Finding Talent In All The Right Places

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Finding Talent In All The Right Places

A business is only as good as the people who run it. This can seem like a vast oversimplification, because systems, protocols and automated tasks can also help a business run. But sooner or later, even these will fail without maintenance from specialized personnel. Furthermore, not only does our business rely on the talent we hire, but the talent of other firms, too. You trust that your hired electricians will ensure the office lights stay on, and you trust that your accountant is adequately calculating your books.

Yet of course, we can only exercise the talent decisions we have proper control over. So – where to start? This is a worthwhile question to ask, because it can both increase the talent we acquire as well as helping you find further avenues in making that a possibility.

So – where do we begin here? After all, why some personnel may last longer within your firm and some may only be here for a short duration, ensuring competence is rife throughout your firm can aid you in more ways than one.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is an essential task when it comes to replenishing your talent for certain tasks. With Snupit you can find essential talent for certain jobs, in a temporary fashion. Furthermore, this can help you with remote working possibilities that create a sense of immediacy, which is essential in today’s intensive, quite opportunistic world. There’s also no hard and fast rule suggesting you cannot make full-time relationships with outsourced staff, allowing a business to path the holes of their talent shielding from now into the future. It all depends on your particular requirements, so be sure to stay honest about your needs.

Talent Acquisition

It can be worthwhile to head on recruitment drives from time to time, or to use headhunting services to ensure high-level executives are interested in your more prominent positions. Talent acquisition practices and services like this will help you avoid wading through resumes that have little value for the complexities of your job, and will give you the means to stay direct in your approach. However, talent acquisition programs can also mean giving someone a chance, such as working with local prisons to ensure their work outreach programmes bring some good to society.

University Visitations

Of course, finding a talented individual you can mold as one of your employees can be a great pursuit, because they’re unlikely to hold the bad habits other seasoned professionals can struggle with, or may find hard to adapt alongside your particular method of working. University visitations can be a worthwhile place to start as far as this is concerned, as recent graduates are all-too-happy to gain offers of employment, while you are gaining someone fresh and inquisitive and motivated to better themselves. Who knows? With an attractive package, they may stay at your firm for decades.

With this advice, we hope you can more easily find talent in all the right places.

Workers’ Compensation

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Workers’ CompensationWorkers’ compensation is a type of insurance companies purchase to pay for injuries or illnesses their employees get on the job. This insurance pays or lost wages and medical treatment as well as vocational training, survivors’ benefits and compensation if the employee cannot return to work. Employees should understand workers’ compensation coverage and the compensation claim process, such as injury notification and medical evaluation requirements. In addition, employees should understand their legal rights and the company’s compensation policies and processes.

Coverage

A company’s obligation to purchase this insurance is based on state regulations and may include a minimum number of employees and industry types. In addition, domestic and seasonal workers and independent contractors may not qualify for insurance payments. However, these individuals may have a legal claim if they are hurt on the job.

To be covered, an injury must occur on the job. For example, repetitive stress injuries and chemical exposures may cause job-related injuries and illnesses. Insurance companies may require that injured employees take drug and alcohol tests, and employers are not responsible for job-related injuries if the employee fails these tests, intentionally injures themselves or is found negligent.

Process

To start the claim process, injuries must be immediately reported to supervisors, human resources or a company representative in verbal and/or written formats. However, employees may choose not to make claims. The injuries are assessed to determine whether they need medical attention, and an emergency contact may be called in serious injury cases. The worksite should also be evaluated to ensure it is safe and clean to prevent additional accidents.

The employee may be interviewed by the company and insurance agent when the accident is investigated. The investigation report will include the date, location, circumstances and description of the injury as well as the reporting process and dates. The employer and insurance provider may have a deadline for reporting injuries.

All the medical and travel expenses should be submitted to the insurance company, and the insurance company may require that employees see a medical practitioner of their choice.

