Lets ??Sugar Coat it !!! Call it as it is

The rhetoric for all Human Resource Advice and blogs is mostly on how employers, managers, Business owners have to do to retain, motivate their employees. The feedback to employees is also not highlighted and the perspective of the business owner is often hidden due to fear of backlash or being called a " bad boss".?

The new year has come with good problems for us as a business, which has seen an increase in the number of projects that we are handling therefore we needed to get additional team members. The year also brought in resignations and we had to make immediate replacements.?This process of hiring, onboarding, training has not been the easiest. I'm glad to go through this process until we get the right team.

I think we had it easy from 2020 to 2021; as many companies were not hiring and some good candidates were out of work, it was not as tough to get top talent as it is now, even for us as recruiters we struggle!!

I have also experienced challenges as we support our clients as their ONSITE Human Resource Managers- It's not only in hiring but also overall, Human Resource Management.?

Could it be the GEN Z are different? Or could it be the fact that it's tough for small businesses to attract talent??Could it be the expectations of the business owners/managers are just too high?

My Overall Observation

Feedback -?Everything we say has to be really filtered; Most employees or candidates do not want to hear negative feedback, even though the delivery is well done. In our line of business, we give feedback daily - Unsuccessful interviews, Performance, etc, and 97% is mostly met with hostility. Most of the Business owners we work with; shy away from having the termination conversation- most of the time it's because they fear the reaction of the person. Having?Alternate Doors ?come in do the termination will make the process more objective and less stressful.?

In some cases- the business would rather not give feedback because they fear the person will resign, so in most places, bad behavior and non-performance are tolerated.?Most employees know this and they continue with their bad habits.

In general, the person who doesn't want to hear negative feedback as a form of good feedback to help them improve is not a valuable employee.

Etiquette-?Timekeeping, dress code, work ethic - Did working from home make us forget the basics. I have done several interviews this year ( Physical), where 40% of the candidates were late with no prior communication and also some other aspects of their overall presentation were wanting. The majority of the ones who are late are the GEN - Z.?Also the online interviews, most candidates do not want to turn on their cameras ( I find this very interesting).?

If candidates are late or cameras are not on- Just be careful. My personal mantra is don't move forward, you will continuously write show-cause letters, warning letters for lateness. This is a tedious process.?

Herd Mentality-?Once you take unacceptable behavior as the norm, you are in it for the long haul. If the company has policies - it's best they adhere and there are consequences for unacceptable behavior. Once one is accepted, everyone else will also do the same thing and claim XXX also did it.?

One of my clients accepted a new staff member to be taking leave on a specific day every week; This was after the offer letter was signed which had indicated the working days and working hours. Due to this, the staff member had so many disciplinary-related issues, as according to her most of her actions her acceptable. Other staff members also followed suit.

Assumptions and entitlement?-??As we do Human Resource Audits in various organisations; I'm usually amazed by the feedback I get from the staff members. My mum always told me - as a business owner you carry the business on your back; people will always look at the top-level revenue and not the bottom line. Staff members will always want their salary and on time. ( This is quite valid- as that is the contract we signed). However, it's very interesting for staff members to question why the business owner is making certain financial decisions and their salaries have not increased significantly, forgetting that there are other expenses the business has to carry.?

One business owner commented - If the team wants 50% commission on what we get as revenue, that means we are co-owners and they need to provide investment as well and we also share risk and expenses. No one took up this offer.

Salary -??-?Most of the salary negotiations I have been in are based on personal life decisions and not based on facts ( Performance). It's always good to understand the employee's motivation, however, things like salary should come with facts.?I was in a salary negotiation meeting and someone mentioned that they have moved into a new house and they needed a salary review - But what about the performance targets? Have they been met? What does the policy say about Performance and salary review??

Manipulation-??I have gone through this a lot. What I have experienced is that manipulators know how to play the game. For female managers, employees will play - the " My child is sick card"; and most of the time it tends to be a recurring issue; mostly it is as to why they cannot deliver a certain aspect of their role.?

For male managers, employees cry ( especially women), I noticed this makes male managers very uncomfortable and they are sent to HR to deal with the issue, which at times is already approved- because crying was involved.?

If they don't get their way- " Resignation is always a threat".?

I think at times it warrants being called a " bad boss' - Don't accept manipulation.

Affirmation?-?All blogs mention that as a manager, you always have to affirm your direct reports.; however, when does it stop or at least a balance. This can get very draining, especially if the team is signifuctaly larger and the manager always has to affirm each member of the team. At times it feels like you are parenting.

Problems-?Most people use problems as a form of manipulation ( as per the point above). Especially if a new employee comes in from Day 1 and starts to share their problems ( very uncommon for?someone with genuine issues to share their problems with people they have just met).

These problems will never end and these employees will always look for reasons as to why they are not delivering.?

Spoon Feeding?-?Nobody likes to read nowadays. I remember we had a very long session with one of my clients, where she showed me a task list that she does every day so that one of the direct reports can be able to deliver. In fact, the company has detailed Standard Operating procedures that the person has not gone through- the daily occurrence is " You have not trained us". I think it would be easier to train a person who has read something - even on GOOGLE, then they can have questions or clarification.

My concern here is - if I'm spoon-feeding you, then why did I hire you as I am still doing the work myself.?

Most experiences are different. In conclusion, what I have learned from this is 1. Have policies in place, to ensure clear boundaries are in place. 2. Have someone VERY objective to handle these issues. 3. Don't Sugarcoat it- say it as it is.?

Alternate Doors was founded in 2013 as a?Human Resource Solutions Company for businesses and organisations at all stages of their growth. We focus exclusively on the Recruitment of staff, Dedicated Human Resource Manager service, and Staff leasing and outsourcing.

www.alternatedoors.co.ke

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Always in service?

Juliet on behalf of- The Alternate Doors Team