Randi Frank HR Consulting

HR Tips for Employers

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Orientation & Onboarding Tip 3: Provide new employees with written policies.

 New jobs are stressful. New people, new responsibilities, new rules, new culture – it’s a lot for a new employee to comprehend and remember. A clearly written agency policy handbook is an essential reference tool for all employees, but especially for new employees.

Your employee handbook should:

  • Make the agency’s culture, values, mission and strategies clear by providing the new employee with a guidebook/handbook and annual reports that give a nice overview of organization.
  • Discuss policies, procedures and other administrative matters, and review safety plans. Include workplace violence policy, sexual harassment prevention policy, workers’ compensation program, affirmative action program, leave policies and the like.

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Succession Planning Tip #3: Keep an updated talent inventory of employees.

Having a database of potential internal candidates with their relevant skills and experience can reduce the time needed to identify high potential employees. Sometimes it is beneficial to have the employees be in charge of updating their own records. Their entries could be a list of updated training, certifications and education. It is important to have a set format for this listing in order to keep entries uniform and make it easy to find the right candidates.

Supervisors should be responsible for letting you know what they have observed about their employees’ abilities (see my performance evaluation blog post). The inventory of talent should include:

  • Education
  • All training classes
  • Project Management skills
  • Leadership experiences
  • Technical Skills
  • Etc…

Questions? Contact me today!

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Job Descriptions Tip 2

2. Job descriptions can be the foundation for creating job advertisements.

Once you have a job description, you can create the job advertisement using the statement of purpose and qualifications as the main body of the advertisement.

For example, this advertisement was created by borrowing the statement of purpose and the qualifications from the job description for a Senior Administrative Assistant.

“The Senior Administrative Assistant performs complex and diverse duties in support of a work area or group of individuals. This position provides advanced administrative support for multiple programs and projects, and may also function as a high-level individual contributor or coordinator of multiple projects.

QUALIFICATIONS:

– High School diploma or GED

– Minimum of 5 years’ secretarial, office, or related experience

– Bachelor degree preferred

– Functional knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access required”

source: http://hrweb.mit.edu/compensation/job-descriptions/generic-job-descriptions

 

 

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Tips for New Leaders/New Executives Tip 5: Have Your Calendar Ready

Starting a new position as an executive at an Agency with a long-time established staff can have it’s challenges. Here are some tips to help you transition into your new leadership position successfully.

Have your calendar ready: develop a plan to meet with all the staff, board of directors/members agencies and key stakeholders in the first couple of months.

  1. Set up meetings with staff and board members and stakeholders in the same week so no one group feels left out – and continue to do that until you have met with all the key players.
  2. Set up group meetings if you can’t meet with everyone individually more tips here. During group meetings observe who is not talking and email them afterwards to see if they have any comments they were uncomfortable saying in front of the whole group.

Questions? Contact me today!

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Executive Search Tip 5: What is included in the recruitment efforts?

Defining what’s included in the recruitment effort is critical when determining which firm/consultant to choose. To start, decisions need to be made about where to advertise and how much. We recommend that advertisement be focused on the professional associations related to the position. For example you want to advertise a Human Resource Manager (HR) position with the 3 major HR professional associations – Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM); International Personnel Management Association (IPMA-HR); National Public Employers Labor Relations Association (NPELRA).

Once the advertisement is in place then the outreach efforts start by contacting professionals in the field. This can be done via phone and by email take a look at the site here. Reaching out to professionals who work in similar organizations with similar types of issues/budgets is a good place to start. In addition, we contact professionals who are officers of various professional associations since they will know who is looking for a new position or who may fit for your specific opportunity. For example, we had a Town Manager position for a location with a large college as its main economic driver. We contacted other Managers who worked in similar communities with large or even small colleges that were key stakeholders in the community.

For more details about our recruitment efforts, Contact Us and we can answer any questions you may have.

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Tip 2: Performance evaluation provides developmental feedback on the employee’s strengths and skills that need improvement.

Employees can identify their strengths and explore how to build on those strengths through performance discussions with their managers. For example, the manager has noticed that an employee demonstrates talent in writing, so he or she may put the employee in charge of handbook writing. Employees can also be made aware of their skill or knowledge deficiencies and receive guidance about personal learning, growth, and development. For example, when the manager says, “Mike, I am concerned about the way you communicate with our customers,” he should always explain to Mike how he could handle the situation more effectively.

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Orientation & Onboarding Tip 4: Give new employees a tour of the office.

No matter the size of your operation, the office tour is essential to ensure that the new employee knows where to find things and who to go to with certain questions or problems as well as providing a good overview of systems and processes.

Three things to keep in mind as you tour the office with the new employee:

  • Make sure new employees have a tour of the office. It’s important for them to get a feel for the agency’s atmosphere, and be able to find their way around.
  • As you’re touring the agency, tell new employees about the functions and services provided by the different divisions so they can understand their part in the whole organization.

During the tour, current employees can meet the new employee and help make the new employee feel welcome and part of the team.

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Classifications and Compensation System

Our copyrighted Compensation & Classification System is built on decades of experience working in Municipalities and Human Resources. The designers used jobs commonly found in Municipalities to develop the foundation of a point-factor system for salary ranges.

Offices of the Town Clerk, Tax Collector, Treasurer, Public Works, Police Officers, and Building Official are found in towns with populations as small as 3,000. Jobs in these departments are considered benchmarks and can be compared to similar positions in other communities.

Characteristics such as size and geographic region may demand that Municipalities deliver a specific range of services – some of them not found in neighboring communities.

