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Posts Tagged recruitment

New Leadership Book – Leadership Excellence

May 3

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People! | 1 Comment

Released recently on Amazon here’s an e book with a leadership twist, it’s a how to manual so you can develop the skills of an excellent leader.

Ok I wrote it, so lets get that out of the way… (awkward moment) but hey If I don’t tell people how will they know? Here’s the link

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XTTUMS

Or for those without a kIndle to view it on, you can also get it here in a variety of formats to suit your needs from Smashwords, great for ipad and iphone users.

I hope you enjoy it… :)

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What’s next, the second instalment

Dec 4

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People!, Planning | No Comments

This is the second part of the four part series on dealing with new recruits, this time we focus on training. Here’s what I said in the initial article.

Lousy training – Tough, though I know your training people are possibly doing what they can, given tough challenges or are just not that suited to training new employees, they might have a stronger focus on I.T. or a some Leadership program, they can be spread thin. After all did anyone tell the Training area to prepare something for the new recruit?

When it comes to training some are of the opinion “If you picked a new recruit, pick one already trained…” nice thought but there are things  your organisation will do differently to others so they might need to know how your team look after OHS issues, and about the versions of software you use. as well as looking at the values and beliefs in the organisation.

I can only hope your organisation has a great training program in place for all sorts of things and not a lousy one as I hinted at in the opening section. So that being the case your training team will have this area all handled for you when  you let them know the new recruit is about to start.

  • The training team won’t tell you “Oh the OHS (or other) training doesn’t run for another 3 weeks.” They will have a positive stop gap measure like an online training option, or at the very least a handout on OHS expectations and guidelines to give the recruit early in the process (before they start perhaps.)
  • The training team will have put together something for the new recruit on the values and beliefs of the organisation, knowing full well the value of a great cultural fit and how this can happen using foundation organisational philosophies.
  • The training team will have mapped out a schedule of what training is happening and what the recruit needs to do to ensure their training needs are met and especially in the area of the induction program and it’s time frame. They will be well and truly focussed on the recruits success in the organisation and not just for the recruitment phase either.

The new recruit, even by this early stage, will be suitably impressed with how things are going, they feel included and are valued in the organisation and are trained to succeed.

In the next phase your Leadership and communication skills come to the fore as you make sure all the team know about the recruit and a bit about how they will fit in. Join me then as weexplore the expectations of the new recruit.

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Articles to Whet Your Appetite!

Sep 13

Posted by Steve Gray in The Board Room | 3 Comments

In a rush?, want to find great articles fast, here are a few popular ones which seem to hit the right note with readers, I hope you find them useful too!

  1. Does your business have a heart problem? Bren Ryan writes from solid experience in business, this article explores the blockages you might face with a great metaphor, the heart.
  2. Training to Win… Five rock solid points on how to train people to win the game, the business game of course. In simple points to get you thinking and hopefully acting to improve your business.
  3. Top Tips for Probation Periods at Work Nnew staff? Get them off to a flying start with this gem, and I bet you never thought of some of these points, or if you did you didn’t implement them.
  4. Successful Communication – 4 Key Categories Jenny Stilwell is professional with an eye for what works, in this case great communication,  you know it’s an issue in most businesses (in fact in life!) so use these points to get your business in to gear.
  5. What are your people doing, working… or? People are great aren’t they, but hey what are they doing? Not sure then perhaps this article will give  you a few clues to find out…
  6. The eco friendly recruiter A simple way to streamline your recruitment practices and make a stand for the environment at the same time.
  7. Feedback and Communication More communication strategies, I know you just can’t get enough of them.
  8. Bitter, grumpy annoyed… get over it! People in business can get this way, and I think it’s a timely reminder…
  9. Workplace Bullying Policy What’s that… you don’t have one… oops! Here’s an outline of how to get one fast.
  10. Creating Your Own Marketing Action Plan Emma Rhoades explores a great way to get on top of your marketing plans.

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Recruiting in tough times

Jan 16

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, People! | No Comments

The economy is in turmoil, your staff are jittery, the sales forecasts are still okay and you actually need more staff, we live in interesting times! But to recruit takes up precious time and resources, the position you have in mind is just not quite up to using the recruitment company so you want try a more creative approach, after all the standard methods still have some quirks, issues and challenges. The number one thing is the time they take up.

You get some ideas together and decide to go for it, but what might be a way to cut back on the sheer volume of applications the role might attract from job seekers?

Consider a different approach, here are some thoughts.

  • The role and the job – You probably have a fairly good idea of the responsibilities the new employee will undertake, logical task skills are one thing, however knowing the type of personality which will fit with the role, the team and the company is another. Visualise the right type of person, how they act, hold themselves and perform, now go and find that person.
  • The advert – Normally adverts cost a bunch, but if you keep it short sharp and to the point you can keep costs down.
  • The web edge - It’s not new to have a recruitment section on your website, (usually an email address to send applications to) but as a filtering device it might be a fresh approach. Use the advert to send people to the web page, there you can set up a page relatively cost effectively and alter it to suit. Ask the big questions you want answered after telling them the basics about the job and remuneration. Also outline the process in steps so they have an idea of what’s happening.
  • Keep your resume – They are usually a few pages, a lot of scanning and or printing has to take place etc… what a hassle, I would rather scan a single page than 4+. Therefore ask the applicant to create a one page response to a few questions citing examples of how they did things in set situations.
  • Call them – From the process above you now have a bunch of one page responses from candidates. Now you can formulate a quick phone interview process,  you ring and tell them you want some short responses to assist you in going further… it might go something like this… “Give me a snapshot of your resume, e.g. a few places you have worked and achievements,  you have 1 minute” time them and see what happens, if they are engrossing in a positive way you can decide to let them chat on or stop them. You could even make it 30 seconds. Add a few questions to delve deeper on some key issues (team work and communication might be a start.) Now make sure you can short list from this bunch and let the really no goers know via email.
  • Short list – The good ones are left, you could pick a few and re call them and ask more questions, you could invite them to a group session (five people in a room for 1/2 an hr is cheaper time wise than five 1/2 hour sessions at separate interviews.) Or you could ask them to create another 1 page response, or even send in their resume… You could also just interview them, either way go with your heart on who stands out from the crowd first and then go for the logical fit later.

This type of process can be useful for many roles, it makes it easier to sort the main players out and gives you the chance to get through the candidates fast. Happy hunting!

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