Since August 2010, Caribbean HR Solutions has been providing seamless Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO), Recruiting, Payroll and Business Process Support solutions to new investors entering the business landscape of Jamaica. The company has been making its mark by servicing major players within the Manufacturing and Tourism and Airline industries as well as being a key contributor to the rapid growth in the Oil and Gas and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industries.
We have supported our client base by providing them with our high-quality HR Program Outsourcing, Payroll & Benefits, HR Consultancy, Executive Recruiting, High-Volume Recruiting and Employer of Record (EOR/PEO) services. Our business success is marked by our depth in local and global HR Expertise, the skillful deployment of HR Technology, and a genuine approach to Relationship Management.
As a company we have had a great 2018 and we are thankful to all our employees, clients, shareholders, and partners for their hard work and support. We capped the year off with our 1st CHRS Grand Gala that was held at the Day-O Plantation. As we celebrated this milestone, the Jamaica Gleaner was on hand to celebrate with us. See the link below to their article
“I see dead people”. At work. Duppies, zombies, ghosts, whichever term you prefer. People who are there but not really there…or are they? (Cue spooky music…).
Workplace zombies are those who are disengaged from their companies and their jobs, but still show up for work. They clock-in and clock-out. Present in body but not in spirit; listlessly satisfying the requirements or ‘letter’ of the job, but avoiding any spirited connection with the company’s purpose, mission and people. They were once ‘fully human’, bringing their energy, ideas, and genuine loyalty to their place of work and teams. So what happened to them? What force sapped the life out of these formerly productive souls?
Reasons
As a research project of interest, I had my team conduct a survey to find out what drives individuals to jump off the bridge into zombie-ism. Here are some of the common reasons:
• “The company doesn’t care about me”
This sentiment is voiced by workers who held the company in high esteem when they first joined the organisation. Over time, however, an event or series of events occurred in which the employee’s high expectations were not met. For example, a manager fails to respond fairly or compassionately to an employee’s legitimate personal crisis or need. The employee disengages, emotionally, but due to the monetary rewards, continues to show up to work.
• “I don’t like the type of job I’m in”
Here, the employee accepted the job, and after some time, discovered that it does not fit his/her natural abilities and expectations. Due to the unavailability of a ‘better’ job, the employee disengages, mentally, but continues to show up to work until a new opportunity, or funds to attend training for the new opportunity, presents itself.
• “I’m not rewarded fairly for my job”
Here, the individual believes that the pay received is not commensurate with the work performed, so in short, they are being ripped off. Disengagement occurs and ‘another one bites the dust’.
Why should companies care about zombie-ism or seek to combat it? Because it costs them, literally! Several studies have shown that disengaged workers, similar to sick workers (google “Presenteeism”), who still come in to work perform at a slower pace, make more errors, and negatively impact the productivity of their coworkers. The net result is that the company would be more profitable if both sick and disengaged workers stayed home until they were well, or resurrected!
The discussion on workplace zombies continues this week as the Jamaica Business Development Commission hosts its annual Employee Engagement Conference, an event where hundreds of Jamaica’s CEOs and decision-makers meet to discuss the causes, impact and responses of having an engaged workforce.
According to the Institute of Psychometric Coaching, “Psychometric tests are a standard and scientific method used to measure individuals’ mental capabilities and behavioral style.” These tests, identify if the candidate is a suitable fit for the role that they are applying for. Employers will use psychometric tests to identify specific attributes of the potential employee that would have been hard to determine from a face-to-face interview.
Why use Psychometric Assessments
There are many why employers will choose to use psychometric assessments. Here are 4 of the top reasons.
Helps to ensure you are hiring the right employee for the company
The main benefit of using psychometric assessments is to ensure that you are hiring the right person for the role that you are trying to fill. Psychometric assessments add a measure of standardization and objectivity to the recruiting process that would assist in removing the unconscious bias that is present in the selection process.
Easy to read reports
The results of the psychometric assessments are generally easy to read using simplified and the employer can easily go through the results to gain information about the candidate.
Creates a positive image of the company:
Help to boost the company reputation. Employees are attracted to these modern recruiting practices as they will give each applicant a fair and equal opportunity for the role. As such, the employer is able to attract top talent.
It helps shape your HR strategy
HR relies on a number of different inputs to make decisions with company-wide effects. Psychometric tools can be used an objective data point that can assist in shaping the HR strategy. When it is coupled with the individual job performance information, the psychometric test results can be indicators to help companies with selection, talent management, assessing workforce capability, employee engagement, understanding organizational culture and succession planning with a high degree of confidence.
Here are a few topics should be included in an employee handbook:
Introduction – Begin the handbook by describing your company’s history and business philosophy.
