Anne – Vinehouse Hiring

Why do 70% of new hires leave in the first year?

An astonishing 70% of new hires leave in the first year. I came across this figure years ago and checked it again today; sadly, it’s still the same.

40% of new employees leave in their first 90 days!

However, only 12% of Vinehouse new hires leave during their first year.

What accounts for this difference?

Thorough and careful work.

I was recently told by an “expert” in the field of hiring and recruitment that we shouldn’t be reviewing so many candidates for a Virtual Assistant role because all those roles are pretty much the same, and there are plenty of good candidates.

Yes, there are lots of good candidates, but sadly, only a few of them had the very specific skills required for the role we were filling. I knew if we recommended one of them to our client, they would not last long (they would contribute to the 70% who leave). So we held on till we found someone who did have what was required. It took longer than just sending someone who would be “satisfactory,” but we’re not interested in just “satisfactory.”

We want to find someone who will perform exceptionally well and stay.

You need to do three things to ensure you don’t hire one of that 70% who will leave.

Identify exactly what duties you need your new employee to do – don’t just go with a standard job description.
Be very clear in your advertising, ensure you include the details about the role and that they are accurate, and don’t miss out on key parts of the job that some candidates won’t like.
Check very carefully that your candidates really have the skills and experience you need.

This all sounds very obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people aren’t clear on what they need their new employee to do and who just copy an old job description or advertisement instead of checking it’s up to date.

I once had a client who hired a driver and didn’t check that the candidate had a driving licence. He didn’t have one.

Checking candidates’ skills and experience carefully is a time-consuming process, but given the costs of getting it wrong and the enormous benefits of getting it right, it’s worth the effort.

If you’d like to discuss this or any other issues, please book a slot with Nancy here: https://go.scheduleyou.in/GJwevE

Hiring

What’s changed in hiring since the pandemic?

A lot has changed in hiring since the pandemic. Let’s break down some of the key changes that have impacted the hiring process.

“The Great Resignation.”

Record numbers of people have taken themselves out of the workforce after the pandemic. This is because they liked being at home more than working, even with all the benefits it brings.

Candidates
There have been massive changes in the number of people applying for different kinds of jobs.

Fewer candidates to go around in many areas. For example, according to the World Economic Forum, there is a drop of 39% in candidates interested in warehouse roles as compared to before the pandemic. It’s even dropped off in the last few months.

More People Leaving
People who would previously have stayed in their job and put up with poor pay, working for someone who was a terrible boss or just circumstances they didn’t much like, are now leaving jobs.

“If we say that everyone must return to the office, or we expect people to, and one of our competitors says you can work remotely, who wouldn’t take the second option there?”
Stewart Butterfield, CEO and co-founder of Slack

The most popular jobs
Jobs that allow candidates to work flexibly and from anywhere are among the most popular.

What Do You Need To Do?
AnnElizabeth Konkel of Indeed (a major job platform) says candidates want positions that offer higher pay where they can do at least some work remotely.

If you are struggling to fill a position
Look at the job and see what you can do to make it more attractive to the candidates rather than expecting candidates to fit in with your requirements.

It’s easy to assume there isn’t much you can do to improve your job, but quite often, there are adjustments that can be made. A little flexibility goes a long way. Here are just a few ideas:

Some extra days of vacation
Being allowed to work remotely sometimes
Flexible working hours
Some extra benefits
Product or service discounts

Some of these things can be done at very low cost but are of great value to candidates. It’s often easier for smaller companies to compete in these areas because they don’t have big company policies to deal with, so make sure you make the most of the advantages you have.

If you’d like to discuss this or any other issues, please just book a slot with Nancy here: https://go.scheduleyou.in/GJwevE

Hiring

Why you aren’t getting the right candidates for your job

Every now and then, we get a client who wants us to find someone for a role that is particularly hard to fill.

In the current climate – a candidate’s market – there are more of these. As employers, we’ve been used to filling most jobs and getting plenty of applicants. I think we’ve gotten a bit complacent. Sometimes we are just expecting too much of people.

Since the lockdowns, many potential candidates have re-assessed their lives and aren’t prepared to work the kinds of hours they used to.

It’s not unreasonable for candidates to have a personal life and see their friends and family sometimes. There was a time when lots of people worked very long hours. I know; I was one of them.

I used to work shifts and had several teams working different shifts. Interestingly, I discovered that those working the “evening shift” (half the hours the full-time people worked) actually produced two-thirds of what the full-time people produced. In other words, they were much more productive. So we would have been much more productive as a company if we’d had all part-time people.

This finding is completely aligned with the research on working hours that shows most people’s productivity tails off after three hours or so.

So why are we so keen to hire one person for 40 hours a week instead of two people for 20 hours a week? It’s probably just because that’s what you’ve always done, and the extra administrative work involved for every additional person on your team can feel daunting. Or it might be the “Elon Musk” approach where you think everyone should work extremely long hours.

