HR Newsletter 02.03.10

Annual HR & Payroll Conference Forward to a friend

Bookmark and Share

HR news items at - 2nd March 2010

Topical Items

As things begin to hot up for a General Election you may be faced with an outbreak of electioneering in your workplace. You may therefore have to justify your balancing of the needs of work with your employees’ right to express themselves, as set out in the Human Rights Act. Bear in mind that, though some dedicated people with strong beliefs are liable to express them forcibly and audibly, most people prefer to keep quiet about their political opinions. and express them only at the ballot box.

Expressions of political views within a group can lead to divisiveness and at worst to violence, as may be witnessed in pubs around election times. This must not be allowed to happen in the workplace, therefore managers must be on the lookout for arguments and stop them before tempers rise. You are perfectly entitled to ban any form of electioneering on the premises such as making speeches in the canteen or handing out leaflets. And it would seem reasonable to ban any display of political affiliation other than a discreet lapel badge.

Take care if a political candidate wishes to visit the workplace. Again you are entitled to refuse a visit, but if you allow it, ensure that it does not become a political rally and offer the same facility to all other mainstream candidates.

If all this sounds negative, then take the positive step of reminding everyone the day before polling that they live in a democracy and that, to keep it healthy, they should make the effort to vote.

How to advertise a vacancy

Anyone can write a job advertisement that attracts a lot of applicants, especially in time of recession when desperate job-seekers will apply for anything that is going. The skill is in advertising in such a way that only the most suitable people are attracted and they are motivated to apply.

Before doing anything, however, you need to ascertain that recruitment really is necessary. Whether a new piece of work has arisen or someone has left the organisation, can the work be carried out by existing staff, by rearranging activities or indeed doing away with some tasks that really are not necessary? Taking positive action to maintain a slim workforce can avoid the need for painful redundancies later.

Assuming that a new person is needed, the next task is to analyse the job. Where possible the analysis should involve the immediate boss who should know what is needed, the department manager who will have a broader view, a job analysis expert such as a personnel officer and, ideally, the person leaving the job who will know exactly what it entails. The result of this analysis should be expressed as a job description that sets out the main aim of the position, its key accountabilities and a description of the required operations. This in turn maybe translated into a description of the person required.

Anonymous adverts rarely attract good candidates so indicate clearly who you are, if appropriate using your brand image. Say little about the organisation and instead describe briefly what you do,  flavoured with something attractive, such as a recent success or what you have planned. An example might be “British Hosiery, a supplier of socks to major retail stores in England, has gained a foothold in the Republic of Ireland and therefore needs a Sales Negotiator …. “. and then go straight into what this person will be required to do, such as “… who will secure medium to long-term contracts with major clothing buyers”. Then go on to specify the absolute essentials. This requires a deal of thought because we would like to engage the perfect human being – a person from the same mould as our self – but probably will have to settle for something slightly inferior, so we need to focus on what is essential. This may be, for example, “Applicants must be able to demonstrate a detailed understanding of the hosiery market and have a record of success in securing large volume business”. Not many people will meet those two criteria and the rest will therefore not bother to apply. You may wish that candidates have pleasant personalities, are able to communicate effectively at all levels, are successful problem solvers, articulate, well organised and self-motivated – but don’t put that in the advert because everyone reading it will feel able to tick every one of those boxes. If you feel that someone who knows his or her way around the Irish market would have an advantage, then add “Experience of the Irish clothing market would be useful, but is not essential”. It would of course be useful, but the greater need probably would be for someone with selling and negotiating skills and an intimate knowledge of the product. Demand the essentials, suggest preferences, forget the rest.

Finally tell candidates what to do. Do you want them to send a CV, phone for an application from, e-mail their details, ring for a preliminary discussion, or what? Make that clear and, as you do so, ensure that you have the resources to respond promptly to that form of application.

