Browsing Posts in Recruitment advice

Have you got your cover letters covered?

By Liza | No Comments

We want to clear up a few common misconceptions about cover letters.

 

Yes we do read them.

 

A cover letter is your introduction to your experience and to you personally. In it you should tell us why you want the job, why you are suitable for that role plus highlight any achievements that are relevant to the role.

 

You may roll your eyes with what we are about to tell you and say “yes I do that already.” However so many people do not get the basics right, so covering these off may just get you across the line when we may have overlooked your resume.

 

Here are a few things that will impress us in your cover letter.

 

1) You tell us why you want the role we have advertised.

 

This tells us you have given some thought to your application and why you are suitable. It does show us that you are sincere in your approach.

 

2) You are brief.

 

We are not saying this because we are not interested in you. We are. But being realistic, if we receive hundreds of applications, we appreciate brevity and a layout that is easy to read.

 

Please limit your cover letters to one page, and use short paragraphs. That way we are not working late into the night to get through applications and can actually action yours quickly.

 

3) You address some of the key skills we have requested in the advertisement.

 

This tells us you have read the advertisement and are not just sending your resume off to everyone.  You can use the scatter gun approach, but you may only succeed if your resume “hits the mark” in terms of the exact skills we require.

 

If you do send your resume everywhere without much contemplation, you can risk sounding vague when we call you. From our perspective there is nothing more disconcerting than a candidate having no idea about the role when we call them.

 

4) You have proof read your letter.

 

Now we know people are not perfect. We’re not perfect. Sometimes typos slip past even the most careful of eyes. What we would say however is that if you claim to have advanced word processing skills and strong attention to detail, and have a cover letter with three different fonts, we will not take that any further.

 

 

 

 

 

Browsing Posts in Recruitment advice

How small businesses can become employers of choice

By Liza | No Comments

Who’s been trying to hire someone recently?

 

I was at the BNI breakfast last week and one of our business colleagues mentioned that they had someone work for them for 27 years.

 

27 years!!!

 

That kind of loyalty is so rare nowadays.

 

Despite what you read in the media, our experience is that there are still skills shortages. If you’re in a small to medium business you know what we’re talking about. We’re not talking basic skills. We’re talking the type of skills that will drive your business forward, and the type of person who is happy to come along for your often bumpy ride.

 

So if you’re a small but growing business, how do you attract those types of skills? Where do you find someone who will stick around? How do you understand what you can offer, or as they say in HR marketing: “your employee value proposition?”

 

Here are a few things to think about:

 

- Why do people leave your company?

 

- What do your current employees like about your company?

 

- What do your current employees dislike about your company?

 

- What defines a high performer over a lower performer?

 

- What would your employees say about you if you were not in the room?

 

- What skills do you need to take your business to the next level?

 

- What do you offer as an employer that nobody else does?

 

- What are your competitors offering?

 

If you can clearly identify who you are, what you offer and how you stand out in the market place, plus have a strong sense of the skills you need to complement your own, it’s easy for everyone to sing from the same song-sheet – so to speak.

 

Once you have that consistent vision, finding the people to fit and to stick around becomes a whole lot easier.

 

Why are we telling you this?

 

In our experience this is an area where business falls down. If you would like help in workforce planning, and in defining what is unique about you, please give our workforce management solutions team a call. (02) 8221 0553.

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We’re giving you fair warning about dismissal warnings

By Liza | No Comments

The Fair Work Act of 2009 has been in place for the past two years.

 

However, when we talk to our clients and candidates, we are always surprised about how little people know about employee contracts and how many myths surround dismissal laws. This is partly because there have been a number of changes to the minimum terms and conditions with the National Employment Standards, but mostly because there has been a lack of education and training around these.

 

Many people still think that they are required to give three warnings prior to dismissing an employee.

 

If you dismiss a worker for an unsatisfactory performance, Fair Work Australia is required to consider whether an employee has been warned about their unsatisfactory performance. Did you know, however, that Fair Work Act does not actually set out any minimum amount of warnings that must be issued in order for a dismissal to be considered fair?

 

That’s right. The Act does not specify three!

 

What this all means, is that your people and compliance systems need to be sound. Here is a sample of things you’ll need to consider:

 

1) Do you have contracts in place?
2) How compliant are your contracts with the current National Employment Standards and modern awards?
3) Do your managers understand their new obligations?
4) Are your managers trained in managing performance and delivering warnings?
5) Do you have systems in place that ensure that members of your teams are complying with the latest changes in legislation and regulation?

 

The law is complex and changes all the time. If you are unsure of your rights and obligations, we strongly recommend that you seek professional advice.

 

If you would like assistance in reviewing your performance management systems and workplace contracts, please give our Workforce Management Solutions team a call on 02 8221 0553. We will ensure you are compliant with Workplace Laws.

Browsing Posts in Recruitment advice

Is “social” media making your business anti-social?

By Liza | No Comments

Every day we hear reports about issues with social media.

 

Employees bullying, stalking and harassing other employees; staff making inappropriate comments online about your workplace; people who use Facebook too much during work hours; employees tweeting confidential information and disputes over who owns LinkedIn contacts gathered in the name of business development.

 

If it seems like an ever shifting minefield, it is.

 

The way people use social media changes as new sites emerge.

 

Who knew about Pinterest and Google Plus a year ago?

 

Not only are new sites an issue, but social media changes as the crowd determines how the platform is used. Think how quickly the fad for planking took off fuelled by posting photos on Facebook.  Many people posted photos of planking in the workplace, creating a whole other set of workplace safety issues.

 

Some of these issues can be difficult to deal with.

 

Social media moves so fast. The law is lagging behind.

 

This person was sacked for a rant on Facebook.

 

In this case the decision of the company was upheld.