If you are struggling to fill a full-time position, it might be an option worth considering, and you would probably get better value for your money.

I think many employers will have to learn to be much more flexible and start thinking differently to get the people they need. We need to be prepared to tailor jobs more to suit candidates with the right skills rather than expect them to modify their lives to suit us.

Often when you do, you’ll be surprised and how well it works.

If you’d like to discuss this or any other issues, please just book a slot with Nancy here: https://go.scheduleyou.in/GJwevE.

Hiring

Should you hire people you don’t like?

Right at the end of last year, I was called by a client from over 20 years ago. By coincidence, he was also married to one of the best people I have ever worked with, Ros. He reminded me that it had been ten years since she had passed away.

Ros was our bookkeeper for over 15 years and would still be with us now if she had survived. But when I interviewed her, I didn’t really like her. She was interviewed in the early days of Vinehouse, and though our process wasn’t what it is now, there was still quite a lot to it.

I found Ros to be a bit annoying; she was a nitpicker. But, if you know much about bookkeeping, you’ll know that this is a key attribute of a good bookkeeper. Ros was able to spot a typo at 100 paces. She would let me know whenever I had made a mistake, which I admit I didn’t really enjoy. But over the years, I grew to value this great skill.

Ros was reliable and thorough, always spotting issues and coming up with suggestions for improvement. It wasn’t always pleasant learning that you’d made a stupid mistake or being reminded of things you had promised to deliver but hadn’t. But by taking on these tasks, she was responsible for many improvements in the company. We got used to it and realised how valuable this skill was.

Ros did far more for us than just being our bookkeeper – this was part of her love of solving problems. She just loved to help and did it in a very organised way.

Ros was also tenacious and saw things through till the end, which is why she was still working for us from her hospital bed a month before we lost her.

Looking back now, I understand that the reason I didn’t like Ros when I first interviewed her was because of my failings, not hers, and I’m really glad I took the risk of working with someone I thought I might not get on with. I benefitted a great deal from working with her, and so did the company. We still remember her and are still benefitting from the work she did.

So next time you find you don’t like a candidate, ask yourself what you don’t like before dismissing them; it could be a great opportunity.

To discuss your hiring needs or any issues you have, just use this link to book a meeting with me: https://go.appointmentcore.com/book/GJwevE

In Memory of Ros Munton, dear friend and valued colleague.

Hiring

Should you hire overqualified candidates?

This question is a tricky one.

Years ago, I was a Production Manager in an electronic factory and needed an assistant. As I sifted through the applications, I spotted one I recognised. It was from the father of an old school friend. He was massively over-qualified. His last salary was well over twice what we were offering.

Because I knew him, I thought I’d get him in for an interview anyway. He was amazing. He had 30 years of really valuable experience and was clearly very knowledgeable. He was also very nice. But, unfortunately, after 25 years of service to his previous employer, he and all his colleagues received a letter telling them not to come in on Monday.

He said he didn’t really need a vast salary; he just needed an income to keep him going till his pension kicked in. Because of this, he didn’t mind taking a massive pay cut.

My boss and my colleagues thought I was mad to take him on. They were all convinced he would leave in a few weeks and be too old to do a good job.

As it happened, he was still there five years after I’d left. Not only that, but he did a phenomenal job, and I learned a great deal from him.

The trick here is to find out why the over-qualified candidate wants the job. So often, there is a perfectly good reason that makes complete sense. Of course, this isn’t always the case, and that’s why you need to check this area carefully, but you need to stay open-minded. This is the key, don’t just make assumptions about the person and the reasons.

Being too well qualified is never a good reason on its own to reject a candidate. You could be turning away an absolute bargain.

Hiring

A Strange December for Hiring and Recruitment

Usually, the flow of candidates slows down considerably in December, as you will know if you’ve ever tried to hire anyone around this time of year.

Not this year. We have seen such large numbers of candidates for some of the roles we are working on at the moment that we had to pause the ads to have enough time to respond to all the candidates.

I thought it might just be these particular jobs, but I was talking with our Indeed account manager just yesterday, and he says it’s been happening across the board. He thinks it may be because of all the uncertainty and tough financial situations, and this is encouraging more candidates to apply at this time than usual.

There is no sign of the rush slowing down.

So, if you are thinking of hiring anyone, now is a much better time to start than you would have thought. But you must make sure you get back to candidates quickly. We know you may well be very busy at the moment, but a delayed response is a great way to lose good candidates.

We have even had some really excellent candidates for remote Machine Learning Engineer positions (these are pretty hard to find). Our client then needed to change the requirements at the last minute and locate people on-site. This meant our candidates no longer met the key location requirement. So let me know if you are looking for any Machine Learning candidates or know someone who is.

Just get in touch if you have any questions or would like a quick chat.