Category: Head Hunting

27 Jan 2020

This Means War — Part II by Debra Fraser

Last article we spoke about the effects the external and internal environments can have on team members’ stress levels and how this can manifest into workplace conflict. Emphasis was placed on mitigating potential red flag issues of harassment and tension by implementing effective screening and training measures. However, no amount of pre-employment evaluation or on-the-job behavioural conditioning can compete with hardwired familial socialisation. Values and attitudes have changed dramatically from a generation ago. Employers of choice have had to adapt to a new type of worker since much of what was normal or expected as it relates to working conditions and interpersonal relations are no longer acceptable or, in some cases, even legal anymore. The rules of engagement have certainly changed.

Society & the Workplace

If we are to use the evolution of our collective mentality as a barometer, then we ought to be more realistic about the dramatic shifts in expectations and our approach to handling workers’ concerns and conflicts. The ever-increasing role of HR practitioners underscores the value leaders place in trying to understand what makes employees tick, and more importantly from a business standpoint, what it takes to get maximum productivity out of them. In many organisations, managers and supervisors constantly feel like they’re chasing their tails when it comes to making progress with keeping motivation and positive worker interactions at high levels. However, if society is a reflection of our collective state, then the problem may be even larger than we are prepared to acknowledge, or even equipped to manage. It must be very frustrating for companies who are woke to the cultural and personal issues of their team members, and then invest heavily in training and engagement measures only to be continuously putting out conflict and discontentment fires among staff ranks. It begs the question, ‘what are we missing, or not doing right?’

A Vicious/Virtuous Cycle

Then there is the issue of employees we’ve invested in being headhunted by our competitors, leaving us in a treadmill-like state — putting out much effort but not really going anywhere. If we’re honest, we would concede that the war of attrition often has little to do with a better salary package offer elsewhere. As HR practitioners can attest, it is often the result of poor management. We can attest to how often managers allow good workers to leave because they didn’t lead or guide them well enough. When these team members under-perform, it is they themselves who take the hit when it’s really their superior who pulled the trigger. These kind of conflicts are common in many organisations, which can breed a culture of passive aggressive victimisation — a silent energy sapping, productivity killing disease in the war against workplace conflict. However, the mission is not impossible if leaders and workers are on the same page and are committed to a strategy of peaceful resolution and not make confrontation their first course of action.

 

Debra Fraser MBA, is CEO of Caribbean HR Solutions, a board member of the BPIAJ and the Global Services Sector, a member of the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica, and Society of Human Resources Management. Please direct comments to dfraser@caribbeanhrsolutions.com or www.caribbeanhrsolutions.com

 

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http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/career-education/this-means-war-part-ii_185428?profile=1270

12 Mar 2019

The Big O

In a world still characterized by patriarchal domination, it’s natural that the working world also reflects disparity when it comes to women in top corporate and government positions. That inequity is equally evident when we examine the statistics about equal pay for equal work. However, much has changed over the last few decades, albeit slower than many would prefer.

Having said that, it’s both useful and inspirational while celebrating International Women’s Day to recognize the impact and contribution of women in business in particular.

Opportunity

We can certainly appreciate the handful of women now leading countries like England and Germany and champions of industry like Mary T. Barra of General Motors or local mavericks like Paymaster’s Audrey Marks. Some more household names of pioneering women include iconic fashionista Coco Chanel, Huff Post’s Ariana Huffington and of course Oprah Winfrey. You know you’re in another league when you only need one name to be recognizable. And who doesn’t know about Oprah and her story of tragedy and triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. From being abused as a youngster, racially stereotyped and being paid less as a TV co-anchor for the exact same workload as her male counterpart, she is the epitome of a global icon fashioned in her own image. But her rise and continued success is much more about substance than it is about personality. After being headhunted as a budding journalist, when she in turn became an employer she also had to utilize  talent acquisition strategies to create the right team for her vision, brand and companies Even super women need the support of smart, capable people around them. The big O is powered not just by her persona, but the personnel she surrounds herself with.

Outstanding

The phrase ‘dance ah yaad before you dance abroad’ comes to mind as a stark reminder of the  wealth of local doyennes staking their claim at the Jamaican dream through innovation, industry and just plain grit. It’s never been easy navigating in what remains a man’s world. Still, it doesn’t require too much surveying of the Jamaican landscape to identify women on top of their game. One such standout is Sutherland Global’s Odetta Rockhead. As vice president and country head for one of the world’s leading business process outsourcing companies, she took control of her own destiny and a male-dominated industry after overcoming great personal and professional challenges from an early age. So much so that by her early thirties she was leading a team of hundreds and generating growth and income levels previously unheard of in the annals of the local business process outsourcing industry.