  • A Town with a seacoast will need a Harbor Master to issue information to mariners, oversee the maintenance of navigational aids and coordinate emergency responses.
  • Maintaining historic properties can be a priority for a community, necessitating a job to coordinate and liaison with Local, State and Federal boards, commissions, and agencies.
  • Prosperous communities may fund a leading-edge library, offering film fests, lectures, high-tech support, and extensive community programs. Innovation is critical.
  • Communities looking to encourage expansion could establish a Business Development role to influence legislation and develop integrated workflows in town departments.
  • Providing basic services can include a local electrical service or water plant. The competitive employment market and required credentials of jobs in these functions may require both commercial and municipal salary survey data.

Our system takes all job dimensions into consideration. Levels of authority, impact on municipal services and credentials for common and unusual jobs, including marine biology, architecture, business administration and skilled trades, are fairly assessed.

Determining pay ranges within the context of a specific community demands impartial, experienced professionalism. Our practice of collaborative consulting includes conducting structured interviews, administering questionnaires, and applying logical decision criteria. We tailor each project to the priorities and unique features of the community and approach every challenge with confidence.

For more information about our Classification & Compensation Manual – Public Sector Version contact Ms. Georgian Lussier, [email protected] or Ms. Randi Frank, [email protected] the developers.

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Succession Planning Tip #4: Provide opportunities for internal candidates to gain the skills and experience that they might need for future open positions.

In order to groom your employees for these positions, they need to be given new opportunities that will foster development. By assigning employees to different teams or new divisions they can gain new skill sets and be exposed to fresh experiences. This includes management skills, leadership skills, and project management skills.

Some firms have established management training programs for this purpose, and others have rotated employees’ assignments every 3 months to give them diverse experiences. As a result, you will also retain superior employees because they appreciate the attention and effort that you are investing in them and their continued growth.

Questions? Contact me today!

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Job Descriptions Tip 3

3. Job descriptions can serve as a very good place to start when developing interview questions.

Once you have a job description, you can develop interview questions based on the essential functions, job responsibilities and skills by asking the candidates how they have performed these types of tasks in their past positions. For example, listed below are some essential functions and related questions:

Essential Functions for a human resources director:

• Develop, evaluate and administer human resource policies and procedures for all departments; review and evaluate the effectiveness of programs and services provided by the department.

• Oversee, supervise and perform recruiting services including: Placing advertisements, revising job descriptions, receiving and recording applications, reviewing applications for minimum standards, conducting and monitoring written or oral testing procedure for administrative and clerical positions, scheduling interviews, ensuring background investigations are complete, informing applicants of status of their applications through letters, setting up oral panels.

Related questions:

• Describe a modification you made to a human resource policy or procedures for departments that made your program more competitive or cost effective.

• Can you give an example of a recruitment that was difficult because you knew you wouldn’t get a lot of applicants? How did you reach out to promote the position and find qualified candidates?

 

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Hiring an Intern Tip #1: Why should you think about having Interns?

Why Hire an Intern?

Even as a small business owner, I support interns when I have projects that provide a learning experience. I had 9 internships during my undergraduate and graduate degrees and have had several interns work for me in the past. This is a practice I intend to continue.

In this series I will review the following…

1. Why should you think about having interns?
2. What type of projects can interns handle?
3. What are the benefits of Interns for you and them?
4. How do you find interns?
5. Do you have to pay interns?
6. Should there be a formal agreement with the Intern?

Tip 1 – Why should you think about having Interns?

The number one reason to hire an intern is the benefit they can provide your organization. Interns can bring new ideas and new technology to your organization. They can work on projects that otherwise wouldn’t be addressed. Whether you are a one person organization or large corporation internships can be beneficial.

On a more personal note, if you were an intern when you were young or in college you know how grateful you were to get an opportunity to learn and show what you could do if given the chance. This is your chance to give back or pay it forward to the next generation. As you have heard, many college graduates can’t find a job because they only have their education but not the experience and they are competing against candidates with experience. Good internships will provide students with the experience they need.

I had a graduate program that required an internship each semester. I found it made the education process more fulfilling because I could see how my studies related or didn’t relate to the real world. I will review the other tips in the series to follow.

Questions? Contact me today!

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Tips for New Leaders/New Executives Tip 6: Be Prepared for People to Treat You Differently

A promotion that changes your position from colleague to supervisor will change the working dynamic with your colleagues. Here are some tips to help you manage that transition successfully.

Be prepared for people to treat you differently.

  1. Some of your old colleagues may be jealous; others may not know how to treat you.
  2. Let them know you are the same person; that you will treat everyone fairly; and that you look forward to doing great things together as you have done in the past.

Questions? Contact me today!

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Executive Search Tip 6: What is different using an Executive Search Firm once you have applicant resumes for the position advertised?

This is another frequently asked question. After all, now that you have a stack of resumes, why do you need an Executive Search professional? The answer is time. An executive search firm has the flexibility to speak with the potential candidates during various points in the recruitment process. Most HR departments do not want to give an unfair advantage to any one candidate so all communication is in writing such as thanking them for the resume, letting them know if they have been selected for a testing process or interview, etc.

The Executive Search firm will take the time to talk with the most qualified candidates or even those that may not have all the qualifications to learn as much as possible about the candidate to see if they are a good fit and to learn more details than a resume can provide. One method we use to learn more about candidates in addition to many telephone interviews includes a questionnaire to top candidates. It allows us to determine their real interest and their specific experience related to the specific position.

For example: when recruiting for an Economic Development Director we may ask about the details of their largest and smallest economic development project they completed. This process also allows us to evaluate their writing style. This process ensures that the agency has all the information they need to choose the right candidate.

Questions? Contact me today!

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