Lessons Learned from Steve Jobs
May 9, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
I wrote this blog post on 6th October 2011, after the passing of Steve Jobs, but never posted it.
After watching the documentary “Steve Jobs: Billion Dollar Hippy” recently on ABC, I thought it was time to share my thoughts on the lessons Steve Jobs taught small business owners everywhere.
Thank You Steve Jobs, Written 6th October 2011
Today the business world lost a leader, an innovator, an inspiring human being and a remarkable talent.
Like many others, I feel compelled to write this reflection on the impact Steve Jobs has had on business leaders, existing or aspiring in small business everywhere and the lessons that can take away from his life’s work. I am not a long time Apple devotee, in fact I am a late comer to the I-Volution. This is not about the outstanding products and technology, it’s about the individual behind the ideas and vision which made them possible.
Most of us will never have the opportunity to lead an organisation that is as revolutionary, as successful or as purely awesome as Apple. So for those of us who continue to run small businesses, whether they may seem important, impactful, interesting or not, what lessons can we take from this reluctant corporate super star?
Conviction.
Whilst I didn’t know Steve Jobs personally, and never had the opportunity to see him present, what was painfully clear to me in what I read and the presentations I have watched is the courage of his conviction. He had ideas that people probably once thought were ludicrous, inconceivable and destined for failure, but he persevered and followed his passion. I think if most small business owners had nearly half of his conviction, they would be immeasurably better for it.
Talk to your customers, intelligently, excitedly, but in lingo they get! I am no IT geek, but I get I-Lingo. When Steve Jobs spoke, he engaged his customers, and I don’t mean the long term followers, the cutting edge IT lovers or those that ‘must have’ all the current tech gadgets – I mean the masses. The guy didn’t revolutionise the way we listen to and buy music, work, communicate and function without having ‘the masses’ on board, energised and convinced.
Embody your brand.
Many may disagree, but Steve Jobs was Apple. He embodied, projected and communicated everything that brand has to offer. Let’s hope he taught those who learned from him how to do the same, so we can continue to see the brand and organisation develop.
Enthusiasm is contagious.
There is something I find mesmerising about watching and listening to clips of Steve Jobs discussing the latest Apple technology, and the wider technology and communications world. Not only did he ‘get it’ in a way many will never, but he clearly loved it, was excited by it and was enthusiastic about whatever he was discussing. His enthusiasm, whilst sometimes contained and understated was infectious – you just couldn’t help but want to know more!
So to those small business owners everywhere, I encourage you, take just one of these lessons from this inspirational individual and implement it into your business, or life, today.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- To Counter Offer or Not? How to Manage a Resignation
- Avoid These Common Recruitment Traps
- Recruitment 101: The Basics to Making Your First Hire
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
To Counter Offer or Not? How to Manage a Resignation
April 23, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
It’s the worst case scenario for many businesses, especially small businesses: one of your best staff members submits a resignation.
At the time, you probably would consider doing anything at all to keep them and retain them as part of the team – but should you really consider making a counter offer?
Here are the top 5 things to consider before making any sort of counter offer:
- What is the reason for their resignation? If you don’t understand why they are leaving, you have no idea what to counter offer with. It’s important that you are confident they are being honest with you in regards to their reasons for the resignation, and from there you can make your decision. There is no point offering more money if they are leaving to pursue a completely different line of work. Conversely, there is no point offering a promotion if they are leaving to go to a less stressful or less senior role.
- Will the news of your counter offer get out to the rest of the team? It’s important to be aware of this, because if you decide to counter offer and the information around this gets back to everyone else in the workplace, you have a whole other problem on your hands. You may have others putting their hands out for big fat pay rises, some demanding promotions or others just quietly being unhappy and deciding to move on themselves as they feel it’s unfair.
- Can you afford it? No matter how much you may want to pay this person to renounce their resignation, if you can’t afford it, then a counter offer is destined for failure. Take some time to really crunch the numbers and make sure it’s viable.