There are many other awe-inspiring stories about triumph and innovative leadership by women who refuse to be limited or defined by traditional gender expectations. So as we celebrate women everywhere, we also acknowledge and show appreciation for the men whose partnership and leadership makes greater life and workplace parity possible.

Until next time, Leaders Keep Lookin’ Up!

Debra Fraser M. BA, is CEO of Caribbean HR Solutions – a leading HR Outsourcing and Recruiting firm, a board member of the BPIAJ and the Global Services Sector, a member of the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica, and Society of Human Resources Management. Please direct comments to dfraser@caribbeanhrsolutions.com or www.caribbeanhrsolutions.com

 

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30 Aug 2018

Why should I use an executive recruiter or an executive recruiting firm?

Many companies take advantage of the services offered by executive recruiters and executive recruiting firms to aid them in finding high-level candidates. Executive recruiters are skilled specialists in the recruiting field who can find and fill those critical management level positions. But why should I use an executive recruiting firm to fill my executive level roles?

Here are four reasons you should use the services of an executive recruiter or an executive recruiting firm.

  • Executive Recruiters have a network of contacts

Executive level candidates are scarce and the positions are usually hard to fill. Why? Many executive level candidates are not actively job-hunting. They are typically already gainfully employed and might not be thinking about a new job. This thus not mean, however, that these candidates would not be open to a new opportunity. They would be open the opportunity was available. In-house human resource departments have a limited number of contacts when compared to a wide net that is available to an executive recruiter. Executive recruiters know what is happening in the employment marketplace and the client’s industry and are better positioned to make calls and contact with the right candidates for the role.

  • Executive Recruiters weed out the “Bad” candidates

Once you post a job advertisement, be prepared to be bombarded with many unqualified candidates that will email, call or message on LinkedIn at the office. No matter the method that is chosen, the one thing that is in common with these persons is that they are not qualified for the job. Your company’s HR department being occupied with the influx of resumes and applications will struggle in making any substantial progress in its search for qualified candidates in addition to keeping up with their everyday tasks. The Executive Recruiters will trim and narrow down all applicants that have applied, and provide you with the three best-qualified candidates for the role.

  • Executive Recruiters are Confidential

Some job openings that are available for organizations can leave them particularly vulnerable, thus requiring a certain level of confidentiality when filling that role. Whether it is an existing position that is to be filled or a newly created position due to a new market opportunity, the process must be kept confidential from either the existing job holder or from the client’s competitors. This confidentiality is important in keeping everyone unaware of any management shake-ups, new products or new market initiatives. Search consultants value the highly sensitive information they become privy to during the search process. They are acutely aware and respectful of their client’s vulnerability which would be reflected in the recruitment process from advertising to screening.

  • Executive Recruiters save Time and Money

Steve Viscusi in his blog identified that “the benefit of using an executive search firm can be weighed against the cost of preparing and executing an advertisement/recruitment campaign, screening and qualifying candidates, and operating without a needed employee for an extended length of time compared to the relative insurance of getting the right person for the job.” As discussed before your company’s HR department can be filled with resumes and applications taking time away from everyday tasks.  Mark Wayman in his blog post asks these critical questions “Would you rather run the business or sort through the resumes of unqualified candidates? Is it worth it to have an Executive Recruiter save you a hundred hours of interview time by providing the three best candidates? If you hire the wrong person on your own and they leave after six months, how much does that cost? In the long run, it is more cost-effective to hire the right person the first time around.” Using executive are an investment in the improvement of the quality of an organization’s managerial personnel and thus an improvement in the organization’s productivity.

Caribbean HR Solutions has a team of experienced executive recruiters in Jamaica that will help you to fill those management level positions. For more information feel free to contact us at 1-876-971-7632 or email us at sales@caribbeanhrsolutions.com.

 

14 Jun 2018

Smart Ways to Manage Older Employees

Managing a team can be very challenging for anyone.  It does not matter if you are young and inexperienced or older and more experienced.  Perhaps the second situation might be slightly easier to handle.  Teams come with different kinds of skills, personalities and ages.  It might get a little awkward and uncomfortable if you have to manage a person who is older than you.  This is so because you assume that this person has more experience, knowledge and confidence than you.

There are 5 tips you might want to consider in such situations.

You have been given this job for a reason

Don’t you ever forget this.  You might perhaps want to have this inscribed on your desktop, so that no situation at the workplace can get the better of you.  You got this job for a certain reason, for the skills and the strengths that you bring to the table, as compared to the others.  Also, older employees’ priorities might be something else at this point in their careers.  It is a good idea to be patient and assertive, rather than being pushy.

