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Making the Most of Your Staff

How do I manage a
new employee?
They say first impressions count and this couldn't be truer
than when you're helping a new employee integrate into
your team.
There's a mixture of excitement and nervous energy as the new
employee tries to establish themselves in their new surroundings
and the existing employees suss out the new member of the group.
It's your job to make sure this process runs smoothly.

Showing them the basics


After greeting them to the premises and showing them to where they
will be working, you should take them through the basic setup of
your office and give them the grand tour.

Show them all important aspects of daily workplace life (from coffee
preparation to car space)

Always try and take your new recruit out to lunch on their first day
with a few colleagues so you can get to know them in a more
informal environment.

Don't be tempted to bring too many people as you don't want to over
intimidate them on their first day. If possible, assign them a mentor
who does a similar job to them who they can learn from when you're
not available
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Learning the ropes


You then need to slowly start providing them with a drip feed of
information that will help them do the job that they've been employed
to do.

As well as organising a formal training programme, aim to schedule


in some time for them to get to know the job and the systems on
their own. Sometimes there's nothing like digging around to see
what you can uncover yourself.

You should schedule regular meetings throughout the duration of the


probation period with clear goals for the new recruit to meet at each
stage. This will give them something to focus on and you something
to judge them by.

Getting known
Over the first week or so you should encourage your new employee
to set up meetings with all the people they will be working with on a
day-to-day basis. Rather than setting up the meetings for them, it's
better to suggest they make approaches themselves as it will help
them get to know names, responsibilities, meeting room protocol,
etc.

Introduce them to internal and external personnel who they will be


meeting regularly, such as suppliers, IT teams and the person from
finance who will sign off their expenses.

Handling a new employee with care can have an extremely


beneficial pay off in the long run for both parties involved.

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Making the Most of Your Staff

How can I measure


employee loyalty and
satisfaction?
Finding out if your employees are happy is a vital part in
improving productivity and reducing staff turnover.
You're never going to get a good idea of what your employees think
if you don't ask them. Employees are often scared of telling you
exactly what they think. There are various open and anonymous
methods you can use to canvas your employees:

Suggestion box - the simplest form of getting employee opinions, but


one that is difficult to get any real insight from. Suggestions are open
to interpretation and can often be vague.

• Online comments - If your company has an intranet,


launching a forum monitored by HR can create a discussion
with feedback from both employer and employee.

• Questionnaires -these can be conducted at regular intervals


and follow roughly the same format so you can get an idea of
how your employee satisfaction fluctuates over time.

• Employee committees - Every company should aim to have a


group of employees that represent the various parts of the
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business who meet regularly to discuss major issues.

• Q&A - The most natural form of canvassing opinion, but not


always the most effective. Putting your managers up in front of
employees and getting them to answer questions gives them
very little time to research answers, even if some of the
questions have been planned.

As well as getting opinion of your employees as a group, you need


to focus on individuals and their specific needs.

1-2-1 discussions should take place with their direct line manager,
but you should also look to have a process where all employees can
approach other people within the business to discuss issues they
don’t feel they can raise with their usual boss.

Always try and investigate if your employees need extra training.


Often people become dissatisfied in their job because they feel they
have nothing left to learn. Giving them a new skill to develop could
be the motivation they are looking for.

Take notice
There's no point conducting these surveys if you do nothing with the
results. After collating and analysing the results of whatever
surveying methods you decide upon, communicate with your
employees (either as a group or individually) on what you plan to do.

Your employees need to know that there isn't a bottomless pit of


funds to run the business but don’t dismiss suggestions without
consideration. Nothing gets solved by bottling things up, so make
your business an open environment where issues get discussed,
and changes actually happen.

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Making the Most of Your Staff

How can I introduce flexible


working arrangements?
With options including combinations of compressed hours,
job sharing and shift work, it’s an area that requires deep
consideration for every company.
Retaining and keeping staff motivated pays real dividends to any
business.

More and more organizations are also looking to reduce costs and
become more effective with the resources they have, and the
government is continually trying to promote more flexible working
hours.

The business benefits of flexible working


Supporters of flexible working claim that, even in a downturn,
businesses adopting flexible working practices might find that it is
not a mere compromise strategy.

In fact, it may bring improved staff motivation, recruitment and


retention, greater customer satisfaction, increased productivity,
reduced sickness, and greater cost-effectiveness.

The considerations of flexible working


Despite its apparent advantages, flexible working is not something
to be rushed into. A carefully considered approach will pay dividends
in ensuring a smooth and positive transition.
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These considerations include estimating in advance:

• How will your quality of service be affected?


• What will be the impact on service delivery?
• What core hours do you want employees to work?
• What success measurements can you put in place?
• What equipment will distance workers require?
• What will be the benefits to your clients and customers?

Implementing flexible working

Once you have answered these questions, there are a few hurdles
you will need to overcome before implementing the new procedure:

• Board buy-in - Step one is to have an agreement and support


at the highest levels.

• Staff buy-in - This is by no means automatic. Take the time to


find out exactly what your employees want.

• Start with a pilot scheme - Fine-tune your policy over the first
three to six months, encouraging feedback.

• Introduce guidelines – Detail what you have learnt over the


course of the pilot period to prevent problems from arising.

• Review regularly - Review progress against your goals and


make any necessary tweaks.

If it all sounds like a lot of hard work for questionable rewards,


remember that well implemented flexible working might not only
passively help your company ride out the recession - it might also
actively enhance its performance.

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Making the Most of Your Staff

How can I reduce


staff turnover?
You've put a lot of effort into getting the right people in your
business and the last thing you want them to do is leave.
Spotting the trends of when employees leave your company will help
you understand why they leave and make efforts to prevent it
happening in future

• Seasonal turnover - This is often connected to employees


who have salaries that are mainly commission based as they
will look to follow environments and markets where they can
maintain money making opportunities.

