There’s no denying that one of the biggest expenses for any business is finding and training new talent.  Often a business doesn’t fully understand the financial impact (as it’s not a debtor invoice with a clear amount that we have to pay), so we forget to account for the time and drain involved in replacing staff members.  However, most businesses do innately understand the negative impact – so what is the solution?!  Do what you can to keep your talent!!

We’ve got some tips to help you build a ‘talent firewall’, so you can keep your staff happy and they will stay and give you their best.  This week we’ll look what you offer – at specific steps you can take to build programs and solutions for your staff members.  Next week, we’ll look at what you can do as Executives and Managers to improve the workplace environment:

1. Development programs: there are simple and effective ways to reward your staff and believe it or not, those that are gems will actually appreciate the opportunity to add some extra knowledge, study or accreditation to their skills.  You can perhaps help staff to obtain a certificate or diploma (don’t forget that RPL might be an option if they already demonstrate the necessary skills), or arrange for in-house training that offers specific benefits for your industry.
2. Reviews: you know that you should give your staff regular performance reviews, but few companies actually do this.  It is time to actually take control and ensure that your staff have up to date job descriptions and measurements so that they know where they are headed and you can also measure their progress.  It is also a good idea to set developmental goals such as strategic thinking, coaching and team development and for managers – delegation skills.
3. Offer a formalised coaching program: Executive coaches can help set goals and ensure accountability is a positive way.  This is a good way to keep up momentum and supplement internal HR resources. Remember that it helps to have a pre and post measure up of what the staff member achieves at the end of what you are offering so that there is a goal focus!
4. Mentoring: mentoring is an important way for staff to increase the knowledge and abilities – a mentor should be the level above the said staff member’s boss – this will allow all parties to be able to see things from a removed and clearer perspective.  Mentors help us to see the broader perspective and the added bonus is that it often helps staff to strive for promotion!
5. Long-term career goals: sometimes it is possible to get lost in the day to day.  It is important to help staff see the future potentials for growth and understand that their input and desires are taken into account!

All of the above steps are solutions that you should be implementing in conjuction with your staff members, the best way to do this is to ask for their input and help them to feel part of the process!  Next week we’ll discuss what you as management can action to make your work environment a more positive one to ensure you don’t lose your top talent!

Please feel free to drop us a comment below if you have any questions or suggestions that have worked for you!

Today is “Equal Pay Day” – today was specifically chosen to highlight the fact that, in general, women have to work an extra 63 days after the end of the financial year to earn the same pay as their male equivalents earned by 30th June.

Susan Wareham McGrath notes that the equal pay issue seems to have been lost in the concept that the gender gap has closed since Julia Gillard became Prime Minister (read the full article here):

While this inequity has been evident for as long as I can remember, since Julia Gillard’s ascendancy to the Prime Ministership, I’ve noticed a growing – and incorrect – belief, amongst both men and women, that Australia’s gender gap has closed.

It is interesting that the issue of gender equality in pay has been overshadowed by some prominent females in traditional male roles, BUT it doesn’t alter the reality is:

Not sure about the gender pay gap? Here are the facts:

• A 17% gender pay gap costs the Australian economy around $93 Billion
• Some women in CEO and finance positions earn less than half of their male equivalents
• The average superannuation payout to a woman is projected to be $150,000, that’s half of the average payout to a man in 2010-11
• The 17.2% gender pay gap is a national average that opens up to over 30% in some industry sectors
• Equal pay for women raises family income which means more money to spend on food, housing and child care
• Single mothers and working families lose thousands of dollars annually to the wage gap
• A NATSEM report released in March 2010 shows that simply being a woman accounts for 60% of the difference between men’s and women’s earnings
• If things don’t change, the average 25 year old male will earn $2.4M over the next forty years; for the average 25 year old female, that figure is just $1.5M

(source: http://www.equalpayday.com.au/)

So, now that we have established that there is still a very huge issue to address, what should employers in Australia be doing about it??

It is time for employers to REALLY be aware of the gender issue!

The best way to start is to make all of your staff aware that you are implementing EOWA standards to ensure gender equality in your workplace!

Start by taking stock:

• what is the ratio of males to females in your workplace?
• what sort of roles do each gender fulfill?

Once you know this, you will know if it’s something you should work towards creating a balance in! Have you made an effort to have a gender balance?  If you find an imbalance, is this something you can strive to improve?  I would suggest that you put a formal plan in place to ensure that your hiring team are aware of the balance you want created!