- How will it impact the rest of the team? By offering this person the world, how will the rest of the team feel and react? Will their roles change as a result, will the entire office now need to run differently? Think about the flow on effect of any role and structure changes which form part of your counter offer and make sure you have accounted for any ‘fall out’ from the rest of the team
- How long will the counter offer keep them for? This is a tough one, because there is not definitive answer. Go back to their reasons for leaving originally, and see how well these are being addressed. If the counter offer addresses some but not all of this, you may retain them for some time, but not forever. The stats tell us that more often than not, people who are counter offered and decide to stay, ultimately end up leaving within months or possibly years – but it’s typically the former. So tread with caution and weigh up the chances of them still leaving within 12-24 months.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- Avoid These Common Recruitment Traps
- Recruitment 101: The Basics to Making Your First Hire
- Providing Reference Checks
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
Employees vs Contractors
April 11, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
Employees vs Contractors – is the difference really that clear?
I have spent much time working with employers in recent years who engage contractors on a regular basis in their business to assist with both operational and core business functions.
This has always been seen as a flexible way to engage people into their businesses, without the commitment, and sometimes cost, and overall management of hiring employees.
However, I have noticed more and more so in the last 12 months that the use of contractors has seemingly become more common in many of the small businesses I speak to, and the line between what constitutes a contractor seems to be less clear now than ever.
It’s an important point to understand, because it’s an issue the ATO looks carefully at, and, should it be bought to their attention, and you as an employer are found to be treating a contractor as an employee, then effectively it is possible that they can rule that they are in fact an employee, leaving you liable for payments you hadn’t anticipated, such as superannuation and tax.
So how do you tell whether the people you engage in your business are in fact contractors or employees?
Admittedly, for many businesses, the line is not that clear cut, and there are arguments on either side for their situation.
The first thing I encourage you to do is review the details on the ATO website, which can be found at www.ato.gov.au. On there, you will find a handy little table (pictured below) which helps to clarify the boundaries for you.
Are you, or is your worker, an employee or a contractor?
| Factors to consider | Employee | Contractor |
| Control over work |
The employer has an implied right within industrial law to direct and control the work of an employee. The employee works in the business of the employer and the employer is free to manage their business as they see fit. |
A payer has a right to specify how the contracted services are to be performed. However, such control must be specified in the terms of the contract, otherwise the contractor is free to exercise their own discretion. |
| Independence | An employee performs work for the employer in accordance with an employment contract. | A contractor performs services as specified in a contract with the payer and provides additional services only by agreement. |
| Payment |
Payment is often based on the period of time worked, but an employee can also work on ‘piece rates’ or commission. |
Payment is dependent on the performance of the contract services. |
| Commercial risks |
An employee generally bears no legal risks in respect of the work; since the employee works in the business of the employer, the employer is legally responsible for any work performed by the employee. |
A contractor bears legal risk in respect of the work. They have the potential to make a profit or loss, and must remedy any defective work at their own expense. |
| Ability to delegate |
An employee performs the work personally and generally cannot subcontract the work to someone else. |
Unless otherwise specified in the contract, a contractor can subcontract or delegate the work. |
| Tools and equipment |
The employer, except when specifically agreed otherwise, usually provides tools and equipment. |
Generally, a contractor provides their own tools and equipment |
*source: ATO website
At the heart of it, here are the key rules:
(please note though these are not black and white, and there is some grey area in each)
- A contractor is typically paid to perform a task, not for the time they work. An example might be a contractor is paid to complete a retaining wall at your house. They are paid when finish the job, not for the number of hours). Whereas an employee must be paid for the hours they work, regardless of the output.
- As a contractor, they typically have the ability to outsource the work to another party.
- As a contractor, they control how the work is completed, within the terms of their agreement with the payer, and usually provide their own resources, such as computer, printer, office supplies, etc.
- Contractors bear their own legal risks, and provide their own insurances.
- A contractor has the ability to accept or decline projects, assignments and contracts as offered to them.
At the heart of it is the issue of control – if, as a business owner or employer, you want to very tightly control the people you engage in your business, to the point that you want to require them to work certain hours, perform work in a specific way within strict guidelines, and expect them to work exclusively for you then it’s quite likely they are an employee – no matter how you might be actually paying them.
There are undoubtedly needs for both contractors and employees in the modern workplace, and contractors continue to provide an exceptional way to gain new resources into your business, without the burden and commitment of having employees. But I encourage you to know what you need in your business, and what will achieve the best result for you, and above all else be aware of the structure as set out by the ATO to protect yourself and your business from being liable for additional costs either now or in the future.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- Avoid These Common Recruitment Traps
- Recruitment 101: The Basics to Making Your First Hire
- Providing Reference Checks
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston - Footprint RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
Avoid These Common Recruitment Traps
March 26, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
Is it possible that a successful recruitment project can come about less because of your exceptional planning and structures, and more because you knew where the traps were – and most importantly how to avoid them?
