Outsourced Exit Interviews, Stay Surveys, Leadership Assessments and so much more.
Employee reference checking is often the last step in the hiring process. In some companies, it is seen as a formality, while others view it as an absolute necessity. It can be a touchy subject. It can reveal everything or absolutely nothing. Many employers are often hesitant to provide negative information on former employees for legal reasons. And, oftentimes it’s difficult to get information from a candidate’s current employer. Jay Goltz, serial entrepreneur and New York Times Blogger, discusses these and other issues that arise with employee reference checking, but makes an important call to action that they are not a waste of time when done properly. Goltz makes the point that by the time an employer is checking references, he or she often knows what information is needed and can steer the conversation toward gathering that information. If you don’t know the right questions to ask, it’s hard to get the maximum benefit from a reference check. That’s where HSD Metrics can help. A strategic and well thought out employee reference checking process can reveal invaluable information about a candidate’s potential. HSD Metric’s ReferenceRight® Electronic References provide real information that will allow you to make an informed hiring decision. Here are the top five benefits of utilizing HSD Metrics ReferenceRight® Electronic References for your employee reference checks.
1. You choose the references you want your potential hire to provide. The candidate receives an email and must provide the required information for given contacts.
2. Our process is highly confidential. Prospective employees complete a liability release, which allows their previous supervisors and co-workers to provide totally honest reviews without fear of ramifications.
3. Well-designed and open-ended questions mean honest answers about a candidate’s competencies and job performance.
4. It’s quick, easy, and convenient. Using web-based solutions, your HR department, applicants and references have 24/7 access to information. Instead of spending days making repeated phone calls and tracking down references, contacts can fill out the online questionnaire at their convenience – normally in one to two days.
5. Using HSD Metrics’ solutions saves both time and money. It takes time to make reference checks, and references may not always call you back or provide the information you need. Our surveys provide you with valuable information, so you can make the right hire the first time around, instead of going through the process of costly re-hires.
Learn more about the HSD Metrics ReferenceRight® process and contact us today to hear how we can help your business make good, smart hires through better employee reference checking.
Actual Comment from Employees Who Left: “Never given the opportunity to advance. It seemed only friends would advance. Supervisors knew who got the job before interviews were given.” “My manager explicitly told me many times that I was fulfilling the duties of the position above mine, and also performing many duties of the position above that. However, because so many other people in our department had been in this same situation for years and years, promotion “was not an option” for me.” “Due to an illness the manager left. For 8 months, I covered this role and mine. I increased production by 25% yet was not even considered for the promotion, nor was I paid for my services.” The Solution This is an area where employees’ perceptions may be at the heart of their dissatisfaction, but perceptions are reality. How many times have you heard employees say, “Only my manager’s friends advanced,” “I discussed with management my desire to advance and there was no movement,” or “I asked for training but there was none.” So, what can organizations do to overcome these perceptions? The effort begins in the Human Resources Department. Start by defining and communicating the company’s policy and process for seeking promotions or other opportunities for advancement or new roles in the organization. The other half of the approach is improving employee onboarding. Long-time employees who feel disgruntled with their opportunities for advancement may have resentments that can be traced back to the day they were hired. HSD Metrics data finds unhappy employees believe their actual working conditions and responsibilities did not match what was described to them when they were hired. If you look at best practices among HR professionals, you’ll find companies that go beyond having a written policy on promotions and advancement. They hold formal training sessions to help employees understand specific job requirements, provide on-line resources that are available to help employees acquire skills, and explain what the employees’ responsibilities are for achieving advancement. Today’s work environment is much more complex and skill-based, requiring employees to make a personal commitment to acquire additional skills. If you look at current job reports coming from industry and the government, there are many open positions that cannot be filled due to a lack of skills. This is the new environment. HR professionals can create fertile ground for employee development and advancement by adding a personal development plan to your organization’s performance management process. Make this a collaborative effort between employees and managers to find out what the employees’ career desires are, help them create goals and action plans, and follow their progress throughout the year. There may be times when opportunities for advancement are just not available, but there are almost always opportunities for on-the-job training. Review employees’ current job duties to see where responsibilities can be moved among staff members, thereby increasing skill levels and bench strength within a department. The key is keeping employees engaged and growing their skills, so they can be ready when promotional opportunities become available. The secondary payoff is you’ll have a stronger team, ready to fill in, when someone needs time off for health reasons, family leave or other unexpected occurrences. Ultimately, your efforts will pay off for the company by increasing employee involvement, improving the overall skill level of the organization, and reducing turnover. And that’s what HSD Metrics is all about! HSD Metrics offers new hire, stay, and exit interview platforms that can help your business improve employee engagement, as well as employee experience and retention. If you are interested in learning more, contact us today.
An Actual Comment from an Employee who Left: “Yes, training lacked with new technology. Those of us who did not grow up with the new technology were not given a reasonable amount of time to learn.” “I wish the department was able to have us go to certification training workshops so we could do better at our job. Currently, I and my ex-coworkers would have to learn the technology on our own.” The Solution These comments are exactly the kinds of insights that HSD Metrics can find with their ExitRight Employee Exit Interviews. HSD’s SurveyRight is designed to provide you with valuable feedback to build high-performance, high-retention work cultures. Your company may spend millions of dollars upgrading or investing in new technology, but its advantages will be lost if your employees don’t know how to use the technology properly. Investment in new technology requires an investment in your workforce as well. The amount of training and education you can provide when implementing a new technology determines your return on investment. A course of action for training your employees should be considered right along with the actual investment in the technology. Employees who will be affected by technology changes should be communicated with clearly about:
A change in manager can easily derail existing employees as they try to understand how to work successfully with their new manager. As we see in the below example, this could potentially lead to employee turnover.