Next you want to assess payroll:

• firstly internal comparisons between roles AND genders, and then
• comparisons with what the market is paying

It is important that you are aware of gender bias in your payroll and that you have a plan to reduce any gaps!  The best suggestion I can recommend is implementing a gradual plan to ensure that everyone is in line.  Be aware that if there is a disparity you want to be able to explain why – disparities should ONLY be about qualifications and experience AND you need to be able to show this in an objective manner.  Anything else could potentially open you up to litigious claims.

Make sure that you enlist your staff – let them know that you don’t want your workplace to be part of the shocking statistics above!

Implement impartial procedures that are objective, measurable and testable!  It is inevitable that when you have personalities involved the lines can potentially be blurred; these procedures will ensure that you handle all of the “personal stuff” in an unprejudiced way.

Have you heard the saying “what’s worse than training a staff member and having them leave?”, the answer is simple “not training them and having them stay”.  Many employers are worried that training staff skills them up to leave, but the reality is that training your staff is just one element of smart retention strategies.

What does a skills matrix do?

Clever employers assess their staff’s abilities and understand the need to be aware of areas of weakness or indeed areas where training could assist staff to the next level!  The best way to do this is to have a “training” or “skills” matrix.  A skills matrix can also help employers with several aspects of managing staff, such as:

1. Clearly identify job responsibilities,
2. Measure performance against those responsibilities,
3. Understanding suitability for roles,
4. Understanding how an individual will fit into group dynamics,
5. Salary reviews,
6. Understanding who is suitable for promotion,

Prerequisites for a skills matrix

Firstly you need to ensure that your employees have job descriptions!  If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it (and managing it is about improving it)!  Once you have job descriptions you can understand where your staff’s strengths and weaknesses lie.

How do you develop a skills matrix?

Once you have job the job description, be sure that you have any required qualifications and industry standards listed as well.

Then start your list with all staff names (I use an excel spreadsheet and list the staff names vertically down the first column), then I list the skills that are required by all staff, eg: answering the phone; using office equipment; knowing all computer programs, etc (I then list these horizontally across the top of the spreadsheet).  Then I continue on with specific skills for specific positions (again horizontally) this also includes qualifications.

Finally I then colour code the cross point on both axis’, eg:

1. no training required,
2. training required,
3. currently undergoing training, and
4. training complete.

I also recommend including an extra coding system to note staff who are able to skill up other staff members, as this has a huge positive impact on increasing staff morale and is a cost effective way to skill up all staff members!  So for example if Stephanie was on row 4 and using the switchboard was on column B and I was adept at the system and also able to train others, I would have cell 4B coloured and coded to show “no training required” and “able to train others”.

Have you ever been in this position (some of you may groan as I say this, but), have you ever had the problem of  2 prime candidates and you can’t decide who would be best?  Yes – as much as I know most of us struggle to find THE ONE, we as recruiters do sometimes hear of “two” many candidates being the problem.

Well the first issue that we hear in this case is “how do I choose?”.  As recruiters, we present to you the best candidates for the job role, the environment, the company and the staff mix you already have.  If we present more than one person who would “fit” then it is up to you as the employer to make the final decision.  Some employers view this as more of a burden than an advantage.  So, if you are struggling with a choice, perhaps some of the following pointers will help:

1. have a “clinical” list, that is have dot points that you are objective and measureable (ie: education, experience, industry knowledge);
2. have a “subjective” list, this is a list of traits and attributes that you are looking for in the employee
3. CHECK REFERENCES!!!  before you do anything else, remember to listen to what is not said, as well as what is said AND ASK WHAT THE CANDIDATES SHORT COMINGS ARE – this is very telling!  We all have shortcomings, but how does your potential employ handle theirs?
4. If you are still stuck deciding, time to measure your candidates against the matching criteria, is there a stand out yet?  if not:
5. weight the measuring criteria into what is most important – is there a clear winner yet? if not:
6. get someone else’s opinion – get them to look at the candidates on paper first, then get them to talk with both, got it yet??  if not:
7. sometimes you just have to go with your gut!  Let’s face it, nothing is a sure bet (except death and taxes) – but once you have objectively measured and compared, if there is still no clear winner, you have to back your gut instinct!

The other problem, I think, with too many choices is that we tend to view any of the choices as BAD: “what if I pick the wrong one?”!  If in fact you have 2 prime candidates – how can you go wrong??  Even if you have 2 not so great candidates and settle, you make it work (or you re-hire!).  The problem is not so much with the candidate choice, but the fact that when we have chosen between 2 great prospects, we then watch the “chosen one” for every little mistake, fault or failing and berate ourselves for not then picking the other choice!  Once you have made the choice, trust the instinct that lead you there AND give your new employee every chance to be the success you felt them to be before you chose them.

