Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER May 18, 2015 INSIGHT 23 Improving the quality of your hires Question: How do we improve the quality of our hires? Answer: Many organizations these days are justifiably con- cerned with improving the qual- ity of hires with respect to em- ployee retention, performance and cultural, organizational and role fi t. Many employers believe it is becoming harder to fi nd good people, and it can be extremely expensive and wasteful to recruit, onboard and hire a new employee, only to have her leave the organi- zation a few months later. Nevertheless, many employers have unrealistic expectations and are unwilling to provide adequate training and development to new employees. Employers sometimes set themselves up for failure by thinking they'll fi nd that elusive "purple squirrel" candidate. Rather than demanding that candidates have previously held the exact same job title and have more than 10 years of experience working in the same industry, it is much more helpful to hire for transferrable skills, competencies, attitude and cultural, organiza- tional and role fi t. It is also important to under- stand we're talking about human beings here. While some candi- dates are better-qualified than others, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. For that reason, it's important to remember that discussions about "quality of hire" don't necessarily mean those who didn't make the cut are bad people — only that, for whatever reason, they aren't a fi t for that role or the organization at this point in time. If the goal is to improve qual- ity of hires, the focus shouldn't simply be on filling a vacancy with a warm body either. Taking shortcuts and making common hiring mistakes will inevitably lead to higher turnover rates. Part of the solution is ensuring the recruitment process is as objective and bias-free as pos- sible, which will help to widen the pool of potential applicants and improve their overall quality. Panel interviews One suggestion for improving the quality of hires is incorporat- ing panel interviews into the re- cruitment process. ese typically involve three to fi ve interviewers, with one individual — typically the hiring manager — leading the interview. But the other panel members play an important role in asking their own questions, ob- serving and making notes about how the candidate responds to specifi c questions. e problem with one-on-one interviews is they leave the pro- cess open to conscious and sub- conscious bias. A best practice in recruitment is to ensure decision- making is not left in the hands of just one individual. Even though panel interviews are eff ective, there should be a trained human resources prac- titioner present to oversee the process and ensure fairness and objectivity. HR should not just stand on the sidelines but ensure all managers and supervisors are properly trained on how to source candidates, conduct interviews and make a fair and fi nal selection decision. Behavioural interviews Care must also be taken to avoid relying too much on behavioural interviewing techniques. Based on the premise past behaviour is an accurate predictor of future behaviours, the approach is gen- erally quite eff ective but there is such thing as "behavioural inter- viewing overkill." Behavioural interviews are tough on candidates, and many people have a diffi cult time com- ing up with specifi c real-life ex- amples from their past. It is also true many candidates rehearse scripted responses to common behavioural interview questions and may be somewhat untruthful in their answers. While behavioural interview- ing does have its place, another eff ective way of improving quality of hires involves giving each can- didate a brief work-related assign- ment they can complete to assess their skills and abilities. Asking candidates to submit a written sample of previous work or com- plete a short test or assignment brings greater objectivity into the hiring process and undoubtedly improves the quality of hires. Other suggestions • Ensure you are tracking relevant, appropriate and accurate metrics throughout the recruitment pro- cess, including retention rates, performance ratings of new hires and satisfaction rates of hiring managers and new employees. • Provide proper onboarding, training, development and so- cialization to new employees. • Ensure you are hiring for core competencies, potential and cultural fi t, as opposed to simply looking for someone who can hit the ground running right away. • Ensure the total remuneration package for each job is exter- nally competitive and internally equitable. • Provide each candidate with a re- alistic job preview (RJP) so they have a good idea of what it is re- ally like to perform the job and work for the organization. • Perform an audit of your or- ganization's existing employer branding and develop appropri- ate branding strategies to attract and retain quality candidates. • Conduct an audit of recruitment policies and selection tools to ensure quality candidates are not being screened out. • Consider diverse and non-tradi- tional candidates with unusual backgrounds. • Don't rely solely on job boards or the "post and pray" method of sourcing — use multiple chan- nels to source candidates. • Set up employee referral pro- grams and get your employees working on your behalf to help you fi nd top-notch candidates who may not necessarily be ac- tively pounding the pavement looking for work. • Attend industry events and trade shows. Get to know all the well- known players in the industry or profession. • Join user groups and online fo- rums, and follow influential bloggers and people who are active on online forums and are thought leaders in their fi