Here are some of the most common traps employers fall into when recruiting staff – and my tips on how to avoid them!
1) The ‘anyone is better than nothing’ trap:
When you need to hire a new staff member – you typically don’t have time on your side. So you are either refilling a position because someone has resigned, you are flat out busy or a new project has just landed on your lap – so getting things done quickly is often a priority. But falling into the trap that anything is better than nothing is not the right thing to do. Of course you need someone in the role, but assuming that just ‘anyone will do’ is a dangerous trap. Getting the right person for a role is critical to the long term success of the position, otherwise you’ll find yourself consistently managing the person, and filling the role time and time again.
So resist the urge to fill the role with just ‘anyone’ and look at alternate solutions – like temps, casuals or outsourcing to help you through the immediate staff, while you take the appropriate time to find your perfect new employee.
2) The ‘no one will do the role as good as I can’ trap:
As business owners, we are invested in our business, both financially and emotionally, more than we can ever expect anyone else to be. So we therefore assume that no one else could possibly do a task as well as we can. This is one of the traps which impacts on successful recruitment projects – sometimes employers need to learn to let go, and hire someone who can do the role almost as well, and train them up to their level from there.
3) The ‘I’ll make the role up to suit them’ trap:
This is a really easy trap for small businesses to fall into when hiring staff, because there is often so much which could be passed onto someone new, that you think you can make up a role to suit a candidate who you really like. Unfortunately, this trap can lead to longer term issues when the team or the business is growing.
Understanding your future business structure, and the specific roles you need before you start recruiting is paramount to avoiding this trap – know what you need from the role and the person performing it, and stick to it! Of course some flexibility is great, but if you are too flexible, you’ll only do yourself a disservice in the longer term by creating a structure which doesn’t work for the business, all because of one person.
4) The ‘reference checks are a waste of time’ trap:
Many employers decide to take ‘short cuts’ in the recruitment process by deciding that reference checking, or other critical parts of the process like interviews and skills testing, are a waste of time, and think they can trust their gut feel to get them through and save some time.
There is no doubt that your gut feel is very important, but by failing to do the appropriate checks and assessments, leaves you open to the risk of hiring someone who does not have the skills, experience, attitudes, reliability and behaviours you need in the role.
5) The ‘her sister is looking for work’ trap:
Failing to properly asses the best candidates in the market is one of the biggest traps I see employers, particularly in small business, fall into. They hear of, or know of, someone looking for work, and think this gives them a quick fix to their staffing levels and busy workload. When recruiting staff, you need to hire the people who know the roles best, and have the right skills and experience – not someone who knows your team well.
Aside from the complications, this trap creates to do with inappropriate skills and experience, there is the added complication of the ‘personalities’ involved – when they have a falling out with their friends who got them the job, the workplace can become very negative place with distractions and personal issues taking precedent over getting the job done!
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- Recruitment 101: The Basics to Making Your First Hire
- Providing Reference Checks
- Managing Counter Offers
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston - Footprint RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
Recruitment 101: The Basics to Making Your First Hire
March 12, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
Sometimes just knowing where to start when hiring your first staff member can be the most daunting thing.
For many of us, hiring the first staff member into our business is a huge step – not only because it means exciting things like growth and opportunity, but it often also means we need to let go of some control, trust someone else with our ‘baby’ and let this person in to our business world.
So to help those who find themselves in this position, here is what I call my Recruitment 101 – the basic things to focus on when making your first hire:
-
Know what you are looking for:
Before you even start the hiring process, sit down and take a good look at your business. Write out all of the tasks that need doing in the business, and try and put them together into some logical positions and structures.
Now take the tasks you want or need to continue doing, and put these into your role, and have a look at what is left. From the tasks that are left, take a look at the tasks which are most important to the business being able to function – and which tasks do you most desperately need help with – you now have a focus for your new position, so write yourself a Position Description for the role (there are lots of templates available either online or from a HR service provider).
-
Know your target market:
After figuring out what sort of role you want to fill, and the type of candidate you want to fill it, start to think about where your ‘ideal applicant’ is looking for work.
