Tips to become an Er of Choice Hiring for Attitude Training for success Improving morale Benefit plans that work Flex work and total rewards

1. Becoming an Employer of
Choice by Creating a
Positive Workplace Culture
Infonex Conference
Sept 29 2010, 3 pm
Calgary
Chris Hylton
CG Hylton & Associates Inc.
chris@hylton.ca
403 264-5288
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2. Agenda
 Tips to become an Er of Choice
 Hiring for Attitude
 Training for success
 Improving morale
 Benefit plans that work
 Flex work and total rewards
Your issues
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3. What do you want out of
our session today?
What type of staff do you hire?
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4. What is an
“Employer of Choice”?
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5. What is an
“Employer of Choice”?
Any employer of any size in the
public, private or not-for-profit sector that
attracts, optimizes and retains top
talent… because the employees choose
to be there
Employees choose to work for your
organization… even when presented with
other employment opportunities
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6. Becoming an Employer of Choice
But does it really matter? Yes!
Nearly half of all American workers (49 percent)
indicate that their companies' brand, or
image, played a key role in their decision to apply
for a job at their respective workplace, according to
a 2001 Maritz Poll.
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7. First Break All the Rules
12 Good Questions
 Expectations  Opinions count
 Resources  Mission
 Do what I do best  Co-workers
 Recognition  Best Friend
 Care  Feedback
 Development  Growth
Buckingham & Coffman, 1999
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8. What Do Employees Expect from
Employers?
 A good working environment
 A chance to make a difference
 Set goals and evaluation
 Support for education
 Respect from peers
 Understanding their needs
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9. Set Goals
According to a 2004 study of
Canadian employee attitudes, only
half of employees say they
understand how their organizations
will assess their job performance
 Employees want to know what the
expectations are of them
 Setting goals for the organization and
with them as workers is imperative
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10. Evaluation
 Employees should know where they stand
 These days most businesses cannot
afford to lose employees
 It is imperative that you get the best from
them
 An employee cannot improve if they do not
know what you expect
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11. Support for Education
 Training – A well designed training
program that maximizes learning
before, during and after instruction
 Partner with local education resources
 Self Directed Learning
 Employees control their own learning
 Coaching and Mentoring
 Improves quality and quantity of work
 Involves investing in your employee‘s
future
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12. Respect from Peers
 This can only be accomplished by
management modeling behaviours
 Good behaviours include open communication
where an open door policy is a fact, not a saying
 Remember, a good attitude from a manager sets
the tone for the organization
 Have you ever called an employee at home
and thanked them for doing a good job?
 How often do we thank employees at work?
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13. Understand Their Needs
Surveys of student attitudes for those
preparing to enter the workforce
 Indicate that young people want jobs that
allow them to pursue their lifestyle and
private interests
 In other words do not be surprised when they
tell you that they need every Monday off to
go skiing between November and March
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14. Costs of Turnover
 Cost of ad Costs After Hiring
 Time cost to receive  Time to train and
and review apps orient person to
position
 Time cost to
 ―Rookie‖ mistakes
interview (your real and time to fix them
job not getting done)
 Lost business and
 Work you need the credibility
person for is not  Potential for other
getting done, before staff problems
and during hiring  Potential termination
 Potential Human costs
Rights complaints 14

15. Planning to Recruit
 Gather info from other stakeholders and
interest groups – needs analysis
 Create ideal candidate on paper: includes
skills, aptitudes and work environment
 Create interview questions that will get
information you are seeking
 Review questions with stakeholders and
other interest groups
 Provide written candidate profile and position
description
 Prepare search strategy
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16. Hiring for attitude
Skills Attitude
can be taught cannot
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17. How students look for work -
IPSOS
1. existing contacts—who they know
2. campus recruitment seminars
3. corporate websites/internet
4. internet based job boards
5. career fair
6. print media ads (no wonder the
traditional way is not working)
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18. Gen Y shopping for
opportunities
Key messages to attract Gen Y talent
Be part of a first class organization led
by an expert team of industry leaders
Work with competent, enthusiastic, and
engaged professionals
Continuously develop your skill toolkit
through exciting projects and initiatives
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19. Gen Y shopping for
opportunities
Key messages to attract Gen Y talent
• Experience a flexible work
schedule, providing peace of mind and
convenience that facilitates your
work/life balance and commitments
• Enjoy a personally and professionally
rewarding work experience
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20. 20

