How to Improve Employee Morale in Your Organization

Employee morale is a key part of any organizations culture. Low morale not only can hinder a business from reaching its goals but can also lead to low productivity and increased turnover. According to statistics from Gallup, unhappy workers cost the American business economy up to $350 billion annually in low productivity.  

It is important to be aware of some of the signs of low morale and pay close attention to them.  Any one of these signs can be an indicator that morale needs a boost in your organization.

• Poor communication with management and team
• Increased absenteeism
• Excessive complaining over small matters
• Employee conflicts
• Poor work quality

Being aware of low morale signs can help you determine the issues that need to be addressed within your organization.  Here a few tactics to think about adapting for your business to boost employee morale. 

Focus on communication- Lead a position of strength and train employees to develop positive attitudes.  Good communication and clear expectations are essential for high morale.  Show your team that you trust and respect their needs by letting them know about issues affecting the business, and in turn, their livelihoods.  To ensure that you are communicating effectively, conduct monthly meetings with your entire staff in addition to separate management meetings. When employees know what is expected, they will feel important and perform better.   

Listen to your employees- When you become aware that the productivity of the organization is heading towards a downward slope, take the time to talk to your staff.   If supervisors are not attentive to what’s going on in their workplace, employee morale can often go unnoticed.  Ongoing employee feedback will help supervisors identify morale issues such as weak leadership.  Acknowledging the stresses and circumstances that your employees are feeling will help improve morale and increase profits and productivity.  

Avoid employee burnout-Don’t overload employees with too much work.  When former employees quit, their work often gets handed down to co-workers. This can potentially lead to job dissatisfaction and the quality and productivity of work to decrease.  Time should be taken to evaluate the expectations of employees so you are not burning them out.  Arrange for training and development programs to help your employees’ transition into their new role within your organization.

Celebrate achievements and accomplishments- Make your employees feel that their work is more than just a job.  Everyone wants to feel that their work has a higher purpose.  When your employees put in extra effort to accomplish a task be sure to show your appreciation.   Taking the time to reflect upon those accomplishments helps employees see that you care for them.  A simple, thank you note left on someone’s desk can be one of the most encouraging things you can do to boost motivation.

Although not one single action can turn around morale for your organization, it is important to remember that the little things add up.  Look, listen, and acknowledge any overall tension or job dissatisfaction among employees.  In turn, employees who feel appreciated, respected, and valued will increase the overall morale of your company and an increased success in business will follow.  

How to Conduct a Successful Interview

 

According to The Department of Labor’s latest findings, the year ended with theunemployment rate at 8.5%, the lowest in nearly three years. While the unemployment situation is showing signs of improvement there are still 13.1 million people unemployed.  A recent survey from CareerBuilder found that small businesses are reporting more confidence in both hiring and retaining headcount in 2012.  Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder states, “Many companies have been operating lean and have already pushed productivity limits.  We’re likely to see gradual improvements in hiring across categories as companies respond to increased market demands.”  Considering the millions of people currently unemployed it would seem that finding qualified candidates would be a simple task.  However, finding skilled and qualified workers is getting more competitive than ever before. 

If your business is planning to hire for the New Year there are many factors to consider.  Since every company’s needs are different, it is extremely important to have a well developed plan in place when qualifying and interviewing candidates. The main goal of the interview process is to effectively assess the qualifications of the applicant. During this process it is important to remember that qualifications are not the only thing you should be looking for when hiring on a new employee. Communication skills, personality, flexibility, and professional appearance are just some of the factors that should be considered when it comes to the selection process. 

It is important that hiring managers know what to say, what to ask, and what to do to match and fit the right person to the job. Before interviewing, write down the characteristics the ideal candidate should possess and then base your interview questions from there. When conducting the interview try to make the interviewee as comfortable as possible and break the ice to make them feel more at ease. Take the time to explain the job description and address any problems they may encounter daily on the job. It is also important that the candidate is a good cultural fit for your company. During the interview, ask them specific questions about the environment they feel the most comfortable and happy working in. Furthermore, you want to ensure you are asking questions that let you know if the candidate can do the job, if they are a team player, and how they function under pressure.To get as much information as possible from the candidate avoid yes or no questions. Open ended questions are a much better approach because they require the applicant to provide specific details and examples. 

