This does not make for a good first impression of the business, nor does it inspire the your employee.  Those first 90 days are crucial to how your new employee will fit into the company and the HRtoolkit New Employee Checklist gives you a great outline for welcoming and successfully inducting your new staff

Here are some of the common pitfalls we come across, with companies not  preparing well for their new employee.  Sadly, we often hear about these situations too late – during the exit interview of an excellent employee.

1. Confusion and frustration because the employee has no clear understanding of their role

• As an employer you should have provided a clear job description during the hiring process

2. Lack of communication from management about work expectations, outlining clearly:

• The standard of work you expect
• Explaining clearly what is required from the employee, when they are not meeting the standards
• Give training/ coaching and support to reach that standard
• Reach a sound decision during a 90 day trial.

Never exit a person on day 89 of the 90 day trial – it is high risk and unnecessary stress.  If you are following the above pointers, and you will be able to constructively manage the successful performance of your new employee. It is important to check your 90 day trial clause is valid.

Finally…Performance and goal setting is a discipline that should continue throughout your employee’s time with you.  You may think you cannot afford the time to coach staff, however if staff leave, the cost to the business is conservatively $25,000 often more.

The post SUCCESSFULLY INDUCTING NEW STAFF appeared first on HRtoolkit.

The HRtoolkit Quick Guide to Recruitment outlines a variety of channels to communicate your vacancy. These channels can complement the traditional internet job sites and media.  An often-overlooked avenue is asking current staff if they know anyone suitable.  Several companies we work with, run a very successful “refer a friend”  programme which provide financial incentive for staff who find a good candidate.  Other less formal advertising channels to consider are local clubs, church groups, student job search, chamber of commerce or sports clubs.

It’s important to follow a recruitment process thoroughly:

• Screen CV’s. Look at your applicants’ work track record, have they job-hopped a lot? Do they have the key skills you require?
• Telephone interview candidates. This will help you understand their general suitability and expected pay rate.
• Have the candidate fill in the HRtoolkit job application form. This provides some protection to the employer that the candidate is being honest about their achievements, experience and declaring anything that may pose a difficulty for the candidate in fulfilling the role.
• Use the HRtoolkit sample interview questions. Good competency-based interview questions increase your ability to make a good hire by 60%. Scenario-based questions can reveal people’s work style e.g organised vs unstructured, good time management vs reactive. Competency-based questions assist you in building a better picture of the candidate than simple “yes” and “no” questions.

Once you have decided on a candidate, ensure you use the correct employment contract by going to the HRtoolkit Employment Contracts section of the document library.

After you have recruited, induction is the next step.

The post How to hire in a tight labour market appeared first on HRtoolkit.

For most of us the answer is a firm no. But $100k is the absolute minimum any recruitment decision will cost you. Attracting and retaining the right people is crucial to any successful business. Let HRtoolkit show you how.

The post Recruitment, the $100k decision appeared first on HRtoolkit.

An employee had only been employed for about four months, but after a disciplinary investigation using the the HRtoolkit disciplinary investigation tools, the employee was found guilty of stealing an iPod and dismissed. There was, of course, suspicion that he had stolen a lot more.

As part of the investigation the company looked back at the employees original recruitment and discovered, to their horror, that he had been dismissed from his last job for theft.

This information was included on the reference form, so they spoke to the manager who had taken the reference. On questioning the manager advised that he had ignored the theft dismissal because it was only the theft of a $2 chocolate cacao bar.

After more investigation it was found that the previous employer suspected the employee of stealing more than a $2 chocolate bar, but that was the only thing they could prove. Had the manager probed more deeply into the reference check, the previous employer would have happily advised that there was suspicion of further wrong doing.

Sadly for this company the manager did not probe more deeply and chose to ignore the red flag.

Reference checks are a critical part of the recruitment process, and past behaviour is a good indication of future behaviour. The company lost $13,500 in wages alone, not to mention the costs of investigating his behaviour.

Don’t put yourself at risk by ignoring information. Its easier and more cost effective to get things right first time, let HRtoolkit show you how.

The post Was there more to it than just chocolate theft? appeared first on HRtoolkit.

An interior design company had had three administrators in the space of two years.  Each of these women took three months to come up to speed, so that was nine months out of nine years when they were not fully productive (at $40K salary that’s $30K out of the profit of the company).

The company needed someone to do the administration, but because they had walk-in clients they also needed someone with an artistic flair… it makes perfect sense!

The problem was they were recruiting wannabe interior designers, rather than administrators. These wannabe’s were bored with admin, so they didn’t do it well, and ultimately left.

Using competency based interviewing (HRtoolkit has loads of sample interview questions) they were able to ask the right questions to find the skills applicants  actually needed to be successful in the job.

The company then used the HRtoolkit reference check forms to find out about how the applicant performed at their previous jobs, and the HRtoolkit employment agreements to provide a legally compliant contract.

Within a week of the new employee starting in their job, she had the whole office organised… and it turned out she was into flower arranging, so did have an artistic flair.

We are all attracted to mini-me, but mini-me doesn’t like doing admin any more than big-me does!

The wrong recruitment decisions are a waste of money and a waste of profits. Its easier and cost effective to get it right first time, let HRtoolkit show you how.

The post When recruitment decisions go wrong appeared first on HRtoolkit.

Recruiting someone is a decision worth $100,000’s. After all, you hope they will stay with your company for at least a few years. Watch this quick video to make sure you get the profile right.

Don’t put your company at risk by recruiting the wrong people. Its easier and more cost effective to get it right first time, let HRtoolkit show you how.

The post How to recruit the right people appeared first on HRtoolkit.

The 90 day trial period is not a get out of jail free card, but used correctly it can be a fantastic tool. Watch this video to find out how best to use trial periods.

Its easier and more cost effective to get it right first time, let HRtoolkit show you how.

The post How to get the 90 day trial period right appeared first on HRtoolkit.

Asking the right questions is critical to great recruitment decisions. Check out how to get it right in this informative video.

Don’t put your company at risk by recruiting the wrong people. Its easier and more cost effective to get it right first time, let HRtoolkit show you how.

The post Recruitment Interview Questions appeared first on HRtoolkit.