Why HR

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How to Interview Candidates: An Introduction

How to HR, Strategic HR, Why HR /

How to Interview Candidates: An Introduction “Let’s face it, you suck at hiring people.”   This line jumped out of my television and smacked me across the face a couple of months ago. It was an ad from a recruiting company. My first thought was, “You’re a recruiter and you think the way to get business is by insulting your potential clients?”  The depressing reality of most advertising, however, is that commercials often say things because they believe you’re already thinking them.   Hiring is hard, especially for small businesses. If you only have 10 employees, then the next time you hire, 10% of your workforce will be new. That one hire can make your quarter or break it. That’s nerve-wracking, even more so if it’s your first time interviewing and hiring.   Below are five steps to help get you started interviewing the right way.   One: Be Prepared Before you ever review a résumé or contact anybody to set up an interview, you need to prepare ahead of time.  For the sake of this article, we’ll assume you already have a good job description and a good job ad. (Those are two different things.) We’ll also assume you understand the position you’re hiring for very well.   Two: Design the Perfect Employee in Your Mind Take some time and ask yourself what the perfect candidate for this position looks like.  Do they have a strong personality? Are they easygoing? How do the skills you described in the job ad come together? What is the most important attribute they possess? What does their work ethic look like? How do they apply it? What personality traits make them successful?   If you can’t describe the perfect employee, how can you find them among all the candidates you’re going to interview?  Other than technical skills, what is your team currently missing? What personality traits would help make the team more productive?  Maybe your team is full of Type-A personalities and the tension is starting to build. A more laid-back personality who isn’t easily offended might be the perfect balance.   A lot gets written about diversity, but true diversity means building a team that collectively possesses all the technical abilities, personality traits, and values needed to succeed. “You don’t have to suck at hiring, and you don’t have to pay a company 20% of a person’s annual salary to find your next rock star.” Three: Identify the Right Person Prepare questions that help you distinguish the perfect candidate from those who are merely qualified.  All of us have been told by some so-called expert that we must ask the exact same questions, in the exact same order, so we don’t discriminate against people. That’s not entirely true.  As a best practice, you should inquire about the same topics with each candidate. Doing so helps you compare applicants and provides protection against claims of discrimination. The idea that interviews must be completely rigid, however, is nonsense.   Start broad and work toward a narrower focus.  Verify skills by asking questions that only somebody who actually possesses those skills could answer. This is the technical portion of the interview. Ask about the skills listed in the job description and job ad.   The best indicator of what a person will do for your company is what they have done for other companies.  We’ll talk about behavioral interviewing another time, but the shortcut is to ask questions that begin with, “Tell me about a time when…”  Ask several of them.  Then start asking questions that help you understand personality and motivation.   A recent episode of The HR Life Podcast touched on how to do this. Give candidates a scenario that allows them to demonstrate one of the traits you’re looking for. It helps if you understand your own company values so you can determine whether the candidate is aligned with them.   For some incredible insights on how to do this, Listen to Tracie Kalmar discuss this on The HR Life Podcast.    Four: Decide Quickly Once you find the right person—and that isn’t the same thing as having two or three acceptable candidates—move quickly.  Applicants today don’t wait around while employers make up their minds. Waiting more than three to five days after interviews can cost you a great employee.   Five: Send an Offer Letter Once you know you want to hire somebody, call them and make the offer verbally.  As soon as that’s done, send a formal offer letter.  We’ll discuss offer letters another time and what should and shouldn’t be included in them, but get something formal in writing and give the candidate a deadline to respond.   You don’t have to suck at hiring, and you don’t have to pay a company 20% of a person’s annual salary to find your next rock star.  Just stick to the basics and you’ll be fine.

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Know when to call for HR Help.

When Should You Call an HR Expert or Lawyer? 