• Responsibility turnover - Sometimes you can get into an


employment cycle where once employees have established
themselves in their job, they decide it's time to move on as
there is no next step for them to take in the organisation.

• Mass exodus - The worst case scenario for a business, when


a large number of employees decide to hand in their notice at
the same time. This could be down to a new manager that the
team doesn't get on with, a dispute on wages with a union, or
stories in the media about potential financial trouble in your
industry.
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Minimising exits
Many of these factors are out of your control, but there are certain
practices you can put in place to try and minimise staff turnover.

• Improving recruitment - Look to employ people who are


flexible who can meet the changing needs of the business.

• Communicating with employees - Be open with your


employees, share your vision of the future and let them know
how they fit into the overall goals.

• Listening to employees - You won't be able to take on all


their suggestions, but it's important to at least give them your
full consideration.

• Increasing benefits - Other than salary try and relate these to


the issues you think your company may have; for example, an
extra day of annual leave can help the work-life balance.

• Offering praise - Regularly let your employees know they are


valued members of the organisation. Be careful to spread this
praise around equally.

• Staff training and development - Continuous development


plans show your employees that you are thinking about their
future.

Occasionally unexpected resignations can rock the business. This is


where your negotiation skills come into play.

Recruiting is generally an expensive and time consuming process so


the more you can do to keep the staff you have, the better.

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Making the Most of Your Staff

Why do good
employees leave?
Every company has their golden apples, but often these are
the employees who are most likely to move on.
If you've got your recruitment process right, you should have some
great employees within your organisation. People, who are
genuinely good at their jobs, are creative, hard working, forward
thinking, flexible and ambitious.

The need to succeed


'Ambitious' is the key word here and it's up to you to ensure your
best employees can achieve what they want within your company.

• Power - This can be translated as responsibility and if you


want to ensure your best employees stay, you need to show
them exactly how you see their progression through the
business

• Honour & Fame - On top of their regular reward for doing their
job (their salary) it's always good to give regular praise to your
top employees. Having their name up in lights gives most
ambitious the necessary ego boost to continue as before.

• Wealth - This doesn't mean you should be throwing money at


your good employees left, right and centre, but your best
employees should be able to see exactly what they need to do
to achieve it.
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Fighting off the competition


Every company is after the best talent and good people are quickly
recognised in the industry. There are various ways your best
employees can become known:

• CV databases - Even though they aren't actually looking for a


new job, many people have their details on job sites to stay
updated on the kind of jobs that are out there.

• Recruitment agents - Effectively talent touts, if they get hold


of a good CV they will instantly let their clients know that this
individual is on the market.

• Head-hunters - Scouring the business world to find the


movers and shakers that will help them earn big placement
commissions. Being head hunted is a great ego boost for
anyone and it's an experience that only the best employees go
through.

The catch 22 is that the more you praise your employees and hold
them up as a vital part of your company, the more they will become
known and will be in the crosshairs of other businesses.

The ego has landed


When somebody knows they are good, there is potential for them to
become too big for their own good and start taking their job,
responsibilities, position and colleagues for granted.

Whilst praising your best employees, always steer their thoughts


back to how much you have helped them reach where they are
today. Ask them to help other employees reach the level of
excellence that they have and show that the best way to progress is
to lead with dignity.

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Making the Most of Your Staff

How do I manage an
employee departure?
Whatever the reason for a departure, good preparation will
mean an easy transition period and a smooth ‘bedding in'
period for the replacement.
Employees move on to pastures new for a whole host of reasons,
including promotion, a new job, retirement, redundancy and
dismissal.

Whatever the reason for their departure, good preparation will mean
an easy transition period and a smooth ‘bedding in' period for their
replacement.

• If you're dismissing someone at very short notice, it's not


always possible to get the pre-departure preparation
completed. However, you should look to get as many of the
following actions completed as soon as possible.

• Understand precisely what the departing employee does. In


addition to what is stated in the job description, ask the
employee to list the tasks they perform, and the people and
procedures involved.

• Create a plan for handling their workload. Start this process as


early as possible so co-workers are up to speed in advance of
their departure.
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• Remind them of confidentiality. When employees leave, they


know a lot about your business. If they signed a confidentiality
agreement, review it with them to make sure it's clear.

• Communicate with affected staff. A co-worker's departure can


be traumatic for the colleagues, so call a meeting to reassure
them. If the departure also results in a promotion opportunity,
be sure to point this out as a positive opportunity.

• Schedule an exit interview. There are many insights that your


company can gain by conducting an exit interview with the
departing employee - even the ones you are glad to see go.

• On the day they're leaving, retrieve company laptops, PDAs,


mobile phones, USB keys, company-related keys, pass cards,
and ID cards. Change access codes where necessary.

• Leaving drinks are the traditional way of waving an employee


goodbye. These could be a few short words in the office or a
full blown party with an open bar.

• Delete his name from company literature including letterheads,


websites and company brochures, as well as any internal
organisation charts or telephone lists.

• Take security precautions. Deactivate all network and


workstation passwords, all company email accounts and any
remote access accounts.

Remember - the more constructively you view and handle this


process of change, the more positive and less traumatic the
transition will be, for everyone concerned.

‘Needle in a Haystack’ eBooks


Finding the perfect employee is never easy, but if you use
the right tactics, pulling the needle from the haystack needn’t
be an impossible task. Our series of eBooks brings together
expert advice to help you improve your hiring processes.

For more useful tools and tips, visit hiring.monster.co.uk

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