Here are four key things to consider during the interview process: 

• Look beyond interview skills - Candidates may be nervous or have rusty interview skills, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be a good fit for your organization.

• Pay attention to body language - Body language can reveal more information than you think about a person.  If a candidate can’t make eye contact and fails to elaborate while answering questions they may be lacking certain social skills that are required for the job.

• Ask about past behavior - Base the interview on past job performance and ask industry and or job specific questions that relate to their resume.  If a candidates resume shows they have jumped around a lot and have not been working steadily that may be a red flag.  Ask them what caused them to leave the jobs that they were only at for a few months.  This will help you understand more about their work ethic and behavior.

• Take notes - It is important to keep in mind that you may be seeing several candidates in one day.  It would be nearly impossible to remember all the qualities that stuck out regarding a specific candidate.  That is why it is important to take detailed notes and to not rely strictly on your memory. 

Remember that the time spent in an interview with a potential employee may be the most important time you spend with them. Gathering as much information as possible during the interview will help you make sure you are hiring employees whose personalities and attitude fit your company’s culture.  

Using Background Checks as a Part of the Hiring Process

Have you ever taken the time to consider what could happen to your business if you hired the wrong person?  You could wind up hiring an employee who steals from you, other employees, or your customers.  The employee may even turn out to be violent and pose as a threat to others.  Hiring the wrong employee can be detrimental to your business.

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the average organization loses more than $9 per day, per employee, and 6% of its annual revenue to fraud and abuse.  That is why it is extremely important to make the right hiring decision by using background checks as part of your qualifying process.  Background checks not only provide verification but also are a cost effective and safe way to screen candidates.  Background checks allow an employer to determine if the candidate is appropriate for the job by evaluating a candidate’s qualifications and skills, and also help identify potential hiring risks for security and safety reasons.

Here are five reasons as to why performing background checks are important:

1. Uncover problems- Background checks uncover issues regarding an applicant’s history.  Specifically they provide information regarding criminal records, experience, education, and training.  Most companies deal with the handling of sensitive information.  This may range from social security numbers, drivers license information, and credit card information.  Background checks are a great way to assure clients and customer’s personal information is being handled properly.
   
   
2. Reduce legal and employment problems- According to an article published by The Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM), negligent hiring is “the failure of the employer to investigate a job applicant’s work experience, character, criminal history and other relevant data prior to the hiring of the employee”.  Conducting background checks on potential employees will help eliminate legal and employment problems such as negligent hiring liability, absenteeism, and discipline problems, and will positively impact your company’s profitability.
   
   
3. Better hires- Background checks give the employer more confidence that the candidate posses the appropriate skills, attitude, and experience that match that of the organization.  Interviewing and personal and professional references are simply not enough to determine a person’s full character.  Candidates are likely to give names of those who will give them a good reference. Background checks are a great way to pick up where references stop and provide you with the most accurate information regarding the candidate.
   
   
4. Discover fraudulent claims- Background checks help screen out dishonest employees.  There are a large number of applicants who make false claims on their resumes.  According to a study by SHRM, over 53% of individuals lie about their resume in some way. Research from HireRight goes on to state that 30% of resumes show altered employment dates, 40% have inflated salary claims, and 30% have inaccurate job descriptions.  Background checks gather information from multiple sources and will provide you with a clearer understanding of the candidate’s qualifications.
   
   
5. Employer Success- Background checks are a great way to gauge the ways that a potential employer can add value to your company.  Your business will be more successful if you conduct background checks because you are ensuring that you are hiring an employee that is reliable and trustworthy.  Conducting background checks will also save your company wasted benefits, training and development costs.

It is important to remember that past patterns of behavior serve as a predictor of future job performance and conduct.  Providing background checks as part of the hiring process allows employers to screen out potential problem employees and screen in ones with the appropriate skills and attitudes that the job entails.  Information provided by background checks will enable employers to build a competent workforce and reduce the chances of hiring dishonest employees.

