As part of
SFBWโs 2021
Excellence in Human Resources Awards, Editor-in-Chief Drew Limsky hosted a post-event roundtable where select honorees and industry veterans discussed the unique challenges of todayโs evolving work environment. Five HR directorsโMedtronicโs Lisa Lopez, Jessica Ayers of Sentry Data Systems, Natalia Velasco of Fluent Cannabis Care, Adalyn Tello of RCC Associates, and PeakActivityโs Peggy Myersโwere joined by Alan Berger, VP of human resources at the executive search firm StevenDouglas; and Stephen Garber, founder and CEO of Third Level.
THE HR MANTRA LIMSKY: Iโve never heard the phrase โhire slow and fire fastโ so many times as in the past couple of months, the idea being you should be very intentional about the way you hire, and then in terms of firing itโs very important to rid the institution of toxins. What do you think?
BERGER: โHire slowโ is a great concept, but if you lose out on a great candidate you fail. The important thing is knowing who your candidates are and what their timing is. Iโm working on a role right now for a global head of HR. I presented six candidates. They looked at two and want to move forward. I told them that neither is interviewing anywhere else, so they have time. Thereโs another search Iโm working on where I said two of these people are actively interviewing, two are in transition, so theyโre going to take something that pops up, and the other two are typical candidates. If itโs a really tough-to-fill job, youโd better focus on moving pretty fast. On the โfire fastโ side, document the hell out of why youโre firing them. Any HR pro will tell you that nobody should be fired without being given a chance. If they did something completely wrong and inappropriate and it requires firing, then youโve got to do it. But if itโs performance-related, if itโs a pattern, document it to protect yourself in the future.
GARBER: What do we mean by hire slow? We mean intentional. We mean well-planned. To make sure thereโs both a job description and a cultural fit. Not just a warm body to fill a position. As for the fire fast part, one of my first CEO clients, decades ago, said to me, โChange the people, or change the people.โ If you see things that people arenโt doing well, give them the opportunity to learn and improve. Coach them, guide them, train them. But if they are not able to learn or willing to learn, people teach you who they are. Listen to them.
LIMSKY: How do you handle severance situations?
LOPEZ: Itโs important to take care of your employees. It creates a reputation. The people who stay and the people who leave speak to each other. Thatโs also true with job candidates. What about all the people you didnโt hire? How did you treat them? The messaging is important. There are more of them out there than there are in your company.
MYERS: In the business Iโm in, we need people quickly. We hire very intentionally, and I work with my leaders to get clear on what the job is and whatโs needed in that role before we even start the process. Itโs important to be intentional about what youโre looking for with the culture and the fit. In terms of fire fast, I struggle with that one unless itโs blatant. Iโd want to document. I also donโt think that most companies have good enough orientation and onboarding to help people to be as successful as they can be. The expectation that someone is up and running in two weeks and should be contributing 100% productivity is unrealistic.
LIMSKY: What is a common mistake that businesses make during the onboarding process?
MYERS: Planning for the onboarding. You should have a 30-, 60-, and 90-day plan for people when they come onboard. Iโve found that most people donโt get fully integrated into the company and into the role for six months. Especially if youโre dealing with knowledge positions. I think preparing on the front end for that person, hiring intentionally, like Lisa said, prevents you from having to โfire quick.โ I worry that people arenโt being given the runway to really be successful. Itโs something that we continually look at to make sure weโre doing the right things and always improving.
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY LIMSKY: So itโs not about finding the best person, maybe from even out of state, whoโll come in, but the best person within a reasonable window of two or three weeks, and that includes how people respond to your posting. After a certain point, thereโs probably diminishing returns, with the most appropriate people submitting applications within the first five to seven days, right?
MYERS: Absolutely, and weโre having to do passive recruiting more than ever. When you have a passive candidate, theyโre not sure if they really want to leave their current job. So as much as you sell, and say, this is what we have to offer, youโre still in a position where theyโre not necessarily looking, but they may be the best person for the job. Itโs tough right now.
VELASCO: This industry, medical cannabis, has been challenging because of changing regulations. During covid, we need people ASAP, because we have the license all the way from the seed to the final product that goes to the patient. So I hire people from entry level cultivation all the way up to CFO, CEO. Itโs taking about six weeks because of the requirements of the industry. All my employees need to pass a background check, fingerprints, drug test. And because of covid, everything is taking a long time. In the last couple of weeks, Iโve been trying to fill two roles in the corporate office, and weโre very close. I interview a person, and if I want to take the time to get to know if they fit with the company culture, theyโre out of the market the next day. Hire slow? I donโt know if I have that option right now.
AYERS: Iโm finding myself having issues with the drug screen process now more than ever with candidates testing positive for marijuana, and how weโre dealing with that in our state with medical marijuana. It becomes a discussion about every single candidate in that boat, which delays the process. Are we going to make an exception here? How are we going to handle this person? Maybe they were so hard to find that weโre willing to overlook it in that particular candidate, but maybe we still want a drug-free policy elsewhere. That becomes a real issue with hiring and consistency and everything else we keep tabs on.