Five mistakes HR can make

Are you making common HR mistakes?

Navigating through economic uncertainty can have a significant impact on the future health of your business.

Human resources often play a critical role during these times to ensure that the best staffing resources are available when conditions begin to improve.

Complete hiring freezes

Making sweeping hiring freezes will not help a company in the long run. Instead new hire requests should be evaluated on a case by case basis.

Ask the department head:

• Is this position critical?
• Will leaving this position vacant put stress on existing staff?

Navigating through economic uncertainty can have a significant impact on the future health of your business.

Human resources often play a critical role during these times to ensure that the best staffing resources are available when conditions begin to improve.

There are creative ways to get round a hiring freeze: could the position work on a part-time/job rotation or flexi-time basis? A temp or contractor can also help relieve workload pressures without adding to your headcount.

Headhunting talented professionals in the industry should be an on-going strategy so that the company will be in a stronger and more competitive position to lead the growth when the market recovers.

Failure to plan

Although we are currently in a downturn, it will definitely not last forever. Look at your business and determine where your weaknesses and strengths are in terms of your HR function. HR departments that cease all their HR functions now will find themselves having to play catch-up when things improve, which they eventually will. This is also an ideal time for companies to implement new systems, update training materials/literature and generally catch up on ‘housekeeping’.

Don’t overlook your star performers

Now is the time to focus on your best performers. Do they need up-skilling or training? This is especially valuable if you are not able to give them a salary increase/promotion/bonus. They will still feel valued and hopefully loyal to the company. Are there non-monetary ways you can reward them? E.g. additional leave, training, life coaching.

Most prudent employers are not pushing down base salaries as this generally has a catapult effect on retention when the market conditions start improving and when there is more hiring activity in the market. Some companies have even increased the base salaries for a group of employees identified as key resources as a part of their retention strategy.

Long delays between interviewing applicants and making an offer

The best talent will always be sought after, even in a downturn. Taking weeks or months between the interview and the offer stage will almost guarantee your company the missed opportunity on their first choice candidate for the position. Ideally, before starting the recruitment process, HR should have lined up the schedules for all key decision makers who will be playing a role in the selection process, ensuring that the entire selection process can be completed over a 2-3 week period.

Access to the line management

If you are the first line of screening for a new position, make sure you have a thorough understanding of the role, key challenges, ideal background and experience. Do not be afraid to question antiquated stereotypes if you feel this will prevent the company from getting the best person for the job. If you are using a recruitment consultancy, try to select one that genuinely specialises in the area/sector you are recruiting for – and consider giving them access to the line manager. The likely outcome is that the role will be filled more quickly - which will eventually save you time and money and earn you a big pat on the back from your boss!

Contact us today. One of our recruitment specialists will find out how we can tailor a recruitment solution to best fit your staffing needs.