Meeting Topic

Introduction for meeting topic discussion:

We are well into the final Business Pillar of the year – PEOPLE. Knowing that a certain percentage of you may not have employees at this point, feel free to use your 60-second introduction to educate your group about some aspect of your business that will help them better understand how to refer to you! For those of you who have employees, this article contributed by Catherine Stapleton is a really great guide through the different stages of hiring, developing and hopefully KEEPING your people for the long haul! Give some thought to which part of the journey YOUR business could be better at and share that with your group as part of your 60-second intro.

This business thing is a journey for you just as much as your employees. Do you have a plan? By Catherine Stapleton

In times like these where our borders are largely closed off from the outside world, it is hard to attract and find great people who have what you are seeking.  It is equally hard to retain them. With a well-communicated and executed employment plan and good or even great leadership it is easy.

At Stapleton Consulting we use our employment journey framework to develop an HR plan and strategy for employers of all shapes and sizes.  You can use this to design the kind of journey you want your employees to take with you.  Again, I will reiterate, it is a journey you are both on together.  Neither of you want to be flying solo in this relationship.

What does the Employment Journey look like?

It has key milestones and stages that are for the most part predictable.  These are:

1. Attraction
2. Selection/Recruitment
3. Induction/Onboarding
4. Development
5. Performance and Retention
6. Succession
7. Separation

You could put a rough timeframe around some of these stages, but for others, it can be fluid depending on the person, what’s happening in the business and the team.  For instance, onboarding and induction can usually be around 7 weeks to 3 months, depending on the complexity of your business and the work required. Separation on the other hand can be as short as 1 week or as long as 3 months as it often, but not always relates to the notice period.

The underlying constants throughout the employment journey are your values, culture and behaviours, so when reading through this consider how would you do this in your business?

It is all too easy to copy the Googles and Perpetual Guardians of the world. Instead – You do you. Do what best reflects what you and your team are about.

(see original blog for graphic here)

Let’s break down these milestones some more and I’ll share some tips:

1. Attraction

This is all about how your business appeals to potential candidates. If you have recruitment on the cards soon, your business marketing strategy must cover off how you plan to get in front of potential candidates, and what is the value proposition. Why should they want to work with you? Where are these potential candidates hiding? What is the profile of your ideal employee? What are your funnels for recruitment?

If you thought this all sounds a bit like your sales pipeline, then you are right. Take a sales and marketing approach to your recruitment attraction strategy.  The average recruitment process these days is taking about 8-12 weeks. Compared to pre-lockdown it was 6-8 weeks. Talented people at all levels across all industries are in hot demand.

2. Selection and recruitment

I liken recruitment to ‘dating’. You have found a potential employee, your candidate, and now it is time for each of you to figure out whether you are right for each other.

We take a values and competency-based approach to recruitment. Therefore, some recruitment processes will often have more than one interview or include online skills testing.

I am still surprised by the number of businesses that don’t bother to identify what skills and values they are looking for before they advertise. It is like going to the supermarket without your shopping list.

Also don’t rely on the interview alone. Even if they are your friends. Background checks such as reference checks and criminal record checks are a must have.  Too many of the employment issues we deal with can be traced back to a poor recruitment process.

3. Onboarding

Now the person is signed up and committed to working with you, the real work begins. The last thing you would want them to think in their first week is – ‘what have I walked into? This is not what I signed up for!’

Have a plan, a checklist and communicate. Keep it simple and easy to follow.  Most importantly the person who they report to, must be present. Even if you are a sole trader trying to do the work as well as run the business, you must make the time and prioritise their needs. Your clients will thank you for it.

Don’t know where to begin, then seek out help.  An HR Consultant can help you with this too by the way. We don’t just deal with the problems.

4. Development

Your team member is getting comfy and understands most of their job and the business. They are still settling in and learning that nitty gritty stuff that takes time and practice more than anything.

This is your development phase.  Just because you have made it through those initial months, it doesn’t mean you stop investing in developing your people. The development required to deepen their knowledge is often the forgotten step. It is what happens here that makes or breaks the employment relationship. If you have people leaving between 9-18 months of their employment, there is something you are missing.

