Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Work

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative outside, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work.

  • Re-thinking Pre-Employment Screenings

    Re-thinking Pre-Employment Screenings

    I recently attended the first Reentry Leader Conference held in Birmingham along with Mary Ila and Emily. It was a great opportunity to hear from leaders around the state on what employers can do to help those who are justice involved become gainfully employed. As part of the conference, we heard success stories from employers who had programs to employ those coming out of the system.

    As employers struggle to find talent due to the extremely low unemployment rate, as Governor Ivey stated last week, we need to move to focus attention on the labor participation rate and getting people into the workforce who currently are not. Those who are justice involved make up a large percentage of those individuals.

    So I challenge organizations to rethink their use of background checks. I have worked with many clients who don’t fully know why they use background checks and worse yet, don’t have a definitive answer as to what disqualifies a candidate. So how can your organization rethink this and become a second chance employer?

    1. Ask yourself why you use background checks. The first question I ask clients is WHY. Why do they use background checks in their pre-hire process. Is there a business need to conduct background checks, are they in an industry where hiring someone with a criminal history could put clients at risk (i.e. healthcare), is it due to contract requirements or security clearances, or is there some other business reason that justifies the need.
    2. If you need to run background checks, what disqualifies a candidate? The first part of this question is how long should your lookback be? This will be dependent on why you need to run background checks, but you need to establish a reasonable lookback period based on those business needs. The second part of this is creating a list of what types of offenses will disqualify a candidate and what’s the justification for adding that offense to the list. For example, any type of violent offense may be justifiable, but past drug offenses may not be.
    3. Consider what positions you run background checks on. Keep in mind that if you need to run background checks for a justifiable business need, you do not have to run them on all new hires. You can run them only on positions that meet that justifiable business need as long as you are able to justify that decision and that you are consistent in running them regardless of the candidate.
    4. Reevaluate. Reevaluate your process every three to five years or as your business needs change.

    I also challenge you to use the steps outlined above to rethink your drug testing policy. If you currently run drug tests pre-employment, ask yourself what the business justification is for that, as well as if you still include marijuana in the results. I have worked with many clients over the last few years who have rethought their need to run pre-employment drug tests. If you are in a safety sensitive industry, you should still be conducting pre-employment drug screens. But if you’re not in a safety sensitive industry, ask yourself why you need to run them, why you care if employees are engaging in drug use on their own time as long as they are not coming to work under the influence.

    How many candidates could you have hired in the last year if your background and drug testing policies were adjusted to reflect your true business needs?

  • Second Chances

    Second Chances

    Who among us has not needed a second chance in life? Have you been extended that grace? In my life I have been given chance after chance and have needed that opportunity to fail and to learn from those failures. When prisoners are released they are told that they cannot carry a fire arm and will not be eligible to vote but most times are not warned of the invisible barriers that exist in finding a job, housing or transportation. For example, you are good enough to buy a car but you cannot sell cars for a career. You must obtain housing but most will not rent to you due to your criminal record. 

    On June 29th Lorrie, Mary Ila and I attended the first Reentry Leader Conference in Birmingham at the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey. As a subject that is near and dear to my heart, I was excited to hear about ways to help employers afford people a second chance. We have so much untapped talent and potential in Alabama and in the world. Studies show that 77% of our population is justice involved, that’s 32% more than the percentage of people who have college degrees. Depending on state, there are between 2-4 open jobs for every one person available to take that job in the industrial sector. Connecting those jobs to reentrants is critical. Of the 9.7 million reentry each year, only 8% can find employment.

    This is where Reentrycenters.com comes in. They equip participants with must haves such as affordable housing, food, transportation to appointments and counseling and most importantly good jobs. They even offer a free mobile bank for reentrants. Local Auto plants like Mercedes near the Reentry centers employ these workers. 

