HROToday.com has published an insightful article on the importance of data analytics in the recruitment industry.  The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team thought we’d share the article by author Michael Housman titled “Data for Dollars: Analytics can help determine the value of your workforce.”

Recruiting is big business. U.S. employers collectively spend nearly $124 billion a year on recruiting, and almost $6 trillion on payroll. With that level of spending, small improvements in outcomes can easily be worth billions or tens of billions of dollars.

Yet recruiting has largely been an unmeasured process, wherein recruiters screen candidates by their own criteria, including work experience and academic achievement—historically poor predictors of candidate quality. Once hired, systems are seldom in place to measure or track quality of hire in order to continuously improve the recruiting process.

With quality of workforce becoming increasingly critical as a differentiator and a source of competitive advantage, HR professionals must ensure they deliver the best candidates for the money. The most sure-fire way to do this is by using a data-driven approach that leverages quantitative metrics to measure, analyze, create, and sustain a more productive workforce.

New technologies and rapidly advancing analytics are changing the nature of the contribution that HR can make to an organization. These advances enable companies to predict employee performance, engagement, and retention as a function of various inputs. By doing so, HR is able to quantify the quality of the hourly workforce, then deliver insight and drive action to improve the recruiting process and overall workforce performance. With quantitative metrics and a focus on the strategic impact of a more productive workforce, the recruiting function is sure to become one of the key drivers of organizational success.

HRO Today’s article offers these (and more) insights:

• Data Analysis Matters – The amount of money that can be saved for an organization through the use of data analytics is immense. Small changes on the margin that result in sales or productivity increases of just a few percentage points can be worth significant amounts of money.

• Becoming Data-Driven – Once companies grasp how to use data and analytics to better understand their workforces, they can take a deeper dive into analytics to gain insight into all aspects of their recruiting process, and to drive further changes and improvements.

Taking the Analytics Plunge – Use data to optimize sourcing decisions and budgets, evaluate the effectiveness of recruiters, and understand your applicant shelf life.

The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team is sharing some hard-won business insights directly from the source.

 ”A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management” is a 266-page guidebook to the intricacies of the world of employment from Jeff Stinson, founder and president of Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO).

Chapter 11 – How to Deal with the Unions

Unions today make up a very small part of the workforce.  In the 1950s, union membership stood at around 35 percent of the working population.  Today, the number is less than 12 percent, with most of these in the public sector.  Why the fall?

I would like to say it is because you have all ready my book and are using excellent HR practices that keep people from wanting to join unions.  Wishful thinking.  In fact, there are a number of reasons, including these:

• Many of the issues that originally brought unions to the workplace, such as minimum wages, child labor and workplace safety, have all been legislated both federally and located.
• A number of industries where unions once dominated, such as textiles and steel, have moved offshore.
• The old concept of “personnel” evolved into the practice of human resources (HR), and companies made a much greater effort to meet the needs of their employees, thus giving them much less reason to organize.

Given the above, I would suggest that in the 21^st century, if you wake up one morning to find a union at your door, it will constitute a failure of management…not of the employees.

Unfortunately, if you do wake up that morning with this new problem, your work is really cut out for you.

Labor Relations Management

Like most things in HR, labor-relations management is a process consisting of three steps:

1. Union organizing
2. Collective bargaining
3. Contract administration

Union Organizing

The union organizing process is the attempt by the union to convince a sufficient number (30 percent) of employees to sign authorization cards allowing for an election.  The election campaign will be a lively one, and there are a number of things you should remember regarding your conduct – the dos and don’ts.  These include:

• You can give your opinion, telling them why you think the union is NOT good for them, and why.
• You can tell them if they strike, they may be replaced.
• You can tell employees that they don’t have to talk to union representatives if they don’t want to.

There are also a number of things you cannot do, including:

• You cannot question employees about the union.
• You cannot spy on their meetings.
• You cannot visit them at their homes to discuss union issues.

Collective Bargaining

This is the phase where you must negotiate in good faith toward the goal of reaching a collective-bargaining agreement or union contract.  Generally, you must negotiate things like rates of pay, overtime, grievance procedures, etc.

I would suggest that you always hire a professional to assist you in this process.  The union will certainly be using one, and you should as well.

Contract Administration

Administering the contract once it has been negotiated is by far the most time-consuming element of the union relationship.  Most of this effort will involve interpretation of the contract.  There will likely be issues that come up that were not anticipated at the time of the negotiation.  When this occurs, there is typically a grievance and arbitration procedure, which I discuss in detail in the book.