elds. • Don't forget internal candidates or people already in your appli- cant tracking system's database. • Consider direct sourcing one or two candidates from your com- petitors — either on your own or through a headhunter. • Use social media to establish genuine conversations with job applicants, search for candidates and post jobs. • Set up an employee alumni net- work of former employees and keep them apprised of new va- cancies and what is going on in the organization generally. Brian Kreissl is the product develop- ment manager for Carswell's human resources, OH&S, payroll and records retention products and solutions. He can be reached at brian.kreissl@ thomsonreuters.com. Yaseen Hemeda is a product developer at Carswell. He can be reached at yaseen.hemeda@ thomsonreuters.com. For more infor- mation, visit www.carswell.com. Brian Kreissl and Yaseen Hemeda ToUghest HR QUestion How much notice must an employee give? B.C. case highlights issues for both parties By Brandon Hillis How much notice must an employee pro- vide when resigning? After a recent Brit- ish Columbia Supreme Court decision, this is a question that has received in- creased focus in recent months, for employees and employers alike. In the 2014 Consbec v. Walker, Peter Walker resigned from Cons- bec, his employer of fi ve years, without providing any advance notice. Prior to resigning, Walker worked as Consbec's western di- vision manager and was the only employee in its B.C. offi ce. At trial, Consbec advanced a variety of claims against Walker, including a claim for damages arising out of his failure to provide reasonable notice of resignation. As a result of Walker's departure, Consbec was required to scram- ble to replace Walker and it in- curred expenses of about $56,000 in order to do so. e court accepted that these costs were incurred as a result of Walker's failure to provide "rea- sonable" notice and held Walker liable for those expenses. is case serves as an important reminder to employers that notice of resignation is a two-way street. If workers fail to provide suffi cient notice of departure, they may be exposed to a claim for damages as a result. So, what notice does a depart- ing employee need to provide to avoid a similar situation? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. In the absence of a written contract of employment setting out an employee's notice obligations, there is no set formula or magic number that can be re- lied upon to calculate the amoutn of notice an employee must give. While many employees (and likely many employers) think all a departing employee needs to do is provide two weeks' notice, this is not a hard and fast rule and may, in many circumstances, prove to be insuffi cient. e length of notice considered reasonable is variable and highly dependent on a number of factors. e main purpose of providing notice of resignation is to allow an employer a reasonable period of time to adapt to the employee's departure. Accordingly, in deter- mining what would be reasonable, consideration will be given to such factors as the employee's respon- sibilities, length of service, salary and the time it would reasonably take the employer to replace the employee or implement steps to adapt to the loss of the employee. For example, the longstanding CEO of a large, publicly traded company in a specialized industry will be required to provide more in the way of notice than a short- term, entry-level employee who is occupying a position for which replacements can be easily found. It is also important to note that the court's decision in Consbec does not mean employees must provide onerous amounts of ad- vance notice to their employers before departing. e courts have been clear employees are entitled to leave employment and an em- ployee's obligation to provide no- tice of resignation will not typical- ly be as onerous as an employer's common law obligation to pro- vide notice or pay in lieu thereof when terminating an employee. So, the fact that an employee may be entitled to 12 months' notice of termination from his employer does not mean the em- ployer would be entitled to receive 12 months' notice from that same employee; indeed, in most situ- ations, the amount of notice the employee would be required to provide would be much less. In the absence of a written em- ployment agreement that details the amount of notice an employee must provide, the most prudent course of action for any departing employee would be to approach her employer as soon as she knows she is leaving, set out what she thinks to be a reasonable amount of notice and indicate a willingness to at least hear her employer's view on what it believes is reasonable. From the employer's perspec- tive, it should base any decision on what it believes to constitute reasonable notice of resignation on the factors set out above, par- ticularly how long it will take to replace the employee, and at least hear what the employee has to say. Both sides should attempt to be reasonable and fair. By using this approach, employees and employ- ers may be able to resolve issues surrounding employee resigna- tions in an amicable fashion and without recourse to litigation. Brandon Hillis is a lawyer in the la- bour and employment group at Bor- den Ladner Gervais in Vancouver. He can be reached at bhillis@blg.com or (604) 632-3401. How much notice must an employee pro- vide when resigning? After a recent Brit- ish Columbia Supreme Court decision, this is a question that has received in- creased focus in recent months, for Brandon Hillis GUest CoMMentary Attend industry events and trade shows. Get to know all the well-known players in the industry or profession.

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