At iFacts we believe that employees are a true asset to an organization and as Richard Branson correctly says “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take of your employees, they will take care of the clients.???
It is often a challenge to take care of employees when they are dishonest, disheartened or downright disappointed. At iFacts we have developed a life cycle of an employee with some suggestions on how to keep employees engaged and productive.
1. PRE EMPLOYMENT:
Pre-employment screening is an essential part of ensuring that honest, loyal and productive employees are enrolled in a Company. It can however also be used as a marketing project to ensure that the image of the company is correctly projected.
Human Resources have a responsibility to:
•Verify that all information presented in the CV is true and correct and to ensure that all relevant pre-employment checks are completed
•Conduct integrity tests – rather be proactive and ensure that intention is measured as opposed to having to conduct investigations after an incident.
•Conduct tests to measure the job and culture fit of a future employee. Should you not conduct these test, you will need to consider the massive effort that you would require to work through to
2. ONBOARDING:
Once the candidate has accepted the job offer and is excited to be part of the organization it is the company’s responsibility to ensure that the on-boarding process is professionally managed. No new employee wants to land at a desk with stationery and be left to “get on with it???.
Company responsibilities include:
•Induction which should include information about the company (external and internal), company policies and job responsibilities. At the end of the process the employee should know where they “fit??? and should be motivated to become productive as soon as possible.
•A career development plan should be discussed and briefly entered into allowing the employee to know what their potential future is. This is to be discussed at a more formal meeting so that they have an understanding of what is expected of them and where they are heading.
•Shortly after engagement an on-boarding survey should be sent to the employee to ensure that all elements of the introduction and engagement with the company have been positive and that they are satisfied with the process. This should allow for questions to be asked so that the company can address any misunderstandings or unmet expectations.
4. EXISTING EMPLOYEE:
Once the employee is in place, settled in and productive we need to ensure the continued happiness and productivity of the employee.
On-going assessments are essential and should include:
•Performance Assessments / Appraisals / Scorecard Assessments or similar engagement – this will ensure that any shortfalls or misunderstandings are addressed and noted in a formal environment. This allows for discussions to take place regarding progress that is required from or by the employee.
•Employee Satisfaction Surveys are an essential management tool that allows companies to address employee concerns or dissatisfaction. It should be done independently to encourage anonymity which allows employees to be more honest than they may normally be.
•Career or Executive Coaching is another extremely useful tool that should be conducted by a professional and independent coach to encourage people to grow and overcome personal challenges. This will also help the employee to develop and achieve goals.
•On-going vetting is another essential tool that should be used. Employees’ circumstances change and this could bring additional risk to the organization. A company needs to be prepared for this and is responsible for the care of its employees.
4. GROWING EMPLOYEE:
All companies want their employees to develop and grow. This is something that should be part of the assessments conducted annually or possibly even more regularly.
To ensure an employee is motivated and growing it is recommended that the following be considered:
•Training – this can be informal or formal / in house or external / paid or unpaid. There are so many training methods available today and companies need to encourage people to develop their skills and become more valuable members of society.
•Vetting – if an employee is applying for a position for promotion or transfer within a company it is recommended that vetting be done to ensure that the employee has the right “fit??? for the new team or division. There would be nothing more demoralizing than promoting someone only to bring them back down to a lower level later on or worse having to let them go.
5. DEPARTING EMPLOYEE:
Sadly it is a reality that employees resign and move to other employment opportunities. Companies should be viewing this as an opportunity to gather information that could improve circumstances for existing employees and also protect the company from future risks and fraud.
•An exit interview is essential and may not always be conducted in person. An online exit interview can often give a company more information as the person is anonymous and the interview can be done by an independent party. An exit interview is not only an HR function but can be used as a fraud prevention tool.
•Security Clearance. This should be given to every departing employee and should be given together with the Certificate of Service or Letter of Reference dependant on the company policy. The clearance should include the handing in of keys, remotes and other security items as well as electronic passwords.