How to Avoid Problems with Recruiting

Knowing your legal obligation in the recruitment and selection process is important. Many of Ireland’s reputable employers have found in themselves in difficulties for the manner in which they handled their recruitment and selection procedures. They include Ryanair, Iarnrod Eireann, Superquinn, Revenue Commissioners, Trinity College, University College Dublin, etc. etc.

Under the Equality Act, 1998 & 2004 a company cannot discriminate or be seen to be discriminating on the following grounds:

·         Gender

·         Civil (Marital) Status

·         Family Status

·         Sexual Orientation

·         Religious beliefs

·         Age

·         Disability

·         Race

·         Membership of the Travelling Community

When recruiting you should take note of the following pitfalls: -

Ø  There can be legal Pitfalls in Advertisements:

A.    Advertisements which declare a preference for a person of a particular sex or civil (marital) status are seen as unlawful.  You can not advertise a job title connoted a particular sex, such as waiter, salesgirl, or postman.

B.    Advertisements should not refer to candidates as young and dynamic as this excludes elderly people from applying for the vacancy.

Ø  There can be legal Pitfalls in Job Application forms:

Job application forms should contain a wide range of questions e.g. on education, training, experience and competence. Questions on marital status, number of children, date of birth, age, place of birth and medical history should not be on the job application form.

Ø  There can be legal Pitfalls in references:

It can be said that while compiling a reference confine yourself to a representative set of factual indisputable statements, which will be on safe ground. Never give a reference, written or orally which you cannot back up with factual evidence.

Make sure that you check up references before the candidate starts with the company. If you receive a bad reference after the candidate has started this will leave you and the candidate in a very awkward position.

Ø  There can be legal Pitfalls in interview questions:

As a result an interviewer cannot ask the following questions relating to the aforementioned points: -

·         How old are you?

·         Are you married? When did you marry?

·         Do you have children?

·         When are you planning to have a child?

·         Which religion do you belong to?

·         Do you have disabilities?

·         Which country are you from?

·         Which race do you belong to?

·         Are you by any chance a member of the travelling community?

However, if the candidates start talking of their own accord regarding the above mentioned points then it is possible to discuss this further. Be careful how you approach these points. If any of the above is mentioned in the CV then this can be discussed as well.

After a candidate has revealed one of these points you cannot dismiss the candidate based on this, unless that particular point prohibits the candidate from fulfilling the post. For instance a person who has a serious hearing problem could have genuine issues working in a call centre answering phones.

The selection should be driven by the key job analysis components and that all decisions and interviews should be held as non bias and objective as possible.  

How to Handle Underperformers

Regularly I get asked to assist with handling underperformers. Very often it has been ignored for too long and now suddenly something has to happen. The manager is annoyed about the employee's recent behaviour, a solution has to be found immediately and if possible a dismissal would be most welcome.Handling underperformers is not a quick fix solution. However it is essential that underperformers are dealt with! If you ignore the issue your company will create a company culture of underperformance. Something you definitely don’t want.  

In tackling the tricky problem of underperformance at any level, it is always important to understand what is causing the performance shortfall. This is critical to decisions on what to do and how to deal with the issues both for the individual and organisation.

The most usual causes of under-performance are:

·         Capability: promoted beyond personal ability to develop and change; insufficient development input either recently or earlier in career; in the wrong role for skills / capabilities

·         Inappropriate attitudes or behaviours – resistance to change – inappropriate leadership style – coasting: doing just enough

·         Interference of background issues: family and marriage

·         Illness – medical conditions

·         Poor management / clarity of direction – being allowed to do the wrong things; unrealistic objectives

·         Lack of support from manager / colleagues / others who should contribute to achievement levels.

·         Substance abuse – alcohol and / or drugs

·         Insufficient self confidence / self-esteem – sometimes related to harassment and bullying.

Managers need to take decisions in handling underperformance. It can often be helpful for the manager to set up and agree a performance improvement plan – a short term performance plan where the manager works closely with the individual. This typically involves frequent meetings to review progress with agreed actions, the provision of personal support and coaching from the line manager. However set a deadline for the improvement plan if let say there is no improvement after two or three months then a more serious action plan needs to be unfolded.

The next step is the Disciplinary Procedure and you need to follow your own disciplinary procedure as described in your contract of employment. Often this is done in conjunction with a development plan but if there are no improvements then written warnings under the company disciplinary procedure will follow. Often there is a wake up and suddenly employee improves considerable. However sometimes the employee doesn’t change his behaviour and eventually they will exit the company.

It is important to have a clear approach when dealing with underperformers and give them the support to change and improve however if this doesn’t happen then there is only one option open to a company...

If you want to talk to me about under performance give me a call at 065 7071933