A recent article released by Aliah D. Wright on the SHRM website discusses the change in orientation and onboarding that is occurring with advancements in technology. With the days where employees joined a company and stayed there throughout their career gone, companies are striving to find ways to keep employees engaged and happy. One of the big reasons for the increase in employee turnover is easy access to job postings through sites such as CareerBuilder and Monster as well as salary information. This allows employees to constantly be searching for a better opportunity with the resources available to quickly follow-up when one comes up.
One way to combat this is to make the onboarding experience more effective. By integrating this process with online technology, employers are able to provide all employee information(Paperwork, Contacts, and Policies) in one place.
According to a study of HR and business unit managers released in February 2008 by the research company The Aberdeen Group:
86 percent of organizations surveyed agreed that newly hired employees decide whether or not to stay with their employer within the first six months of their employment.
68 percent of best-in-class organizations surveyed describe their onboarding systems as partially automated or fully automated.
Of the remaining 32 percent, more than half plan to adopt technological tools to automate their onboarding efforts over the next year.
Compare that to a 2006 SHRM survey:
Although 83 percent of companies reported the use of a formal orientation (or onboarding) program for new employees, only 11 percent of companies conducted orientation programs using a computer-based format, preferring instead to use group-based and individual sessions.
For more tips and resources regarding employee onboarding, visit HRSentry.
Many colleges and universities have departments dedicated to getting their students out in the field through internships and jobs. Developing a good relationship with these institutions can lead to a very beneficial relationship on all sides. I recommend:Getting a list of local colleges at one of the many online directories. Any major search engine should have complete listings, visit this Yahoo! directory for more information.
Specify what kind of intern you are looking for
when looking for a new intern or new hire one of the most important aspects is making sure that the job description, and what you want out of the prospective employee/intern are accurate. Many times recruiters will try to sell the job instead of trying to match it to the right person, this leads to false expectations and can lead to low retention.
I recommend:Taking a look at some sample job descriptions and general tips on a free site, such as this one found on About.com. You can also visit online human resource compliance services such as HRSentry for this and all other HR related issues.
Don’t treat them as “the intern”
Good interns are made to feel as part of the team and given meaningful tasks that will challenge them. If all you want an intern for is to take care of your busy work then it will be a painful experience for both.
I recommend:Assign a mentor who is willing and able to interact consistently with the intern. This will give the intern someone to turn to with questions they may have. Read about the The Importance of a Good Mentor to find out more on what benefits can be expected.
Set realistic goals
Goal setting is a very important part of the internship experience. It gives the intern the ability to feel as though they contributed. Assigning interns to tasks that they will never see the outcome is not nearly as effective. Good goals will excite the intern and give them confidence to take the position to the next level, employment.
I recommend: Developing an internship program that includes goal setting for the intern. This should be done with input from the intern. This will allow them to feel included and respected right from the start, as well as providing a custom learning experience. Resources on goal setting can be found at the free online Management Library.
Provide effective feedback
Upon leaving the internship, an individual should be given feedback, both good and bad. With good interns it can be tempting to sugar coat their downfalls and present them as flawless. Taking the time to provide constructive criticism and tips for the future while recognizing their achievements results in a much more effective experience. I recommend: Checking out the benefits of conducting employee reviews in this article on benefits of self-reviews , or going to the Management Library.
There are many ways hiring interns can add value to your organization. They can minimize the impact to your hiring budget. They may work on projects that need to be completed that free up your experienced employees to work on more complex assignments. Oftentimes interns will bring new ideas and energy into an organization. They may even become great full-time employees who are already trained in job functions and are therefore immediately productive.
When considering a Paid Internship, be thinking of the following:
* Even though you are required to only pay the Federal or State minimum wage, consider the education and knowledge of the students you want to hire.
* Consider the job requirements, skills and responsibilities necessary for your internship. Will your intern need to perform basic skills, or will they be asked to perform duties that require a higher level of expertise?
* If you are not sure what the fair market wage is for the position you want to fill, make a quick call to your local college or university and ask for the career development office, or contact another local business to see what they pay. Most employers are happy to share information with you.
