Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Human Resources

We know HR. Read our Human Resources blog archives for stories and best practices from our work with real clients and personal experiences in the world of HR.

What Does Your Candidate Experience Say About Company Culture?
I follow a number of HR groups online. It’s a great way to expand my HR knowledge, see how different companies manage their HR functions, as well as to share my own knowledge and experiences with others.

Recently, while scanning through one Facebook group, I came upon a question that stood out. “Do you think it’s ok that managers are consistently late for interviews and leave candidates waiting for 15-20 minutes?”

Reading through the comments, many respondents addressed the base issue- No, you shouldn’t make a habit of being late for interviews. But none addressed the impact that doing so could have on the organization and its reputation, or in other words, how candidates viewed the company’s culture.

The candidate experience is critical to any organization in order to hire and retain top talent. And it starts as soon as a candidate clicks on a job posting. Here are some questions to ask yourself about your candidate experience and how it reflects your company culture.
1. What does your job posting say about your company culture?
2. Is your application process quick and simple, or do you require candidates to fill out screen after screen of information that you can probably pull from their resume?
3. Once an application is submitted, do you send a “Thank you for your application” response? How quickly do you review and respond to applications? Do you notify candidates in a timely manner if they are not selected?
4. When the candidate arrives for an interview, how are they greeted and are the interviewers prepared for the meeting? Are candidates left waiting on a regular basis?
5. If, after the interview, you decide you like the candidate and want to continue to move forward, do you give them a tour and introduce them to other employees?
6. You’ve made an offer and they’ve accepted. Now what? Is there contact between the time they accept the offer and their start date? That may include sending them pre-hire paperwork, providing them with their orientation schedule, or simply having a few members of the team they will join reach out to introduce themselves.
The candidate experience is a great reflection of an organization’s culture. If the experience is a great one, candidates will think highly of the organization and want to join that culture. If the experience is a bad one, you will not only lose that candidate to another organization (maybe even a competitor) but you’ll earn the reputation of a company that doesn’t value candidates, and in turn, employees.

Does your candidate experience reflect your company culture?
March 7, 2019
The Office Design that Promotes Productivity, Collaboration, and Cost Savings

Much has been said about the open office floor plan. The concept arose out of Silicon Valley and became a popular way to supposedly create “collaborative” work environments where innovation happens. Oh, and as an added bonus, companies saved a lot of money designing office spaces as open. I’m not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg- the realization that money could be saved this way, or that “collaboration” and therefore innovation would thrive in this type of design.

But in many studies, including this one: The impact of the ‘open’ workspace on human collaboration, it was found that “Contrary to common belief, the volume of face-to-face interaction decreased significantly (approx.70%)” in examining two different corporate headquarters transitioning to more open office spaces. The electronic interaction increased, leading to what would be contrary to what you would think would happen. People in this type of environment socially withdrew from co-workers instead of increasing their interaction.

In addition, the lost productivity of open office spaces has been cited empirically to reduce productivity. “An Exeter University study showed they actually create a 32% drop in “workers well-being” and a 15% reduction in productivity.” The loss of productivity eliminates any financial gain that decreased square footage provides in an open office design.

So, what do you do? Ditch the open office? And in favor of what? Back to the cubicle farm? The answer would be “no”. As a recent Inc. Magazine article suggests, working from home is one good option. It enhances the cost savings for companies even more. In addition, the article also cites how work from home arrangements make people more productive and happier.

We have no office at Horizon Point. We work from home and at client sites and at the local coffee shop- on our own as well as in group meetings. As we grow, I’ve considered the need to rent or purchase office space. The last time I mentioned it to my team, one person looked at me like if you make me come into an office and do all my work from there and I will quit. And when I think about it, I might quit too.

The truth of the matter is asking, where does the best work gets done? And the answer isn’t any one type of office arrangement. Different environments breed different results depending on the work or task at hand.

As cited in the February cover story of FastCompany, “’People have different needs throughout their day and throughout their life. They might need to focus at a certain point and talk to someone at another point.’”

With this reality at hand, it makes sense that the best office space is not one at all, but many. And the key is for leaders to manage in a way that gives employees the empowerment to match the type of work they need to accomplish with the environment that best suits it.

Tomorrow my office will be at the gym where I will read a business book while I’m running on the treadmill. The one I’m currently reading relates to a new presentation I’m working on about how to implement a values-based culture. Next, it will be in my car as I return a few calls after dropping my kids off at school. Then, on to the local coffee shop where I can have some background noise but a limited distraction to revise training content for a client and create verbiage for collateral pieces for our new business. Then, I’m on to a client site for lunch and a meeting in order to finalize some training content we will use with their team in the next week or two.

Obviously, there is some work that doesn’t allow us to choose where we do it. If you are running a multi-million-dollar press making parts for a car, let’s say, it’s not likely you can do that from your own car or the café (yet).

However, when we don’t assume one trend or style fits all, we begin to mold a better office environment and work culture where people can do their best work.

Where will you be getting your best work done today?

March 5, 2019
What does Culture have to do with a Job Fair?
A friend of mine once shared with me a story of leaving a job to pursue one that seemed like a great opportunity. Soon after taking the new job, she discovered the culture was a nightmare. The company owner had terrible temper and was not necessarily following appropriate guidelines for the business they were in. Needless to say, it was not a culture fit for her and she moved on to find another job. When determining your next career move, culture should definitely be a considering factor.