    During the 2nd chance employer Leader Session, Donny Jones from West Alabama Works shared about Building Hope West Alabama. Their passion is to “provide hope, help, and opportunity to people that are justice involved.” This program “connects justice-inolved individuals with meaningful jobs, as well as the job skills and educational credentials they need for long-term success.” Schnellke is one of the employers hiring people who are justice involved. They believe that everyone deserves a second chance.

    Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb was the keynote speaker. She became judge at 25 and now runs RedemptionEarned.org. It is an effort to help worthy incarcerated adults to become productive citizens. Alabama has one of the highest percentages of the aging population incarcerated. Out of the 4002 total parole hearings in 2022 only 409 were granted parole.Their mission is “to identify, assist, and represent worthy individuals who have spent decades behind bars, demonstrated they are transformed, and earned parole or work release.”

    At Horizon Point we have a people first mindset. We believe that people are a company and community’s greatest asset. As one of the ladies speaking put it, which one of us has not made a mistake that needed forgiveness? How can your organization help to give “people” an opportunity after they have been held accountable for their actions? Afterall, don’t we all need a second chance?

    Need inspiration? Read more from The Point Blog here:

  • Insights from our NCDA Session about: Delivering Career Services to Diverse Populations with Inclusive Pathways

    Insights from our NCDA Session about: Delivering Career Services to Diverse Populations with Inclusive Pathways

    Jillian and I had a great time at NCDA in Chicago this month with our small group! We shared and learned about best practices for delivering career services to all groups.

    We started with a fun beachball toss to learn more about the diversity of the participants in our session. Who knew so many career professionals are introverts by nature! We shared these tips for supporting individuals and groups in their career development journey:

    1. Cater to Your Audience – Do you know your learning style and the style for those you serve? Take The Vark to find out. 
    2. Provide clear expectations while also giving individuals ownership and opportunities to drive their individual goals – Do you use SMART goals? Read about setting them in this article from Forbes.com: The Ultimate Guide to S.M.A.R.T. Goals.
    3. Be accessible and open to feedback – Do you ask for feedback? Here are some tips from a blog post written by Jillian: Feed Your Future with Feedback and Feedforward.

    As a group, we had discussions around having a People First mindset. It all comes down to serving others & meeting people where they are.

    Here are a couple of books we recommended during our session. You should check them out too!

  • How to conduct an effective one-on-one meeting

    How to conduct an effective one-on-one meeting

    I’ve been experimenting with the Ink and Volt One On One Pad to help me organize my thoughts.  I organize around these 4 four pillars: 

    • Current work
    • Future work (business development and proposals out)
    • Short and long term development priorities for the person I’m meeting with
    • Personal needs/support

    I use our Insightly software to refresh my memory on what everyone has going on with the first two (the software calls these “Projects” and “Opportunities”) before the meeting. I record these things on the Ink and Volt pad.  I also take a look at each person’s task list in Insightly before the meeting.  Doing this always makes me keenly aware of how on top of it everyone on our team is.  They are always juggling multiple priorities to meet multiple current and future client needs by living two of our other values- Passion and Productivity. 

    Usually, the person I’m meeting with that is driving hits all of these pillars without me having to.  If they don’t, I circle back around to things I have on my list once they are finished with theirs.  Sometimes the meetings are more focused on one of these things more than the others, but I always try to hit all of them. Some people gravitate towards needing to talk about one pillar over another and it is my job as a leader to make sure I follow their lead on the needs they have.

    1. One-on-ones should lead to a greater team dynamic. We used to spend way too much time in our whole team quarterly planning meetings talking through current projects. Invariably, one or two team members were focused on the project but the others weren’t.  We were wasting other people’s time talking through every project and every proposal as a team. While it’s valuable for everyone to understand each other’s work load, spending thirty minutes of a half-day team meeting on one project in which only part of your team is involved is a waste of time and effort.  Therefore, we have made sure that when a quarterly meeting is coming up, we have one-on-ones the week before if possible.  Needs that involve the whole team come up during the one-on-ones and then can be discussed at the whole team meeting where collaboration needs to take place.
    1. Finally, one-on-ones should focus on open feedback and communication. If tough issues aren’t coming up from time to time (both personal and professional) in these meetings, then something isn’t being done right.  One-on-ones should be a place where psychological safety is being demonstrated- both ways.  If all conversations in one-on-ones are surface level and tactical, then no one is growing.  