Retention

The transition from development to retention can happen without you realising it. It is a subtle shift from them needing information and knowledge to do the work, to sharing what they know and improving what is already there. Based on experience this shift happens around 18 months.

There is no clear ‘what to do’ through the retention phase. What you do through this phase is all dependent on the person, what they are striving for, and what is happening in your business now and in the future. Personal development plans and coaching type conversations about work and their life in general will unlock what it is that will keep them. It won’t be money either by the way.

Ultimately you are working with the employee to look further ahead than just a couple of months. The conversation shifts to, a year or more ahead. This is in preparation for succession.

Succession

If you get to a point where you can progress a team member into a broader job scope or a new role in your business, then you are winning. You have a great employment relationship and you are mostly likely getting a return on the investments you made earlier on.

So many employment relationships don’t get this far.  With the average length of service across NZ being somewhere between 18 months to 3 years, many are experiencing separation somewhere through that retention or development phase.

The key to a successful transition is not to load your star employee up with more, but to enable them to delegate some of their work and share their knowledge with others, as well as putting them on your most important opportunities.

After all, that valuable IP in their head shouldn’t just walked out the door when they leave. You and your team member, have a responsibility to extract this and share it so your return on investment from all that training during the earlier phases becomes realised.

Separation

Whether we like it or not, at some point your employment relationship will end in a separation. Sometimes it is to the benefit of both parties, but mostly it is to the detriment of you, the employer. So how do you facilitate this?

• Have a plan or checklist of what needs to be done and good communication all the way through – similar to the induction phase.
• Work respectfully and transparently with the employee so it doesn’t turn sour in those last few weeks.
• Recognise the value they have created and facilitate those goodbyes to happen where possible
• Exit interviews are brilliant for extracting the last bit of advice or intel, as well as providing a constructive way for the employee to vent any frustrations they may have bottled up.
• Keep an objective impartial person you trust close so you can share what is going on and get good advice. Separation can be an emotional rollercoaster for both parties.

As you can see the employment journey, is a journey.  It won’t be perfect or smooth.  There will be bumps in the road.  Bring in the experts before you feel overwhelmed, and that vision ahead is getting clouded and you can’t see your way through that forest

Above all, while you work through the journey, do it together with regular open communication and in good faith.  Sometimes you will lose good people along the way but keep that relationship on the right track and you will have a loyal advocate in the marketplace promoting your business, or a returning employee.

You can read about how Catherine and her team help their clients through the employment journey at her website, stapleton.consulting

Original post

Next Meeting Topic

INTRODUCTION FOR NEXT MEETING TOPIC:

Our next meeting topic is contributed by Louise Woollett-Ratcliffe of Hello Contractors. Hiring someone as a contractor can potentially be a great solution for your business; however, as in most things, ‘’what you don’t know you don’t know” can get you in trouble. In this article, Louise outlines 7 key mistakes you can avoid simply by being informed! From hiring a contractor into what is really an employee role to not getting the paperwork quite right, it’s easy to be tripped up! Not all of you will have hired (or have the need to hire) a contractor, so feel free to share your 60-second introduction with your group. For those of you who HAVE hired a contractor or are considering doing so in the new year, read the article carefully and share with your group a lesson you have learned about hiring a contractor OR something you’ll do differently next time as a result of reading the article.

Seven Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make When Hiring a Contractor Louise Woollett-Ratcliffe

Contracting has long been a popular solution for both businesses and individuals who seek flexibility. Now in this unpredictable environment we are seeing the number of contractors on the rise.

Many businesses enjoy the flexibility and convenience of engaging contractors who are skilled specialists and require little supervision. And many individuals enjoy the flexibility that contracting brings: they enjoy being small business owners and having control over the work they do.

However, there are pitfalls and risks to contracting. Below are seven mistakes to avoid that can be very costly in terms of money, time and resources.