At the end of the day, the best policy is to pay attention to your employees’ needs, provide a safe workplace for them, and pay them competitively.

Next: Chapter 12 – How to Manage Them Internationally.

The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team is sharing some hard-won business insights directly from the source.

 ”A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management” is a 266-page guidebook to the intricacies of the world of employment from Jeff Stinson, founder and president of Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO).

Chapter 9 – How to Train Them

Let’s be honest.  Have you ever been sufficiently trained?  I have always subscribed to the concept of being a lifelong learner, and I appreciate any training I can get.  While each employee’s situation will be different, we need to ask how much training is really required and whether the results justify the expense.

In looking at employee training, I would suggest you ask the following questions:

• Why are we doing this training?
• Is it to provide new skills, or is it in response to an employee performance problem?
• Is training really the solution to the employee’s performance problem?

Oftentimes, when an employee is not performing, the natural assumption is that the problem is lack of training.  I would suggest that before you reach this conclusion, you consider whether the employee is willing and/or able to do the job.

Willingness is the interest, motivation and confidence to improve, whereas ability is the knowledge, skill and resources to improve.

In the book, we provide a “Willingness & Ability Table” as a useful tool for you to use when trying to decide if a performance issue represents an employee’s lack of willingness to perform or is really because of lack of ability.

Are the goals of the training clear and realistic?  Far too often, we enter into training without considering its real goal.

Are you trying to provide information?  Improve skills?  Do you expect a real change in performance?

Do you know if the employee is ready for training?  The necessary employee characteristics to ensure readiness of training include:

• Ability to learn the subject matter
• Favorable attitudes toward the training
• Motivation to learn

All of these factors need to be present for training to be a success.  The planned training program should directly relate to the needs identified by the needs assessment, which we have already discussed.

Effective training objectives have three components:

What the employee is expected to do, the quality or level of performance that is acceptable, and the conditions under which the trainee is expected to apply what is learned.

Once you are convinced that your employee can and is willing to learn, it is time to figure out what the best training method would be.  A wide variety of methods are available for conducting training, such as:

• Classroom training
• Training videos
• Role-plays
• Case studies
• Computer-based training
• Learning games
• Experiential programs

Some measures of training success might include:

• Trainee satisfaction with the program.
• Knowledge of abilities learned.
• Use of new skills and behaviors on the job.
• Improvements in individual performance.
• Improvements in organizational performance.

At the end of the day, training needs to improve performance.  That is the bottom-line measurement.

Next: Chapter 11 – How to Deal with the Unions

The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team is sharing some hard-won business insights directly from the source.

 ”A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management” is a 266-page guidebook to the intricacies of the world of employment from Jeff Stinson, founder and president of Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO).

Chapter 7 – How to Deal with Their Issues

Let’s face it — everyone has issues.  Rarely a day goes by that I don’t spend some time on a problem between an employee and his or her boss, subordinate or peer.  The real trick is understanding which of these is just normal griping and complaining and which is real and requires action.  Unfortunately, there is no real way to know until you investigate further.  As a result, treat every complaint seriously.  While John may be one of those “complainers,” at some point he may actually have a real issue, and if you didn’t take it seriously… well, see Chapter 8 (How to Stay Out of Court).

I would also set up a procedure that allows employees to keep their grievances internal rather than take them to an outside source, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or equivalent state agency.  I would suggest a dispute-resolution process similar to the one included in this chapter of the book.

“Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Policy” includes sections on Application, Purpose, Policy, Definitions, Procedure, Forms and Counsel.

Other Things to Consider

Promote diversity in the workplace and treat everyone equally and with respect.  Will this resolve all of your employee issues?  Of course not, but it will go a long way toward making your employees believe you are fair and that you encourage them to share their issues with you.

So what are the latest and greatest things you should watch out for?

Retaliation

Have you ever played the game of Whack-a-Mole?  Plaintiff attorneys are a bit like this in that as soon as you “whack” them with a defense to one issue, they find another one and up they pop.  Today, that issue is retaliation.  Fighting accusations of retaliation against an employee for sanctions of certain behaviors is difficult because it will often survive a summary judgment motion, which means you will have a jury trial unless you implement an arbitration policy (see Chapter 8).

