| WHEN TO FREEZE |
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By Luisa Buehler “The last thing a company should do in an economic crisis is freeze hiring. Rather, lay off dead weight with poor performance ratings and hire the star players now available,” John Sullivan, Ph.D., founder of John Sullivan & Associates, an HR consulting firm, comments in the March 2009 HR Magazine. More than 37% of owners and managers of small and medium-sized businesses expect a higher rate of growth for their operations in 2009 and 38% anticipate the same level of growth as 2008, according to the Business Confidence survey conducted by Administaff.38% said they intend to maintain current staffing levels in their 2009 hiring plans, and 36% even expect to add new positions. Another survey indicated that 2% of the new hires projected/created in small and medium-sized businesses are due to terminating less than desirable and minimally performing employees. Evaluation leads to discovering employees who while filling a position are not performing at the pace or potential needed to do better. Discovery prompts evaluating why employees are sub par performers or have mediocre potential. Evaluation of performance ends in the determination to do a better job of training the employee or do a better job of leading the employee or do a better job of hiring a new employee. The teeter-totter anguish between filling a desk or filling a goal creates discord, anxiety and waste. The Department of Labor has an interesting statistic. Employers suspect within 3 weeks that they’ve made a wrong hire; they know by 5 weeks. Employers begin to think about terminating that employee at six months; they take, on the average, 19 months to fire that employee. “You don’t want to keep people at all costs,” argues Dr. Sullivan. “Now is the best time we’ve seen in a really long time to go after star players who have lost their jobs. Given the current economic conditions, owners and managers of small to mid-sized companies are more cautious than they were a year earlier: 31% saying they were somewhat or very optimistic about the economy’s future performance compared to 55% a year earlier. Paul Sarvadi, Administaff’s CEO comments that economic uncertainties generate opportunities which these resilient businesses seem determined to lead by example as they take advantage of current market conditions. Small to mid-sized companies are leading the country out of confusion and paralysis by taking the steps toward a prepared position of advantage and growth. Contact Ms. Buehler for an email copy of, “Ten Questions to Ask before the Chill.” Luisa Buehler is the owner of The Hire Solution Employment Corporation in Oakbrook Terrace. She can be reached at 630-953-7370 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it |