The Bagg Group Blog

Often hiring authorities ask our advice about counter-offers.  At The Bagg Group, we’re not in favour of them and our position is founded on research and experience.

According to the US National Business Employment weekly, 80% of those who accept counter-offers leave or are terminated within six to 12 months. 

 That statistic holds true for the GTA where recruiters have observed that four out of five people who accept inducements to stay nonetheless leave within a year.  Half of those who take the buy-back start a new job search within 90 days.  

The trend now among top employers in the GTA is to avoid counter-offers. These companies say that they treat employees fairly and recognize that there may be those who wish to pursue a job opportunity that better suits their needs.   There are no hurt feelings, recriminations, and certainly no negotiations.

For an employee, to quit or not to quit is almost always a gut-wrenching decision.  We counsel candidates to imagine that they are unemployed and then consider which of the two options -as they are — hold the greatest potential for them, and allows for more engaging, interesting days.   We urge them to go for the job that is right for them.

We understand all the reasons why hiring authorities may be tempted to dangle carrots to retain valued full-time employees.   Managers may be concerned that the employee’s leaving could reflect poorly on them, the timing could be bad, or it may appear easier to keep an employee than replace one.

But the pay-off for the company just isn’t there.   Inevitably, the issues that prompted an employee to look elsewhere will resurface in time.  And when an employee leaves after receiving concessions to stay, there’s a sting of rejection that is not good for managers or their team. 

As well, as soon as an employee states his or her intention to leave, trust is compromised.  At the Bagg Group, we have seen the negative ripple effect when what appears as a show of disloyalty is rewarded with inducements.

If the timing of an employee’s departure is unfortunate, ask yourself whether the timing will ever be right?  

And here’s the number one solution practiced by top employers in the GTA who need a particular project completed:  Contract workers. 

At The Bagg Group, we often parachute in highly-skilled, knowledgeable contract workers to temporarily fill a vacated position, and get the  job done under pressure and on deadline.   

There is always a staffing solution that is preferable to the counteroffer.   The bottom line: counter-offers never help an employee’s career and they never help an employer.  

 The counter-offer is simply a bad offer.  They are a form of arm-twisting on both sides.  And that’s no basis for a long-term productive employer-employee relationship.

At The Bagg Group, we meet many highly skilled new Canadians who have enthusiasm to burn and yet who tell us they have a hard time getting any employers to talk to them. A study that came out of UBC last fall confirmed that those with foreign names were less likely to be interviewed for job opportunities. In fact, the research conducted by economics professor Philip Oreopoulos said that people with English names were 40% more likely to get an interview than those with the same education and experience who have Indian, Chinese or Pakistani names.  

The study also showed that Canadian experience matters to hiring authorities. Resumes that showed foreign names and education but had one previous job in Canada listed got almost double the number of calls than those resumes that showed no Canadian experience at all.

To quantify the realities of foreign skilled workers, a team at UBC sent out more than 6,000 mock resumes to 2,000 online postings by employers in the GTA.

Time is right to make a difference.

Interestingly, the time has never been better to give skilled immigrants a chance to get some domestic experience that can make all the difference to their lives.

It’s well-known that economic adversity sparks creativity. And now the recession is also proving to be an opportunity to increase diversity in the workplace.

In these days of downsized staff, many top employers in the GTA are turning to temporary workers and contract workers to help balance the workload of overburdened employees. And these temporary workers and contract workers include highly skilled new Canadians seeking experience in Canadian offices.

They are a proven resource. For example, IT professional contract workers, who often have diverse backgrounds, have been important contributors to companies for years.

And recently, human resource professionals across the GTA have reported these two finding to The Bagg Group:

• Post cutbacks, full-time employees are often stretched thin, doing the job of two and losing a chunk of their day to tasks that don’t require their skill level. Offloading activities to temporary workers significantly improves productivity and morale in the workplace.
• Contract workers are the solution to completing projects that full-time staff no longer have time to tackle. As one successful client told us, moving projects off the backburner in a recession can give a company a competitive edge when they need it the most.

At The Bagg Group, we live the values of a fair society. We focus only on ensuring all the candidates on our roster have strong up-to-date skills and the right attitude. These are the requisite attributes to get the job done, and to do it well. That’s all that matters to us and we know that’s what matters to our clients.

And wherever workplaces can demonstrate that the skills of high-performers can be transferred not just from department to department, but from country to country, so much the better for all who celebrate Canada’s values of diversity.

If you are not working with temporary workers or contract workers, consider talking to staffing solution experts on how they could make a real difference to your company’s productivity, to the morale of your employees, and perhaps to some new Canadians.

