Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER JANUARY 2020 22 INSIGHT Keeping candidates interested F or all the talk about labour shortages and a lack of skilled talent to fill jobs, you have to wonder how much the actual recruitment process plays a part. Take, for example, the results of a recent survey in the United States. It found that 92 per cent of jobseekers have experienced poor recruiting practices at some point in their career. Of more concern is the fact that 49 per cent of the respondents said they have actually turned down a job offer because of that bad experience. Delving deeper, more than two- thirds (67 per cent) gave up pur- suing a role because the recruiting process took too long, while a sim- ilar number (61 per cent) stopped hearing from the employer during the hiring process, found the PwC survey of 1,000 respondents. A similar Robert Half survey back in 2016 found that 64 per cent of respondents said the most frustrating part of the job search was the long wait after an inter- view to hear if they got the job. When faced with a lengthy hiring process, 46 per cent of the 400 Ca- nadian respondents said they lose interest and pursue other roles, while 16 per cent decide to stay put in their current job. Those are some sobering stats. These could be ideal candidates perfect for a role, and yet many of them are walking away before a job offer simply because they're unhappy with the hiring process. Any delay in the recruitment process not only dampens an em- ployer's reputation but hampers its ability to grab hold of the best candidates. An unfilled role also means lower productivity for col- leagues having to take over those responsibilities in the interim. I know well how slow the hiring process can be. As soon as it be- comes apparent a role is available, it's about scrambling to obtain the approvals for a replacement, do- ing a job analysis and evaluation, settling on the compensation and benefits, and crafting the job description. But this can add up to days if not weeks, even before a job post- ing goes up, particularly if a key person in the process is, for what- ever reason, delayed. Whether it's learning to use a new appli- cant tracking system or a hiring manager finding the time in an already-packed schedule to make approvals, people can be slow. And that can have a domino ef- fect, unseen to the frustrated job candidates waiting for answers. Then it's about arranging the interviews with potentially a panel of interviewers, conducting test- ing and background checks, and making an offer — no simple task. How long is too long? Understandably, today's jobseek- ers don't have the patience, and they don't want to risk losing out on another opportunity, to sit around and wait for an employer to tie up all the loose ends and fi- nally make an offer. Many jobseekers also pursue several job opportunities at the same time, so they're keen for a fast response. But how long is too long when it comes to a response after an interview? From the day of the initial interview to the day an of- fer is extended, 32 per cent said a process lasting 15 to 21 days is too long, found the Robert Half survey. More than one-quarter (29 per cent) felt a timeframe of seven to 14 days was too lengthy. Seven to 14 days might not sound too bad to a lot of hiring managers. But with all the advanc- es in technology, people expect much faster responses these days, whether it's looking for Likes on Instagram, or second-by-second news updates on Twitter. So, it's possible that job candidates aren't being entirely realistic about what's involved in the hiring pro- cess and why there may be delays. Back in 2017, Glassdoor sur- veyed 15 countries and found the longest job interview processes are in Brazil (averaging 39.6 days), France (38.9 days) and Switzer- land (37.6 days). The shortest reported interviews are in India (16.1 days), Israel (16.9 days) and Romania (19.2 days). A key driver behind the dura- tions was differences in labour market regulations and institu- tions, according to Glassdoor, as countries with more flexibility in hiring and firing tended to have shorter interview processes. Not surprisingly, certain indus- tries, such as government, aero- space and defence, need more in-depth screening and security checks, while others, such as res- taurants, bars and supermarkets, do not require such in-depth assessment. Canada averaged 16.1 days, and that sounds pretty reasonable to me. The problem is that, while an employer might think two weeks is acceptable, the job candidate may not. And it's the job candi- date's viewpoint that matters be- cause they're the one who's need- ed by the employer, and they're the one who's walking away. To combat the issue, experts say it's about doing as much work upfront as possible, engaging internal stakeholders as quickly as you can, and keeping up the communication throughout the process. To me, the latter is the most important. If an employer faces unexpected delays in its re- cruitment, despite best efforts, it's about keeping the job candidate in the loop to at least keep them from running away. NO SOLICITATION