Archive for January, 2010

Are staff really your best asset?

In businesses large and small we will often hear the statements “our staff are our greatest asset” or “we couldn’t do it without our staff”

This is a widely held belief (or at least a widely stated belief), but is it true? And if it is (which I believe 100%) how does this relate to the process of hiring staff (and not surprisingly from my point of view, relationships with recruiters)

I’ve posted elsewhere some issues around retaining staff and onboarding (and will be following up on these with other posts shortly)

In this post let’s look at recruiting new staff.

The cost of replacing staff are said to be 30% – 50% of the annual salary of entry level employees, 150% for mid level employees and up to a staggering 400% for specialised executive level employees!

On that basis for every mid level member of staff with an annual salary £50,000 the cost to the business in terms of lost productivity and profit is £75,000!

It is also said that in the UK that 75% of new hires fail to meet expectations.

It is therefore essential to have an effective talent management process in place. This needn’t be complicated but it does take time and planning.

Think for a moment the process that your organisation would go through before a £50,000 software implementation.

I’m sure this would involve an RFP with a detailed requirements analysis and in depth selection process. Once this was in place each vendor would be considered with advantages weighed up carefully. Once a vendor was selected there would be an implementation team to work with the vendor’s implementation team and a project manager to work with the vendor’s project manager. Following this there would be training and maintenance / support contacts put in place. (This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list but I hope makes the point)

How does this compare to the last £50,000 employee hired?

Are staff really your best asset?

Written by Richard Morgan at Remit Resources

The economy will improve and this will present challenges in both attracting talent but also retaining your existing staff.

Will your competitors be looking to attract your best staff?

Do you know the real cost of staff turnover?

The costs are often invisible and not reported but recent surveys claim that it costs 30% – 50% of the annual salary of entry level employees, 150% for mid level employees and up to a staggering 400% for specialised executive level employees!

On that basis for every mid level member of staff with an annual salary £40,000 the cost to the business in terms of lost productivity and profit is £60,000!

Sounds unbelievable until you start looking at the factors involved:

• Loss of productivity
• Management time
• Learning curve for new employee
• Lost knowledge
• Training
• Recruitment and onboarding

Some will say that staff turnover is necessary and unavoidable! To a certain extent that is right (and there are some staff who you might be happy to see go!!)

But which members of staff leave? Is it the talented, conscientious, IT developer who implemented a new workflow system that had a direct impact on productivity and bottom line profit? Or is it the negative, downbeat member of staff that is dragging down morale.

Put another way, when you are looking to attract staff from another organisation do you want to hire their best people?

So, how do you retain the right staff?

Surprisingly this isn’t always about salary it’s about making people feel part of something, valued and even proud to be part of your company.

What is the most important thing in your business?

Most people answer their customers. I disagree, it’s your staff, without a motivated and committed workforce you can’t serve your customers effectively. If your staff is the most important thing in the business treat them like it!

Five Key areas for success:

• Wherever possible give them responsibility, let them take ownership and trust them. I know its work, it’s got to be professional but don’t forget it can also be fun!
• For new staff its critical to make the right hiring decisions first time (make sure you use a great recruitment company!) and have an effective onboarding programme (that’s another post)
• Spend your Training Budget, that’s what it is there for!
• Speak to your staff. Most companies today have exit interviews. It’s probably too late at that stage to stop that person leaving but find out why they are leaving and do something about it!
• Also why not speak to your best people and find out why they stay? This combined will tell you what you need to do to retain your staff.

Written by Richard Morgan, Remit Resources

When it comes to finding your next career move the most important rule to keep in mind is the 60 second rule!

60 Seconds, that is how much time you have to make a first impression!

Whether you are:

• Sending a cover letter / email
• Calling a recruiter or employer to follow up on an advert
• Attending an interview

It is this first 60 seconds that will be the crucial difference in being successful or not, this is the time it takes for someone to make their mind up and make an initial assessment about you. (Often subconsciously but nevertheless a fact!)

Is this fair?

Probably not but think about it, we do it all the time, it is said that in the UK the average homebuyer spends longer deciding what suit to buy than on a house! We get gut feelings, make immediate decisions, and often find those first impressions were right (or at least we perceive them to be right as we’ve already made the decision!)

Once it is accepted that the first 60 seconds are crucial it is possible to give yourself a real competitive advantage.

We covered the 3 Key aspects of the interview process Preparation, Presentation and Performance in detail.

These points are equally as relevant when making initial contacts with both recruiters and direct employers.

Tailor a cover letter for each application you send. A recruiter will receive hundreds (and often more) CV’s every week. This is your opportunity to stand out. Use the chance to highlight relevant experience and how this relates to the job. It can be easier to do this as part of a cover letter than CV as there isn’t the restriction of chronological order of jobs or job titles!

It is important to follow up on an application, but be relevant, concise and engaging. Rather that call with the opening line “I just wanted to call to see if you received my CV” or “Is the job still available” why not have a few sentences about how your experience relates directly to that required in the advert. (Similar to what you would say in the cover letter)

Once you have engaged the recruiter and shown that you have the skills for the job it isn’t difficult to work out what the first couple of questions are going to be, have the answers ready. Think about what you are going to say in advance and practice. It’s not easy to ad lib when the pressure is on!

The principal here is to make the relevant information easily available to the recruiter or employer in a straightforward and engaging way.

Some readers will think this is simplistic! It is, and on purpose! The fact is the vast majority do not make the extra effort, if you do it will give you a real advantage.

Written by Richard Morgan, Remit Resources – The IT Recruiters.