​In business, we’re often in a rush for results – it’s time to go back to basics.
 
As your company grows, everything becomes accelerated and that can mean losing sight of the bigger picture.
 
With 18% of workers reporting workplace absences due to stress, anxiety and depression, we must look internally to find the inner workings of the workplace which contribute to undue pressure.
 
The business process is the backbone of every company and if all levels of staff are not adequately in tune with what that is, it is liable to disrupt your staff’s well-being as well as your business prospects. 
 
What state is your Business Process Management (BPM) in? How can HR help?
 
 
The In-Betweens of the Business Process  
 
A business process is a set of linked tasks which culminate in the delivery of a service or product to a client.  
 
Due to the connected nature of the business process which joins employee to employee and department to department, staff communication is key to upkeeping its fluidity.
 
Process maps are outdated in that they don’t draw attention to one of the best opportunities for communication; the hand-off.
 
Variation in the way processes unfold will require effective communication between the sender of the information and the recipient.
 
To avoid the inevitable frustration of lacking information, a hand-off agreement, devised by your HR department is advisable.
 
This is a document which clearly states what Person A should send to Person B to effectively communicate information which is essential to the completion of a task.  
 
Planning
 
Curating all stages of the business process will protect your staff from excessive agitation and ultimately optimise your company productivity.
 
One way to plan the business process effectively is supplying staff with formal documentation which will act as a model for effectively managing tasks they undertake and pass on.
 
Creating a digital repository with information on all stages of work and the associated documents relevant to that activity offers clarity to staff about their allocated tasks.
 
By creating a shared space online where interactive resources are made available to staff, process ‘black holes’ in which the company is dependent on one individual for specific information are less likely to occur.
 
Having one authoritative source on the business process complete with a search option to locate specific information, your staff will have a key resource to draw upon in times of confusion. This will free up your HR team to focus on what really matters – your personnel themselves.  
 
​Strategic Leadership 
 
Strategic Leadership begins with a holistic approach to your business process.
 
Your vision can become intangible in the flurry of day-to-day work activity if it isn’t articulated effectively. 
 
Clarifying your vision and setting short- and long- term objectives will help your staff engage with your process with your overarching business objective in mind. 
 
You could consider writing a mission statement to make it easier for staff to keep your vision in mind during the business process, thereby improving its efficacy.   
 
Leadership is about active involvement with the business process, but it is also about allowing others to take responsibility.
 
The business process is a stepwise operation for a reason; delegate to staff that you trust.
 
Rather than sending a request to an employee directly, delegate to the manager of the department to pass on the workload as they see fit.
 
They are likely to know more about the current strengths and workloads of employees and allocate tasks with those variables in mind.  
 
Consider setting up a system of anonymous feedback or monthly one-on-ones between employees and managers; make a review of your business process management the norm.
 
 
In Review
 
The business process is the lifeblood of your company and requires care and attention to upkeep the quality of the product or service you wish to produce. Your HR department can help to deliver an effective process in line with your business strategy.
 
To avoid undue stress and tension among staff, create online resources which adequately explain the business process for staff.
 
By compiling a hand-off agreement, you can manage the transition of tasks between employees and forestall miscommunication and delays.
 
Finally, with great leadership comes great delegation; pass on responsibility to appointed managers to ensure that tasks are in the hands of those most equipped to complete them at any given time.
 
Updating your business process consistently will not only pay dividends for your productivity levels but also for your staff well-being.  

Research by Deliveroo for Business revealed that the Irish employee will attend almost 6,500 meetings on average in their lifetime. 6,500!
 
Besides this staggering figure, concerns over work meetings and how they can hinder employee productivity and their day-to-day experience of the workplace have been raised.
 
The Workplace Distraction Report carried out by Udemy in 2018 flagged late arrivals, small talk, conversational tangents and connectivity issues as reasons why meetings are derailed.
 
A lack of a clear agenda compounds the problem and often leaves employees feeling that their time has been wasted. 
 
Collaboration is key to team building and enhances workplace dynamic, but we are not beholden to the traditional meeting. By revising our approach to meetings, we can reinfuse our meetings with organic ideation and keep each other ‘dialled-in’.  
 
Are your company’s leaders ready to reinvent the meeting?
 
How to Run a Meeting
 
o    Make the Agenda of the Meeting Crystal Clear
 
Designate a tangible objective you would like to achieve during the meeting. A clear subject line in the e-mail invite allows your colleagues to think about the topic of discussion beforehand and ready any necessary paperwork they may need.
 
