Exit Interviews - An Important Aspect Of Work Environment

Exit interviews are the interviews that are conducted with the departing employees before they finally leave the organization. From the company or the organization end, it is the initiative that is taken up to understand the reasons of the departure of the employee including knowledge regarding the employee experience while that person was working with the organization. The aims and outcomes of the exit interviews are as follows.

• It is one of the most progressive and productive steps to create a peaceful relationship with the disgruntled employees before they leave. Otherwise, there are chances they leave the organization with a vengeful intention.
• It creates a positive work culture for the existing employees as well. It shows that the company is compassionate about their employee which in turn increases the loyalty among the employees.
• For the managers it becomes a source of useful information in terms of management of resources. Gaining knowledge from the feedback system helps in understanding the employee behavioral pattern which helps in modifying the recruitment process accordingly.
• It forms an important aspect of well structured HR practice.  It contributes majorly towards the effective and quality people management which is beneficial to the organizational structure.
• Exit interviews help in understanding the loopholes of the employee knowledge as well. Thus it helps in structuring of the training sessions in required segments.
• The recruitment process and the induction procedure can be improved through knowledge gained from their interviews.
• It is an effective tool that helps in formulating the employee retention strategy in an effective manner.
• While it might sound a bit off course, it might be a final step towards retention of a valuable employee. Often resignations are accepted without further discussions. But if a productive discussion taken place during the exit interview then, it might happen that the departing employee may reconsider the decision and plan on staying with the organization.
• At the organization end, in certain cases, it might appear a significant loss to let go of the employees. This often happens when such employees are denied recognition or promotions which they deserved. The company can track such feedback, necessary measures can be taken and it might lead to better retention among the organization.

With all these aims and outcomes, there are certain pointers that need to be taken care off while performing the exit interview process at the employee end as suggested by many companies and executive search firms.

• It is better to refrain from venting entirely during the process. If you had certain issues with your managers, convey that in a professional yet polite manner ahead of time rather than on exit interview.
• It is better to plan ahead what you are going to say in the interview. Be prepared for a series of predictable questions that might be asked.

Lastly, we all know that you had your differences, but presenting that with too much attitude might close the doors for future opportunities. Be graceful in your approach and handle the entire process professionally.

SMART Goals In Recruitment Aid In Achieving Business Objectives

There is a recent trend of achieving SMART goals or targets in the business environment which is influencing every business process in the positive manner. There are five parameters to this trend. They are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. Be it in case of performance analysis or achieving business objectives, the SMART concept has become very popular across every aspect. As per the definition, each parameter has its own meaning. Specific means laying out the set of objectives in a systematic manner for a particular business goal. Measurable is the number value of a desired outcome such as profit margins, production figures and such like. Achievable is the fact that all participating employees have validated the target cause. Realistic refers to the fact that the target is achievable in current market conditions. Last parameter is time bound which specifies that the target is achievable within a particular time frame. Taking the SMART goal concept, the recruitment segment is currently showing certain targets which are expected to benefit the industry and the companies as to a great extent. Some of the targets are as follows.

• The companies trying to focus on passive candidate location and relationship building. This can be considered as a SMART goal as passive candidates are usually the ones who are employed at a certain organization which is in most cases the competitor within the same industry segment. This represents that they have a particular skill set which is being effectively utilized. Gaining access to such top notch professionals influences the productivity and quality of delivery to a great extent. Hence targeting such professionals makes sense for a company as well as a recruitment consultancy.
• Social networking is a major business priority in the recruitment segment. The whole world is one the go currently. With mobile internet becoming accessible across all parts of the world even in the emerging markets and highly affordable smartphones making way to the consumers, people remain connected at all times. Apart from that it is also the source of entertainment, news, online shopping and much more. Reaching out to people through mobile applications is a profitable trend. Social media platforms are very popular now days and people remain most active on such platforms. When these two trends are combined, it creates a perfect opportunity for effectively reaching out to candidates in a systematic manner and within a limited time frame.
• The last but definitely not the least of the SMART goals in the recruitment segment is a bringing in and implementing a sales strategy in to the hiring process in order to make it more streamlined and effective at the same time. Proper identification of the targets, gathering relevant information about the candidates and finally closing the deal by making a job offer and completing the selection process helps in managing the entire system in a closed loop manner.

Thus SMART goals have impacted the recruitment front in a positive way which will enrich the entire functions of hiring process.

Addressing A Critical Recruitment Crisis In Terms Of Talent Gap

Talent gap is one of the significant crisis points that a company faces in recent times. It is defined as the visible gap between the skill set needed within the organization and available knowledge base of the current workforce. This is due to the lack of experienced professionals in the specific technology segments and work areas. It has become one of the prime challenges for the recruitment agencies as well. So we bring to you certain measures that help you identify the talent gap within your company.

• One of the primary initiatives that need to be taken for understanding the skill gap scenario is the analysis of the current talent present within the organization. The existing workforce can be subjected to a skill test which provides a good benchmark. It clears the existing stand point of the company with respect to the knowledge base.
• Another analysis can be done in terms of productivity. The delivery of the teams in terms of timing and quality, involvement in the creativity arena, proposing of new methodologies that help in improving procedures and communication are some of the basic parameters of this initiative. If there are certain shortfalls in these factors, then it is quite clear that the business is lacking the necessary skills.
• If it happens quite often that a project is taken up and it starts off on a positive note but slacks after a certain period of time to such an extent that the management needs to look for temporary solutions in terms of resources for project completion and closure then it is a clear indication of talent gap.
• Lastly, if the quality of the product thus developed is not up to the mark and the client comes back with major feedbacks then shows a prominent skill gap.

With all these pointers, we put forth certain measures that can be used for coping up with this issue. A manpower consultancy can be helpful towards implementation of such measures.

• The first and foremost step is to identify the type and extent of the skill gap through a thorough and logical assessment. For this the company needs to pen down the skills required for specific job roles and the current skill level available. Depending on the contrast the next step can be formulated.
• Training and development is one of the most adopted and secure measures of filling in the talent gap. There is not always a necessity to hire additional resources for certain skill set, an existing employee with a basic understanding of certain skills can be further trained to take up additional responsibilities.
• The planning of addressing the skill gap needs to take in to consideration the budget, type of training content and level, trainer and the time period. Then only the probable outcome can be determined.

Lastly, adding on to skills through training or recruitment of additional resources, in both cases it should be performed on the basis of future objectives in long term.