The next issue is the choice of medium. Jobcentres are free. Supermarkets and newsagents’ windows are cheap. Internet advertising costs little if you handle it all yourself. Staff agencies charge considerably more, though only if they succeed in making a placement. But will these methods bring your vacancy to the eyes of people you want to attract? If not, then consider newspaper advertising. Local papers are not expensive, cover a limited area and therefore bring applications from people who are unlikely to have problems of relocation with its attendant family difficulties. To reach the maximum number of people, however, turn to the national press or trade publications. The latter is fine if you are recruiting from a narrow band of people who traditionally subscribe to or at least look at a magazine catering for their speciality such as Socks Monthly, but otherwise you will need to take out a mortgage and place a decent sized advertisement in a national newspaper. At this level, however, you would be well advised to seek the help of an advertising consultancy to design and place your copy.

The response you make to applications is incredibly important. One slip and your mistake, translated as inhumane treatment, will be broadcast to that candidate’s colleagues, family and friends, to be accepted by them as evidence that you are bad employer. More important, if the person you want is happy in his or her current job, but is interested enough to apply to you just in case you offer something better, then you really must respond promptly and with great enthusiasm. Acknowledge every application by return, even if clearly it is a standard letter, but indicate when you will respond more fully. If you want someone to come in for interview, ring them at home in the evening. This shows great interest, makes them feel wanted, and you can fix a mutually convenient time.

If you know precisely what you need, can convey that to suitable people and can make them want to meet you, you are well on the way to making a successful placement. So give each step plenty of thought.

Managing older workers

If you intend to maintain a happy workforce who will not want to leave, thereby giving you a high retention rate and saving recruitment costs, then eventually you will find yourself managing a group of older workers – even if you do not do so already. So do they require special treatment? Some individuals may do, but the law requires that you give particular consideration to all older workers in two ways.

First you must take care if you wish to retire them. Retirement is one of the fair reasons for dismissal but even so you need to follow the statutory retirement procedure. If you fail to do so, you are likely to face a claim for unfair dismissal. Second you must not discriminate against anyone on grounds of their age, young or old. This means for example that you must not refuse to promote or train somebody because you feel they are too old. If you are able to demonstrate that they are not capable of taking on more responsibility or would be unable to cope with the training, then you have grounds for your refusal, but if you just feel that they are past it, well, you are in big trouble. Similarly if you make what to them are offensive remarks about their age, for example “get a move on old man” or “doddering old fool”, then you will be contravening the age discrimination regulations and may find yourself having to pay out a handsome sum in compensation. In theory, therefore, you should treat the elderly no differently from anyone else in your workforce, yet in practice, in order to comply with the regulations, you may well have to take special steps to help older individuals enjoy equal opportunities with other workers.

Two fallacies about older employees need knocking on the head. First is the assumption that they are not as competent or as useful as younger colleagues. You really should test the reality of this in your own workplace. People do tend to slow down a bit as they age and are less able to lift heavy weights or remember things, but set against that is their accumulated knowledge, whether gained in your organisation or another, and their wisdom. In addition their concentration and dedication tends to be greater than that of young people, many of whom lead frantic personal lives, jumping rapidly from one experience to another. The second fallacy is that older people have more sick leave. Again your own research will demonstrate the validity of this belief. Old age does bring more serious ailments, but the elderly tend to be more stoic and thus are less likely to have a couple of days off for minor complaints such as a sore throat, partly because they view illness with better perspective and partly because they have fewer distractions such as late nights that affect their health and attitude to work.

Rather than view older employees as a discrete group, engage with each of them from time to time, especially if you feel that their work or attitude is not as it should be. Indeed a display of crabbiness may give you a good opportunity. This is quite easy if you are roughly the same age because you can begin a dialogue by commenting “getting old is quite a drag, isn’t it!” that puts you on level terms. If you mention a couple of problems that you have, you should be able to encourage the employee to explain what he or she finds difficult at work and react accordingly. If you are younger you might ask simply “What’s it like growing old?”, but you need to show genuine interest and concern in order to elicit a meaningful response.

