Every day we get calls from our clients about challenges they are facing at work. As is often the case, most of the concerns we handle are easily avoidable. Below are three common HR mistakes from recent months.
#1 – Failure to Document Critical Conversations – Bob, who owns a small business, called and said that he needed to fire Arnie. Arnie has been around a long time and essentially stopped doing his job about three years ago. Unfortunately, Bob hasn’t documented any of the corrective conversations he’s had with Arnie over the years. So, if Arnie sues Bob for age discrimination, there’s very little evidence to show that the real reason for the termination was poor performance.
To avoid this fate, be sure to document all of the critical conversations you have with employees. It doesn’t have to be formal and it doesn’t have to be signed-off by the employee. But simply making a “note to file” on any corrective conversations you have with employees will enable you to demonstrate to the employee (and a judge if necessary) that you have had specific concerns about performance and have made efforts to address those concerns over time.
#2 – Failure to Have a Proper Employee Handbook – For years, Lilly operated her company without an employee handbook because she didn’t think it was necessary given the small size of her seven-person workforce and she didn’t think a book could help her how to manage her employees. Eventually, she thought better of it and borrowed a handbook from a colleague in another state. But with employment laws varying widely from state to state, she’s not certain whether the handbook she is using is doing her any good.
It’s probably not helping her very much at all and, in fact, it’s probably harming her. She probably is not complying sufficiently with the laws in her state and is instead obligating herself to the laws of another state. To ensure (and prove!) your workplace is compliant with federal and state employment law, get a proper handbook that is tailored for a company of your size, in your state and in your industry. And because laws change frequently, have it reviewed once every one to two years to keep it up to date. Not only are handbooks an essential way to protect yourself and reduce your risk of lawsuit, they are very helpful for communicating to your employees what behaviors and standards you expect of them.
#3 – Failure to Screen Candidates Sufficiently – Jack had just lost his third sales representative in as many months when he called us. All were new hires and none turned out the way he wanted. When we asked him how he had screened them when they were candidates, he told us “I’m a great judge of character – I go with my gut. Then I see what Bongo thinks of them – if Bongo doesn’t like them, they won’t work here.” (Bongo is the office dog. I’m not making this up.)
Properly screening candidates is difficult and it is quite common for a hiring manager to rely on his gut. (Fortunately, relying on a dog’s gut is a little less common.) But those of us who recruit for a living know that one’s gut is usually a terrible predictor of good performance on the job. This is especially true when trying to screen for a sales person who is trying to sell YOU! Our advice is to carefully structure your job interview process, interview in teams and assign team members question topics ahead of time. Ask behavioral questions such as “tell me about a time when you…[add your question here]” and ALWAYS use a professional style assessment tool to deepen your understanding of how a candidates will perform if they are hired. At all costs, avoid using your gut to make a hire.
Alas, the challenges that Jack, Lilly and Bob have are not uncommon. We get calls like these each and every day. The good news is that an ounce of prevention can ensure you can avoid these mistakes in the future.