1. Hiring a contractor in an employee role

Businesses should not use a contracting arrangement to avoid paying employee entitlements. Not only is this morally wrong, but it can be financially very costly.

Suppose a business hires someone as a contractor when they are actually an employee. The business may be liable for unpaid entitlements and penalties, as well as the cost of the reputation damage they may incur.

Contractors are generally highly skilled individuals who have a degree of control over when and how they work; they are often business owners on their own account.  In contrast, employees have less control over when, how and what they do.

(Note also that the government may be tightening some of the rules concerning dependent contractors: we await the outcome from the consultant document and public feedback of early 2020.)

2. Not getting the paperwork in order

Both the business and the contractor should agree and sign an Independent Contractor Agreement before the job begins. This agreement will clearly establish the role’s requirements, including remuneration, deliverables, ownership of work, insurance obligations, confidentiality, and the notice period. The contractor needs to have an opportunity to review and seek legal advice before signing.

The Independent Contract Agreement ensures that everyone understands the nature and expectations of the role. It will reduce disputes and misunderstandings, and it also ‘adds weight’ to defining the position as a contracting rather than employment role.

3. Breaking promises

The business needs to keep its promises and do everything it said it would do. It makes sense to keep your contractors happy. This will build a strong, trusting relationship, and help ensure that contractors are motivated to do the best they can to create value for the business.

One super important task to get right is contractor payments – contractors need to be paid on time. Contractors rely on on-time invoice payment for their livelihood, and it is just not fair to push their payment out one or two days (or longer) to help the business cashflow.

4. Not defining the role before hiring

Before hiring a contractor, the business should clearly define what the contractor will do: what problems they will solve, what tasks they will undertake, their performance expectations, and where the role is physically based (remote, onsite or a mix of both).

Without a clear role description, the risk is that the contractor will not add the anticipated value to the business. The problems or opportunities they were meant to be addressing will remain unresolved.

5. Not considering both the pros AND CONS of overseas contractors

Once you have defined the role, you may decide to employ a contractor from overseas. Lower cost can be a significant advantage here. But it pays to be aware of the potential pitfalls, with the main one being that many overseas contractors require more management and supervision. Also consider communication issues, time zone delays, the need for local New Zealand knowledge, and (if they are customer facing) your market’s expectations.

There are plenty of agencies and mega-contracting recruitment platforms that can help you find overseas contractors. Be aware that many of these intermediaries take a high commission (and it can be challenging to ascertain how much the contractor is actually being paid).

6. Cutting corners when finding the right person

Depending on the size of the role and the value to the business, a similar approach should be taken to hiring contractors as to hiring employees. No matter where or how you decide to hire your contractor, face-to-face interviews (in person or via live streaming), references and (if appropriate) portfolio checks should be undertaken. Cutting corners here can be costly – the business needs to be as sure as they can, that the contractor is going to meet their expectations.

Note that, as well as the skills, experience and technical knowledge, the business also must consider whether the contractor has the communication skills, self-motivation, independence, organization and confidence to work as a contractor.

7. Not giving the contractor the time they need

The business needs to plan how they will manage the contractor, especially if it is a remote arrangement. Will there be set deadlines? Will regular weekly meetings?  Who will be responsible for communications to the contractor?

Although most contractors are skilled professionals and require less supervision, they need some management time to ensure that they do their best work. They can’t do it alone! The general rule of thumb is: the lower the contractor’s cost, the more management time will be required.  Managers need to commit and be disciplined, ensuring they give their contractors the time that they need.

There is a wonderful talent pool of skilled professionals who are making a lifestyle choice to be contractors. With a bit of planning and forethought, the mistakes listed above are easy to avoid, which means that contractors can be a fantastic and valuable resource for businesses in today’s environment.

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Louise Woollett-Ratcliffe is known as The Contractor Connector. Her focus is empowering mums and parents by helping to match them with flexible working solutions they can arrange around their parental (and other) obligations. Hello Contractors connects businesses to their ideal contractors.

Website: https://www.hellocontractors.co.nz/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-ratcliffe/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/hellocontractorsnz

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