“My employer just doesn’t get me.” Sounds more like something one says about a mate rather than a company. But hiring authorities may be taken aback to learn that this is a frequent lament that we hear from many of our A-calibre candidates. And it’s a woe that is echoed across Canada and elsewhere, according to studies.

When you consider, as we do, that employees and employers are in a relationship together, it’s not surprising. In every good relationship, people need to talk and to help each other move successfully into the future. When that doesn’t happen, there are inevitably feelings of resentment and in the case of the employee, a desire for divorce from the company.

Too often, employers are missing an opportunity to talk and listen to employee’s long-term aspirations. In a poll of 3,401 employees across Canada, only 6% said their direct boss, or employer, works with them on managing their career path.

Another 12% said they turn to family and friends for guidance. But 82% said they feel as if they’re on own their own when it comes to figuring out their professional advancement, according to a recent report in the Globe and Mail.

In the US, the situation is similar. The Society for Human Resource Management took a poll of 800 HR professionals, managers, and executives and discovered that 35% want to leave their employers because they are dissatisfied by the lack of career planning.

There’s no need for a good relationship to end this way. Here are three tips from the staffing solution experts at The Bagg Group that are used by top employers in the GTA to retain talent:

1. When interviewing candidates, hiring authorities are advised to discuss their company’s approach to career advancement. It’s a good idea to outline typical promotion patterns. People are eager for a sense of what the road ahead may look like for them.

But a word of caution: Don’t over-promise to win over a great candidate. The consensus among recruitment companies is that if you fail to manage expectations, you could be on the divorce track with your employee.

2. Review career plans regularly with your staff. Employees welcome the chance to talk over ways they might strengthen their competencies to prepare for eventual advancement.

3. Think beyond the department. Many core skills are transferable and the challenge of working in a new department and learning a new function can re-energize a valuable employee.

The top employers in the GTA allow and encourage their best talent to move between departments. Interestingly, a recent survey within the British accounting and finance industry showed that 83% of respondents feel that non-finance related experience is key to becoming a senior executive or CEO.

At The Bagg Group, we talk to our clients about their staffing issues today, and tomorrow. And in that conversation, we remind them that at some point, a valued employee, in whom you’ve invested training and knowledge, will look around the office and wonder, “What’s next for me?” That’s a fair question, and it’s one that committed relationships are founded on.

The other day I stumbled on the blog of an IT specialist in the UK that got my attention. Phil Bennett is a job-seeker with an all-too common gripe.

He writes that after being sent out on interviews, his recruiter failed to return his calls or emails to let him know how he’d fared. Phil adds, “Perhaps the company left valuable feedback for me that I’m not receiving and could further my chances next time.”

I sympathize with Phil. Firstly, it’s unprofessional for recruiters to not communicate with candidates post-interview. And just as importantly, it’s unkind to leave someone on pins and needles, waiting and worrying by the phone.

At The Bagg Group, debriefing isn’t an option, it’s essential. What’s more, we need to know the impression of the candidate, and the client, to ensure a good fit for both.

But job-seekers like Phil might be shocked, and disappointed, to learn that it’s not uncommon for hiring authorities to neglect to give recruiters feedback on interviewees.

And that’s a missed opportunity, not only for candidates but also for companies. Every bit of feedback from a client helps us refine our search.

I can’t emphasize enough how honesty truly is the best policy. In speaking with your recruiter, you have the freedom to be blunt about your impression of a candidate without worrying about impact. It’s our job to ensure we pass on useful notes to job-seekers in a constructive, respectful way.

To get the best staffing solution, information that is extremely helpful to know includes:

• What did you like about this candidate?
• Did the person have the right skill set for you?
• Did you feel they had the right personality for the job?
• Did you feel they had the right attitude to fit in with your team?
• What didn’t work for you? 
• What mannerisms irked you about this candidate?

I remember that in 2006 when Starbucks was in a hiring frenzy, the New York Times ran an article on the company’s “candidate bill of rights.” As a show of respect for applicants, hiring managers were encouraged to respond quickly to candidates with personalized notes or phone calls rather than form letters. Plus, as a gesture of goodwill, all interviewees were to receive Starbucks gift cards, in nominal amounts, regardless of whether they were hired.

I was impressed that Starbucks recognized that today’s candidate is tomorrow’s customer. That holds true for all of us, recruiters and clients alike. And is there any better way to respect the customer than by giving them information that can help them succeed?

Trivia question of the day… Who coined the phrase, “Honesty is the best policy”?