2011 is touted as being the year of the skills shortage; according to recruiting experts Hays a shallow pool of talent in many specialist area’s is the biggest threat to growth (ref here) for the 2011 Australian job market.  In roles and areas such as Engineering, Exploration, Construction, Fabrication and Exporting, Hays quotes an expected skills shortage as never seen before in Australia. Furthermore Hays views the impact of these gross shortages will permeate all industries Australia wide.

So if you are an employer who is currently on the look out for staff, or indeed looking for new or updated ways to retain key skilled staff, what are some of the strategies you should be employing?

Salary increases

The biggest impact of the skills shortage is the expected increase in headhunting.  To attract staff to move, salaries need to increase.  Employers need to be aware there are several factors in calculating current salaries: the 2009 wages freeze and subsequent high bonuses by some key companies has left key staff feeling like the deserve the reward the now stronger job market can provide.  A percentage increase may not be the answer, employers need to be aware of what the market is currently dictating and be aware of what impact on the bottom line current (or potential) employees have.  A large increase to an effective and profit generating employee is a smarter strategy than starting from scratch with training a new staff member.

Bonus schemes

Employers need to think outside of the square these days.  A bonus is no longer extra cash that attracts extra tax; a bonus needs to be something of value to the employee. Is that a gym membership?  Flexible start times?  RDO’s?  Subsidised child care?  Salary sacrificing?  Team building exercises?  Training?

The job description

Here is a key area many employers fail.  BEFORE you advertise for a position, you need to clearly know what that position is – the job description needs to be very clear and specific; it is the foundation for the job ad, the interview and screening process, measurement of applicability and success of the employee at the role.  Here is one are that Wise Recruitment can really help you make a difference!  If you don’t have a job description – don’t waste your time or money on advertising the role.

Skills Assessment

Another key area that most employers miss is the Skills Assessment.  This is easy to define if typing speeds and accuracy are being measured, but not so easy for many roles where the yardstick is difficult to measure.  Again, using a Recruitment Company is the simplest and most effective method of ensuring your candidates have the skills, temperament and ability to successfully fill your vacancy.

The right candidate is more than just the person who presents well at the interview, or the one with the eye catching resume.  Attracting the right candidate is critically important to the success of your business.  So whilst you may want control over the final decision, do you really want to be doing all the leg work whittling out the candidates who are not suitable?  If your time is more precious and your business deserves your time AND the best employee, Wise Recruitment can cover the hard yards and leave you with the top of the class applicants to choose from!

We’d like to warmly welcome you, our valued readers, to the very first post of our new Wise Recruitment Blog.  At Wise, we work with candidates and employers for the good of both parties.  Most people spend at least a third of every week day at work.  We believe that careers should be fulfilling and not just a way to earn a living.  By fitting the right people to the right positions, both employers and candidates will benefit and ultimately, a win/win situation results.

Gone are the days when the employer was king and the employee was the lowly subject forced to jump through hoops, grind away day in and day out, and be grateful for his pay cheque.  Also gone are the boom years of the last decade when candidates could name their price and their perks, and get away with minimal effort for maximum pay.  No, these are the times when the employment climate is a more level playing field and mutual respect will benefit all.

An article in Sydney Morning Herald states: “In the early ’90s, employers responded to the downturn by laying off a lot of workers. This time, they were a lot more inclined to cut the number of hours they were paying all their people to work rather than laying off a proportion of them.”

One of the ways we promote successful pairings between employers and candidates is with the use of psychometric assessments.  It’s not enough simply to employ a person based on their likeability factor or their ability to give all the right answers in an interview.  We perform evidence based testing to measure candidates for their suitability to a particular job.

Psychometrics refers to the educational and psychological measurement of a candidate.  Questionnaires, tests and personality assessments are utilised to narrow down the field so that the ideal candidate can be identified.

Wise Recruitment partners with Psylutions, a boutique consulting psychology firm that specialises in solving, as they put it, ‘the people puzzles of your business’.  You want a team effort.  You want your team to be invested in your business’s goals.  You want your people turning up for work with the same desire to succeed that you have.  And, you want to derive enjoyment from converting your employees’ key strengths into the ultimate success drivers for your company.

The workforce should not be a battlefield.  Wise Recruitment will build harmony into your recruiting pursuits so that your business is the winner, without any casualties littering the field.