It also allows colleagues to decide whether they are involved enough in the objective to attend.
 
In David Grady’s TED Talk ‘How to save the world (or at least yourself) from bad meetings’, he quips that employees collectively suffer from ‘Mindless Accept Syndrome’ and think of a meeting invite as obligatory rather than a choice.
 
Your HR department should remind employees that they can respond with a ‘maybe’ to a meeting or even decline.
 
This fresh awareness that it’s their choice will filter out those who have more pressing tasks and curate the list of attendees to those with the most to give to the project under discussion.
 
o    Keep it Short and Sweet   
 
A meeting should ideally last for no longer than 30 minutes.  
 
If you have clarified the agenda, all attendees should know whether the goal of the meeting is either to solve a problem or create a new opportunity; a distinction which will reduce irrelevant contributions which are more likely to crop up if the goal is nebulous.
 
Assigning everyone a specific part to play ahead of time will urge participants to speak up at discussion points which are relevant to their role.
 
Setting a time limit on the meeting will advance the agenda and make an actionable outcome more likely.
 
o    Request Feedback and Create an Action Plan
 
A great way to conclude a meeting is to open the discussion to critique from attendees.
 
This is a great time to get feedback on your meeting procedure and give participants the opportunity to communicate any unsaid points or suggestions on how to rethink meeting procedure.
 
Rather than drawing up the minutes of the meeting, list the decisions made and the individuals who helped you to make them.
 
This will not only create a clear action plan going forward but will also show appreciation for active participants.
 
 
When to Leave it to Tech
A common complaint about meetings is that it could have been an e-mail – we’ve all been there.
 
If the topic of your meeting is just an update on project proceedings, a request for feedback or you need some answers, it can probably be done through e-mail.
 
The crux of a meeting should be team collaboration to think of something new or find a creative way to cut back on costs, it should be a process of puzzling out a new approach to something.
 
 
Time to Make Meetings Matter
Your HR team has the potential to transform your business approach to meetings – get your leaders on side, and this will be possible.
 
By designating a clear agenda for meetings, limiting their length and assigning attendees tasks, you can build momentum in your meetings and avoid time-wasting.
 
Reminding employees that they can choose to decline the meeting invite if they have more relevant tasks will lessen the pressure on staff and improve employee experience.
 
Those who sacrifice their time to attend will be those closest to the project, a group who will be more likely to maintain interest, generate organic ideas and energise each other.

 A no without explanation is too clinical. Avoiding saying no and filling the space with a lot of phrases that add up to no is the coward’s way out.

Avoiding unsuccessful candidates brings your company down to the level of online dating practices, or ‘ghosting’ as it has been dubbed. All of the above constitute an unprofessional recruitment process and could be damaging to your own morale as well as your reputation.

A more professional way to say no is somewhere in the middle of no and a no-reply, as Ross McCammon has termed it ‘a kind of super no -- a negative accompanied by a whole bunch of positives’.

This article will delve into how best to approach candidate rejection and thereby protect your brand as well as your reputation.

Can your business prove the ‘human’ element of your HR department when it comes to how you reject a candidate?
 
Ways to Innovate
 

• Pick Up the Phone!

The way to say ‘Thanks but no thanks’ best is over the phone. If you’re hiding behind e-mails or just firing ahead with your top candidate, you aren’t doing right by those who have made the effort to learn about who you are.

Remember in your final stage of recruitment, there should only be a few candidates left so having a 3-5 minute phone call with each individual is a great way to humanise the rejection.

By articulating why you’ve chosen someone else on this occasion and by offering salient points that will benefit the individual the burning questions of ‘Why not?’ and ‘Is it me?’ will be sidelined by genuine feedback.
 
 

• People Come and Go, Reputation Remains

It’s easy to forget that there is a person at the other end of an e-mail but there is; if they think their feelings have been discounted, they’re going to tell others.

The public’s view of your company can turn sour fast through word-of-mouth so learning how to kindly say no is key to your company brand.

Don’t forget the candidate has probably spent several hours researching the company, customising their CV and writing a cover letter. 

No matter how successful you are, you cannot afford to dismiss talented individuals who are most likely invisible promoters of your product or service.

Offering candidates the chance to take part in a feedback survey demonstrates thought for the individual and gives voice to their experience which could improve the way you hire.
 

• New Opportunities, Old Relationships

In business, we put considerable energy into networking and maintaining influential connections. We never know when we might need a previously-established contact; the same applies to jobseekers. 