Employees may receive compensation for 66–100% of their weekly wages, but they may also need to use their personal and vacation leave. The Family Medical Leave Act may also provide guidance for employee leave benefits.

Employers will remain in contact with both the injured party and insurance company. Medical progress reports may also be submitted to the employer and insurance company. The medical team will determine when or if the employee may return to work.

Education

Employers are responsible for educating their employees on workers’ compensation laws and company policies when they start working for the company. They should discuss the employee’s legal rights, who to contact if an injury occurs and where to find the claim forms. They should also discuss the impact of preexisting conditions on compensation. Finally, all deadlines should be disclosed.

You should understand workers’ compensation coverage, the claims process, the company policy and your legal rights when you start working with a new company.

A Flexible Approach: Adaptable Working Hours are the Key to Employee Retention

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | A Flexible Approach: Adaptable Working Hours are the Key to Employee RetentionIt wasn’t too long ago that the 9-to-5 was the schedule that everyone adhered to just to bring home the bacon. But recently, studies have shown that this leads to a lot of burnout, as well as reduced employee retention.

More and more employers are looking to the flexible hours schedule in order to keep their employees happy. So how exactly does this work?

Flexibility Versus Fast-Paced Work Environments

More employees are looking for a work-life balance that also takes care of their mental health. The fast-paced work environment used to be the popular one, the work itself giving people a purpose to go into the office every day.

But that has changed; people aren’t seeing the benefit of working for money if they don’t have the time to enjoy it as well. The ability to work remotely has also made the flexible work environment a possibility, as people can log-in whenever they’re needed to get work done, meaning that they can schedule their other activities throughout the day while still meeting deadlines.

If you’d like to learn a little more about how easy it is to transition into a flexible work space, check out Businesstrex.

Benefits of Flexibility

Sick of having to rehire employees over and over again for the same position? Spending money on all that training tends to get quite expensive. Instead of constantly filling in the gap, you can retain employees at much higher rates by creating flexible schedules.

Employees will be much happier in the long run knowing that they have some power in the flow of their workday. And happy employees means that they’re less likely to look for work somewhere else.

Studies have also proven that when given the power over their schedules, employees are likely to be more productive in a single workday than working a 9-to-5.

Making the Transition

Many employers believe that they need a major overhaul of their structures in order to make the flexible workday a possibility, but it’s a lot easier than they think. They won’t have to buy as much furnishings for their offices, nor will they have to buy new computers, have operating systems installed, and security technology installed on every one. Flexibility allows for the employees to use their own computers, just as long as the proper security measures are also installed on these PCs.

No need to install huge servers either; the cloud is making it easy for everyone in the company to have access to the same information without having to pay for extra tech support to ensure that the servers are running smoothly.

More and more companies are already making this change anyway, so it would be beneficial to stay with the current trends than to get left behind in the dust.

Test the waters first by having a flexibility week in the workplace and see how it goes. Allow your employees to come into the office when it’s best for them, or let them work remotely from home. You may be surprised by the results you get from allowing your employees to work at their own pace.

Tips For Hiring In A Business

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Tips for Hiring|Tips For Hiring In A BusinessHiring staff is important and relevant to any business. How much of it depends on what you need for your business. Too many staff and you run the risk of being financially vulnerable, too few, and you restrict the ability to grow and thrive. Here are some tips for hiring in a business.

Know What You Want

It’s good to know what you want when it comes to hiring. If you haven’t got a job description outlined, then it can be a case of drawing in the wrong people, and then you end up starting all over again. It’s important to have your wants and needs in the job description and to have the role cemented before it gets distributed to relevant job boards and agencies. If you can be more precise and on the mark in the initial stages of hiring, then you reduce the risk of wasting everyone’s time and finding the right person. The last thing you want is to end up with someone who was never the right fit because you didn’t have all of the skills or duties of the employee outlined properly.