 

This person was reinstated by Fair Work Australia after his employer tried sack him over comments on a Facebook page.

 

Do you have a social media policy? If so how would yours stand up in this instance?

 

It’s up to you to have your social policies in place.

 

Enigma HR Workforce Management Solutions team can help you develop sound social media and HR policies. Give us a call on (02) 8221 0553

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It’s more than money! Science says financial incentives do not work.

By Liza | No Comments

Here at Enigma HR we love TED talks.

 

They’re inspirational, thought provoking and delivered by some of the most fascinating thought leaders in the world. Like this talk, from Dan Pink – a career analyst and former speechwriter to Al Gore.

 

For a long time we’ve all asserted that there’s pretty much a direct relationship between reward and performance.

 

That’s wrong says Dan.

 

He says science proves that people can actually perform worse (not better) when they’re offered financial rewards. While incentives are not disincentives, they can act as a distraction in roles that require right brain and creative thinking.

 

Rewards, he says, work really well for simple linear type tasks where there is a simple set of rules and a clear destination. However, rewards by their very nature, narrow our focus and concentrate the mind. For real life problems in the working world of the 21^st century, you don’t want to be looking straight at the task when the solution may actually lie in the periphery.

 

Dan says we’re rewarded and engaged when we do things that matter to us, when we like what we’re doing, when we find the task interesting and when we feel we are doing part of something that is important. Put simply there are three things are critical to true motivation – “autonomy”, “mastery” and “purpose.”

 

These are the foundation for a new way of looking at our businesses and working lives:

 

- Autonomy is the urge for us to direct our own lives

 

- Mastery is the desire to get better and better at something that matters

 

- Purpose is the urge to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

 

What’s our take out of all of this?

 

Well, we hope to surprise you too, given what we do.

 

We say – before you throw more money at a performance problem with your staff; before you decide to offer the big dollars to attract new staff and before you personally decide to go after the big dollars, watch Dan talk and think about what really matters to you.

 

Then when you’ve done that come and talk to us.

Browsing Posts in Recruitment advice

Why do I interview for one role, and end up discussing another?

By Liza | No Comments

We often receive this question from people we interview. “They say we go into a consultancy about one role, and end up talking about another. Did the job exist? Why does this happen?”

 

This happens all the time when you are looking for a role. Here are five reasons you might experience this.

 

1) Other agencies are working on the job. So the time you visited the agency the job was almost filled. The consultant did not want to waste your time and has other opportunities they can discuss with you.

 

2) There was a job, but the job was not that agency’s exclusive property. For example, the agent called that company as part of a business development exercise. The company has talked about the role that they have on at the moment, then said “if you can find someone send them in.” The agency then puts an advertisement up. Enter you.

 

3) The consultant decided that you were not a good match for the job they had on offer, but decided you were a good prospect for one of their clients. If this is the case, you do have the right to ask the consultants the reasons that they would not put you forward to that role.

 

4) The consultants want to place you, and are falling all over themselves to get you into their clients. So they’ll talk to you about a few things they have on offer.

 

5) Scenario 4) but the consultants neglected to talk to each other, so you end up confused. You would be surprised at how common this is.

 

No matter what the reason for the confusion, the thing for you to remember is that you have a choice about what you do. If you think you’re being sold to, or even if you’re not, you need to do your own due diligence on a role.

 

We encourage you to ask many questions about the role, to help you make a decision. As an agency it is in our best interest to ensure that you are a solid long term match for that role and that company.
We want to know that you as a candidate are making a solid decision as well.

 

Our reputation is at stake, along with yours, if you leave a role too early.

 

Browsing Posts in Recruitment advice

Countering the counter offer – do they really work?

By Karalyn | No Comments

Ok, here at EnigmaHR we want to tell it like it is.

 

Can throwing a bucket full of money at a departing employee really keep them?  Intuitively we don’t think so. Our experience tells us the same thing. It takes a lot to leave a company, even if it’s one you dislike.

 

If an employee is genuine about moving on, and not just on a fishing expedition for more cash, a counter offer may well come too late. If you’re a manager and they are in your office with a letter, they are probably both logically and emotionally detached from your company. Your employee has gone through a long and hard thought process both around resigning and around the pluses and minuses of a new job.

 

We’ve found one of the main reasons people leave jobs voluntarily is that in some sense their trust has been broken. That trust may be about many things. For example – the promise the company delivered in the way they said they would treat them; a promise a company made about career opportunities; or a promise a company made about the possibilities of a job.

 

Counter offers that are just financial may only work as a short term lure, if an employer does not work hard to tackle any underlying issues, or the most important motivation around why people resign.

 

The other reason we’ve found that counter offers fail is that (shock horrors) employees are not always honest when they say why they are leaving. Resigning, even from a bad job, can be hard work, particularly if people are emotional, or do not want to open up a discussion around their dissatisfaction. To say it’s the money, is an easy out in this scenario.

 

If you’re an employer and tempted to make a counter offer there are things to think about. Firstly there’s the impact on your other employees. If they haven’t boasted about their conquest down at the pub, there will be a few people that your exiting employee has confided in discreetly, no matter how carefully worded your confidentiality clause around salary is written. Word will get out that this person has just talked themselves into a big pay rise.

 

So what’s the latest on what it takes for people to be truly satisfied in their roles?

 

People describe cash as the hygiene factor – something that you notice when it’s not there. So if you’re not earning enough money, struggling to pay the bills or satisfy your basic needs, it can be a cause of huge dissatisfaction. However, if you do have enough money, beyond the initial rush of a nice big fat pay increase, then other things start to play a part.

 

Things we’ve found to be big motivations to stay at a job are really just the fundamentals of good people management. Employees feel safe. The feel respected. They believe the company cares about them. They feel listened to. They have the amount of autonomy in their roles that is right for them.