KASURUWE7AW8

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you a safe and happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at The Daniel Group. Thank you for making our year a memorable one! 

How to Reduce Employee Turnover within Your Company

Turnover is becoming a serious problem that many organizations are facing in today’s business environment. The costs associated with turnover are very high for many companies because of the resources invested into the hiring and training process. Estimated costs vary from business to business and can be calculated by dividing the number of annual terminations by the average of employees in the workforce. According to the Bureau of National Affairs, the average employee turnover rate is 14.4% annually and depending on the level of the employee, turnover costs can run anywhere from 50% to 200% of an employee’s annual pay.

Turnover is proven to be tougher on small businesses.  Unfortunately, departing employees are more likely to be the ones who possess a particular skill or knowledge that may be harder to replace.  It also leaves your company with a smaller pool of employees to cover the work of the lost employee and may leave you with fewer resources to cover replacement costs.  

There are a number of factors that contribute to employee turnover.  Some of which include; pay, better career opportunities, poor job fit, benefits, inadequate training, management philosophy and lack of recognition.  Here are five steps to take to reduce turnover within your company:

Hire the right people and develop their careers. It is imperative to make sure you are hiring employees that are a good fit with the culture of your company.  Make sure that their values, goals and principles match those of your organization. It is also important to train your new employee as necessary; the proper training will help ensure employee retention and loyalty.  If you are having trouble finding an employee with the goals and skills your company desires you may want to consider using a staffing agency to assist you in finding an employee who is the right fit for your organization.

Pay attention to employees’ personal needs. Learn what is important to your employees in order to retain the best staff.  Look to motivate your staff by offering flexibility and rewards when possible.

Develop a compensation package. Review compensation packages annually and pay attention to market trends.  Be fair and consistent and if possible, avoid hiring on new employees with a higher rate than current employees.

Create a positive work environment. Recognition and praise can go a long way and is a cost effective way to maintain a happy workforce. Take the time to send emails to employees on a job well done after they have completed an important project or ask your team for weekly and monthly updates to help track achievement.

Outline career paths. Employees are interested in knowing the future of their job and where it’s headed.  Encourage employees to come to you with questions they may have and give annual reviews to provide feedback on how they are doing at performing their job.

There are helpful tools, such as this turnover calculator, to help you determine the actual cost that employee turnover is costing your business.  By knowing the actual cost of losing and replacing an employee, it will help you determine how much you should invest in employee retention initiatives. Identify the factors in which you do have control over and make necessary changes to reduce turnover rates within your organization.

Skill Matches and the Hiring Process: Identifying Top Talent

A main part of the employee selection process involves matching the requirements of your open position to the skills of job applicants. This is essential to hiring A players and creating a superior staff. In a recent survey, more than one third of interviewed CFOs said the top factor leading to a failed hire, aside from performance issues, is a poor skills match.   

To find the right employee from the start, you need to have a strong process in place to first identify and then qualify strong candidates while filtering out undesirable individuals. With so many applicants applying for open positions, this can be a difficult task. However, it is integral to find the best candidate based on his or her abilities, skills and knowledge required for the position.  

Even though the employee selection process may appear to be pretty straightforward, there are some challenges that you may run into.  For instance, your company may find that they are unable to identify qualified candidates for the particular job at hand.  According to CareerBuilder’s 2011 Mid Year Job Forecast report, more than 36 percent of Human Resource managers reported that they have positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates.  

Working with a staffing agency can help hiring managers indentify candidates with the appropriate skills.  Staffing agencies keep a large database of resumes and search this database to assess and identify candidates. They use multiple resources such as referrals, social media sites, job boards and advertisements to gain exposure to the largest number of candidates available.  However, it is not simply enough to judge a candidate based on his or her resume. Staffing agencies have a well developed process in place for interviewing and determining candidate’s soft skills.  For example, The Daniel Group has a 360 degree review during the hiring process where three people interview each candidate with a score card to quantify a possible client to candidate match. Score cards are industry, teamwork and culture specific. Additionally, both professional and personal reference checks, as well as an outreach to individuals that aren’t provided by an applicant, are conducted to ensure a candidate is suitable.  