Hours – State the normal working hours for full-time employees, rules for part-time employees, and how overtime compensation can be authorized for those entitled to it.
Pay and salaries – Be clear on how you set pay and salaries and how you raise them. Also, explain any bonus programs.
Benefits – Explain the rules relating to benefits, including vacation pay, sick pay, unpaid leave, and so on. For programs run by an outside provider, such as health benefits, other insurance benefits, and retirement benefits, refer employees to the official plan documents that explain the rules.
Drug and alcohol abuse – Many businesses have a policy prohibiting employees from using drugs or alcohol in the workplace. Some require drug testing; some offer to help employees deal with substance abuse through counseling or employee assistance programs. Include this information in your handbook.
Harassment – Use your handbook to remind employees that sexual and other types of harassment are illegal and violate your policies. Let them know that you will not tolerate unwelcome sexual comments or conduct and that you will treat any complaints of harassment seriously. Specify how and to whom an employee can complain of harassment, what procedures you will follow to investigate complaints, and what actions will be taken against harassers.
Attendance – Emphasize the importance of good attendance and showing up on time. Explain that numerous unexplained absences or repeated tardiness can be a basis for disciplinary action or even firing.
Discipline – Explain the types of conduct can get employees in trouble — for example, theft, violence, repeated performance problems, or fighting. Be sure to let your employees know that this is not an exclusive list and that you always reserve the right to decide to discipline or fire an employee.
Employee safety – State that employee safety is a major concern of your business and that employees are expected to follow safety rules and report any potentially dangerous conditions.
Complaints – Let employees know what procedures they should follow to make and resolve complaints. Designate several people in the company to receive employee complaints, and state that there will be no retaliation against any employee for filing a complaint. Having — and enforcing — a written complaint procedure can help shield your business from liability if an employee later sues for illegal harassment or discrimination.
Electronic communications – Include your company policies on use of email, the Internet, social networking sites, blogs, and so on. Because you may have to read employee communications (for example, if one employee accuses another of sending harassing email), your policy must tell employees that their communications may be read and are not private. If you monitor employee communications, say so.
Workplace civility – State that employees at all levels of the company are expected to treat each other with respect and that the success of the business depends on cooperation and teamwork among all employees.
Do you have a company handbook? Have you reviewed it recently to ensure your policies are updated? Do you need help creating an employee handbook?
Caribbean HR Solutions is Caribbean’s premier HR Outsourcing company providing your HR needs. Email or Call us today for assistance with updating or creating your employee handbook or any other HR related service. Contact us at 1-876-971-7632 or sales@caribbeanhrsolutions.com.
Inlast month’s issue, we identified that: “The average person would rather have a great boss looking out for them than prizes, trinkets and parties”. Improving productivity is directly linked to employees’ engagement with… their boss! So, if you are a leader who is cognisant of the power of your role and who wants to make a difference, what is the single most important thing you can do to ensure you are part of the solution, and not the source of the problem?
Become more self-aware.
Unsurprisingly, many ‘bad bosses’ actually believe they are fantastic leaders. The problem is, they are significantly disconnected from their employees’ perception of them.
Remember Psychology 101: the Johari box? Created by two psychologists in 1955, this theory is a technique that helps people better understand their relationship with themselves and others. Each person’s self-awareness falls into four quadrants, as per the image below.
The challenge “terrible” bosses have is that much of their interactions fall in the “Blind” box. For example: during the busiest time of the day a manager appears on the production floor, shouting work-hard mantras meant to ‘encourage’ staff to hit their goals. He believes he is showing support for the teams ‘in the trenches’. Meanwhile, his staff perceives his ‘ranting’ as annoying, distracting and part of his typical ‘hands-off’ approach. The result? Staff absenteeism increases during peaks, productivity goals are missed, and there is unwanted turnover. Imagine the improvements in productivity and employee engagement if that manager were aware of the impact his approach had on his staff, instead of acting out of the blind box where everyone (including the company purse) loses!
But whose responsibility is it to make the manager aware? Is it the manager’s? Human resources’? The staff’s? Newsflash: staff will rarely volunteer feedback to their boss for obvious reasons, unless the leader genuinely solicits it and creates a safe environment for staff to share.
Leaders: Asking staff for feedback on YOU is the most important thing you can do to increase your own self-awareness and leadership effectiveness.
This week’s challenge: Ask your employees: “On a scale of 1-10, rate my leadership style.” Solicit the presence of a human resource representative to make it a ‘safe space’. Ensure you LISTEN and avoid any statement of self-defence. Then, each time you receive a rating lower than eight, ask the follow-up question: “What would I need to do differently to make that number a 10?” Don’t wait for your company’s annual employee satisfaction survey to show you up. Take the initiative to find out where your gaps are and then address them. In this way, you will have better served yourself, your staff, and your company.
