1 Stop HR

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4 Ways to Tell if you have a Great Leadership Team

So you think you have a great leadership team in place at your company, but how do you know that they are great?  Is it just a gut feel?  Or do you truly have a good understanding of their abilities and positive impact on your business?  If you are struggling to answer these questions, here are some thoughts to help you gain the answer.

 

  1.  Ask the Staff.  Seems simple enough, but not a lot of employers actually do this!  Send a survey to your employees.  Ensure the results are compiled by an outside source so that employees can be reassured of confidentiality to their responses.  Have them rank responses on questions like:  “I can trust my manager”  “My manager is knowledgeable”  “My manager handles difficult situations in a professional and fair manner”  “I have confidence in the leadership team”.   Also look to add some open ended questions where employees can add additional detail, like:  “The top 3 areas that my manager could improve on would be”  “Things that my manager does well are”  “If I were a manager at this company, the first few things I would change would be”.  These types of questions will give you a good sense of how your staff are feeling with regard to the leadership at your company.
  2. Set Leadership Goals and Monitor Results.  Work with your team to set goals that coincide with the strategy of your company.  Monitor the progress and attainment of these goals.  If goals are being met, this is a great sign.  As well, if your company goals are being met, this is also a good sign.
  3. Monitor Employee Turnover.  Have lots of turnover?  This isn’t a good sign.  Is there a lot of turnover under one particular manager?  There could be a reason.  Conduct exit interviews and ensure the individual conducting them is someone employees trust and can be open with.  We highly recommend outsourcing this activity as this typically allows for employees to feel more comfortable in bringing about issues.
  4. Employee Referrals.  Do you employees refer others to work for the company?  Yes?  This is a good sign….No?  Not a good sign unless you are not encouraging it…

Have other ideas?  Email us!  We would be happy to include them in an upcoming blog article.

Need help coaching or mentoring your team?  Someone to complete your exit interviews?  Contact us at 226-750-3160  we are always ready to help!

 

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Improving Workplace Productivity

Companies with a solid strategy to recognize members of their team enjoy stronger engagement, increased employee morale, a devoted spirit of customer service, and lower turnover rates. If you treat your employees as if they were your best customers, they will become loyal brand advocates who are more engaged with your customers and your business as a whole. There is something interesting that happens when you give praise to your employees and in doing so; it doesn’t have to come with breaking the bank. Here are 20 creative (and affordable) ideas for employee recognition provided by Point Recognition. You can view the slideshow below.

Author Bio

Kelly Chesterson is the Vice President of Operations for Point Recognition. Kelly holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Baldwin-Wallace College and is a Certified Engagement Practitioner. She has worked in the reward and recognition industry for more than eight years.

 

20 Creative (And Affordable) Ideas For Employee Recognition created by Point Recognition

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Social Media Could be Killing your Job Hunt

Social media – isn’t it fantastic? You can connect with friends you haven’t talked to forever, you can post exactly how you are feeling about something and get support from others, you can be yourself without being judged…. Is this all true? Well, there certainly are advantages to social media but you also must be careful with just how much you share if your profiles are openly shared with the world.


There are many cases in front of courts about employees being terminated due to social media posts and actions within those outlets. Instead of diving into the big ugly ball of issues on the employment side….let’s take a quick look at recruiting and social media.

Do recruiters or HR departments really look into your social media accounts when they are looking to possibly hire you? YES! They absolutely do! Yes they will look to see if you have a LinkedIn account. Yes they will look to see if you have a Facebook account. And yes, they may find interesting things in these and other social media outlets that you have been actively involved in. Why do they do this? Well, it helps give a more balanced “picture” of who it is that they may be considering hiring.

In an interview and on your resume, you are (or should be) on your best behaviour and presenting yourself in the best professional light. However, this may not accurately represent who you REALLY are! By talking to references and looking into social media, the recruiter or hiring team feels they get a more accurate picture of who you really are and how you would fit or not fit with their company. So if you are posting all kinds of pictures of yourself in drunken stupors, in provocative poses, etc., you are taking a chance that you could be judged in a hiring situation.
My advice, think long and hard about the things you post…the things you say…and how open you leave your profiles – especially if you are looking for work.