There is no point advertising for someone in the local paper, if you know your ideal applicant probably doesn’t read the paper. Think about where your applicant looks for work, the sort of mediums they use, the location they will be in and the other people they are likely to come into contact with.
-
Write the right ad:
Writing an ad that attracts the right sort of candidates and lets readers know what the essential components for the role are will save you time by ensuring your applicant pool is generally better suited to what you are looking for. To get the best people for your role, you will need to sell the role and the company to the reader — and make it clear what you are seeking in regards to their skills, experience and qualifications.
-
Use Your Networks:
Advertising is one way to find potential new employees, but don’t forget to think outside the box and use your networks, referral groups, industry associations and any other groups you have access to letting them know you are looking for someone.
-
Conduct Structured Interviews:
By conducting interviews where there are a number of questions which are set and asked standard to all applicants, you will have a common set of responses by which to assess and compare them by after the interviews. You should also allow time for free talk, discussion and questions within each interview to help you understand those non-tangible factors such as team fit and personality style.
After each interview, reflect objectively on each one and make notes – it saves confusing multiple applicants after all the interviews are done.
-
Use Other Screening Tools:
Interviews are great and very important, but there are other tools available to help you make your decision – don’t forget about reference checking, skills testing, checking qualifications, psychometric assessments, aptitude tests and the full range of other recruitment tools available to assist you.
Being the sole decision maker in a recruitment process can sometimes be difficult as you spend time thinking over your decision trying to make the right choice. By sharing the decision making process with other people, you can cut the time spent doubting yourself and potentially losing great candidates. Seek assistance from advisors, mentors or other key people who help you in your business.
-
If you are not sure – seek help:
Don’t be afraid to get help from a Recruiter or HR Consultant if you think you need, or would like, some help.
-
Recruitment is Only Step 1:
Whilst recruiting the right person is really important, don’t forget that this is only the beginning of the process. Making sure the person has the right training, induction and ongoing management will give them the best chance for success in the role.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but hopefully these tips will help you make that first hire a successful one for you and your business.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston - Footprint RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
Providing Reference Checks
March 9, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
Many of you who have hired, supervised or managed staff in the past will, at some stage or another, find yourself being asked to be a referee. If the employee was a ‘star’, you will usually have no hesitation in providing the prospective new employer conducting the reference check with all the information they need to confirm they should hire the person.
But what about when the employee was less than perfect?
And let’s face it, very few are completely perfect – do you provide constructive criticisms to help the potential employer make the decision or hire the person? Or do you gloss over the details, not wanting to say anything negative or impact the chances of the individual getting the job?
As a ‘Recruiter’, we get to see the full gamut of responses, because we conduct more than the average number of reference checks when screening our candidates. From this experience, I have seen referees who were trying to be nice, giving feedback which resulted in the employee getting a role they were destined to fail in, right through to the most glowing – and conversely most critical references, our responses have spanned the full range.
So what’s the best thing to do when faced with a reference check call on an employee who could have used some improvement, or simply wasn’t right for that role?
Here are my top tips to being a ‘great referee’:
- Be honest – you are doing no one a good service by lying during a reference check, or omitting details which could be important for the prospective employer to know.
- Stick to the facts – sometimes it can be hard, but try and leave the emotion out of it. If you need to provide some criticism of the employee, stick to facts which can be easily supported by documentation – things like excessive sick leave, performance issues which were being managed, conflicts with other staff or customers etc.
- Use examples – if you can give the reference check examples of how the behaviour or skills miss match affected their work performance and the impact it had on the organisation, this will help them to make a decision about whether it would be relevant to their business or not.
- Take a balanced approach – give examples of both the positives and the negatives. Sometimes it can be easy to get ‘caught up’ and focus on the positives, and forget to mention any potential negatives, and vice versa.
- Think about what you would like to know if it was you asking for the reference check. If you were the potential employer, would you want/need to know feedback about their performance, work ethic, skills or experience? If it’s relevant to you, it may well be relevant to the potential employer you are speaking to.
- Remember that your feedback is not the only tool the potential employer is using to make a decision – so don’t feel guilty by being honest.