How to HR, Strategic HR, Why HR /

No matter how good you are at managing your small business, there comes a time when an employee says or does something that sets off legal alarm bells and you need expert advice.  Maybe they have accused another employee of harassment, maybe they have claimed you’re breaking the law and are threatening to report you to the state or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or maybe you want to be generous to them during a very difficult time and are worried that doing so may get you sued later by somebody else who wants the same treatment.    Googling the question usually gives you a very limited answer that doesn’t really apply to your situation, at best, or, at worst, is wrong all together.    When should you call an expert consultant like The Grange, and when should you call an attorney?  Below is some guidance when you should call who.    Call a Consultant: An experienced HR consultant, like The Grange, can answer most questions regarding employment law.  If an HR professional has been trained and worked five or more years, they’ve experienced 80% of the situations you’ll experience as a small business owner.  Most can explain the law and the best practices associated with handling the situation.    Claims of Harassment: HR experts can help you determine if the claim really does amount to harassment or just somebody feeling uncomfortable.  HR professionals train for this by studying the law and relevant court cases.  They can help you understand what you may or may not be liable for and what the possible damages may be.  They’ll help you avoid common mistakes that plague many small businesses.    Claims of Discrimination: Discrimination is defined as anything that is an unfair disadvantage in employment, pay, work conditions, and is based on a “protected class” under the law.    Protected classes include race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and pregnancy-related conditions), gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability,  genetic information,  service in the military, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws and ordinances.  Some states have a longer lists of protected classes and a few have shorter lists.  “Googling the question usually gives you a very limited answer that doesn’t really apply to your situation, at best, or, at worst, is wrong all together.”  Employees who complain about discrimination and claim that it is based on one of these protected classes may have a legitimate claim.  (Hint: Just because an employee can’t connect the conduct they are experiencing with a protected class, it doesn’t mean it isn’t discrimination.) Even if it isn’t actually discrimination (the law doesn’t protect you against bad managers), complaints of bad behavior or poor management are often indicators of a serious cultural issue.   Pay Issues: Experienced HR professionals have a good understanding of basic payroll law and can usually answer most questions.  Call when you can’t easily identify a solution or need to understand the law surrounding payment of wages when an employee is terminated.   Call a payroll expert or CPA if the situation revolves around taxes or government mandated deductions.   ADA and FMLA Claims: When an employee is missing time due to illness or takes a lot of time off to care for an ill family member, an HR consultant can help you take care of your employee without putting you in legal danger.  They can explain, not only the consequences of a legal misstep, but also help turn the situation into one that benefits the company by improving employee trust and commitment to the company.  Don’t believe any consultant or legal advisor that tells you this situation is a zero sum game or employee vs employer. The number one type of claim reported to the EEOC is one that involves missteps associated with these situations.   Employee Conflict: Employee politics, arguments, mistreatment, and, often, threats, are signs of cultural issues that go far beyond who is right or wrong in a given situation.  A good HR consultant will be able to identify the cultural issues present and help you resolve them.   Call an Attorney: You need to call an attorney when there is action to that needs to be taken that requires an in-depth knowledge of the law or legally requires a specific license.   Termination Agreements: While The Grange can draft legal documents and is backed by the legal team at the law firm Person Butler, most consultants can’t do this for you.  Call an attorney to help you formulate a legally binding agreement that protects you when you terminate an employee and offer them an incentive to release any legal claims they may have against you.   Agency Investigations: If you receive a notice from a state or federal agency notifying you that there has been a complaint made that the agency is going to investigate call an attorney.  Lawyers can often help you understand time requirements, draft responses, and predict your odds of prevailing in the matter.  While The Grange can support you in such matters, most consultants are unable to do so.   Written Demand Letters: When you receive a demand letter from an attorney representing a former employee, call an attorney.  Use a lawyer or firm that specializes in employment law or employment litigation.  The firm Pearson Butler, in Utah assists The Grange in such matters.   Notice of Litigation: Call an attorney that specializes in actively litigating cases and has an employment law expertise.   A few final notes of Advice: Just because your company operates in a “at will” state, doesn’t mean you can terminate an employee for any reason at any time without legal risk. While many laws include language that limit their applicability to companies that employ 15 people or more, every employer should act as if all such laws apply to them. Many newer laws, such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), don’t have minimum employee counts but can be very onerous

