Employer Resources: Employers

Recruiting is a team effort. It's most effective when the parties that make up the team move quickly and effectively through the process to get the job done.

This is, of course, easier said than done, but let's takes a quick moment to identify the three primary members of this illustrious team:

1. The candidate
2. The recruiter
3. The hiring manager

If any of the above-mentioned parties fail to perform as expected, the process tends to suffer — and can break down completely under certain circumstances. This can lead to all types of problems and frustrations that relate to the successful acquisition of a new employee. On top of that, you risk wasting time and money — as well as creating bad blood with respect to the candidate — if the hiring process is mishandled.

Fortunately, most recruiters I come in contact with understand the necessity of driving the process forward and making things happen as quickly and as smoothly as possible.
On the other hand, most candidates are simply looking to explore a given opportunity. But because candidates exist outside of the company, they do not fall under the expectations of organizational processes or expectations.

Oh boy. This leaves us with the hiring managers, who can be a real problem if you are looking to be a more successful recruiter.

If you the recruiter want to be more effective, you will need the full and ongoing cooperation of your hiring managers. Those individuals, in conjunction with the interviewing team they appoint, will be the people who will most influence your ability to be successful in building great organizations.

Take my advice and you will have hiring managers who have a better understanding of what is expected of them and in turn, will be more
willing to help you to help themselves.

The purpose of a resume is to market a candidate by presenting their skills and achievements in the best possible light. But in difficult or static job markets there is more temptation than ever to bend the truth a little to get the job. This can leave the company with employees who can't do the job they were hired for or worse, one whose mistakes cost money and undermine hard won customer relationships.

Identifying "red flags" will help you ensure that you can identify candidates with a depth of experience and expertise. Here are a few pointers:

• Before sorting through your pile of resumes, have a checklist of essential skills, qualifications or attributes that are the "benchmark" for finding the right person. These include education, general and specific job experience, as well as skill and performance requirements.
• Look for unexplained time periods that might indicate unemployment or a job the applicant doesn't want you to know about. Date-stretching to cover gaps is not uncommon. Check references to detect this.
• Though employee mobility has increased, as a general rule more time in once place shows loyalty. You don't want to be hiring again in six months. However, even the best employees can sometimes have a short period in a specific role due to unforeseen, personal or uncontrollable circumstances.
• Watch out for resume filled with vague responsibilities and claims. Enhancing job titles is common practice. Check for inconsistencies between title, responsibilities and salary. Look for very specific details of achievements and outcomes.
• At the same time, don't be "dazzled" by an achievement-based style of resume. Go behind it to consider actual roles and responsibilities. Flag achievements and require the candidate to elaborate in the interview.
• Salary is a common area for embellishment. This can be hard to detect, especially when you can't check with a present employer. Ask for evidence such as a contract, pay slip or bank statements. If you are suspicious, aim to uncover half truths in interviews by asking probing questions.
• Check references. Always! Flag specific items to check with referees.
• In today's market place employees can be highly mobile — both domestically and internationally. The internet has made it even more tempting to lie on a resume. There is no substitute for thorough checks on every critical aspect of a resume.

Bayside Search Group has been ranked as the “Number One” Top Retail Search firm within the affiliation of over 900 offices worldwide. Over the past ten years, Bayside Search Group has placed over 1300 Managers and Executives within the retail industry with some of the “Top Organizations” in the industry.

Industry Observations

1. The National Unemployment Rate, as reported by the Bureau of Labor, as of January 2010 is close to 10%.   
2. Our Talent Pool in the retail industry is shrinking.
3. Great candidates are in the industry, but apprehensive to make a change. Housing market has been a major affect.
4. Companies are making very aggressive counter offers to keep them.
5. Candidates are more than ever looking at work/life balance in their decision on which companies they will work for.
6. Many companies are making exceptions to work schedule to maintain work life balance such as; remote workdays, flex schedules, in-house day care.
7. Candidates are researching companies from products and balance sheets including the culture and environment of your company.  
8. On boarding is not done well by some companies. With so many choices a growing percentage of people are quitting after accepting and / or starting their new job.
9. Candidates are becoming hesitant when it comes to relocation. They would rather stay near family.
10. Some companies do not realize their interview process is way too long.

Hire The Best, But Have Your Process In Place.

1. Use a recruiter that is an industry expert.  
2. Streamline your hiring process.  Multiple interviews and trips over an extended time frame will cause you to lose people to the efficient and swift.
3. Tightly define the skills necessary for the Candidate to be successful. Limit your list to no more than 5 items.  What is critical?
4. Don’t make a low ball offer.  It is a waste of time and your image.  They are not being accepted.
5. Give quick feedback to your recruiter. Let them know how to redirect their efforts.
6. When interviewing sell your company:  the opportunity, the products, the vision, the culture, and the work/life balance.
7. Make interviewing a positive experience for the candidate.
8. Review how to better onboard new people.  Make the first weeks busy but have their decision to join you supported by what they feel and see.
9. Have a complete on-board process in place from the minute the offer is made and accepted throughout the first 90 days of employment with your company.
10. Make sure your website presents your company in ways that attracts candidates.