    We also spend one or two one-on-one meetings a year facilitating our Leaders as Career Agents process which dives deeper into development priorities, and at times, we schedule a longer meeting if we need to take a deep dive into a specific project, proposal, or issue. 

    How do you make your one-on-one meetings the best they can be? 

  • The Mental Health “Connection”

    The Mental Health “Connection”

    Recently, I traveled to North Carolina for our annual family vacation. On Sunday, we attended First Baptist Church of Bryson City. The guest Pastor brought the house down on that rainy day with a message on love and acceptance. He described the ways in which we used to value connection with one another through meal time and went on to emphasize how important social connection is for our mental health. If you feel connected and cared for, he argued, then love has the ability to heal. 

    That’s wonderful to hear about in Church, but how does that translate to the mental health of an organization or, more specifically, remote workers?  As a person who has experienced the struggle with mental health, I can testify that just today as I sit here from the comfort of my home writing this Blog I’ve had some anxious thoughts and feelings come up. The people that I love are gone for the day and while the silence is useful for my concentration, it can also be deafening and lonely. You see, I need that connection for inspiration and motivation.

    There are many benefits to hybrid work. Forbes said it best “Hybrid creates flexibility in our lives and workplace, which contributes to employee satisfaction and productivity. Making it easier for them to balance their work and personal lives can result in less stress and burnout. Hybrid work allows people to work in a comfortable and familiar environment, which can promote feelings of safety and well-being.”

    However, what goes up must come down, and there are pitfalls to this setup as well. When I began working from home in September, it was an adjustment. Coming from a traditional 9-5 work schedule, the idea of flexibility challenged my thinking. For a few days, I longed to catch up my with my co-workers and to hear the latest news when I walked through the door. You see, I wasn’t missing the stress or rigidity of the job, I was missing the connection with others. It is good for the body, mind and spirit.

    Thank goodness it didn’t take long for me to shift my perspective and see the way that my Horizon Point Team members valued connection as much as I did. According to Gallup analysis, “it finds that engagement has 3.8x as much influence on employee stress as work location. How people feel about their job has a lot more to do with their relationship with their team and manager than being remote or being on-site.”  

    How can your organization create space for mental health or connection in the workday or week while working remotely? Horizon Point uses various touchpoints throughout our weeks and months. Mary Ila and I meet once a week either in person, by phone or virtually to talk through what she needs me to handle. We also have a Monthly Mingle to brainstorm new ideas, discuss plans for the future and to share a meal. Quarterly Planning is a longer meeting where we, for lack of a better term, plan for the quarter. There are also One-on-Ones during the month when we meet with Mary Ila to have meaningful conversation about what’s happening and what we would like to see happening in our careers.

    What I initially thought could be a challenge has proved to be a learning opportunity. The traditional way of working doesn’t have to be my future, and I can still connect with my co-workers in various ways and environments. There are new tools that I have in my toolkit to connect with others, and when I’m feeling a little lonely, there are certainly other ways to find inspiration and engagement rather than in an office setting. 

    At Horizon Point, we value work-life integration, and it turns out that my stress level is much lower. Even on days like today when I have some anxiety, a nice walk or phone call with a co-worker or friend decreases that feeling. I am much more comfortable than I would be experiencing those feelings in an office setting. Therefore, my overall mental health is much more in balance. 

    Does your organization support your mental health? At Horizon Point, I feel connected and cared for, which translates to love and healing.

    To read more about connection and working remotely, browse through these topics at The Point Blog:

    What’s Relationshipping, and How Do I Do It?

    Building the Bridge Between Survive and Thrive in the Workplace

    4 Ways Leaders Can Keep Remote Work Pros from Becoming Cons

    Benefits of Remote Work for Employees