Excuses Excuses Excuses

Throughout the course of your career as a manager or supervisor, you’ll likely hear a number of excuses for why an employee was not able to complete an assignment, be on time or otherwise do what they were supposed to do.  Below are some of the more common excuses and ways to address them:

·  “It’s not my job.”  This is a common excuse used by employees to get out of doing work.  If the assigned task is related to their essential job functions, it is likely to fall under “other duties as assigned” in their job description.

·   “Everyone else comes in late.”  This excuse falls under the “if everyone jumps off a bridge, does that mean you should too?” explanation.”  The focus at this point should be addressing this particular employee’s attendance while letting the employee know that everyone is subject to the same attendance requirements.

·   “I didn’t know.  I’m new.”  This excuse only lasts so long before the newness of it wears off.  If you explained the process, policy or procedure during orientation or during the employee’s initial training, then being new to the organization is not an excuse.  Additionally, being new should not prevent the employee from asking questions and seeking assistance from others.

·   “I have too much work to do.”  When confronted with this excuse, ask the employee to provide you with a detailed outline of what tasks he/she is working on and the percentage of time he/she is working on each task.  It may be that the employee needs to better manage their time or focus their priorities on value-added tasks.  Also, if the employee is exempt from overtime, take note of when the employee arrives and leaves the office and how long he/she is taking for lunch.  You should make sure the employee is working the required number of hours per day or week and not taking extended lunches or breaks or coming in late or leaving early.

While some of these excuses may be legitimate, it’s important for a manager and supervisor to hold employees accountable when it comes to performing the essential functions of their job at a meets expectation level.

This article should not be construed as legal advice.

How to Lose Great Job Candidates

If you have ever been responsible for filling an open position at your company, you have probably wondered where all the great job candidates are or why someone who looked so promising did not finish the online job application.  Here are a few issues to consider:

1. Where are you publishing your job ads?  Are you using job posting sites or social media networks directed to professionals in a specific field or are you posting your job ad on a generic job board where every individual regardless of skills level or qualifications can apply?

2. How user-friendly is your online submittal process?  The easiest sites are those that allow the applicant to simply email their resume and cover letter.  However, many more employers are using software tools that are designed to make recruiting and selection easier but which may in fact lead to great candidates being lost.  For example, many software tools simply don’t work properly.  They gather information from a resume and input the data in the wrong fields.  The candidate then has to spend time retyping the information.  In other cases, a candidate may be frustrated with having to create and remember so many usernames and passwords each time they apply for a position with a new or same employer.

3. Are you asking questions on the online application form that may frustrate or cause a job candidate some concern?  For example, each application usually has a statement indicating that the candidate acknowledges that by signing the application, he or she states that the information is true and correct and if false information is provided, it may be grounds for termination or rejection of their application.  One of the questions that often appear on an application is whether the candidate has a family member working for the employer or whether the candidate has ever applied for a position with the employer before.  In these situations, the candidate may not be aware of family working for the employer and may not remember previously applying for a position. 

Other online applications ask the candidate to provide their driver’s license, social security number and even sign a release form for background and credit checks.  A candidate may be hesitant to provide so much personal information up front when they haven’t even interviewed for the position. 

Other applications ask the candidate to provide a salary history.  Again, the candidate may not want to disclose this information up front, and may even feel indignant at being asked to provide this information when the employer has not even indicated a salary range for the position.

When filling open positions, it’s important for employers to put themselves in the position of a job candidate and go through the online application process to understand what candidate’s go through when applying for a position. 

This article should not be construed as legal advice.