Minimize friction

You should be very clear in your head and in your communication to your team about what you want them to achieve.  Adopt a democratic style of leadership which keeps friction in the team to a minimum.  By focusing on tasks rather than uncertainty and emotions, you indicate a clear direction and reasoning behind your requests.  Create an amicable environment where everyone is moving in the same direction together.

Do not underestimate the power of the elders

The elders bring a lot of experience to the table which you can use.  In life, there is not enough time to make all the mistakes yourself.  Learn from the mistakes of older employees and make use of their knowledge.  A good leader acknowledges the strengths of each member and their contributions to the vision of the team, thus recognizing their importance and making them feel good.

Understand what makes your team tick

It is very important to know what makes your team happy, what motivates them, what keeps them going and how to get them working hard.  Respect their opinions and find out from them how they would like to be managed.  Having the right conversations would help in bringing clarity to what makes them tick.  Older employees definitely want to learn and stay relevant and supporting them in the right way with appropriate development plans and meaningful rewards helps in building a motivated workforce.  At this point in their careers, they might be looking for flexibility rather than money.

Getting the best out of your team

As a leader, if you are clear about the vision of the team, the direction in which they are going and robust plans to back them up, you need not be intimidated by older or younger employees. Age is just a factor.  Create a healthy and motivated environment that uses the different skills that each employee brings.

Any workforce would definitely have a couple of employees who are older than their managers.  All it takes are smart and wise ways of managing them without making anyone feel uncomfortable.

 

For more info:

06 Jun 2018

4 Tips That Attracts Good Talent

1. Teach Your HR Team to Be Active on LinkedIn

Most of the time, talented candidates are already employed and aren’t actively looking for new opportunities. But you can find them on social networking platforms like LinkedIn where they show off their skills and share their expertise. That’s why your recruiters should create a LinkedIn profile for your organization and share news about vacancies. A well-written job description will attract talent hanging out on the network.

All members of your HR team also need to optimize their personal LinkedIn profiles so passive candidates can find them. Make sure your recruiters know how to effectively search for LinkedIn profiles of professionals who have the right skills and qualifications. Once they identify these candidates, recruiters should have engaging recruitment messages on hand so they can approach and target these professionals.

“If you’re after candidates with niche skill sets, consider building a candidate database. Your recruiters will be able to keep track of professionals and respond quickly to candidates who apply for a position.”

2. Keep Your Recruitment Process Short

Glassdoor recently revealed that the typical hiring process lasts around 22 days.  If you ask any candidate, they’ll tell you that three weeks is way too long. A recruitment process that drags along will never attract and engage talent. A slow response from your team won’t keep talented candidates interested in your offer. And other employers might snatch these candidates out of your hands.

How can you shorten your recruitment process? Here are some key strategies you should start implementing in your team right now:

  • Make your careers website mobile-friendly – candidates like to check new job offers on mobile devices, so reach them by optimizing your content for mobile.
  • Ensure that your team reviews applications daily – you can’t afford to lose talented leads who come knocking at your door. Recruiters need to pay close attention to incoming applications and address them promptly.
  • Schedule interviews as soon as you accept a resume – your HR team should quickly respond to applications from talent and be flexible in adjusting to their schedules.
  • Follow up with candidates on a regular basis – talented candidates need to be informed about their current stage in the recruitment process.
  • Don’t hesitate to present the offer when the hiring manager agrees to hire a candidate – recruiters should be quick in following up with an offer. It can be the same day or a day after. Otherwise, they risk losing the candidate to another company.

3. Personalize Your Hiring Process

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that recruiters should personalize their communication when hundreds of candidates apply for vacant positions. Personalization is a challenge, but your team should never forget that resumes represent real human beings who deserve respect. Talented candidates spend a lot of time crafting their resumes and tailoring their applications to match the job description. From their perspective, it’s fair to expect a personalized approach in return.

A cold and impersonal recruitment process will inevitably damage your employer brand. You’ll never attract the type of candidates that you’re trying to source. Help your HR team realize that every time they get in touch with a candidate, they’re representing your company. The hiring process should be efficient and transparent. That’s how you build a positive employer brand that catches the eye of top talent.

4. Emphasize Return on Investment (ROI)

A recent report showed that companies that actively source talented candidates can boost their revenue by over 200% compared to organizations that don’t engage in such activities. That’s why your HR team should stop focusing exclusively on candidate skills and qualifications, and look instead into their quantifiable achievements. If a candidate writes on their resume that they’ve increased sales by 12%, your team can bet that they will achieve similar results in the position they’re trying to fill.