Many employers are aware that employing someone on the basis of two short interviews can be a risk if they do not ask the right questions in an interview. That's why behavioral interviewing has become very popular with many managers.

What is Behavioral Interviewing?

It is a style of interview that forces a candidate to answer questions that demonstrate his competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) by giving specific examples from his past experiences. The focus of the interview is less about what a candidate could do, and more about what he has done in specific situations in the past. The theory is that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

What Sort of Questions Should You Ask?

Ask the candidate to focus clearly on how he handled situations in the past, such as....

• Give me an example of how you have...
• Tell me about a situation where you...
• How did you deal with a situation in your past role where you had conflict with...

How Should You Conduct a Behavioral Interview?

• Make a list of the 10-12 specific skills or traits you are looking for (energy level, goal orientation, pattern of success, resiliency, etc.)
• Create a list of questions, following the above format, that ask the candidate to refer to past examples where he has demonstrated this skill. For example, to assess resiliency, you might ask "Give me an example of a recent professional disappointment, and how you handled it".
• Probe for specific detail if the candidate does not initially share it. A candidate may not be prepared for this type of interview format, and may need some coaching that you want a specific example, not a general answer.

The Bayside Group can help make the relocation process as easy as possible for your new employees and their families. Through the FAS Relocation Network, our long-term relocation partner established in 1987, we can provide cost-of-living profiles, home marketing and finding assistance, mortgage pre-qualification, reduced moving costs, temporary housing, international services, and other services, such as home buy-out programs, expense tracking, family doctor search assistance, and much more.

• Cost-of-Living Analysis: Our relocation service has tools to help determine appropriate compensation levels for potential hires. FAS uses the most current and comprehensive cost-of-living database in the country that includes information reported on cost-of-living indices, housing and rental information, weather, population, taxes, crime rates, health care, elder care, day care, educational information, and more.

• Home Marketing & Finding Assistance: Our relocation service can connect your new employee with top real estate agents to develop marketing strategies to sell their home more quickly and for the best price. We can also arrange for a trained real estate agent to provide community orientation tours highlighting all pertinent community information. Finally, our service also provides special reports with detailed information on all local, public, and private schools from K-12.

• Mortgage Pre-qualification: We can help arrange to have a mortgage counselor guide the transferee through the entire pre-qualification process and present unique mortgage programs, which include preferred corporate employee rates, discounted closing costs, and trailing spouse programs.

• Reduced-Moving Costs: We can help provide a comprehensive, one-stop source to control costs, reduce administrative tasks, and eliminate the complications of your new hire's move. Our relocation service offers volume-leveraged agreements with highly-qualified carriers, saving money, and producing the best possible move experience.

• Temporary Housing and Nationwide Apartment Rental Program: Through FAS and a collaboration of leading providers of hotels and corporate housing, we can help address your temporary housing needs. From shorter-term hotel stays typically used during interview and house-hunting trips, to longer-term/interim housing stays, we can help offer highly negotiated rates and complete coordination. Also, we can help provide special financial incentives, such as no deposits, lease negotiation assistance, and reduced monthly charges through the National Apartment Rental Program.

• Visa and Immigration Services: Our relocation service can provide a central point of contact to coordinate the processing of visas, work permits, residence permits, and passports.

Here are some of the tools and resources available to help make more informed hiring decisions:

Cost Of Living Calculator
Find out how much you would need to make in your new city to keep your current lifestyle.

Free City Reports
Get your side-by-side reports with comparisons of up-to-date information on demographics, cost of living, helpful local contacts and more.

Free School Reports
Obtain in-depth reports on over 12,000 public schools districts and local child care.

Crime Report
Use our Crime report to compare crime statistics in over 6,000 cities.

Although effective onboarding is an investment in employee retention, morale and productivity, many companies still leave new employees to feel their way through their first few months on the job.

Successful onboarding:

• Presents a strategic opportunity for culture-building and for creating a bond with the new employee
• Accelerates the crafting of the new employee into the image the company wants to project
• Ensures the company's products and services are delivered in a consistent manner that meets the quality standards
• Provides a means of bringing the new employee to a level of high productivity as quickly as possible

A strong onboarding program should include the following elements:

• Begin during the hiring process itself - share challenges as well as the company's vision; help them understand how they can contribute to the company's vision; make sure they understand the company's passion and focus; pace the recruitment process so that a comfort level exists on both sides; show new employees exactly where they will be located
• Welcome new employees; make lunch plans for them
• Make sure they have all of the following on their first day: business cards, office supplies, keys, company ID and access cards, email and systems access, payroll information, internal phone directory, and a map of the office and building
• Set up a meeting with the team they will be working with
• Introduce new employees not only to important relationships in the company, but also advise them on how to build these relationships
• Arrange for them to sit in on key meetings to listen and learn
• Assign a mentor to meet with the new employee daily, then weekly, then monthly so that questions and concerns can be addressed immediately
• Provide the new employee with constructive feedback within the first several weeks

Above all, don't make the customary but deadly mistake limiting your onboarding procedure to parking new employees at a desk and handing them the company policy and operations manual. The critical first few months on the job can determine whether or not you retain your new hire.