Your company’s hiring decisions are integral to the future success of your business, so it’s important that you make the right choices when hiring on a new employee.  Working with a trusted staffing and recruiting firm will help ensure that you have selected the most qualified A player with the right skills. 

Hiring Practices: How to Hire An “A Player”

When hiring on a new employee, you ideally are looking for a candidate to improve productivity and make your company more profitable. Essentially, you are looking for what I like to call an A player to join your staff. In today’s business environment, it’s critical that every player on your team is an all-star. The practice of creating a workforce comprised of all A players is called topgrading. I firmly believe that topgrading your staff is crucial for success in our economy and I regularly discuss this topic with my clients.

Between a wrong hire’s salary, the lost time invested in the hiring process and employee training, missed opportunities and impact on company morale, hiring an underachiever is very costly to your company. A Right Management survey estimates that the lost costs associated with a wrong hire are at least three times the employee’s base salary while topgrading expert Bradford Smart, PhD states this cost can rise to an excess of 24 times an employee’s base salary for higher-level positions.

By choosing an A player right from the start, you will not only improve productivity and morale, but also save your company money by reducing turnover. In fact, a study conducted by Harvard University reports that 80% of turnover can be blamed on mistakes made during the employee selection and hiring process. Here are some tips to ensure you are picking the candidate best suited to help your company reach its goals:

• Determine qualities that define an A player - First, start by asking yourself what traits your potential employee MUST have. Some qualities that may be important are good communication skills, the ability to solve problems, teamwork skills, customer service skills and professionalism. Once you have determined these qualities, start to develop a job description. Include what skills will be required and explain what tasks the employee will be accountable for on a daily basis.
  
  
• Look for a candidate with the right attitude - First impressions are lasting impressions. Make sure you observe the behavior of the candidate as soon as they contact the company. Pay close attention to small details about the candidate when they visit the workplace and during the interview. Be sure to look for any red flag behavior that you wouldn’t want in your workplace. This is a good way to save time and move on the next candidate.
  
  
• Interview effectively - Compile a list of questions to ask the candidate in order to ensure that they are qualified for the job. Ask questions regarding their professional experience as well as their interests outside of the workplace. It is also important to have other employees within your company interview the candidate. The Daniel Group implements a 360 degree review during the hiring process. This means that three people interview each candidate and have a serious discussion about the applicant. A candidate must be approved by all three interviewers for consideration. We quantify each position with a score card which indicates the necessary skills for the position and the “intangibles”. Score cards should be very industry, teamwork and culture specific.
  
  
• Check references - Ask the candidate for two professional references and one personal reference. Professional references will help you get a better understanding of the skills and work ethic of your potential employee. A personal reference will help you gain insight into their personality. Don’t only check the references that they the candidate gives you, but also check with contacts that they don’t give you.
  
  
• Don't delay the hiring process - If you are considering a candidate, let them know as soon as possible. It is important to understand that applicants more than likely have applied at other companies. If you wait too long to contact your candidate they may have already accepted another position and you may miss out on a great employee. However, don't skip any steps out of your established hiring process such as having three people interview each candidate.
  

After you’ve made a hiring decision, it’s important to ensure you’ve chosen an A player. A 90 day intense review period should be implemented to measure what the employee produced and what they have achieved.

Remember, a bad hire costs your business valuable time and money. By choosing the right person the first time, you will help your company grow and succeed.

Hiring New Employees: Four Tips to Improve Your Hiring Process

Finding the right candidate makes all the difference in today’s economy. A new employee can increase productivity, cultivate new ideas, improve processes and boost company morale. However, connecting with the perfect candidate is challenging with the vast number of people in today’s applicant pool. Here are four tips to help you find that ‘needle in the haystack’:

1. Be clear from the start – To prevent under-qualified people applying for your open position, avoid giving a vague job description. List specific requirements that demonstrate you’re looking for a particular type of candidate. Use strong language such as “mandatory” or “required” to emphasize your pre-requisites aren’t negotiable.