- You are not helping the employee by setting them up to fail. If the employee is not right for the role, then you are not doing them any favours by telling a potential employer they are the perfect applicant. In the end, they will not succeed in the role which may in fact be more damaging for their confidence and employment opportunities by providing a reference check suggesting they can do a role which you know from your experience they are not best suited to.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- Managing Counter Offers
- Is there a needle in this haystack?
- Top Tips to Set Your Team Up for New Year Success!
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston - Footprint RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
Managing Counter Offers
February 13, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
When recruiting staff, particularly in candidate short markets where finding the right person for your role in your business can sometimes feel more like a detective mission than a hiring process, a counter offer can be the most frustrating and disappointing outcome.
A counter offer in its basic sense is when the applicant you have offered the position to is, usually upon resignation with their existing employer, offered more money or better benefits in an effort to keep them with that company.
When a counter offer situation arises
So when a counter offer situation arises, how do you know whether to go in fighting, or walk away and start again?
- Be objective. Recruiting people for business, especially when it’s your own business, can be emotional, and feel personal. You become more invested in the process and the people involved, which sometimes leads you thinking you need to ‘fight’ for them. It’s really important to remain objective and leave your emotions aside, so you can use your sound judgement and the facts at hand to make your decisions.
- Know your market before you begin. Recruiting staff, like anything else in business, isn’t a guessing game. If you understand your market, know how common or rare the skills you want or need actually are, and what their real value is in the market, you will be educated and informed. Like all decisions, those you make from an educated and informed perspective are always better.
- Know your limits – there is no point getting into a ‘bidding war’ with a candidate and their existing employer if you simply can’t afford them. Let’s face it: we all want the best people in our business, but sometimes what we need to look at is what is the best person we can afford for this role at this time?
- Ask the right questions at interview. We all would like to think that the candidates want our job above all others, but do they? By asking questions at interview about their reasons for wanting to leave their current role, their motivations, their goals and objectives, both personal and as a career, you get a better understanding of whether what you have to offer really fits in with their future plans at a base level. The other important question to ask at interview is about what they need in their next role to make them happy – it could be about the industry, the company, the size of business, the team, the location, the opportunities or anything at all.
- Keep the communication lines open. The reality is when faced with a counter offer, the current employer gets the last word; they are in their face, they know them, they have the opportunity to excerpt pressure, create feelings of guilt and ultimately make things happen. As the potential new employer, you need to keep the communication lines open so that you are still in the picture.
Go in fighting (in the nicest possible way)
If you walk into the process with all of these things in place, you are in a much better situation to handle the news of a counter offer. If you know that the role you are offering ticks all the boxes for the candidates motivation and future goals, go in fighting (in the nicest possible way), remind them of the feedback they gave at interview, the reasons they wanted to leave the current role and what you are prepared to offer. If you know however that you can’t afford them, or the offer they have is a better match to their motivations and goals, walk away and start again – it will be a better decision for you and your business in the longer term.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- Is there a needle in this haystack?
- Top Tips to Set Your Team Up for New Year Success!
- New Year. New Career?
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston - Footprint RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
Is there a needle in this haystack?
January 30, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
I found myself watching one of those ‘property search’ style shows the other day and was reminded just how similar the search for employees can be to that search for the elusive, ideal property.
I think, particularly for small businesses, the similarities are even more clear and here’s why:
- You, the purchaser/employer start out with a lengthy and perhaps not all that realistic ‘wish list’.
- You quickly learn that you will need to compromise, but in what area, by how much and at what cost?
- It’s personal – typically you’re recruiting a new staff member for your own business, your brand, your ‘baby’. Just like typically when you purchase a house, it’s your money and you’re spending it for you.
- The risks are high if the decision is wrong.
- You are ultimately the one who deals with the consequences of a wrong choice, or wrong compromise.
- At the end of the day, you’ve worked your backside off to get to this point, and you want to have your cake and eat it to, you don’t want to compromise – you want it all!
So how do you know whether you are looking for a rare needle in a haystack, or in fact you are looking for an impossible dream and need to compromise and move on?
Walk into the process with a clear understanding of what you are looking for and why.
It sounds odd, but understanding why you need or want certain skills will help you to further drill down and understand which skills, experiences and competencies are essential and which others would be great to have, but you could ultimately live without
Write yourself a values document for the new hire.
This is something I never learned in my years as a recruiter, but a rather clever business advisor shared this with me and having used it myself in my own small business, I think it’s fantastic!
