plan for growth and a plan for expansion yet rarely a plan for recruitment. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you have a recruitment strategy in place. The methods of attracting the ‘right’ people to your business have changed exponentially in the past few years. People are not just looking for a job; they want a career with a company that they believe in. They want longevity (that’s at least 3-5 years nowadays!) and they want a work/life balance. It isn’t always about the salary (but they still want to be paid a competitive remuneration package). How do you put a recruitment strategy in place? If possible, do this with your HR manager or preferred recruiter. They do this on a daily basis and know the industry and, most importantly, they know your business. Research This is the first step in creating a successful recruitment strategy. Historical: Create a report of your current recruitment function including the cost and time associated with it. List the past ten hires (at least) – how long each recruitment process took, the calibre of the successful candidate, the total direct and indirect cost and what sourcing method(s) was/were used. From this review draw conclusions about what’s working and what’s not working as well as you would like? Talent pool: Who is in it? How large is it? Where is it? What are their motivators (money, work/life, new location, etc. …)? Attraction: What are you doing now? What’s working? What’s not working as well? What else can you do to attract employees? What is your retention rate? Are you an employer of choice? Do you have an Employee Value Proposition? Future planning Plan out where you want to be in a year. Is expansion on the cards? Include the following: Pipeline: Do you need to start mapping out potential new employees? Advertising: How are you going to attract these people? Internal: Do you have people internally that are trained and ready to move into these new roles? Competitors: What are they doing or what might they do to impact the market for the same candidates you are seeking to hire? Measurables Finally, you need to cost out this strategy and what benefits you expect to be delivered during this period. For example: The cost per hire. Are there savings you can make? How quickly do you wish to engage people? What size and type of talent you wish to see in your talent pools? Companies that are reactive rather than proactive will recruit in a hurry and frequently will employ the wrong person because they are desperate to just ‘fill the job’. I graciously refuse to work with clients who need a new employee ‘yesterday’. I will, however, work with them to map their talent pool and attract the right people into their business. If you want any success in your recruitment process, you must have a recruitment strategy in place. It will save you money and improve the quality of the people you employ, trust me. At Elite Executive, my team and I only work with a select number of clients so that we can truly understand each client’s business. This enables us to provide each client with honest feedback and be in the best position to endorse that business to future employees. If you, as an employer, are serious about putting a recruitment strategy in place, contact me today for a confidential conversation on how you should proceed. We look forward to speaking with you! Eva GrabnerManaging DirectorElite Executive Pty Ltdwww.eliteexecutive.com.auCairns | Brisbane
Recruiters Can (And Do) Change Lives
Recruiters Can (And Do) Change Lives I often get asked why I got into recruitment and why I set up my own business. As most people in the industry would attest to, I ‘fell’ into the industry, purely by accident. However, after over a decade in the hospitality and tourism industry throughout the world and being very familiar with diverse cultures, languages and personalities, it was the perfect fit for me. Now into my 10th year in the Elite Executive business, I still jump out of bed every morning, excitement brewing in my stomach about whose life will I change today. When I decided to go it alone ten years ago, it was a combination of flexibility and the desire to be different. To shake things up and to ‘change the face of recruitment’. There are good and bad recruiters out there and I have heard many horror stories, in fact, I experienced a few myself before entering the industry. But there are also many amazing, passionate recruiters in the industry who truly believe in what they do and genuinely want to help. Many of us spend copious amounts of time researching industries, companies and people before we even engage with them. At Elite Executive, we’re all about relationship building and focus on the long-term benefits of working with our clients before we agree to partner with them. Being that extension of your business and knowing your future goals, internal fit and key skills are imperative in assisting us in finding that perfect candidate. Our candidates however, are absolute gold. They are the key to our success. In searching and through detailed interviewing, we really delve in deeply as to what their key motivators are, not only in their career but their lives in general. As we move people all over the country and in some cases, internationally, we take this very seriously. It takes a lot of work to uproot a family and move them somewhere else. We spend a lot of time ensuring firstly that as a family you are clear on what it takes to move away from your current home. We also assist in preparing them for the move, from researching your new town or city to finding the right schools and even assisting your partner in securing employment also. Each and every placement is not taken lightly and we put our heart and soul into each role we place. We only work exclusively with our clients so that we can give them 100% of our time. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that ‘spreading the love’ amongst recruiters will give you three or four times the number of qualified candidates, if recruiters know that they are up against three or four other companies, you will also only get that fraction of work from them. Then there are those that will race to the finish line to get resumes to you first, but at what cost? Have they been thoroughly vetted, or are they just wanting to get that resume to you before their competition? I learnt early on in business that the clients I work with will value what I do and the hard work and passion that goes into every single placement. I would rather work with less clients and deliver more quality than more clients and not be able to deliver what they need. So how does a business engage with a recruiter and how do you pick from over 7,000 agencies currently in Australia? I recommend that you work with a recruiter that sits well with your values as a business and take the time to grow a professional relationship with them. Be honest and keep communication as open and fluid as possible. Good recruiters will ensure confidentiality and knowing all aspects of your business, warts and all, will enable them to better access the right candidate for your business. Nothing gives me more pleasure than seeing a candidate contribute to the growth of a business and also their own career. In fact, today I am catching up with a valued candidate that I placed in a successful and growing business over three years ago. They have been promoted twice and absolutely love their job. This is why I do this and this is why I can and do change lives and I’m so very proud of that. Eva GrabnerManaging DirectorElite Executive Pty Ltdwww.eliteexecutive.com.auCairns | Brisbane
Professionalism
Professionalism. Professionalism. The Oxford English Dictionary says it means “The competence or skill expected of a professional: the key to quality and efficiency is professionalism” but what exactly is ‘expected’ in this context? I once made the mistake of ‘assuming’ a candidate knew what I meant by dressing professionally for an interview at a global (and very professional) business. When speaking with my client afterwards, they said this particular person gave a very bad first impression by turning up in casual pants and a polo shirt. Tidy, yes. Professional, no. Needless to say, they were not asked back for a second interview. However, to be professional can take on many forms, not only how you present yourself (your attire and your grooming) but also how you interact with others (attitude and competence). Are you reliable, respectful and competent? Do you perform your tasks with genuine intent and honesty? Do you maintain professional etiquette and ethics in the workplace? Depending on your workplace this can take on many different forms, however, there are and always will be a few common traits that make us valued and respected, that it helps to be aware of: Respect – Treat everyone with respect, all staff at all levels, vendors, clients and customers. When I worked on cruise ships, we had a 10 foot policy whereby we had to greet everyone we passed within a 10 foot radius with a ‘Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening’. I still do it sometimes to strangers on the street. Yes, they look at me funny! But it’s only good manners and isn’t it nice to get a greeting and a smile from a stranger? Competence – Know your role, your skills and what is required of you. Don’t just ‘talk the talk’, ‘walk the walk’. If you don’t know what’s expected of you, then ask a person who can tell you. Reliability – Be dependable, turn up to work, meetings and appointments on time. Honesty – Be honest, admit your mistakes and take responsibility for rectifying them. Support others – Be sure to include your team in on any accolades, share the spotlight. Be a team member. Be positive – Smile and see the good in everything! Stay work-focused – leave your personal life at home and do not use the company time for personal issues (unless there is an emergency of course) or to bog your colleagues down with negative energy from non-work matters. Project a positive business appearance – dress professionally and speak positively and confidently about your company and yourself. Integrity – This is one of my company (and personal) values. Do what you say you will do and you will become known as someone whose word can be trusted. It goes without saying (or does it?) that unprofessionalism includes gossiping, being negative, poor attendance or tardiness, unprofessional body language, presentation and disrespect. The more you practice ‘being professional’ the more chances you will have to create a positive reputation and image for yourself, this can ultimately translate into a better job, promotion and more chances at exciting projects or opportunities. But most importantly, you will benefit from feelings of increased self-worth and dignity and isn’t that the best reason of all? Eva GrabnerManaging DirectorElite Executive Pty Ltdwww.eliteexecutive.com.auCairns | Brisbane