Your HR team needs to have a good understanding of how significant ROI and revenue are for your company. They’ll look for candidates who can streamline processes and optimize them to impact your bottom line.

Key Takeaway

Attracting, sourcing and engaging talent is a top priority for every organization these days. You need a smooth and personalized recruitment process to engage these passive candidates efficiently, especially if you’re searching for unique skill sets. Use these four strategies to teach your HR team how to hire the most impressive talent in your niche.

 

For more info:

 

29 May 2018

Inside Knowledge about the Recruiting Process

The recruitment process comes about because of a need for employees by an organization to carry out different tasks. Once the need arises the recruitment process has been initiated. In order to understand what the recruitment process is all about, lets firstly set the foundation by having a concrete definition of what the recruitment process really is. Recruitment is a systematic process of finding and hiring suitable candidates, from within or outside an organization, for an open job post in a timely manner. The recruitment process can be a long and exhausting process, however with a strategic team, the process can be finished in the shortest possible time. This process can be summarized into five easy steps.

  1. The first step is analyzing. Within this step, the organization that needs the candidate does their research to see how many spaces they need to be filled and what positions are to be filled. This is a very important step, as this step analyses the job description for the open positions within the firm. Without a job description things are like a train at top speed that has lost all control, so it is very imperative to have the job description sorted out.

  2. The next step is the attraction. Within this step, the necessary tools are used to drive interested candidates to apply for that job. Without this step, there will be no candidates to be considered for the position.

  3. The next step involves screening the candidates. Within this step, the candidates undergo a preliminary interview, that determines who has the required set of qualifications for the specified job post. This step is also important as it reduces the number of unqualified applications sent in to the recruiter.

  4. The fourth step involves doing a more in depth interview that will really determine whether or not the applicant is able to fulfil the requirements of the job.

  5. And the final step involves assimilating the qualified candidates within the position within the organization.

As stated before, the recruitment process can be very tedious without a very strategic team as Caribbean HR Solutions. As such we are always ready to take that burden from your shoulders, and do the recruiting for you. We have filled both small and big gaps, so come in and have a conversation with us today. 

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23 Apr 2018

Industry Talent Composition & Improvement Areas to Foster Growth

The 1st Outsource2Jamaica Symposium & Expo was held on April 11-13, 2018 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, Montego Bay, Jamaica.

This BPO event hosted by the BPIAJ (Business Process Industry of Jamaica) is the 1st of its kind to be held in Jamaica bringing together a diverse group of global experts, technocrats, local entrepreneurs, Government officials, BPO leaders, buyers and service providers at the first ever Outsourcing Symposium and Expo in Jamaica. It was a great opportunity to network and interact with key stakeholder’s in the BPO industry and listen to presentations made by experts in the industry.

Debra Fraser, CEO for Caribbean HR Solutions, presented on “Industry Talent Composition & Improvement Areas to Foster Growth”. She examined the need for training in the BPO sector and possible improvements that could be made to the existing training avenues. She highlighted the importance of having pre-trained candidates and the need for assessments to determine the skills and talents of individuals prior to training as this will help to boost productivity and profitability.

 

Here are four steps that need to be used by the training institutions and the organizations in the BPO sector to ensure that they receive the best performance from their employees.

  1. Better Pre-Assessment of natural giftings, skills, and attitudes and desire.
  • Assess #1- What industry and job is this job-seeker best suited for? BPO, Finance, Hospitality? Entertainment? Construction? -assessed for industry ‘fit’ – not just typing and talking, but a deeper and more objective assessment of natural proclivities
  • Assess #2 – If the person is suited for the BPO industry, what type of BPO job are they best suited for: Sales? Collections?  specialized in areas like Customer Service, Sales, Collections and Technical Support, comprising while others Virtual real estate schedulers, remote data analyst, remote payroll administrators, virtual Executive assistants,
  1. Use objective assessment tools. i.e psychometric assessment, computer-based test etc
  2. Use technology to ensure the assessments can be fairly administered and administered in mass. If you have the discipline to screen persons ‘out’, then you will need a much higher number of persons to screen in order to supply providers with necessary requirements. We have developed a Prescreening Psychometric screening tool, cloud-based skills and personality assessment which our clients use to ‘weed out’ and find the best candidates.
  3. Begin to use the same objective approach in selecting and accepting students for supervisory and leadership development courses. here is a large training gap in the BPO sector particularly as it relates to the training of middle-level management. Some BPO companies, for instance, Sutherland, Teleperformance, and Startek have invested heavily in training and development internally and this has contributed significantly to their sustainable growth.

