 |
"If you are a department manager you no doubt put in far too many hours at the office. At the end of the week, you probably still have a pile of forms and memos and correspondence a mile high on your desk, numerous issues to hash out with your staff and your boss, not to mention the several days of e-mails you haven’t had the chance to respond to. Adding to your list of to-do’s, along with training, motivating, delegating and evaluating your subordinates, you are also in charge of staffing your department. You are supposed to know how to effectively recruit, screen and hire new talent. It’s a given, even if you’ve never been in a management position before. In addition, the process of hiring someone requires research and planning, and if done right, is time consuming at best.
Every day thousands of employees receive promotions into management positions for the first time. The majority of these new managers have little or no experience managing and motivating employees, much less handling the sensitive issues that can arise during the hiring and firing process. Even the majority of experienced managers have never had formal training or been given established staffing guidelines. This responsibility becomes a new part of a manager’s job description. New managers are just expected to magically know what to do.
In addition, most companies are not pro-active in their recruiting practices. They are re-active, usually functioning in panic mode trying to fill surprise openings. News Flash! The days of the loyal 20-year employee are gone! Most people will have at least 10 different jobs in their lifetime.
It doesn’t get anywhere near the attention it deserves, but successful recruitment strategies can save a company thousands, even millions of dollars over time. Less turnover increases productivity and that simply translates into higher profits. Considering the lack of forward planning in effective management training and hiring strategies, it surprises me how so many companies who, struggling under the chaos, continue to do nothing to improve. I believe this is true because the majority of business owners have a difficult time justifying spending money and time on something as intangible as training.
In other words, unless a business expense can translate directly into bottom-line profits, such as sales revenues, it is not perceived as important. So, bottom line, chaotic hiring practices are the norm, and it looks like this haphazard approach isn’t going to change any time soon." |
|