Until next time, leaders keep lookin’ up!
Debra Fraser MBA, is CEO of Caribbean HR Solutions; a board member of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica; a member of the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica, and Society of Human Resources Management. Please direct comments to dfraser@caribbeanhrsolutions.comor www.caribbeanhrsolutions.com
An employee handbook is a great manual to give to new and current employees so that they understand the company’s mission, values, and norms. It will outline for the employees the company expectations in every aspect from the dress code to employee benefits to conduct policy. Creating a company employee handbook will have many benefits for your organization.
Here are five reasons your organization should have an employee handbook:
Introduces your Employees to your culture, and values
The employee handbook will serve to introduce these employees to your company culture and will help them to determine where they fit in. This will aid in creating a sense of pride and belonging, which allows employees to become more productive in a shorter period of time. For the employee, this aspect of the handbook will answer questions such as
“How did the company get here?”
“How do we set ourselves apart from others?”
“What are the company interests?”
“How can the new hire become integrated into the company culture?”
Informs employees of the company expectations
The handbook will provide a clear outline to the employees of their responsibilities. In addition, the handbook will also guide the employee as it relates to the companies policies and procedures. These include (but not limited to):
The procedures for requesting time off or a holiday.
Procedures for unscheduled absence (sickness), whom they should contact, and what the timing should be.
The key people in the company to turn to if they have any questions or concerns.
Expectations regarding employee behaviour
Employee dress code (e.g. uniform or casual Fridays)
Ensures key company policies are clearly and consistently communicated
The handbook should accurately inform your employees about your company’s policies regarding employment, conduct and behavior, compensation and other policies and procedures that they should follow. It will serve as a referenceable resource for managers when answering questions or making decisions by ensuring that they remain consistent with existing policies and procedures.
Informs employees about their benefits
Does your company offer paid lunch breaks, health insurance, paid maternal leave or any other benefits to employees? The employee handbook will ensure that employees are aware of the benefits that are available and eligibility.
Provides a defense against employee claims
For many employers, the challenge of a lawsuit from current or former employers is a real possibility. Once this challenge occurs, however, one of the most important documents that the employer can present to their attorney is a copy of the handbook. A well-written handbook will demonstrate that the company would have exercised “reasonable care” towards its handbook. The employee’s signed acknowledgement page of the handbook will show that the employee had an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the organization’s policies, a chance to ask related questions, knew whom they could turn to for help within the organization, and agreed to follow the terms and conditions of employment set forth by the organization.
Do you have a company handbook? Have you reviewed it recently to ensure your policies are updated? Do you need help creating an employee handbook?
Caribbean HR Solutions is Caribbean’s premier HR Outsourcing company providing your HR needs. Email or Call us today for assistance with updating or creating your employee handbook or any other HR related service. Contact us at 1-876-971-7632 or sales@caribbeanhrsolutions.com.
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.
The most important investments organizations can make are in their people. Progressive organizations understand the importance of establishing best practices across their enterprises. However, when it comes to tracking, managing and paying a large, remote workforce, the best practices model gets compromised by administrative complexities and unnecessary waste.
If your employee scheduling, time collection, payroll and HRIS processes are draining key resources and costing your organization more than they should, it’s time to look to the marketplace for solutions.
After years of struggling with managing workforce and payroll service and other additional administrative services in-house, many companies have learned that outsourcing makes business sense.
There are a number of reasons for this paradigm shift:
Lowers business expenses by reducing labor costs.
Automating and outsourcing workforce management processes results in fewer responsibilities for a business to have to worry about. This eliminates the need for unnecessary labor, such as bookkeeping or administration and allows the business to invest their money where it really counts.
Helps businesses to minimize liabilities.
With constant changes in labor laws and regulations and the intricacies of processes like tax filing, it becomes nearly impossible for smaller businesses to stay abreast of every detail involved. Noncompliance can become a huge problem for businesses, costing them thousands of dollars in penalties and legal fees. However, businesses who outsource these processes can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their service providers stay well-informed with all current laws and regulations to help them remain in compliance.
Increases overall workforce productivity.
Outsourcing workforce management processes enable staff to concentrate on the core of their business’s success by freeing up their time from unnecessary tasks. With increased flexibility, a business can worry less about making sure things like payroll are processed on time and focus more on strategic initiatives that can improve their bottom line.
Allows businesses to take advantage of service providers’ expertise and knowledge.