Sexual Harassment

Today, with proper training and policies, you see much less of this type of case.  Take complaints seriously, as they can proceed to court very quickly and be very expensive.

Wage and Hour

This (along with retaliation) is the latest Whack-a-Mole issue.  While wage and hour laws have been with us since the 1930s, it is only recently that plaintiff attorneys have figured out that these can be great class-action cases.  For example, ever see hourly employees eating lunch at their desks?  If so, you may have a problem.  In some states, they can go back as far as three years for willful violations.

Facebook

Can you decide against hiring someone because of what you see written by or about them on Facebook?  Can you fire someone for what you see?  What if they call you a jerk on Twitter?  Here is the answer: I don’t know…yet.  Here comes another round of Whack-a-Mole.

Religion

This is one of the protected areas of law that require you to accommodate the employee’s needs.  What is a religion?  What about a Wiccan?  Stay tuned.

Disabilities

The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires accommodations for disabilities as long as they don’t cause undue hardship for the organization.

The list of potential issues is endless and will continue to develop over time.  My advice is that, if you are unsure, call your HR consultant or an employment attorney.

Next: Chapter 8 – How to Stay Out of Court 

The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team is sharing some hard-won business insights directly from the source.

 ”A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management” is a 266-page guidebook to the intricacies of the world of employment from Jeff Stinson, founder and president of Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO).

Chapter 4: How to Make Sure You Pay Them Correctly

PAY – refers to all types of financial rewards and benefits employees receive as part of their employment.

Have you heard of the various studies that show that from an employee-satisfaction perspective, pay ranks somewhere between third and fourth.  These surveys tell us that employees value their supervisor more than pay, or wanting to “have a say in things.

Perhaps this is true, but at the end of the day, when your employee leaves for another job, most of the time money was involved.  So, what can you do about this?

One problem with pay is that the term means different things to different people.  For some, we are talking about an hourly rate.  For others, there may be a bonus involved  or even stock options.  This Chapter focuses on the following issues relative to pay:

• Definition of what pay really is
• What a pay system’s objectives should be
• A typical pay model
• Elements of a sound system – internal equity, external equity, and employee equity
• Strategic alignment of pay to the business
• The concept of total rewards
• Some thoughts on base pay and bonuses

What are you really trying to achieve with your pay system?

• Attract and retain employees
• Motivate
• Promote skills and knowledge development
• Shape corporate culture
• Determine and control pay costs

Job evaluation, which affects base pay and bonus considerations, is the process of systematically determining the relative worth of jobs to create a job structure for the organization.  There are essentially three ways to conduct a job evaluation:

• Job Ranking
• Job Classification
• Point-Factor Method

Each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages.

Your culture and business objectives define compensation packages (not the other way around).

There are many advantages to making a bonus a significant part of an employee’s pay.

Next: Chapter 5 – How to Select the Proper Benefits Program

The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team is sharing some hard-won business insights directly from the source.

 ”A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management” is a 266-page guidebook to the intricacies of the world of employment from Jeff Stinson, founder and president of Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO).

Over the course of the next two months we will be excerpting chapters of Jeff Stinson’s guidebook in this blog.

A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management

Leading people in today’s complex world is a challenging activity.  There are regulations, unions, lawyers and more to deal with on a daily basis.

“A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management” is written by a longtime human resources consultant.  This guidebook helps you develop your leadership skills so that you can:

• Recruit qualified applicants.
• Interview candidates with confidence.
• Hire the right people.
• Train new employees and keep the best performers.
• Deal with unions.
• Stay out of court.

In addition to the basics, you’ll learn how to respond to employment situations that could catch you off guard.

For instance, what do you do if your best employee tells you that he or she is leaving to join a competitor?

What if one of your employees takes a public stand against one of your policies?

What if someone you fire for theft hires a lawyer who sends you a nasty letter?

Other textbooks on human resources management focus on theories and statistics, but “A Practical Guide to Human Resources Management” provides real-life examples to help you handle any situation with leadership that inspires confidence.

Jeff Stinson, SPHR, GPHR, CCP, GRP, CBP

Jeff has been involved in the management and development of human capital for more than three decades. Before founding GHRO, he ran a successful human resources consulting practice (JDS Consulting).

Prior to JDS, Jeff functioned as a senior human resources executive for several companies where he led HR teams on three continents in the manufacturing, telecommunication and software and entertainment industries.  Jeff earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from California State University, Fullerton.