 

www.1stophrconsulting.com    info@1stophrconsulting.com

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Top 5 Questions to Think about Before Hiring a Friend or Relative

So you own a company, or have the authority to hire people at the company you work at. Your friend or relative is looking for work. Do you hire them? You want to help them right? They should be a good worker as you know them…right? Hmmm

The decision to hire someone you know could have a lasting impact not only on your relationship with that person, but also the staff and company. I would caution you to think long and hard before extending that offer of employment.

Many people don’t think about the things that could go wrong in this type of situation, they want to help, they think that the friend/relative will work hard and that is really where the thinking stops. Here are some things that I would suggest you think long and hard about before moving forward:

1. What will I do if this person is not pulling their weight or there are performance problems?
2. What happens if I receive a complaint about this person?
3. What happens if this person asks for accommodations that are not normally provided by the company to other employees?
4. What happens if this person is looking for a raise that falls outside of the normal pay range for the position?
5. What happens if I no longer have work for this person?

The answer to all of these questions is: “I will treat them as any other employee under my management”. This absolutely must be your answer and must be the way you manage this situation. Here is the problem….this is not as easy as it sounds. There are feelings, there is a relationship at stake, and there are others in your family or circle of friends that also may weigh in on the situation.
Some people also don’t think about the impact on the other employees or the company. Employees, once they know there is a prior relationship with the new hire, may have differing reactions. They may be uncomfortable forming a good working relationship with this person. They may not feel comfortable coming forward with any concerns with lack of performance or activities that are normally frowned upon. They may feel that there is or will be preferential treatment. Mistrust may breed amongst the staff and eventually impact staff and company performance.

You may think that this article is slanted very much to one side…that hiring relatives or friends is always a bad idea. There are indeed examples where this has worked well, however there are far too many more where it hasn’t.

If you find yourself in this situation or in this dilemma, I strongly urge you to thoroughly think through your decision and have a deep and detailed discussion with the individual if you plan to move forward. Take your time and don’t come to any quick decisions.

www.1stophrconsulting.com    info@1stophrconsulting.com

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5 Tips to close HR Compliance Gaps

We run into many companies that are not sure if they are compliant to ministry requirements when it comes to their HR.  As a business owner, this is something that can cause a lot of stress.  We hear all the time of businesses being “caught” by the ministry and having to pay huge fines.  These fines sometimes cause the business owner their business and many times, the businesses were not aware of what they were missing.  At 1 Stop HR, we help businesses by completing an HR audit on their business.  Our audit identifies these gaps and produces a plan to address and close them.  So in our experience, what are our top 5 tips to help businesses in this respect?

  1.  Address any required ministry training
    • Every provincially regulated business will have mandatory training requirements in Ontario
    • Some training must start as soon as the first employee, volunteer or student is hired
  2. Post mandatory ESA/Ministry posters
    • This is such an easy one to do, but is so often missed and can result in hefty fines
  3. Have a comprehensive employee policy manual which includes mandatory policies
    • Ahh the employee policy manual, it is a lot of work, but completely worth the effort, certain policies are mandatory and,  it can protect your employees and your business
  4. Ensure your Health and Safety is up to snuff
    • Think you don’t need health and safety in your office?  Think again…
    • Have a comprehensive health and safety manual in place and ensure your employees are trained
  5. Get your Documentation in order
    • From employment agreements, to employee issues, to performance reviews and everything in between – ensure you have documentation, know how to document properly and do it often

This is just a start, but so very important.  Non-compliance does not just mean the potential of a fine, but could also mean Human Rights claims, Law Suits and more.  Don’t be negligent.  Need help?  Contact us.

Learn More About US

1 STOP HR was founded by Christie Ferguson, CHRP CHRL Christie is a certified Human Resources Professional & Leader with many years of hands on HR expertise.

Contact US

Tel: 226-750-3160
Email: info@1stophrconsulting.com

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