Hiring and Staffing Strategies Leveraging Today’s Employment Market

Southeastern Accounting ShowWednesday, August 18, 2010

3:20 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Cobb Galleria Centre; Atlanta, GA

Dan Erling, President of Accountants One

The Goal

Agenda• The Goal

• Introductions

• Credentials and Elephants

• Strategies for Leveraging Today’s Employment Market

1) Understand your Company Culture

2) Write Realistic and Useful Job Descriptions

3) Conduct Behavioral Interviews

4) Obtain REAL References

5) Improve Retention through On-Boarding

6) Utilize our Unique Hiring Market

• Q & A

• The moment of truth

Introductions

Credentials and Elephants

Our recruiting success rate

since 2003

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Contract

Direct Hire

The Elephant in the Room

The Elephants in the Room

Unemployment is 10% in GA

I run a Search Firm

Strategies for Leveraging Today’s Employment Market

Belief #1

CULTURE MATTERS A LOT

Technical skills account for only 25% of a successful hire while Corporate Culture accounts for

75% of a successful hire.

“The thing I have learned at IBM is that culture is everything.”

-- Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. former CEO IBM

Strategy #1Understand your Company Culture

Cultural Scorecard

1.    Decision-Making 

Guiding question: How are decisions generally made – by consensus or by leadership? 

By Consensus                          By Leadership  1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10 

Cultural Scorecard

2.    Communicating 

Guiding question: How do people relate to each other: in a formal and detached way, or in a more informal, personable way? 

Formal                                           Informal 1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10 

Cultural Scorecard

3.    Procedures

Guiding question: Are you organized around roles (favors consistent procedures) or around talents and skills (favors flexible procedures)

 Flexible                                               Consistent 

1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10 

Cultural Scorecard

4.    Innovation 

Guiding question: Does your company innovate and develop revolutionary products, or does it stick to its core offerings, progressing in

steady stages? 

Revolutionary                                     Steady 1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10 

Cultural Scorecard

5.    Employee Makeup  

Guiding question: Are employees people who seek meaning in their work or are they a resource hired to do what the company wants them to

do? 

Seek meaning                                 Resource 1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10 

Cultural Scorecard

6.    Teaming 

Guiding question: Do you reward individuals for what they contribute to groups, or do you reward groups for how they nurture individual

development and initiative? 

Individuals                                        Groups 1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10 

Cultural Scorecard

7.    Winning 

Guiding question: Is your company a world of competing rivals, or a world of cooperation and partnerships? 

Cooperative                                Competitive 1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10 

Cultural Scorecard

8.    Profits 

Guiding question: How much emphasis does your company put on short-term shareholder value versus long-term economic value for all

stakeholders? 

Short-term                                  Long-term 1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10 

Belief #2

Time spent on a job description on the FRONT END of a candidate search is time well spent.

Belief #2.5Time spent on a job description on the FRONT END of a candidate search is time well spent.

This is more important RIGHT NOW than EVER BEFORE!

 From Jack Welch:Understand: hiring correctly is critical, difficult workAccept: hiring based on your belief that you’re a great judge of people virtually guarantees failure.Commit: to an objective hiring process."Hiring good people is hard. Hiring great people is brutally hard. And yet nothing matters more in winning than getting the right people on the field."

Strategy #2Write Realistic and Useful

Job Descriptions

REALISTIC and Useful Job Descriptions

Objective #1

Objective #2

Objective #3

EVALUATION

Belief #3

Behavioral Interviews are superior to traditional interviews.

From Jim Collins:

Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns

out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.

Strategy #3Conduct Behavioral Interviews

Behavioral vs. Traditional Interview Questions

Traditional Interview

Are you good with Excel?

Behavioral InterviewDescribe an instance where you used Pivot Tables.

Traditional Interview

Are you an organized person?

Behavioral InterviewWhen has your organizational style caused you to miss a deadline?

What project management tools do you utilize?

How did you organize the last project you managed?

Belief #4

You can gather information that is true, insightful, and helpful in a reference call.

It takes a wise man [or woman] to discover a wise man [or woman]. - Diogenes Laërtius, c. 200 AD

Strategy #4Obtain REAL References

Behavioral vs. Traditional Reference Calls

Traditional Reference CallOn a scale of 1 to 10 how good is ____ with Excel?

Behavioral Reference Call

Describe how _____ used Pivot Tables.

Traditional Reference Call

Is ____ an organized person?

Behavioral Reference Call

How did ____ organize the last project he / she managed?

When did ______’s organizational style cause him/her to miss a deadline?

What project management tools does _____ effectively (and ineffectively) utilize?

Belief #5

An on-boarding process is a worthy investment and one that can positively affect retention.

From Peter Drucker:

“People decisions are the ultimate – perhaps the only – control of an organization.  People determine the performance capacity of an

organization. No organization can do better than the people it has.”

Strategy #5Improve Retention through On-Boarding

Onboarding check list sample (part 1):

Department/Payroll Info • W-4 Federal form completed and sent to Payroll • W-4 State form completed and sent to Payroll • Patent Policy Form • Conflict of Interest policy statement • Ensure employee has accessed the Employee Link to confirm Personal Data and to

provide Emergency Notification Contact • Confirm with employee the name and phone number of Employee Relations

Representative Human Resources • Complete I-9• Conflict of Interest Employment Form completed • ID number issued by Human Resources • New Employee Orientation scheduled by HR for __________________ Access Information • Establish Email account • Establish access to appropriate PC access and files • Provide access to Company Intranet • Passwords issued • Establish phone extension • Activate voicemail • Provide long distance access code • Add employee’s name to any email group lists, distribution lists, internal/office phone

lists and/or website

Onboarding check list sample (part 2):

Departmental Orientation and Office Access • Inform staff of employee’s arrival • Set up and clean office space • Obtain office supplies • Establish training schedule • Establish office mailbox • Introduce employee to staff on first day Bring on tour of building/office/facilities including

lunchroom, emergency exits, and restrooms • Indicate location of parking lot / rapid transit station • Provide keys (office, building, desk, file cabinets etc.) • Provide security codes if necessary • Show location of fax machines, copiers, printers etc.; provide instruction and any access

information • Review dress code and office protocol • Explain completion of timesheet • Review pay schedule • Confirm work scheduleRelevant Work Related Items • Business cards • Nameplates • Name badge • Pay card • Cell phone • PDA • Laptop • Uniforms • Manuals/handbooks • Tools • Other _______________________

Belief #6

A company can improve their bottom line through staffing strategies.

Nothing our company does is more important than hiring and developing superior talent.

- Larry Bossidy, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell (retired)

Strategy #6Utilize our Unique Hiring Market

Utilizing our Unique Hiring Market

• Part-Time Contractors

• Temp-to-Hire Solutions

• Flexible Contract Staff

• Reducing/Replacing Salaries

• Upgrading Talent

Q&A

www.danerling.com

The Moment of Truth

Hiring and Staffing Strategies1) Understand your Company Culture

2) Write Realistic and Useful Job Descriptions

3) Conduct Behavioral Interviews

4) Obtain REAL references

5) Improve Retention through On-Boarding

6) Leverage our Unique Hiring Market

VALUE?