 

In Summary, finding the right fit requires employers to source true talent. Employers in the BPO industry can achieve a greater ROI when more time, effort and resources are invested in effectively assessing raw talent by leveraging the use of technology and specific assessment tools.

 

 

18 Apr 2018

Working Your Way Through Talent Management Crisis in Jamaica by Talent Management Expert Debra Fraser CEO Caribbean HR Solution

Jamaica BPO Stakeholders Communicate Honest, Actionable Awareness of Talent Crisis

Jamaica BPO has been reaping the benefits of a desirable workforce, low wages, and cultural alignment with US customers, but talent is still a challenge, and the industry is vocal about it.

Whatever caused it, BPO buyers are now paying very close attention to Jamaica, with companies such as Amazon, Lyft, Hilton, and AT&T betting big on the sector. As a result, the country is under close external scrutiny, leading local stakeholders to identify what is holding Jamaica back from the next level.

As the third largest English speaking nation in the Americas, Jamaica and its BPO sector have been capitalizing on the benefits of a desirable workforce, low wages, and cultural alignment with US customers, but greater demand for talent is where the difficulties lie. As client demands also become more technical, Jamaica’s meager IT talent pool has become another top concern.

Offering another potential solution to the training deficit, Debra Fraser, CEO of Caribbean HR Solutions presented some examples of where technology is successfully being used to create a better fit between agents, employers, and roles.

“We need leaders that will bring the entire labor force up, and there are lots of tests that can help with that by identifying the right people to invest in,” she said. “We don’t just want the masses, we want quality masses, and we can do that with technology and objective standards. Pre-screening tests can weed out non-fit and high performers, along with tools that measure personality fit, basic skills in grammar, logical reasoning, math skills, and whether a person suits sales/outbound or service/inbound. I haven’t yet seen many companies use any of these in Jamaica.”

What is clear from the O2J conference is that Jamaica has a remarkable willingness to adapt, a willingness to find business, the country is open to change, and people are empathetic to the customer. These are all traits that clients want in their providers and agents, so, if the puzzle of healthy talent development is solved, particularly on the IT side, these core values will ensure the country retains its upward trajectory.

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05 Mar 2018

Article: Jamaica Grapples With Senior Management Gap By Debra Fraser

Jamaica Grapples with a Common Symptom of Growth: The Senior Management Gap

As Jamaica continues to make great strides in BPO, the island is reportedly experiencing a talent gap that no-one is talking about: senior management.

There’s no doubt that Jamaica is making great strides in its approach to BPO, especially when developing enough talent to fill agent, middle-management, and operational roles, but the island is reportedly experiencing a talent gap that no-one is talking about: senior management.

“There is mature talent at the middle-management level, but still a huge gap at the senior director level and up.” — Debra Fraser, CEO at Caribbean HR Solutions

“There is certainly a mature talent base in the middle-management level of HR and operations, but not so much at the senior director level and up, where there is still a huge gap,” said Debra Fraser, CEO at Caribbean HR Solutions, a Jamaican specialist firm in HR outsourcing.

Fraser and her company have been in business since August 2010, starting out with a small BPO operation in the Montego Bay area. Hailing from the BPO industry in Canada, Fraser worked with US clients before coming to Jamaica, where she has been supporting BPOs such as Sutherland, Ibex, and Concentrix with mass recruitment initiatives and HR-specific consultations.

Today, she is educating her BPO clients on the realities of the Jamaica talent pool, and helping to improve the quality of their people, whom, she says, are sometimes taken for granted, leading to an issue that has gone under the radar.

Reasons for the Gap in Senior Management

According to Fraser, one ingrained aspect of the Jamaican work culture that has caused this trend is an aging model where companies “manage down”, instead of today’s approach of serving the production line staff and empowering them in their roles as a means of motivation and retention. But the industry has since come around, and the knowledge pool is getting deeper as a result.

“In terms of people who know best practices in managing and retaining staff, it’s 100% better than it was 5 years ago,” said Fraser. “And while there has been great collaboration between the government and the industry to increase the talent pool, both in numbers and quality, no-one is really talking about the gap in leadership.”

Fraser believes that the operations manager level is “robust”, and that clients are very impressed with middle management, but also that there is simply not enough senior management talent to meet the rush of BPO growth in Jamaica.

This is clearly a real challenge, so companies are coming up with creative strategies to overcome it.

See full article at:


Jamaica Grapples with a Common Symptom of Growth: The Senior Management Gap