PLEASE WINNIPEG — A service repre- sentative going door to door for a telecommunications company may have thought he was in the Wild West after encountering one resident who clearly didn't want to be bothered. When the rep tried to leave, the man followed him out to the street and a confrontation ensued, after which the man went back into the house and emerged holding a gun. e man climbed into his vehicle to follow the ser- vice rep, who found another house in which to hide. Police were called and eventually a tactical team had to take the man into custody. ey found 12 guns with ammunition inside and the man was charged with five firearms-related charges, according to the Canadian Press. FORGET SOMETHING? OTTAWA — Surgeons and nurses might want to take a little more time doing their work. at's because a report released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) says 553 for- eign items — such as sponges and medical instruments — were left behind in Canadian surgeries from 2016 to 2018. at's a 14-per-cent increase from five years earlier and double the average rate of 12 other countries. e report is part of a look at how Canada's health-care system compares to other mem- ber nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. "Some surgeries are long and complicated and if they have to change people during that surgery because some surger- ies last a long time, it may be that things get missed," Tracy Johnson, CIHI's director of emerging issues, told the Canadian Press. "It may be that they don't have protocols in place — surgical checklists are one of the things that are utilized to try and prevent a number of things happening." Canada did well in areas related to quality of care, but it was below average in several categories including pa- tient safety. NO DRUG TESTING FOR THIS JOB NEW YORK — A cannabis re- view site has a job opening for someone to smoke the drug and give their opinion on it. e web- site, AmericanMarijuana.org, has posted an ad seeking an individ- ual with "extensive knowledge" of cannabis who enjoys consuming it, according to TheGrowthOp. com. The job pays US$3,000 a month and the site will ship differ- ent brands and varieties of "weed strains, edibles [and] CBD oils" to the reviewer every month — with the reviewer allowed to keep any leftovers. e site is looking for applicants who are "physically fit and healthy in general to carry out cannabis product reviews regular- ly" and they must live "in a state in America or Canada where medical marijuana is legal." PLENTY OF TIPS ALAMEDA, Calif. — Bar staff can be asked to do some quirky tasks sometimes, as seen recently at a California establishment. Shortly after the Forbidden Island tiki bar opened in 2006, a customer asked to stick a dollar bill in the cork drop-ceiling behind the bar — a take on the Second World War tradition of soldiers leaving a bill at their favourite bar before being shipped off to the South Pacific. Once the first bill was placed, cus- tomers began pinning dollar bills to the ceiling with cocktail um- brellas. The money eventually took over the ceiling and walls, so owner Michael anos decided in October to take the money down. After five hours of staffing to re- move the money and three weeks of sorting, the bills added up to US$10,367, anos told CBC's As It Happens. About $1,400 wasn't usable due to artwork customers had drawn on the bills. ose went back on the walls and the rest will be donated to charity. And, ac- cording to anos, customers have already started a new collection of bills on the bar's ceiling and walls. THE SOURTOE LEGACY WHITEHORSE — e Yukon bartender who invented the famous Sourtoe Cocktail may now be gone, but his presence will still be felt at the bar serving the whisky-based drink featuring a pickled human big toe. Dick Stevenson invented the cocktail in 1973 after finding a frostbitten human toe preserved in a jar at a cabin he had bought. He died in mid- November and his will requested that his 10 toes be taken to the Dawson City bar that still serves the cocktail — along with his ashes in a ceramic urn shaped like a toe. "Dad is a publicity hound and he just said he was going to be more famous after he's dead," Stevenson's daughter Dixie told the Canadian Press. Credit: Diana Rich (Shutterstock) W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Vol. 32 No. 13 – January 2020 PUBLISHED BY HAB Press Limited, a subsidiary of Key Media 20 Duncan St. 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 3G8 ©Copyright 2020 by HAB Press Ltd. All rights reserved. KEY MEDIA and the KEY MEDIA logo are trademarks of Key Media IP Limited, and used under license by HAB Press Limited. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is a trademark of HAB Press Limited. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 12 times a year. Publications Mail – Agreement # 41261516 Registration # 9496 – ISSN 0838-228X President: Tim Duce EDITORIAL Editor/Supervisor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 644-8740 ext. 330 sarah.dobson@keymedia.com Employment Law Editor: Jeffrey R. 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