Truth & Lies On Applications

I received many e-mails about this, so I thought I would give you a few hiring tips. Many candidates often leave out items on an application. Let them know they must fill out the entire application to be considered. There can be no gaps in employment, unless they can provide an explanation. Get at least five to seven years of employment history.

Job title and responsibilities, salary, and education credentials are areas where most lies are found. People also lie about criminal convictions. You can certainly verify the first two with references. Education and convictions can be verified with a background check. Have them prove their education with copies of degrees, certificates, and licenses. If they claim a place went out of business that they worked for, have them prove it with performance appraisals and pay stubs. When a candidate is a finalist, then do your background and reference checks.

Keeping The Best-Losing the B.M.W.'s

You need to have someone at your organization who is in charge of preventing turnover. Let's take this a step further... There are people who are really important to your firm, who would be difficult to replace. Have you identified them? Have whoever is in charge of preventing talent flight sit down with department managers and supervisors to identify the people you should keep. Then have each of them prepare an actual plan to prevent those employees from leaving. Think: what's is it going to take to assure that this person will stay with us? Obviously, you must know what motivates that individual. If you don't know, you need to ask them. Pay attention to those key motivators, and be sure you are doing what it takes to retain your best people.

You might be thinking, what about the b.m.w.'s (bare minimum workers) who feel they are being ignored? That's good! Maybe the b.m.w.'s will get the hint and move on.

Motivating Those BMW's

In my seminars I use the phrase BMW's to describe those bare minimum workers or those who are unmotivated. They are close to retirement and become masters of the minimal. They have been on the job for twenty plus years, and won't advance in position or salary, and they feel they have accomplished everything they can. They do just enough to get by. You would be hard pressed to terminate them because you have been giving them satisfactory reviews for years, and it would only create legal problems. What can you do about it?

Try making them a mentor to a new, young employee. This could give them a spark, and they may be flattered with the new responsibility and feel very important. I have seen people really come alive when they become a mentor, and they give it their all. You may want to ask them to assist in classroom training in some areas, as long as they have the communication and interpersonal skills. Also, try putting aside their regular duties, and give them special projects with a bonus incentive. If all else fails, sit down with them, and explain to them that you are concerned about their last years at the company, and want to be sure they are productive and happy. Ask them, what kind of work would they like to do more of that would give them job satisfaction.

What Workers Want

A majority of workers say an effective boss stands up for them, and backs them when needed. The best way to develop loyalty is to promote your employees' point of view, show respect and value for your staff, and limit gossip and politics through effective communication. Also, encourage your workers to develop their skills.

A survey done by Ajilon Finance, a specialty staffing and recruiting firm, supports this. Ajiolon found that people who stay in the same job for a long time, like their work, their boss, and their co-workers (no surprise here). They found that workers who feel respected are not looking for new jobs and are more productive. When they are unhappy, they are not productive, and spend time thinking about or looking for other work. Companies should invest in their people through training, rewards, and incentives to keep them.

Putting One Over On You

More and more HR Directors are finding fake degrees listed on resumes from mail order schools none of us ever heard of, except in advertisements. These mills are a cottage industry, doing very well. This is so easy to check out, that if they put this one over on you, you almost deserve it. Do a background check on the person and find out what they really did during the time they said they were attending college. You can also get a list of accredited schools through the accrediting agencies. Please realize that there are colleges where students don't attend, and do everything by computer and mail, that are legitimate and accredited.

Rank & Yank

When you do a performance appraisal, be careful about ranking employees. I know some of you do this because some of my clients have told me that they do it. The problem is that older employees (older by age not term of service) tend to be ranked the lowest. These people are often put on probation with the threat of firing. They fight back by suing for age discrimination. Goodyear and Sprint have been hit with these lawsuits. Ford paid out a settlement of over $10 million. If you are going to rank, you better have some good documentation to back it up, especially for older employees.

How Do Women Get Respect?

Many of you have immigrant workers. In a recent presentation I gave on Immigrant & Ethnic Workers to a group of landscapers and nursery people, the question was asked by a female supervisor about how to get employees to respect you when they come from countries where there are no female bosses.

What it boils down to is that it is critical to get the message across to the workers that in the U.S. female bosses are very common, and it must be accepted by them. They must understand this, if possible, before you hire them. I know it is difficult if you can't speak their language to communicate with them. If so, then write up an explanation of this and get it translated into their language. If they are going to work for you, they must learn the differences about working in their new country, and they must accept them. Sure there are things they can hang onto about their culture, but this is not one of them. Just always remember to treat them with dignity and respect.