21. More Questions to Consider
for an Ideal Candidate
 Transferable skills – soft (eg. Leadership,
people skills, communication)
 Personal Characteristics - ( Honesty,
Integrity, Etc.)
 Unique Talents/Skills - ( Languages)
 Extra Curricular Activities
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22. Resume Evaluation
 Screen resumes based on ―ideal candidate‖
 Search resumes for transferable skills keyword
 First reading: Yes, No and Maybe piles
 Determine number of tentative interviews
 Telephone screening candidates saves time
 Check some references if permitted – not what
they say, but don‘t say or leave out
 Identify candidates for shortlist
 Interview ―Yes‖ pile
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23. The most accurate way to predict
future behavior is to examine past
behaviour
Rather than ask a hypothetical question
such as ―how do you think you‘ll handle a
busy office?‖
Ask the candidate to relate a past
experience ―Please describe a busy office
you worked in…‖ or ―Tell me about a busy
office you worked in…‖ or ―Can you think
of a time when the office was really
busy…?‖
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24. Tips for interviewing Gen Y
Wrong message Right message
 We hope to have a
win-win relationship
 Wait your turn and
you will climb the  Pursue your goals
corporate ladder along with ours
 There are many  We will help you gain
candidates who as much knowledge
would love to have and skills as you can
this job  We value your hard
work as a creative
individual
Source: Bruce Tulgan reported in Business Week Sept. 16 ‗96 24

25. Recruiting - best phrases
 There aren‘t a lot of  We want you to
rules around here have a life…
 We‘re not very  In our org, ee‘s are
corporate evaluated on basis
 You can do it your of ideas not length
way… of service
 We‘ve got the best
tools and equipment
to help you do your
job
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26. Training for success
What deficiencies, if any,
What are
does job holder have in
Is there a the strategic
terms of skills, knowledge,
need for goals of the
abilities, and behaviours?
training? organization?
What tasks must
be completed
What behaviours are
to achieve
necessary?
goals?
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27. Tie career development to
performance appraisal
 Missed targets due to  Development
lack of skills or tools program to address
gaps
 Has effect of making
the performance
appraisal more
positive – focused on
something neutral
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28. Becoming an Employer of
Choice
In groups, come up a top five list of
factors you would implement in your
organizations to attract talent & explain
why these are important
Discuss the impact.
Pick a spokesperson to give the groups
examples.
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29. Improving Morale
 Ipsos survey
 Top reason for
staying in the job –
like the work, like the
atmosphere
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30. IPSOS Top 5 reasons for
staying in a job
1. like the work
2. like the co-workers
3. like the company
4. learning a lot
5. salary satisfaction
(Yes, this is in order of
preference)
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31. Conduct Discovery Interviews
What?
 Informal meetings, separate from
performance reviews.
Why?
 To emphasize each employee‘s value.
 To understand his/her top motivators, job
satisfaction and any termination risk—so
that you can proactively address any
issues and focus on what really matters.
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32. Discovery Interview Questions
Job Satisfaction
 What makes you want to come to work each day?
Job Content
 Which particular projects/clients/assignments are
appealing to you?
Recognition
 How can I make your day?
Manager Relationship
 How can I be a more effective manager for you?
Retention
 What is the number one reason you choose to
continue working for us?
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33. Benefit Plans that Work
When paying employees it is wise to
think of how to maximize their
compensation
If you give them dollars, it is all taxable
If you give them a benefit plan it is tax
free
If you are an owner or executive of a
company, you should run all your
medical and dental expenses thru a
benefit plan or health spending account
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34. Demographics and Rates
Employee data is the
most critical part of pricing
Basic Monthly LTD Rates Per $100 Basic Monthly Life Rates Per $1000
4
1.2
Basic Monthly Rate
Basic Monthly Rate
3
0.8
2
0.4
1
0
0
Age 20 Age 30 Age 40 Age 50 Age 60
Age Age Age Age Age
20 30 40 50 60
Age Group Age Group
Males Females
Males Females
Source Great-West Life 34