“We got a brand new manager who had no experience in this role. She wasn’t trained well. She didn’t welcome feedback from employees. It made for a very stressful work environment.”
– Actual Comment from an Employee Who Left Their Company
The saying: “People don’t quit their job, they quit their boss” is painfully accurate.
Investing in a Leadership Assessment and New Manager Assimilation process can easily condense the time it takes for managers and employees to get to know each other from months to just a few intense hours. New Manager Assimilations work most effectively when facilitated by someone with excellent facilitation and coaching skills. Here is an outline of a new leader assimilation process that could be put in place to help with new manager issues in the workplace.
The facilitator gains the new manager’s support of the process. The facilitator and new manager review questions that will be asked of the team. Normally, four to six questions are reviewed with the team. Sample new leader assimilation questions include:
The new manager and facilitator kick off the meeting. The manager welcomes everyone, states commitment for the process, encourages candid responses, and thanks the team for participating. After this, the manager leaves. The facilitator reviews the steps of the process, establishes ground rules, and gains agreement with the team that the meeting will be anonymous. The facilitator then leads the team through the questions and collects information and responses.
The facilitator meets separately with the manager to review the information gathered in the session. The manager formulates quality responses to the information presented.
The facilitator, manager, and team meet, and the manager presents responses to the information provided by going through each of the questions, one by one, and offering comments and reactions. The team is welcome to ask for clarification or provide additional information not previously expressed.
There can be an optional follow-up meeting six months after the initial meetings where the team is asked additional questions such as:
Having a systematic process that enables the new manager and team to share information, exchange ideas, dispel rumors, and candidly discuss management issues in the workplace can help build relationships and ease the process for everyone as a team adjusts to a new manager.
How do you know if your company can benefit from implementing a new leader assimilation process like this one? Excess employee turnover is one sign, but the reasons for turnover can be many. To really understand what’s happening inside your organization, you need to tap into the insider knowledge that departing employees are taking with them. HSD Metrics helps you do that efficiently, effectively and professionally with the ExitRight exit interview service. We also offer the Leadership Assessments mentioned and linked above. Gain insight into why your employees are leaving and help prevent the costs of searching for and training new workers.
If you are interested in learning more, schedule a free live demo with one of our team members today.
An Actual Comment from an Employee Who Left: “I can’t continue to work at the maximum pay scale for another 15 years! What a joke. I deserve more pay and respect.” The Solution These comments are exactly the data that HSD Metrics can find with their ExitRight Employee Exit Interviews. HSD’s tools are designed to provide you with valuable feedback to build high-performance, high-retention work cultures. Hitting the top of the pay scale is a common frustration for long-standing employees. These individuals are valuable to their employers. It helps to have experienced people who know your organization inside and out to provide continuity. However, hitting the top of the pay scale isn’t necessarily the end of the road. A conversation about how pay is normally structured, along with a discussion about options for future earning potential, could lead this employee to a more informed decision. How are you presenting this information to your employees? First, let’s take a look at how compensation is normally structured. Base pay is the foundation for total employee compensation and represents the largest component of a total compensation package. Base pay is normally structured in a three-tiered range within each category of position or job grouping.
You didn’t see it coming. A promising employee just put in her two weeks’ notice. You’re surprised, then you remember the long lunch she took last week and the two personal days the week before that. Then the light bulb goes off – the signs were there. A resignation often doesn’t come out of the blue, as we think. While an employee may make the choice to leave for any number of reasons, some beyond an employer’s control and some not, there are some key warning signs that might indicate a change is coming. 1) Behavior – Keep an eye on negative behavioral changes that differ from an employee’s typical habits. Is he or she continually disappearing for unexplained, extended amounts of time? 2) Increased Absence or Unusual Lateness – Curious changes in schedule may indicate an employee’s apathy towards work, and could also be a sign that he is attending other job interviews. 3) Loss of Drive – Is a formerly driven employee now silent during meetings? Showing a lack of interest or excitement about future projects could be a sign the employee is distancing himself from his work. 4) Attitude – Attitude is often an indication of satisfaction with a position. Has an employee developed a negative attitude towards company changes, policies or standards? 5) Disengagement – Is an employee suddenly keeping to herself? Be on the lookout for individuals who are disconnecting from others and have lost enthusiasm for their work. 6) Decreased Work Quality – If an employee’s quality of work is declining, it’s often an indication his focus and interest aren’t on the job. Paying attention to warning signs can help your business both prevent and prepare for workforce turnover. HSD Metrics services can provide another layer of insight on these challenging situations. Understanding Why The causes of employee turnover are revealed in well-designed exit interviews. HSD’s ExitRight Interviews can help answer the daunting question of “Why?” and reveal factors that may or may not be in your control. Here’s how it works. Once an employee departs your organization, HSD Metrics will contact him for an interview. You decide on the notification to participate approach, the final interview content and select the interview method – web, phone or email – and HSD will take care of the rest. With the outsourced process, you are left with valuable data that can be used to make positive changes that affect the overall health of your business. Reducing Employee Turnover Learning from ExitRight data and recognizing warning signs can help combat employee turnover. Regular check-in meetings with employees give individuals a chance to voice concerns before it’s too late. An employee may perceive that leaving is the only option when alternatives may actually exist. Asking these four questions can reveal a lot:
– What’s working well for you in this job?
– What isn’t working?
– What do you need most from me as your manager?
– What would the ideal job look like for you?
HSD Metric’s SurveyRight Employee Engagement Surveys can also be a valuable insight into your company’s work culture. The surveys provide analytics to help you recognize themes, create action plans and, most importantly, understand what all of the data can mean for your organization. Employee turnover can be costly in time, money and morale, but these tools can help you understand and develop best practices to address and reduce turnover. If you are interested in learning more, contact us today.
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