Hiring can be fun & a lot of responsibility !!

I started off my career with Recruitment & hence it will always remain very close to my Heart. Among others, it taught me to be patient & focused. What I enjoyed most about recruitment is hiring for difficult positions, I was never the mass hiring types. Although there is no full proof way of doing it, #HowIHire is mostly guided by some simple things I picked up along the way. So here's my two cents to the whole game of Recruitment....

Some important things that every recruiter should remember & follow, ALWAYS -

• If skills & experience are important, so are attitude & ability to learn.

• For every requirement, there are skills that are mandatory & skills that are a bonus. Make a proper note of these & use these for shortlisting the resumes.

• Spend sufficient time with the hiring manager, get to know the requirement well, re-write it in your own words.

• Do your homework, before you start hiring. Know what is possible, what is difficult & what is difficult but not impossible.

• If a candidate cannot express it, he may not know it.

• Treat all candidates as equal, however do not lose your ground.

• Study the market, always know what is in & what is not.

• Have a clear idea of what kind of position you are working on, what the possible challenges are or can be.

• Carefully choose your source.

• Decide how the opening should be projected & stick to the plan.

Here are a few things that are absolutely important & need to be managed effectively -

Before scheduling for an interview -

• Shortlist the resume objectively. Make an initial contact to get a feel of the candidate's ability. Strike up a conversation to discuss his/her professional growth. Assess communication, confidence & ease with which he or she can converse. Give equal importance to the non verbal communication & cues that you observe or feel. Trust your own judgement about the candidate's overall personality, attitude & skills.

• Share details about the Organisation & the role clearly. While it is okay to generate interest in the opportunity, do not over sell. It is a good idea to let the candidate decide whether he or she is really interested in pursuing the opportunity.

•  On completing your own checklist & getting a go ahead from the candidate, schedule an interview.

•  Choose a good team to interview for the position. Two is good, only if it is a  niche or tricky position have three interviewers. This also helps in taking a decision .

 While Scheduling an interview -

• Give the interviewer & the candidate, sufficient time & notice before scheduling the interview. The Hiring Manager is a "must be there" in the Interview Panel.

• Choose a right time & place for the interview. Ensure the interviewers are on the same page about the role & have same expectations. It is good to have an interviewing strategy in place & for example, have one interviewer evaluate 2 specific areas or skills & the other may be 2 other skills, decide who starts first or what kind of questions to start with. 

•  Make sure you have a concrete yes or no result & a "why yes" or "why no answer" from the interview panel. And ofcourse, be ready with your opinion as well. 

After an  interview -

•  Have a good discussion on why a candidate is selected or not selected. Make sure the reasons are objective & important to the role. 

• Always remember, you along with the interview panel, are taking a "Hiring" decision here, make sure it is a well informed decision. Be ready to own it up.

•  You may choose to let the candidate know about the decision after a few days. It is a good idea to inform rejection as well. If the candidate wants to have a feedback, give a genuine one.

If you were to ask most recruitment professionals, any recruitment is incomplete, until the person selected has joined. Hence, this does not end with selection. Now that you have informed selection & the offer has been rolled out, the ball is in the candidate's court. And just because he or she has been offered a role by your Organisation, does not guarantee his or her joining. The time period between selection & joining is crucial.

 Between selection & joining -

• Have an open discussion about the offer, clarify what the job has & does not have in store for the selected candidate.

• Ensure that the candidate is genuinely excited about the opportunity and willingly accepts the role.

• Keep in touch with the candidate between the selection or offer stage until joining. However, do not go overboard, you may end up annoying him or her with frequent phone calls or emails. Just do as much required to sound interested but do not sound desperate.

• What can you do to keep in touch ?? Okay, check if the handing over is progressing well at his/her current employer, inform him/her about the preparations at your end towards his/her onboarding, communicate the recent developments in the organization, while it is okay to sound "looking forward to having you on board", there is a difference between that & "I will so be in trouble if you do not join".

Let us also be aware that if someone is not interested in joining your organization & is using your offer to simply bargain for a better one elsewhere, no amount of being professional is going to get him or her to join. You & your organization are better off without such people. 

Having back ups is a good idea to mitigate risk. If it is possible & affordable, offer two people even if you need only one immediately. If you cannot offer two, ensure you have two or three final selections. If you have a not so good feeling about the person you are about to offer, don't waste your time. Look for any cues from the potential joiner about him or her having second thoughts on joining your organization. The sooner you get to know the better. If, at any point between the offer stage & the joining date, the candidate begins to re-negotiate your offer, the call is yours to make. Do not hesitate to revoke an offer on grounds of unethical behavior.

While there is no full proof hiring & even with everything planned & executed well, hiring decision may not always be correct, there are no two ways about doing it well. Ofcourse, time & experience are the best teachers.

 Happy Recruiting !!

What Employee Engagement is not !!

"I organise fun events every month and have a calendar in place for the entire year" she said. "And why do you do that" I asked. "To increase employee engagement" was the reply instantly. "Hmmm, does it work ? Are your employees engaged as a result" I asked. "Yes, they give positive feedback about it in the ESat survey" she said. This is one of many such conversations I have had while interviewing HR Folks, especially for a HR Business Partner position. This has led me to believe that Employee Engagement is now being perceived as a result of fun activity, only it is not.