In addition to his university education, Jeff also holds designations as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR); Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR); Certified Compensation Professional (CCP); Global Remuneration Professional (GRP); and Certified Benefits Professional (CBP). He has also been an instructor at the Universities of Redlands, Phoenix and Chapman for the past 24 years.  Happily married for 32 years, Jeff and his spouse Diane reside in Mission Viejo, Calif., where they enjoy travel, sports and the theater.

Great branding is a key element in achieving success in the business world, and this includes the role of the organization plays as Employer.   The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) wanted to share an insightful article on the subject.

An “employer brand” denotes an organization’s reputation as an employer – the image of an organization as “a great place to work.”  Employer branding is the process of creating this image.

In an article titled “Mission: Brand Alignment,” HRO Today explores how employer branding aligned with a company’s corporate or product brand can produce great business results.

Linking salient corporate/product brand elements with your employer branding strategy gives an organization the ability to communicate the employer brand to various talent segments – candidate prospects, and current and former employees – across the business.

Many HR groups within organizations are realizing that an effective brand strategy can enhance their talent acquisition efforts.  Signaling your company message on several levels can resonate with job candidates.

Consequently, just as marketing executives leverage a wide variety of tactics and initiatives to drive awareness for product portfolios, many successful HR leaders are taking advantage of various branding elements traditionally found in a marketer’s toolbox.

Where to Start? Compare & Understand

One of the first steps toward aligning your employer brand with your product or corporate brand is to have an open and honest assessment of what your brand really stands for and means. One method that marketers use — in order to achieve a deeper understanding of essence — is to perform a brand alignment analysis.

Source and Attract

As you source and attract candidates in the early stages, one of the goals is to make sure that the different vehicles you utilize, such as job postings, employment advertisements, career portals, recruitment videos, social media, word-of-mouth and other tactics, reinforce your employer brand positioning and messaging.

Employer Branding Alignment Tips

• Collaboration between HR and Marketing is critical.  Learn what aspects of your corporate or product brand will translate well to your employer brand strategy. Many organizations are tasking marketing professionals to head their employer branding efforts and bridge the gap between the two functional areas.
• Focus more on brand engagement over brand communications. This is especially true when designing an employer branding program during your onboarding and employment stages. Think about the influencing and net promoter type brand attributes you can harness from an engaged group of employees. Dialogue and engagement are more powerful and relevant during this stage compared to monologue messaging.
• Assess all candidate touch points. Your employer brand reaches prospective candidates at many intersections. Make sure you’ve identified all of them and that your employer brand messaging is clear and relevant at each juncture.

And a word of caution: don’t assume that just because candidates easily identify with a great product brand that they will assume it’s also a great organization to be employed with.  The burden of proof is on the employer.

Jennifer King is an HR Analyst at Software Advice, a company that reviews and compares recruiting and employee performance review software. She reports on trends, best practices and technology in human resources.  The Global Human Resources Outsourcing (GHRO) team enjoys Jennifer’s insights into the recruiting industry, and so today’s post reprises elements of one of her recent blogs: Why Recruiters Use Social Networks to Screen Job Candidates.

In a 2011 Reppler survey about how recruiters use social networks to screen candidates, 91 percent of the respondents claimed they have visited a potential candidate’s profile on a social network as part of the screening process.  But why?  With all the tweets, status updates and comments, it’s unavoidable for any social job seeker not to be searchable in some way.

With social media, it’s possible to learn more about a job seeker than what is on his or her resume, giving recruiters and hiring managers more insight into the behaviors and personal lives of their candidates.
According to Eric Meyer, partner in the labor and employment group at Dilworth Paxson LLP, “Businesses and recruiters want to know as much as they can about a person who they may give a job offer.  But the real purpose behind screening is to make sure the person you’re hiring doesn’t have any red flags that would make them a bad fit or a potential liability for the business.”

When it comes to commenting, posting photos or sharing status updates, we don’t typically update our social media profiles with recruiters in mind.  Instead, we post things that are relevant to our lives, interests and personalities, giving recruiters a clearer picture of the person behind the resume.

Tips for Job Seekers

For recruiters and hiring managers who choose to look up candidates online, it’s likely that what they find will also shape their first impression of that person.

“Perception is reality in the business world,” says Amy Henderson, account executive with Technisource, part of Randstad Technologies. “The way people perceive you online, through social media—that’s what they use to make first impressions.  And those first impressions are lasting impressions.”