The actions that you recognise need to be taken may be physical, for example providing a seat, reducing some of the more physical demanding aspects of the job or indeed discussing the possibility of moving to different work in your own or a colleague’s department. Consider whether training might help. Some elderly employees may learn more slowly than their younger colleagues but, having acquired the skill or knowledge, are likely then to apply it consistently and diligently.
However, much of what you can do to keep the older employee gainfully and happily employed is psychological. Many people resent growing old so they become sensitive to anything that reminds them of their age and diminishing faculties and hence they can become quite irritable. And just below the surface, if your conversation allows you to dig a little, you are likely to detect fear. Fear that they will be dismissed for incapability, that they will be first to go if there is redundancy, that they will not be able to carry on working until they can afford to retire. There may also be self-resentment that they will never get promotion and thus are failures. You should address these feelings with honesty. If redundancy is a possibility, explain how they stand. If they are unlikely to gain promotion, emphasise the value of the job they are doing and the organisation’s appreciation of their contribution. If their performance is falling off, tell them so but immediately discuss what you can do to help them work better.

Above all show respect. Determine whether the employee wishes to be addressed by first name or surname and tell colleagues. Insist that they do not crack ageist jokes or use old-age loaded forms of address such as “old girl”. Show regularly an interest in their private life. Older employees have been around a long time and have worked hard. Treating them with respect and understanding will do much to make them feel comfortable and valued – and you are likely to get a good measure of loyalty and dedication in return.

Questions and Answers

Extended holiday – failure to return

One of our employees asked for a length of holiday beyond his annual entitlement in order to visit family in Pakistan. He fully accepted that the excess would be without pay. We agreed to the arrangement on condition that he returned without fail on a certain date. That date has now passed and he has not returned. Is he automatically dismissed or do we have to take certain steps?

Reply

He certainly is not automatically dismissed. You need to wait until he returns, have a return-to-work interview and establish the reason for his late return. If he has a sick note, even one issued by a foreign authority, you should take that as good reason for being absent. If, say, the airline was on strike or he was caught in an earthquake, these again are sound reasons but you should expect the man to have taken any reasonable available steps to contact you. If he had good reason for failing to return and was unable to contact you, then you should take no action against him. If he could have let you know but didn’t, then give a warning. Otherwise I would still feel uncomfortable dismissing him but would inform him that you will not allow him extended holiday in future.

Parking fines – who pays?

One of our sales representatives occasionally puts parking fines on his expense claim form, arguing that it is difficult to park in big cities where he does his business. Should we pay?

Reply

I suggest that ordinarily you do not pay. We all have this trouble but somehow find ways around it and your rep needs to find some way of parking his car and still making appointments. It may be more cost effective for him to park his car before the first call and use taxis throughout the day in the same city. You should pay only if you force him to travel from one client to another within a time scale that leaves him without time to park properly. If you pay fines for your employees it will surely encourage them to stick their car anywhere and not bother to find, use and walk from a car park.

Puzzle

Last month’s problem really was quite easy and was posed to emphasise the importance of thoroughly grasping all available facts. It read:

Gerald’s mother has three children. The eldest, born in May 1981 is named Ahab; the second eldest, born in July 1983, is named Claud; so what is the name of the youngest, born in September 1985?

Well, if Gerald’s mother has three children, and two are named Ahab and Claud, the third has to be Gerald himself.

So how about this:

A man in a foreign land was travelling to Destination City but came to a fork in the road. There was no signpost or any other indication of which road to take and he had no map. However there was a native sitting at the side of the road. Now the traveller knew that the country was inhabited by two tribes; the members of one always told the truth and the members of the other always lied. Unfortunately he did not know to which tribe this native belonged. Nevertheless he posed one question, the native pointed, and the traveller thereby discovered which was the road to take to Destination City.

What was the question he posed?

More next time!

Training Courses

Here are some courses that you may find useful:

Click here if you wish to unsubscribe

The Learn Centre wishes to make clear that they are in business as providers of management training and consultancy services and not as lawyers and that therefore any legal issues should be referred to an appropriate lawyer.