35. Benefit Trends - Flex
Traditional flex plans
are a pain
Health Spending
Account gaining favour
Tax effective
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36. Health Spending Account
 Health Spending  dental 20% of
Account basic and 50% of
 Funded by major restorative
savings  50% of ortho, or
 $ sit in ee name over max
until spent (18  vision
mos max)
 many other
 used for medical applications
dental
expenses, not  tax free to ee
covered by plan 36

37. Common Mistakes
Life Ins premiums taxable
LTD benefit
Plan that encourages
employees to spend, no cost
sharing
No flexibility
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38. Solutions
Have ees pay for Life, medicare
and LTD
Introduce a H S A (funded by hi
deductible)
Have employees share in paying
cost of claims
- 20% of Rx
- 20 – 50% of Dental
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39. Turnover Potential
 Employees say…
– 40% plan to depart within the next year
– 85% „passive‟ job seekers
 Employers believe…
– 14% of their workforce will leave within the
next year
Employers are unaware
that their team is at risk.
Spherion Emerging Workforce Study results, 2005
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(3,200 employees, from 502 U.S. employers)

40. Committed Employees
 Exhibit enthusiasm and confidence
 Talk openly about concerns in a
professional manner w/o complaining
 Go the extra mile
 Responsible to work through issues vs.
blaming others
 Help others succeed
 Resist Recruiters
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41. At Risk Employees
 Lack enthusiasm and confidence
 Talk behind others‟ backs; undermine
leadership and policies
 Do the bare minimum
 Not responsible, blame others
 Don‟t help others, may sabotage
initiatives and systems
 Explore Recruiters
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42. People leave jobs for many reasons.
Most of these reasons fall under
either the “Push” or the
“Pull” Category.
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43. “pushes” include
 Salary too low
 Benefit package not adequate
 Job insecurity
 Commute distance or time
investment is too demanding
 Lack of adequate accommodation
 A person‟s immediate manager is
not meeting the employee‟s needs
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44. Some of the “pulls” include:
 employee becomes aware of a
terrific job that offers more
 family issues call for a change in
location
 employee has a strong desire to
change geographic location
 former manager “recruits” the
person to come work with him or
her
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45. How to know which factors are
impacting turnover rates?
 Opinion or Climate Surveys
 Exit Interviews
(“why” people are leaving?)
 Selection Interviews
(“what” people are searching for)
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46. What are some obstacles for
organizations as they attempt to pinpoint
root causes of turnover?
 Departing employees are reluctant to
burn bridges behind them
 It is safer for employees to discuss
“pulls” than it is to discuss
“pushes”!!
 Why should departing employees
trust the organization to “handle the
truth‟?
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47. What can managers do to pinpoint causes
of turnover?
Keep lines of communication open. For example:
• Establish regular 360 Feedback on
“satisfaction” with manager‟s style and
competencies, etc.
• In conversations, ask questions of individuals
that demonstrate genuine interest in their needs
and issues
• “Debrief” individual and team projects to see
what went well, what was learned, what might
have been done differently, etc.
• Tell people that you (a) value them, (b) want to
keep them around and (c) want to scratch them
where they itch.
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48. Flex work costs you nothing
 Total Rewards
Handout
 Flex work important
part
 Celebrate your
compensation and
perks
 Vary by level
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49. Our offer to you
Please call if you have any HR, or workplace
issue that you are overwhelmed with
We can help you
We also are pleased to do Free Workshops for
your organization (some limits apply) Let us
know what your needs are and we will make it
happen!
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50. CG Hylton - Services
 HR Consulting  Benefits, Pensions,
 Job Descriptions EAP
 Salary Grids  Strategic Planning
 Wellness at Work  Drug and Alcohol
programs
 Staff Morale
 Dept re-orgs
 Training and
Workshops  Leadership
compensation
Tel 403 264 5288
chris@hylton.ca
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51. CG Hylton &
Associates Inc
would like to thank
you for the
opportunity to meet
with you today
Questions?
Chris@hylton.ca
800 449-5866
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