And even with privacy restrictions set up on social networking sites like Facebook, it doesn’t mean an employer won’t take extra steps to get a look at what’s behind those privacy restrictions, even if that means bluntly asking a job candidate for his or her login information.

But by requiring login credentials for candidates’ social media profiles, employers run the risk of losing top talent due to a perceived lack of trust.

No, it’s not the latest Patricia Cornwell novel—it’s a recent court ruling on an FMLA-related lawsuit.  The ruling held that even employees on FMLA leave are required to give proper notice and to follow their employer’s call-in policies.

In 2008, Jordan To brought suit against his former employer, U.S. Bank, for violating his rights by terminating him during FMLA leave.  After months of military leave, To failed to return to his clerk job as scheduled on August 4, 2008.  He spoke to his U.S. Bank supervisors via conference call and explained he wasn’t feeling well and needed time to recuperate.  To’s supervisors asked for a doctor’s note to return to work, which To provided.  One week later, when To failed to report for work as expected, he spoke to his supervisor and sent another doctor’s note.  A week after that, To not only failed to report for work, but did not notify anyone at U.S. Bank for four days.  On the third day, U.S. Bank sent a termination letter to To, citing job abandonment.  Upon receiving the letter, To claimed a third doctor’s note had been faxed to excuse the current absence—a note U.S. Bank did not receive and a note To could not produce.  Given the status of the missing note, U.S. Bank upheld To’s termination.  To sued.

Is this a case of wrongful termination under FMLA law?

The answer lies in U.S. Bank’s employment policies at the time of To’s absence.  As explained in the “Reporting Absences” provision of its employee handbook, U.S. Bank’s call-in policy stated that absence requests must be reported as soon as the employee becomes aware of such a need—that is, the employee provides reasonable notice.  The policy also stated that all absences must be reported by speaking directly to the employee’s supervisor, not through voicemail or e-mail.  The handbook also contained a “Job Abandonment” provision, which stated that after two consecutive days, an unreported absence would be considered voluntary job abandonment.  Both provisions specifically included FMLA absences under their umbrellas.

Giving To the benefit of the doubt, assume U.S. Bank legitimately failed to receive his faxed doctor’s note.  In that case, the note should have satisfied the “reasonable notice” requirement of U.S. Bank’s absence-reporting policy.  But note or no note, To violated the “call-in” requirement when he failed to directly notify his supervisor.  The FMLA angle of his case had no bearing, because FMLA absence requests are legally expected to follow employer policy on standard absence requests.  Clearly, To did not comply with his employer’s call-in policy.  The court thought so, too—it ruled against To and upheld his termination.

According to a CNN report, Americans working in a claustrophobia-inducing cubicle have one more thing to complain about: shrinking cubicle size.

The average worker’s office space has dwindled 15 square feet since 1994, down to a cozy 75 square feet in 2010.  And it’s not just the everyday workers who are feeling the squeeze—senior workers’ office space shrunk 19 feet over the same period.  Everyone but executive management, who enjoyed an increase in office space, has to do more work with less space.

Or are they?

What popularized the cubicle in the 1960s was its functional, modular office space without the construction required to build walled offices.  In the past, cubicle size has had to accommodate the latest office technology, such as bulky telephones, typewriters, and desktop computers.  Today, that technology is slender and sleek, such as flat-screen monitors, laptops, iPads, and Blackberries—and more important, that technology is mobile.

Mobile technology replaces the need for workers to be chained to their desks.  Instead, workers can telecommute or work from different places in the office, as in the open-space seating model found at companies such as Facebook and Intel.  This open-space model is becoming more popular thanks to its team-oriented setup and efficient use of work space.  Due to meetings, travel, shifts, or personal leave, not all work space is required at all times, so it makes sense to have fewer and unassigned work stations.

While some employees appreciate this modern, flexible approach to office space, other employees reject the approach’s irregularity, close quarters, and lack of privacy.  Since employees spend half their days at work, it’s important their office environment works for them to foster comfort and productivity.  But just as office spaces come in all shapes and sizes, so do employees, so not every model will suit every employee’s personality or work style.

Does that mean private offices are on the verge of extinction?  Not if SAS, a North Carolina business intelligence software company, is any indication.  For the last two years, the company was named Fortune magazine’s best place to work.  The kicker?  SAS gives almost all its employees private offices.