(And no, it’s not a Bagg Group recruiter, although we live by those words)

The answer: Miguel de Cervantes, the 17th Century Spanish novelist who wrote Don Quixote. I quote his words whenever hiring authorities ask me how to get the most out of their recruiting agency.

If you were a fly on the wall at a meeting between a hiring authority and a recruiter from The Bagg Group, you might be surprised by the breadth and depth of the conversation.

Asking questions on a range of issues is how recruiters help you build your best team. So, for example, when a staffing expert inquires about the pet peeves of the position’s direct manager it’s not to judge or critique. It’s because they know that little things can make the difference between success and failure on the job.

Here are just a few questions that you can expect from recruiters who are experienced in providing top-notch staffing solutions for you:

• Tell me about people in your firm that have worked out the best, and why?
• What are the direct manager’s pet peeves?
• How would you describe your company’s customers?
• What are their expectations and issues?
• Who are the internal clients that new employees must serve?
• What are their characteristics?
• What are their challenges?

I recommend that clients meet staffing experts face-to-face and take them on a walk about. A tour helps recruiters get a feel for the people and the energy of your organization. Again, this is contributes to finding the best fit.

And here’s an important tip: make sure you are having a two-way conversation with your recruiter.

The best employers use recruiters as their staffing coaches. Experienced recruiters have a wealth of knowledge to share about hiring and retaining employees. And our clients are right to make the most of it.

The guidance and tips they receive from our staffing experts are based on facts, figures and thousands of discussions with managers and candidates over the years.

(For a good article on retaining employees through engagement, check out Gerard Seijts and Dan Crim’s article in the Ivey Business Journal, The Ten C’s of Employee Engagement. )

So – to help your recruiter be the best solution provider possible, sit down with him and her and tell it like it is. I can’t tell you who originated that turn of phrase, but I can assure you that it’s one well worth remembering the next time your recruiter calls.

There’s a lingering misconception that finding top talent in a recession is as easy as fishing in a barrel. Yet, that was disproved in the 90s recession when employers found that they were overwhelmed with resumes, but very few applicants met their criteria.

At The Bagg Group, we receive hundreds of resumes for every available position. Typically, only three out of 100 responses are potentially suitable for the job opportunity. Our recruiters meet face-to-face with every prospective candidate. And on average, we recommend less than 30% of all those we interview to our clients.

Quantity is not the issue, quality is. When it comes to staffing in times of economic turmoil, there are two golden rules. These practices will carry you through this recession, as they’ve carried top employers through past ones.

Why invest now in top talent? A-level people are more than high producers. They’re innovative thinkers who can problem-solve with you.

And companies which involve employees in finding ways to operate more cost-effectively report excellent results, according to surveys of The Great Place To Work Institute Inc., a global research agency.

These are qualities that can’t be bought, so they won’t eat in to your budget. And you can measure your return on effort in increased loyalty and productivity.

Here are some suggestions that top employers in the GTA have implemented, with great success.

Help employees decompress: Recognize that today’s overburdened employees need ways to de-stress. It’s money well spent  to subsidize gym memberships. And bringing a massage therapist on-site for 15-minute treatments can help employees get the knots out of their neck and out of their thinking.

Holding regular trivia and other types of contests and celebrations builds camaraderie in tough times, and injects some levity into the workplace.

A time-out for fun is proven to reduce stress hormones and increase a sense of wellbeing, which in turns sharpens creative thinking and increases productivity.

(For why and how some companies are bringing humour into the workplace, see the article Making Work Fun by Paul E. McGhee, Ph.D.)

Even small gestures can make a difference. Human resource professionals at one company reported that employees were delighted when the company replaced regular coffee with top premium blends.

Consider creative perks: Post-cuts, many employees are doing the job of two, and could use a perk or two to stay motivated. They know best what could make a difference to their worklife. Ask and you may be surprised by the answers.

More and more, over-stretched employees are putting in requests for a temporary or contract worker who can take some tasks off their overloaded plates. At The Bagg Group, we are regularly fulfilling demands from all sizes of corporations for efficient, knowledgeable temps who can step in and take over time-consuming activities to allow full-time staff to focus on their primary work.

Talk about the elephant in the room: Open, transparent communications between executives and employees is key for building trust and collaboration.

During this recession, many executives hold relaxed, regular get-togethers with employees to report candidly on progress and challenges, and address questions and anxieties. The result is a company-wide appreciation that everyone is in this together. And that fuels the motivation to work on solutions.

Nothing attracts and retains top talent more than company leadership which actively demonstrates that its people are its best asset. And that’s a fact that hasn’t changed with the times.