Employee Engagement is an approach, a continuous process that includes creating the right work conditions to bonds that go as deep as the Organisation's culture, employee engagement is everything that makes an employee excited about coming to work each day and gives them an emotional context to be associated with the Organisation and feel Proud. Having said that, clearly this has to be a combination of a multitude of things done correctly. Starting from hiring the right people who can be culture carriers, to having the right career planning frameworks in place, to the kind of work environment, everything and anything that happens within the Organisation and the Image that it creates outside influence employee engagement in a big way.

Why is it so important to ensure employees are engaged ? The avenues to try out new things are plenty, the wants are needs today. Career changes are a common phenomena and patience is a virtue only a few possess, while creativity and imagination are abundant. Employees expect more from a workplace unlike a couple of a years ago. The blazing speed with which things move today, employees reach the Self-Actualization stage much more quickly. Not experiencing events that create a sense of fulfillment for one for even a little while lead to a feeling of disengagement and rejection.

The key here is to be genuine and not do things to be perceived as Ideal. It rather helps to let employee engagement be one of the values that guide all decisions and processes within the Organisation. Use this parameter to ask, will this have an impact on engagement ? As a result of this, will we achieve higher engagement ? It is a good idea to have a employee engagement angle to all people processes and changes affecting employees. Fun activities could be a part of this, these help lighten the environment, bring about a change in the daily routine and encourage people to relax and release stress.

As an employee, being engaged is feeling excited about going back to work each day  where you can be yourself, being surrounded by like minded folks who care for you and who you care for, making a difference in the Organisation by doing what you love doing and in turn making a difference to the world.

To an employer, an engaged workforce would mean people who can be trusted unconditionally, who believe in one common vision, who go out of the way to make things happen, who create the brand for what it is, people who take everyone ahead with them.

Culture of an Organisation is a Big Deal !

Organisational Culture has gained its due importance over a period of time and is one of the focus areas for Leaders today. A lot has been written and said about what culture is and how it is really formed. Of course one thing that everyone agrees upon is that it is not formed overnight Although in most cases that is true, in today's fast paced corporate world the time factor may actually be shrinking. Peter Drucker said "Culture eats strategy for breakfast" (there is some debate over the credit to be given for the phrase).

Culture is a direct result of many things going on within the Organisation including how everyone behaves and how everything is done. And this is where strategy plays a major role. Unless there is a strategy in place, a series of adhoc incidents/responses might form a certain culture. If these incidents/responses are encouraging, bring about positive virtues and value people, they end up enriching the Organisational Culture. If not, the result is just the opposite. Also, inconsistent responses/behaviors might lead to confusion resulting in a chaotic, unpredictable environment that lacks stability and meaning.

Multiple Cultures do exist:

More often than not, culture cascades down. The behaviors of Leaders/Influencers within the Organisation becomes the norm and eventually the culture. In dynamic setups that we see today, Leaders function at all levels. Hence, it is only logical that multiple cultures do exist in an Organisation. Formal groups, teams, informal groups, all have their own cultures driven by their Leaders, the backgrounds of the members, the life experiences of the members etc. These in most cases are also a reflection of the larger Organisational Culture. However, they could still have their unique dynamics. While these multiple cultures have an impact on the Organisational culture, the Organisational Culture in turn has an impact of these cultures. It is important for an Organisation to acknowledge these cultures and focus on aligning these to the Organisational Culture.

Culture is passed on:

A new joinee orientation is an important process and probably the first most elaborate experience of the new Organisation for any employee. The various stages of this process have a lasting impact on the new employee. What is perhaps undermined is that, a new employee is also gauging the subtler aspects of the Organisation and interpreting them in her own way. She is trying to get a sense of the Organisational Culture by observing the ways of the people around her. If the Organisational values are in sync with her own value system, the adapting process is quicker. This is an example of a "Cultural Fit". Gradually she becomes a part of the culture, begins living the Organisational values (based on her perception of the values) and unknowingly is bound to pass those on to the new members joining the Organisation. Some of these may be explicit like, "Hey, the work timings are flexible" and others may be implicit like observing a team member walking in at 9.00 am and another walking in at 10.30 am. It is hence, especially important to design orientation programs with utmost details so as to pass on the right values and create a positive perception.

Importance of Values and Behaviors:

Having a Culture Map is great, it clearly highlights the right values and the desired behaviors. It also tells and Organisation what enable it. However, culture is being influenced upon at more occasions than we can possibly fathom. And hence, it is important to realize that having a Culture Map is alone not sufficient to create an enriching culture. The smallest of the small decisions, the slightest remarks, a casual comment all have an impact on the culture. The desired behaviors need to be reinforced time and again for the value they bring in. All decisions small or big should be aligned to the values and be communicated so.

Glimpse of the Culture:

An enriching positive culture nurtures the Organisation. It creates trust based relationships, in other works "high performance teams". It creates a sense of belonging and spreads a sense of security. It is reflected in everything about the Organisation, even to outsiders. We do know how potential employees try to get a feel of the Organisation through direct and indirect sources. A great Organisational Culture is evident and there for everyone to see, anyone who comes in contact will experience it. But so will a not so good culture. An enriching culture adds value to the employees and the Organisation alike.

Lastly, about the time factor. Culture is created and enriched over a period of time. It takes consistent efforts to build a great culture. But there are aspects that could instantly become culture based on perception. In the fast paced world that we live today, patience is at times a rare virtue and perceptions are build far too quickly. Both positive and not so positive behaviors may lead to strong perceptions that ultimately form a culture.