Unsuccessful candidates might not be the right fit for the role for which they apply but that doesn’t mean they won’t be in the future. Needless to say, if they’ve made it to the final stage of the interview process they must be talented.

A great way to conclude a rejection phone call is to offer to connect on LinkedIn, a suggestion which gives the interaction constructive potential and maintains your connections with the skilled.

Likewise, inviting the candidate to like a Talent Hive page where your openings are posted sends a genuine message that you appreciated the skillset of the individual and could wish to reengage in the future. 
 
Your Next Step

No matter what our job title, we are humans first and sometimes we may prioritise the comfort of an official email over a personalised form of candidate rejection.

By phoning the unsuccessful candidates, connecting on LinkedIn and creating a candidate survey, you can say ‘Thanks but No Thanks’ with a weight of empathy to boost candidate confidence and improve your own morale by doing the right thing.

By infusing compassion into your rejection process, you can leave yourself open to crossing paths with the person in the future while also demonstrating your business as one that appreciates all candidates.
Innovating your HR procedure in this way will soon prove that the art of saying no isn’t so hard to master after all.
 
 

With unemployment rates at their lowest level since 2000, approximately a third of high-ranking Irish employers are struggling to fill positions with the right candidates. While the talent gap can pressurise existing staff with increasing workloads, and lead to further staffing issues, , drafting in someone ill-equipped for the role is arguably worse.
 
Competition for skilled candidates might be tough, but the good news is that the rise of new tech trends can help your HR team to refine recruitment drives to ensure a process of candidate-selection which bases its judgement on authentic skill. This article will discuss how to upgrade the quality of your candidate assessment and to reduce the pressure of the recruitment drive for both you and your staff.

Why So Important?
The traditional interview can be limiting; not all candidates perform well in this type of assessment, while others are great at ‘talking the talk’ but once given the job, fall short of your expectations.
 
Meanwhile, interview and workplace bias is nothing new either. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) reported that between 2004 and 2014, discriminatory behaviour in Irish workplaces rose from 41% to 50%. A further Irish study by the CSO called ‘Ethnicity and Nationality in the Irish Labour Market’ revealed results that showed that black non-Irish people were five times more likely to experience recruitment discrimination compared to white Irish people.
 
Another study by the CSO showed that almost 7% of women had experienced discrimination at work with pregnancy been cited as a reason for exclusion multiple times through the report.
New tech adoption within HR offers the opportunity to overcome these limitations, rectify these instances of unconscious bias and diversify the Irish workforce.  
 
 
Think About Your Staff, Not Just New Staff
 
o    Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
 
Sometimes the administrative efforts required to organise final interviews can distract from staff preparation.
 
It is imperative that you train senior colleagues to interview effectively and agree on what qualities they would like in a new team member.
 
Interview panels with a mix of men and women will put your diversity values into action and are also the best way to allow multiple perspectives to weigh in on the candidate’s suitability.
 
 
New Interviewing Trends  

• Personality Tests

New Applications like Koru and Pymetrics use AI to overcome the pitfalls of traditional interviews.

Applicants can take online personality tests and pre-interview skill assessments, collecting an online fingerprint of candidate skillsets. This helps your HR team to make the right recruitment decisions and choose the best fit candidates for the job.  

• AI Video Recruiting

Hiring tools such as Knockri which analyse facial and vocal data have changed the face of the recruitment process. This soft-skill assessment tool reduces unconscious bias in the shortlisting stage and speeds up your recruitment process by immediately eliminating no-shows or unsuitable candidates.

The use of this tool resulted in 17% more individuals of colour were hired as well as far more women. Your workforce can be diversified, while the recruitment drive is simplified for your existing staff – a result for any HR team.

• Predictive Analytics

The time you spend on CVs and cover letters can impact business operations as well as your staff management.

The use of Predictive Analytics can take away heavy administrative burdens for your staff and give time back to your HR team to spend on what really matters – getting to truly understand candidates, their needs and wants, and their ability to fit in with your company culture.
 
In Review
These tips and tricks can reinvent the way you hire by cutting down on the workload in the early stages and upskilling your staff to effectively manage the final decision-making process.

Through the usage of online tests to gauge the holistic and practical abilities of the prospective colleague, your HR Department can keep your recruitment drive to an efficient timescale and choose candidates based on relevant results and the final weigh-in of your expertly trained colleagues.

​These trends demonstrate how your HR team are a much-needed tool to futureproof your workforce – invest in it and ensure your hiring process is as effective as possible.