In the next few weeks, we will be talking about culture on The Point Blog. What do job fairs and culture have in common? More than you realize. Although it may be cliché to say it, but when you have an opportunity to interview or interact with a potential employer, you are sizing them up, just as they are you. Job fairs are one opportunity to determine culture fit.

Here are a few do’s and don’ts to help prepare you for your next job fair (including factoring in culture fit):

Do:
- Research the company (including mission, values, products & services, available jobs and hiring managers). Check out company websites and hiring manager LinkedIn profiles to help you get started.
- Bring copies of your resume.
- Dress for success (and take a bath!)
- Prepare an elevator pitch – Don’t have one? Check out Networking During the Holidays to help you develop one.
- Ask questions – remember you’re not only there to find a job but to also determine culture fit.
Don’t:
- Bring your mom – unless she is applying too, leave parental units at home.
- Forget to follow-up – that includes applying for the job you are interested in online and/or sending a thank you note when applicable.
Read more of our culture related blogs here (& stay tuned for more blogs about culture!)
February 28, 2019
What to do if ICE knocks on your door…
Immigration is a hot topic whether you have an opinion on it or not. And most people do.

This isn’t a post to comment on to build or not build a wall, but to deal with the reality that immigration scrutiny is on the rise for businesses. Are you prepared as a business leader for what that means?

One reality is that it is harder to get and keep visas for those who are not U.S. citizens. One proposed change being discussed to H1-B Visas is to limit them to only positions that have a minimum salary of $130,000 a year.

And while this is scary, especially for companies that rely on foreign labor to meet their business objectives, another scary reality is that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) audits are on the rise.

According to ice.gov:

In fiscal year 2018, HSI opened 6,848 worksite investigations compared to 1,691 in FY17; initiated 5,981 I-9 audits compared to 1,360; and made 779 criminal and 1,525 administrative worksite-related arrests compared to 139 and 172, respectively; all of these categories surged by 300 to 750 percent over the previous fiscal year.

In addition, fines for audit violations have gone up. You can see the fee schedule here.

So what should you do to have things in order in case ICE shows up at your workplace for an audit?
1. Know that you will have three days (see caveat below) to produce all I-9s for all employees and all terminated employees back three years. In addition, you’ll be required to provide payroll records. Keeping an accurate I-9 file and purging this file regularly when the record retention period ends is important.
2. Make sure your contractors are actually contractors per the IRS standards. Use this checklist here. If they aren’t, and ICE views them as such, you could be required to provide an I-9 for them.
3. Know who the key record keepers are for this information and make sure they understand the audit process and what will be required of them if ICE shows up.
So if ICE shows up, what should you do?
1. ICE will ask you to sign a three-day waiver, requesting you produce the documents requested within three days. Do NOT sign it. This can be negotiated.
2. Call your attorney. This is not something where a do it yourself approach is recommended.
3. Keep ICE being on site as confidential as possible.
4. Realize that if there are findings/violations, handling these can take years. It isn’t a quick process.
5. Know that once you get a response about findings, you can negotiate with ICE on the fines. Call your attorney about this.
In this new age of immigration hyper-focus, it is not an issue of ICE isolating certain industries that are suspected of having a high population of non-authorized workers. The scrutiny is across industries.

Are you ready for an ICE audit if you are subject to one?
February 19, 2019
Employee Health Clinics: A Creative Solution to Climbing Costs

Healthcare costs have risen an average of five to seven percent each year for the last five years. With costs steadily increasing, employers are starting to look for creative solutions to combat this steady climb in costs. One solution many employers have adopted is Employee Health Clinics.

What is an employee health clinic?

It is when an employer or group of employers work with local health care providers to create a health clinic specifically for use by their employees and dependents. The employer usually pays a monthly fee per employee, often between about $50 to $100. Some employers opt to charge employees a small copay for visits between about $5 and $15; much less than they would pay through their health insurance provider to see a doctor. In addition, the employer usually pays or splits the cost of lab work and prescription fees with the employee and those services are obtained by the health clinic at wholesale rates.

How can an employee benefit from an employer health clinic?

As noted above, visits to the employee health clinic are often at no cost or low cost to the employee and their dependents, including lab work and prescriptions. Clinics are usually set up onsite at the employer or in a nearby location. This helps to minimize the time away from work needed to seek medical care, thus encouraging employees to seek care when needed. Many employer health clinics also provide wellness care and have staff on-call after hours.

How can an employer benefit from establishing a health clinic?

By creating the convenience of an onsite or nearby health clinic, employees are more likely to seek medical treatment because they don’t need to take time off to do so. Clinics are often open before and after work hours and/or have staff on-call after hours. For an employer, this helps reduce absenteeism and increase productivity. Preventative care offered by the clinics can help to further reduce these problems for an employer, as well as also help to reduce the number of major health care claims to their primary insurance provider. This allows employers to cut their overall healthcare costs by reducing the annual premiums paid to the insurance company.

Employer health clinics can also help to manage minor worker’s compensation injuries and illnesses, working closely with the employer to get employees back to work faster and determine light duty assignments available when needed. This helps to reduce an employer’s overall worker’s compensation claims.

Many health clinics also provide wellness education including biometric testing, flu shots, and wellness seminars.

Employer health clinics are usually staffed with nurse practitioners or physician assistants, which helps to control the costs incurred to run the clinic. Some clinics have a full-time or part-time physician on staff or on-call as needed.

January 31, 2019