2. Don’t Limit Your Search – With high unemployment levels, there are a lot of active job seekers applying for open positions. While this will increase the number of resumes in the applicant pile, it’s also important to look through the currently employed pool to search for potential candidates. Technology and social networking sites has made this more possible.

3. Core Values – When you reach the interview phase, don’t overlook the importance of a candidate’s character. While expertise is important to succeed in today’s business environment, you can always teach someone a new skill… you can’t teach an individual good values.

4. Outsource - Small Business Specialist Katie Ford once said, “The time that you invest in searching for the perfect candidate is much better time spent than having to manage through a bad hire.” However, many businesses do not have the time to invest in their own search or their managers aren’t experienced in qualifying and hiring. Outsourcing the hiring process to a staffing firm experienced in identifying qualified candidates will help you filter the applicant pool and find the right fit.

Hiring a new employee is a difficult, yet necessary process to helping your business grow. Utilize available resources to improve the efficiency of the process and find your all-star employee.

The Impact of Hiring New Employees

Have you ever watched a movie and thought to yourself, ‘Wow - that actor just absolutely nailed his part. The movie just would not have been the same without him…’? Well, the same concept should go for your employees. They’re so great at what they do that you couldn’t imagine anyone else in their positions. ‘Barbara’ should be synonymous with Accounting. ‘Peter’ wins the Academy Award for managing the I.T. department. Each of their personalities and how they all work together create your unique company culture.

This is why hiring a new employee is such an important decision. No matter the size of your organization, adding a new professional to the mix makes a significant impact on your company. It’s not just about the new employee’s ability to do his or her job – a new individual changes how the team interacts. One person makes all the difference. When you’re hiring new employees, the goal is to create a positive change. 

If you are outsourcing the hiring process to a recruiter or staffing agency, it’s important that your staffing vendor genuinely understands the meaning of a new hire. You’re not just filling an empty chair – you’re bringing in a new professional to influence the direction of your team. Because bringing on a new employee is both a financial and emotional investment, we offer a One Year Replacement Guarantee for all direct hire employees. As experienced recruiters, we promise you to source and qualify top talent. This guarantee is a way to show you how seriously we take our role. 

To learn more about our direct hire solutions and One Year Replacement Guarantee, contact us at 713.932.9313.

Recruiting The Right People: Keeping True To Your Company’s Vision

Your company’s vision is important. Having a defined purpose and setting specific goals steers your business in the right direction. As a CEO or manager, you’re constantly thinking about the necessary steps you have to take to reach your goals. While it’s great that you keep your focus on the company’s vision, it’s also critical that all of your team members have a clear understanding of your company’s purpose.

For example, my vision for The Daniel Group is to help one million individuals find work before I retire. I established this goal when I heard a story by Minister Jesse Duplantis while attending a relative’s Sunday church service. Duplantis preached that he wanted to save a million souls before his work was done; motivating me to create an actual marker for the number of people I wanted to help. I figured that if our top priority was to simply help the communities within the markets we serve, everything else would fall into place.

We recently placed our 72,000th professional on the road to a million, which is a great milestone on this journey. However, I realized that this mission is only possible because every member of The Daniel Group understands the importance of this goal. It’s truly the foundation of our company and it wouldn’t work without the buy-in of the team.

This brings up a key issue for me: hiring the right people for your company. Sometimes we focus so much on candidates’ years of experience, job titles and previous companies that we overlook one of the most important factors in applicants – personality. The ideal applicant not only needs to have the talent to perform his or her function correctly, but also must possess the personality that fits in with our company culture. Your team members must have the ability to help the company sustain its vision and assist others in reaching our organizational goals.

As CEOs and Managers we need to help our employees maintain the company’s vision and keep it clearly in mind. The answers to these questions will tell you if you have taken the right steps to keep the company focused on your vision:

• What qualities must a person possess to help perpetuate my company’s mission?
• Do all of my current staff members have these qualities?
• Are all staff members aware of my company’s vision and goals?
• Do their daily contributions help the company’s vision?
• Do I consistently remind my team the importance of your vision and set clear goals to obtain them?

Keep true to your company’s vision by surrounding yourself with the people that see the bigger picture!