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Startups: Six HR Steps You Can Do Now

Strategic HR, Why HR /

When do you need HR?  As soon as you hire an employee.  If your business, however, is like most businesses, you can’t afford to hire an HR person at the same time you hire your first employee.  If you could, you’d hire two employees to generate more revenue.  That doesn’t mean that you don’t need to begin to establish the HR function in your company.     Here are 6 things you can do until you can afford to hire The Grange 1.        Just a Little Study a.        Take an hour and read about the basic employment laws that pertain to companies with 15 or fewer employees.  Here’s what you need to find: The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Minimum wage laws in your state, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Just learn the basics so you know how to be compliant.  Some may not officially apply to you yet, but you want to be compliant anyway.    2.        Establish a clear Vision, Mission, Values.  a.        If you can’t verbalize or write why you’re in business you can’t share it with employees.  If you want employees to focus on your goals, they have to know what they are and how you want it done.  A vision, Mission, Values statement does just that.  3.        Focus on your vision. a.        Gear everything in your business towards your vision by achieving your mission.  Eliminate anything in your business that doesn’t fulfill your vision by achieving your current mission.  If it doesn’t fulfill your vision, you shouldn’t be doing it.  If you don’t have this focus, how do  you expect your employees to have that focus?  4.        Policies a.        Write down a series of rules your employees can rely on.  Things to include are what time to show up, when they get paid, what holidays they’ll get paid for, what happens when they work more than 40 hours a week, how much paid time off (if any) they receive and anything else that you feel are good sign posts that will guide them.  Don’t include performance metrics etc.  Details are a double edged sword.  Any policy you write down, you are legally obligated to follow.  5.        Compliance a.        Make sure you have a specific and reliable way of paying people, you know how to complete I9 forms, you issue the correct tax documents, and make sure you pay above minimum wage.  Be sure not to discriminate against anybody for any reason other than their performance.  Worry about benefits later.  If you can afford benefits, you can probably afford HR.  6.        Treat Everybody the Same a.        If you do something for one person, anybody else in that same situation needs to be treated the same.  Call The Grange when you need help.  That is doubly true when an employee makes a complaint to you about anything that you feel may relate to a legal issue (pay, discrimination, harassment, etc).    When you’re ready, we’re here for you.  Give us a call and we’ll get you the information in a way that is helpful and cost affective.  But do it right, do it now! 

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Why Do HR Correctly?

Strategic HR, Why HR /

Not sure if you need HR yet?  You do.  As a matter of fact, you’re probably late.    Do you have HR on your payroll but aren’t seeing anything from it but red tape and expenses?  Maybe you’re not sure what HR contributes to your bottom line other than a reduction of liability (compliance).    Human Resources is the art of management.  Your company’s future is only as bright as the people working for it.  Does the future of your company, then, only rest on how good you are at identifying good employees in the interview process or is there more to do?    If you buy a machine that is rated to make 100 widgets an hour, do you accept it when you only get 80 an hour?  Do you get rid of the machine and buy a new one?  Of course not, you have too much invested in the purchase of the machine to simply toss all of that aside and get a new one.  By my calculation the cost of hiring an employee is, at a minimum, half of the annual salary associated with the position you’re filling.     Then why is that the approach that so many businesses take when they hire people?  It’s because they don’t understand the power of engaged employees who actively solve problems, find new ways to accomplish company goals, and grow more efficient over time.     That is the role of Human Resources.  You can’t change the oil, reset the gears, or reprogram employees like you can machines, but you can develop their talents and increase their productivity over time.  Human Resource professionals in your organization are there to help managers do that.      All of the areas that HR manages such as benefits, perks, policies, and pay are only tools that HR uses to ensure your employees become more productive over time.  I’m famous for starting speeches with the phrase “most HR people suck”.  If your HR team isn’t actively improving the efficiency of your human capital, you need to reexamine HR’s role in your company.  …And that’s why The Grange is here.  

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