There are no better experts in the workforce management field than skilled, regional service providers. Equipped with tools and other valuable resources, they serve as local specialists to their clients. Automated workforce management platforms provide a great solution for routine tasks but service providers offer an extra advantage by giving professional insight and tailoring solutions to the specific needs of a business.
Caribbean HR Solutions is the premier provider of Workforce Management Services in Jamaica. For more information contact us at 1-876-971-7632 or email us at sales@caribbeanhrsolutions.com
Despite many companies’ efforts to create a so-called engaged workforce, surveys conducted in a variety of companies in Jamaica and overseas indicate that only 32 per cent of staff are actually actively engaged. But why is this the case?
Employee engagement refers to an employee’s emotional attachment and commitment to an organisation, which manifests in high productivity levels and low employee turnover. The fact is that people work smarter, harder and safer, and stay with a company longer when they are working for managers, rather leaders, who have earned their respect and commitment.
Over the past decade, organisations have chased this concept by implementing various engagement programmes, creating new engagement coordinator positions, and funding engagement budgets. I have worked with companies that give away prizes on a daily basis, over-rewarding basic duties like attendance and completion of core deliverables and throwing elaborate multimillion-dollar parties, but they still have a revolving door, losing between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of their employees each year. Despite the flurry of engagement activities, employee’s emotional attachment to the organisation have not improved. But why not?
The answer is that employee engagement is an outcome, not an activity, so fun activities and prizes won’t do the trick. Throwing activities and cash at a problem is not likely to make it go away, any more than watching exercise DVDs and buying new spandex is likely to make you lose weight. (Trust me, I’ve tried it.) The first step towards improving engagement is to properly diagnose the root causes in the work environment. Time and time again, many root causes point back to gaps existing in the leadership fabric of the organisation. Leadership is the single most important lever and catalyst in improving employee engaging levels! This is the missing link!
Having administered several employee engagement surveys in a variety of companies in Jamaica and overseas, I have found that regardless of size and industry, the correlation is the same: High satisfaction levels with immediate supervisor = High employee retention = Higher productivity and profitability.
The truth is that companies would be better served to focus their attention and investment in ensuring that they foster an excellent leadership culture throughout all levels of the organisation rather than underwriting events, parties, giveaways, games and other gimmicks that frankly can come off as transparent ploys to buy employee loyalty. The average person would rather have a great boss looking out for them than prizes, trinkets, and parties. After all, people are motivated by people. People follow people. And yes, people quit people, not jobs!
So, if you hold a leadership position in your company, how can you ensure you are part of the solution and not part of the problem? We will explore the single most important thing you can do in our next issue.
As an employer, if you have hourly employees, you might be wasting unnecessary cash. GTM Business Blog (2018) identified numerous ways in which hourly paid employees are stealing time from their employers who do not utilize a biometric time clock system. The ways mentioned include
Time Theft
Staying On The Clock For Unpaid Breaks
Punching In For A Co-Worker
Human Error Inflates Labor Costs
Time Theft
On a timecard sheet, it is quite easy for employees to put in a time to state that they arrived at work, particularly if the supervisor is not closely monitoring the time placed. For instance, an employee will state that they started working at 9:00 when in actuality they arrived at work at 9:15. Because that employee’s shift would have started at 9:00 they place that time to avoid the consequences of being late.
Staying On the Clock for Unpaid Breaks
If not properly scrutinized, employees who are not paid for breaks might not clock out for break. In these situations, employers hope that they can place a level of trust in their employers, however, in industries where this practice is employed time theft is also very common.
Punching in for A Co-Worker
For companies that do not use a manual time clock, this situation can occur quite often. Usually, this occurs when an employee is running late and ask their co-worker to clock them in until they arrive. If the manager does not realize what has occurred the employee will be paid for the time even though they are not at work. There have also been instances of the co-worker punching in an employee that did not work at all for the day. This is very costly to the employer is it is both a loss in production but a loss in funds as the employer would have paid for an employee that is not present.
Human Error Inflates Labor Costs
There have been instances of employees simply forgetting to clock out or write down the time that they would have finished work. In instances like that, it is left up to the person to guess the time that they would have left, however, in those instances memory is not always accurate and the employee is likely to “remember” a time that would be in their favor.
So what is the solution? Employers might try to hire more managers that will monitor the employers time. However, this is a costly solution. Biometric Time Clock uses unique attributes that will ensure a reduction of time theft. Dependent on the type of clock chosen they will scan your fingerprint, iris or face as a means of clocking in the employee ensuring that each punch is done by the employee.
Caribbean HR Solutions are proud to be a provider of Biometric Time Clocks in Jamaica that will aid your company greatly in reducing time theft and save you money. For more information contact us at 1-876-971-7632 or email us at sales@caribbeanhrsolutions.com.
