Denis Cauvier – Human Resources & Leadership Expert
What have you discovered is a common trend throughout the world of HR?
I would categorize this common trend as a “missed-opportunity”; my experience is that too many organizations view HR as a cost centre. For over 20 years I have been an advocate of the notion that HR needs to be seen and held accountable as a Profit Centre. We should stop spending money on HR activities and start to invest instead. When we think in terms of investments we expect certain returns from these investments. HR is no different, each investment needs to be analysed to consider the business case rational prior to making the investment and then measured to determine the actual contribution made to the bottom-line. As a consultant and speaker, one of my greatest sources of professional pride is my track record in helping companies reframe their perspective on HR creating specific strategies to maximize their returns on all HR investments will result in reduced time and cost of hiring, increase levels of productivity, reduce employee turnover, enhance customer satisfaction, improve sales, and increase profits.
What are the biggest challenges to hiring and retaining people in a tight labour market?
The biggest challenge is to be able to differentiate your organization among other employers whom you are competing with for labour. The single best strategy is to be seen as the employer of choice in both your industry as well as your community. Consider how much emphasis and effort you invest in your marketing and branding to gain new business and keep your existing clients happy. During a tight labour market you need to invest this same amount of energy and creativity in your “People Branding”. When a company is recognized as being an employer of choice several things happen: one, your good employees value working with you and thus don’t want to leave, and your reputation attracts other great candidates to seek employment with you despite any recruiting efforts.
What mistakes do companies commit which affect the happiness and productivity of their staff?
From my 20+ years experience as an HR practioner, researcher and consultant I have identified the common mistakes made by companies around the world that affect the happiness and productivity of their staff. Some specifics are: managers forget that people are individual and use a “one-size fits all” approach to dealing with their staff. They try to treat their people equally which I feel is a mistake. I believe that your peak performers should receive more of your attention – that managers spend too much time “telling” and not enough time “asking”, and not enough energy is invested in getting people engaged with their work.
How has HR changed over the past 10 years?
HR has changed dramatically over the past decade. Some of the more significant changes are: demographics changes including the aging workforce and declining birth rates in most developed nations and at the same time exploding birth rates in most developing nations; the emergence of four distinctly different age groups working at the same time; the global nature of business with massive mergers and acquisitions as well as outsourcing of labour; plus technological advances affecting the need for skills and knowledge upgrading; the proliferation of internet recruiting, flexible HR policies, employment branding; plus an unprecedented talent and skills shortage that will continue in many countries for the next two decades.
What is the key to pre-screening and selecting the right people for a team?
The quick answer is to “pre-screen for competency and select for character”. What this means is that the entire pre-screening process should focus on answering the fundamental question, “does the person possess the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to do the job?” In other words, are they competent (able) to do the job? Once you are satisfied that the applicant possesses the requisite abilities then the selection process begins. It is here that you need to “select” the best candidate in terms of best fit with the company. To do this you must focus your energies on examining the person’s character, which is made up of their attitude, and personality. The most insightful part of the selection process is the face-to-face interview.
Tags: Denis Cauvier, employees, Hiring and Retaining Good Staff, Human Resources, Retaining Employees