What you do is make up a list of the values, beliefs, experiences, skills, qualifications, etc that your ideal new hire would have. What this does is allows you to clarify in your mind those ‘warm and fuzzy’ traits which will be most important to the individuals success within your business and your role, and gives you a great framework to assess all your applicants against.
Let’s face it, you will often find yourself saying that you liked a number of applicants, but each of them holds different strengths and weaknesses in terms of their experience. This is where this sort of document can make all the difference. If their values and beliefs don’t align, no matter how good their experience is, it would be destined for disaster.
Know where your target market is – and where to find them there.
What I mean is, know where your ideal applicant looks for work, which websites they trawl, which publications they read and what networking meetings and groups they’re likely to be at. But timing can also be everything; advertising for a role targeted at a ‘mum wanting school hours who used to have a high end corporate career’ in the middle of school holidays is probably not ideal – they’re busy!
Allow a realistic amount of time.
Of course, we all always want everything immediately, but sometimes it can take days, and possibly even months to find the right person. Perhaps a temp or contractor can help you get through the urgent stuff in the meantime.
Be open to change and think outside the box!
You have your wish list, but does it all have to be done by one person? Or can the tasks be broken up and completed by two or more part time, casual or contract staff? Sometimes it can be better to have people working in their areas of expertise, rather than trying to do all the tasks you want, some of them not always that well.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- Top Tips to Set Your Team Up for New Year Success!
- New Year. New Career?
- Thinking Outside the Box: How to Prosper in a Candidate-Short Market
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston - Footprint RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
Top Tips to Set Your Team Up for New Year Success!
January 16, 2012
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
As everyone returns from their holidays and the workplace starts to look a little more like normal, everyone, including management, can sometimes suffer from a little bit of ‘return to work itis’.
The first thing many staff do when returning from leave is to start planning their next holiday! So how can you make sure those grand plans and challenging goals you’ve set for the business will be met and achieved in the year ahead?
In my mind, the best way to get everyone back on track and focused on the year ahead is by dragging them out of their normal day to day mindset and excite them with some leadership, direction, challenges and opportunity.
Here are my top tips for setting your team, and ultimately your business, up for a super start to a successful new year:
- Communicate with them: without your communication and leadership, your team ultimately lack direction. This time of year is an ideal opportunity to communicate with the team, whether 1 or 1000, the plans for the year ahead, the achievements and milestones you are wanting each individual, team, department or division to make and the obstacles they may face in getting there.
- Engage them in your vision: We all know that when your people are not engaged in the bigger picture and your overall vision, they are typically less inclined to do what it takes to achieve this goal. Engaging them in your vision means more than just communicating it to them. You really need to get their ‘buy in’ so they are committed to achieving the vision and are passionate about getting there. There are many ways to do this, but ultimately it’s about making sure you have the right people in place, with common values and a passion about what they do, combined with an interest in the business and industry they work within.
- Challenge them: Individuals love to be challenged, in one way or another. For some people it’s about challenging goals and targets, for others it’s about precision work and accuracy. Knowing your team well, at an individual level, really helps to make this possible. With challenges, many individuals love to see rewards, but this doesn’t always have to be financially driven – don’t be afraid to think outside the square.
- Give them opportunity: No matter what generation your people are associated with, they all want opportunity. Opportunity to progress, opportunity to learn, opportunity to gain benefits, opportunity to prove themselves or purely opportunity to do a better job. The sense of achieving and doing something that they are driven towards can be one of the greatest motivators, so knowing what your people want to achieve, and providing them with the opportunity to do this can be critical to overall success for both them individually and the organisation as a whole.
- Listen to what they want and where possible show them you are acting on it: Communicating and listening ironically often need to be treated separately. Listen to what your people want from their work, and where possible demonstrate that you have heard what they have to say, and are taking action towards helping them achieve this. It doesn’t have to be the end solution that they see, but rather that you have heard, listened and started taking steps towards making this happen is often just what they need to keep the motivation to move forward.
Of course, how all of this is discussed and delivered can vary. A Year Ahead Focus Meeting which everyone is involved in, a team lunch, or at an individual level. Whatever works best for you and your business, but don’t miss this opportunity to use this time of year to set you and your team up for success!
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- New Year. New Career?
