Whilst surveys and studies show that certain groups of employee’s value perks such as free fruit and discounted gym membership, others would better value more flexible working hours, Jim in Accounts want a cycle to work scheme. That’s the trouble with people- we all want something different!
However, the greatest impact on our wellbeing at work is more often linked to workplace culture and how work makes us feel. There are loads of different books, theories, statistics and gurus out there telling us what we need to have in place to ensure employee wellbeing and engagement as any Google search will attest to. ACAS believes that engagement is likely to be higher if you focus on the four main drivers of employee engagement identified by the Macleod Review in 2009:
With many of you looking at budgets and deciding how to max the cash available for improving what you offer your teams it is worth taking some time to think about how well you deliver on the above 4 statements. The original Macleod Review identified line managers as the key drivers of better engagement, arguing that managers need to provide their teams with focus and coaching, give them scope to develop and treat them as individuals. Yet many managers are Accidental Managers having been promoted based on technical, rather than people management skills, an area where they may have little aptitude or experience. Strategies that embrace engagement and wellbeing in a holistic way are more likely to be successful than a scatter gun / random approach to providing wellbeing benefits. SME’s are often better placed to implement effective programmes due to their smaller scale, but it often remains on the ‘nice to have pile’ rather than being a priority which is surprising as the impact of employee absence can be more noticeable in smaller companies as they struggle to cover things like long term sickness. The CIPD wellbeing pyramid [ below] shows a fully integrated approach to employee wellbeing and there is lots of helpful advice on their website.
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The joy of telephone interviews I love telephone interviews !, not just because I don’t need to wear lippy and mascara, I really like the speed and flexibility it gives you.
By 9am yesterday I had completed 4 screening conversations and had agreed with two of them that they were not suitable because of salary/ benefits. A further two conversations at lunchtime and one before tea meant I had 3 very suitable candidates to hand over to my client for onsite interviews. One of the things I am increasingly finding is that candidates are looking for quick turnaround and decisions, leave it a week and you lose them to someone who was more responsive, so a quick mini- interview is often an effective way to keep people interested. I rarely explore cv’s at this stage, using the time to see whether they would be a good culture and values fit and whether they sit within the pay structure. Using a basic template of questions and changing as needed for the job/ industry , usually asking 5-7 screening questions, selling the company and leaving candidates a couple of minutes for questions takes just 15 mins of your time. Example questions for non-management staff Q What do you know about our business Q What do you like least and best about your current role Q Describe your current role in 3 sentences Q How would your work colleagues describe you Q What is your current £ package- what are you looking for Q What other jobs have you applied for / had interviews for The main drawback can be rubbish reception, poor line quality and technical gremlins when using skype or similar but good planning and back up can mitigate this. So next time you advertise think about putting some telephone screening interviews into the process, it’s cost effective and will save you time in the long run. An employee resigns, should you try to keep them? Logic says trying to keep them is easier than finding a replacement, plus all the management geru stuff you read says retention is good. I am often asked this question and my usual advice is be like Elsa and ‘Let them go’, You should always have a conversation with the person to find out their reasons and have a formal exit interview but sometimes it is too late to put things right and you need to take responsibility for that. Although retention is good, having no turnover is unhealthy, someone leaving provides an opportunity for change, finding a replacement with new skills or a chance to offer the position internally and let someone in the team take on new challenges. I cannot remember a time when a counter offer has provided a good long-term solution, your employee says the job is similar but they will have better benefits and £3k more, so it is tempting to say “stay, we can match that” because that’s cheaper than hiring. By all means use that to benchmark your salaries to see whether they are competitive but think long and hard as to whether it’s the right solution. My stock reply when candidates tell me they have been counter offered by their current employer is “you must be disappointed that it has come too late, shame you had to resign to make them show you they value you” . Lots of bosses tend to take resignations personally, increasingly people are looking to move on every 3 years or so and although this trend is slower in the SME category it is likely to find its way here soon. So be thankful for the work they have done and craft a simple email to send out to everyone saying “we are sorry J is leaving , want to thank them for great work, wish them well, they will be missed etc”. Certain leavers may pose a threat to your business by leaving to work for the competition, make sure your garden leave and non compete policies are clear and are implemented in a professional and courteous way. People leave their jobs for lots of reasons and a resignation should rarely be a surprise, whirlwind romances and lottery wins are the exception ! Regular one to ones, review meetings and a genuine interest in your team will help to minimise the surprises. |
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October 2020
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