Assess The Skills & Experience Needed

Regardless of the company, the size or what industry it’s in, the skills and experience are an important part of the hiring process. You want to make sure that the person you’ve picked is capable of doing what you need them to do within the business. Whether you’re looking or plumbers who’ve taken plumbing programs for a handyman services platform or getting a new building manager, skills and experience are relevant. Just like the job description, it’s important to access what’s needed and to make sure that when you’re going through resumes, you’re getting rid of any that don’t match the criteria you’re after.

Look Out For Personality

Personality is just as important as the person fitting the job description. They need to be able to fit in with the company dynamic and they also need to feel like they are right for the company. If you’ve got someone that’s lacking in the company’s type of personality or doesn’t fit right, then it can cause problems with the rest of that staff and how overall atmosphere. So when it comes to hiring, be sure to get to know the person you’re interviewing, who they are, and what they enjoy outside of the workplace.

Introduce Existing Staff

Your current staff plays an important role of the hiring process because like mentioned above, the person you’re recruiting has to suit the team. With that being said, it’s worth introducing your team or an existing member of staff to the final few you’re interviewing. This can help to understand whether they’ll fit in properly and what the existing staff thinks of the individuals on a personal level. You don’t need to agree with their thoughts, but they are there to help come to the right decision overall.

Hiring in a business can be a challenge, and so it’s important to take it seriously and be detailed in your search.

4 Screening Tests for Employees That Management Should Consider

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | 4 Screening Tests for Employees That Management Should ConsiderA company’s strategy towards employees typically requires managers to be vigilant about potential employee issues that happen unexpectedly but demand an immediate response. However, not leaving things to chance means being proactive and not just reactive to avoid potential issues becoming all too real.

To avoid management getting bogged down with interpersonal conflicts, security issues, or concerns over questionable conduct, here are four screening tests for employees that are worth considering.

Criminal Background Checks

While checking if someone has a criminal record that they’ve failed to disclose on a job application form avoids employing an ex-con, that shouldn’t be where the checks start and finish.

It’s necessary to run periodic employee background checks to verify that the information is still correct, and the situation hasn’t changed. For instance, an employee could have had a domestic violence complaint against them, or been charged with shoplifting, and the company would not necessarily know if they weren’t diligent enough to run a check on it.

Verifying that an employee doesn’t have a criminal conviction since the last time it was reviewed avoids continuing to employ someone who may be a danger to themselves or others. Also, issues with theft represent a significant new risk to assets and intellectual property rights too.

Financial Credit Check

A financial credit check is something that every employer should do for each employee or job applicant on a second or third interview for a position. For someone who’ll work in the finance department or handle confidential business information that the company wouldn’t want to be available to the highest bidder, a worrying credit score is a concern.

At a certain level of indebtedness, the employee could become a financial risk where money troubles could cause them to become compromised. At which point, they could do something seemingly out of character due to either being persuaded to by a third party or for pure financial motivation.

A Decline in Work Performance or Attendance

If an employee who has previously been an exemplary worker suddenly has a significant and sustained drop in performance, this should raise some eyebrows. It’s good to understand the reason(s) for this happening to ensure there’s nothing that the company should be overly concerned about.

Poor attendance is a cause for concern from a generate tardiness with a timekeeping standpoint. Also, additional sick days without a forthcoming sick note from a doctor is another area that raises some red flags. It’s beneficial to put some time into getting to the bottom of why this is happening. Check-in with the staff member to discuss the matter, determine the cause, and confirm what they’re doing to resolve it.

DMV Checks on Driving License Status

If you have employees who drive for the company, either with a company car or operating a van or long-haul truck, it’s necessary to check their driving license record each year. Doing so will clarify whether they’ve received any penalties on their license relating to new infractions. It will also confirm that they still have a driving license and are not driving a company vehicle without one.

By performing check-ins with the employee and screening tests, you’ll be able to confirm if there’s been a change in status that’s a potential conflict or cause for concern. These come in a variety of forms with the management having some degree of latitude on how they may respond to them. Not running certain screening tests both prior to hiring, and during employment periods, leaves the company in the dark.