When considering Unpaid Internships, be thinking of the Department of Labor’s Criteria:
Federal and State Laws dictate whether a particular job is considered an internship or a paid worker position. Although the Department of Labor doesn’t use the word intern, or provide a definition of such, they have developed criteria to determine if a learner/trainee is a paid employee entitled to minimum wage and all other applicable laws, or a learner/trainee that is unpaid or paid a stipend. The definition of employee differs from labor laws and workers compensation state laws as well. Please be sure to check all applicable state laws in addition to federal regulations.
The 6 criteria developed by the Department of Labor that must be met in order for the positions to be an Unpaid internship are:
1. The training, although it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to the training which would be received from a vocational school.
2. The training must be for the benefit of the intern.
3. The intern must not displace regular employees, but work under the close observation of a regular employee or supervisor.
4. The employer provides the training and derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern, and on occasion, the operations may actually be impeded by the training.
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the end of the internship.
6. Both the intern and the employer understand that the intern is not entitled to wages. A student may be able to receive a stipend however.
All of these criteria must be met in determining if the intern is a paid employee or a learner/trainee.
Of these 6 criteria, three of them are very straightforward:
* #3 – the intern cannot displace regular employees
* #5 – the intern is not guaranteed a job at the end of the internship
* #6 – the intern is aware and has agreed there are no wages due
The other three criteria are more open to interpretation. Be sure to verify state labor laws. Other areas to be considered when hiring a student are Federal and State Child Labor and Workers Compensation Laws.
Once you have developed a job description and the wages have been determined, be sure to let your employees know that you are hiring. Employees are oftentimes the best source for referrals. And don’t forget to spend your money wisely. Interview the interns like you would a full-time employee. Do a few reference checks with their prior employers if possible, or contact a professor. The job may only be for the summer, but if you hire poorly, it can be a long summer.
With a recent ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that employees have the right to privacy when sending text messages on company owned devices where information is stored on a third party server. This contradicts previous practices where the company has full disclosure over everything done on company property.
In Quon V. Arch Wireless, the issue began when a police department issued pagers that could send and receive text messages. After an investigation it was found that several officers were consistently going over the characters allowed to be sent/recieved per month. Officials requested that the service provider hand over transcripts of the archived messages to see if the overage charges were being caused by non-work related messages. After reviewing the text messages the officials noticed that not only were many of the messages personal, some contained sexually explicit content. Officer Quon responded by saying that according to informal policy and regular practice, as long as officers covered the overage charges, no audits would be conducted.
constitutional privacy rights because theyThe courts said that “the search of the text message violated their Fourth Amendment and California had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the context of text messages. Yet, we do not endorse a monolithic view of text message users’ reasonable expectation of privacy, as this is necessarily a context-sensitive inquiry”. They went on to say that e-mails stored on an email providers servers for backup protection after delivery to the recipient— were in “electronic storage” and protected under the statute and received ECS protection.
This ruling has two results that give increased privacy. First, employers need a warrant to get your email and text messages if covered under “stored communications act” as many third party services do. Second, even if your employer pays for your use of third party text or email services, your boss can’t get copies of your messages from that provider without your permission.
In addition to the suit against Arch Wireless for violation of the “stored communications act”, the officers also claim that the city violated their fourth amendment rights. The city stated that the original reason for the inquiry was to determine whether the overages were from work use so they could decide whether to upgrade to a more extensive service plan with from Arch Wireless. The Courts ruled against the city stating that they violated fourth amendment rights by not seeking out less obtrusive ways to learn this information.
HRSentry recently formed a strategic alliance with AGOS out of Tulsa Oklahoma, to provide desktop training across a variety of work and safety related issues. These training modules are available for purchase online with a subscription to HRSentry.
AGOS is a consulting practice committed to preventing and mitigating the effect of loss and litigation. The AGOS organization includes attorneys and other professionals with backgrounds in human resources, insurance, training, and information technology, along with a dedicated customer support staff.
Geared for managers/supervisors and employees, the modules include such hot button topics as sexual harassment, discrimination, theft, ADA, FMLA, as well as school and state specific training topics. In addition to these topics, a new safety training program will be released in the upcoming months.
AGOS The training programs complement the existing HRSentry online Human Resource courses for HR professionals being offered through Champlain College. As a company, HRSentry believes in the importance for organizations of all sizes to become HR compliant through the education of their employees. These alliances provide the means for this initiative to be carried out.