- Thinking Outside the Box: How to Prosper in a Candidate-Short Market
- Desperate Times and Desperate Measures
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston - Footprint RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals. Kristy’s background includes 10 years in Recruitment, as well as 10+ years in a broad range of other customer facing sectors. She possesses Post Graduate qualifications in Psychology, as well as a Masters in Human Resource Management. Kristy is passionate about bringing something unique to the recruitment sector in her local area and wants to see all businesses make the most successful staffing decisions they can.
|
New Year. New Career?
December 19, 2011
By Kristy-Lee Johnston, Footprint Recruitment
With the Festive Season festivities well and truly in full swing, and staff gearing up to take their annual leave, or prepare for your shut down period, now is the time to start thinking about and planning for any staffing and people changes for 2012!
I know the last thing many people want to do at this time of year is plan ahead and think about work tasks for 2012, but being prepared and organised can really set you up for a successful start to the new year.
A new year can be a hot time for resignations, transfers and staffing changes in any organisation. Many employees who have become disengaged in their workplace, roles and careers during the year find themselves taking stock of what really matters and what they really want to achieve in the year ahead over the Christmas/New Year period.
As they sit with family and friends and start discussing New Year’s resolutions, and the achievements of the year just gone, it dawns on many people that they are unhappy in some aspect of their lives…
The quickest fix seems to be to get a new job!
They return from their Christmas leave and one of three things will generally happen:
- They stay put, waiting for a ‘sign’, some motivation, inspiration or for something to change. These people generally remain disengaged from their responsibilities and do just what’s needed to get through the day, flying under the radar.
- They promptly hand in their resignation on their first day back and commence job hunting.
- They start searching for that great new role, giving little if any focus and commitment to their current workplace until they inevitably resign.
None of these are ideal situations for a business of any size to face at the beginning of the calendar year, but what, if anything, can you do to avoid these times and minimise the impact they have on the operations and profitability of the organisation?
-
Look for the signs of staff who have began to disengage from their roles or the organisation.
Use this time to start to open up conversations with the team about taking the time to relax over the break, and set goals as a team now for some of the things you want to do in the new year. The signs you might be looking for generally involve a shift in behaviour and some classics include taking more than the usual amount of sick leave; leaving work right on time every day, when they used to be the sort of person to work back whenever needed; not putting their hands up for those special projects they previously have been dead keen to be involved in; withdrawing from groups within the workplace; taking long lunches and in general being a different person in the office.
-
Don’t wait until after the New Year to start re-engaging these employees.
By having regular reviews and appraisal systems in place, you will more easily be able to identify and manage these employees. Also coordinate more casual and off-the-record catch ups with staff to encourage open communication.
-
Keep employees engaged in the vision through regular team and company meetings.
Share goals and visions with them and allow the opportunity to provide ideas as to how they can contribute to the success and achievement of company goals.
-
Reward staff who are doing a great job!
It doesn’t have to be grand or expensive, nor does a big fuss have to be made – a small gesture goes a long way.
-
Know what motivates your people.
When you understand this, you have the best possible chance of keeping them engaged and committed.
-
Plan a day for very early in the new year for planning, team engagement and morale building.
And let the team know about it now. Having something fun and interactive planned gives them something to look forward to, and may get the excited about coming back to work, rather than dreading it!
At the end of the day, staff will always leave organisations, and in some cases, there is nothing you can do to prevent this, but you can ensure you manage the process to minimise the impact it has on the rest of the team.
If you have open and honest communication channels with your staff and they feel they can come to you with honest feedback, you will be in the drivers seat when these situations arise. If they come to you indicating they are seeking alternate work, and there is nothing more you can do to keep them should you want to, give them your blessings, help them to find something new and start the replacement process yourself internally straight away.
The longer an unhappy employee stays with you, then more detriment it will have on your team and ultimately your business. Don’t try and delay the inevitable, nip it in the bud and move on.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY KRISTY-LEE JOHNSTON:
- Thinking Outside the Box: How to Prosper in a Candidate-Short Market
- Desperate Times and Desperate Measures
- The Value of Association
|
|
Kristy-Lee Johnston – Footprint RecruitmentKristy-Lee Johnston is the Director of Footprint Recruitment, a Central Coast based Recruitment and HR agency which is run by locals, for locals.
|
