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Office Overtime Reduces More Than Just Your Sleep-In

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[responsive]Office Overtime[/responsive]

Sunglasses over tired eyes, espresso in hand and ten-minutes late to work. Sound familiar? No, we’re not talking about the effects of a mid-week hangover, this is the morning snapshot into the lives of more than a third of employees who work overtime every week.

While late night desk jockeys might impress some managers, meeting urgent deadlines may be at the expense of employee health.

A recent poll by recruitment firm Employment Office found 37% of people work an average of 2-5 hours overtime every week and 22% clock up an additional 10 hours every week.

Although short-term benefits might be tempting, including fuller pay cheques, prolonged periods of overtime actually aren’t beneficial for employers or employees.

A study published in UK medical journal The Lancet last month revealed staff who work 55 hours or more per week have a 33% increased risk of stroke and 13% higher risk of coronary heart disease compared to people who only work 40 hour weeks.

The results led by scientists at University College London reviewed 42 studies from across Europe, the US and Australia. While they couldn’t definitively say long hours give people strokes, the study shows a clear link between working long hours and these serious health conditions.

Putting significantly long days in at work can also result in a number of less serious issues for staff, including increased levels of stress and fatigue, with these complaints often leaving employees feeling burned and  resulting in decreased productivity.

Employment Office Managing Director, Tudor Marsden-Huggins says employers can mitigate negative effects of excessive overtime by implementing an overtime policy which is regularly assessed.

“It’s essential to document an overtime policy, particularly for organisations who deal in shift work or extended opening hours. Establishing a formal rotation of overtime within a team or department will see extra work distributed fairly and won’t leave one person feeling like they are overworked.

“Long stints of overtime can lead to increased absenteeism and high employee turnover. Encouraging employees to turn their emails off over the weekend is a simple way to reduce the desire for staff to be contactable at all hours, and to have a real break away from work when they are out of the office,” he said.

So while it might seem enticing for your people to clock in more office hours, kerbing the chained-to-the-desk mentality will see happy, healthier and more productive staff in the long run

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact Brooke Chapman, Employment Office Publicist on 0407 163 876.

Droves of millennials seeking work abroad

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A recent report has revealed almost 90% of Millennials working in Australia and New Zealand want to head abroad to find work.

The study found only 25% of the 400 employers questioned offer opportunities to travel overseas for work*.

Employment Office Managing Director Tudor Marsden-Huggins says workplaces must become more flexible to accommodate the rising number of MIllennial employees, who will make up 50% of the workforce by 2020.

“There’s no doubt Millennials are more willing to move around than previous generations. If employers don’t give them the option to explore overseas work and travel, they will lose them.

“Whether it’s through global mobility opportunities with your company, or through a sabbatical program, Millennials need to know they have the option to explore career and travel, while still being able to pick their career up where they left off in Australia,” Marsden-Huggins said.

Employment Office runs their own global mobility program, giving employees the option to apply for openings in the company’s Northern American offices.

“This program has allowed us to keep a lot of great talent in the business who would have otherwise gone elsewhere. As an added benefit, we have also found the program has helped to break down the barriers between our offices across the world, and provide our young people with invaluable new skills and experiences.

“Millennials are looking for an organisation which can support them in meeting their personal goals, rather than simply offering a pay cheque.

“If you can accommodate for your MIllennial staff members and their desire to live abroad for work for a period of time then you’re far more likely to retain them as long-term employees ,” Marsden-Huggins said.

To retain Gen Y workers, organisations must understand what is important to this demographic of workers. Millennials want a work-life balance above all else. Money isn’t everything to them so employers must provide opportunities for travel, further education and hobbies to attract and retain top talent.

The 2015 Future Leaders Index found this group of employees expect the norm to be flexible working arrangements, contract-based assignments and global outsourcing.

In this truly global job market candidates are no longer restricted by borders and Millennials are itching to explore the world as they travel. Make sure you give them the option to see the world, and return to your business!

*Robert Walters 2015

 

Workplace wellness, can you afford not to invest?

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Does your organisation have a workplace wellness program?  With absenteeism costing Australian business over 7 billion dollars every year, keeping employees happy and healthy is becoming a top priority for workplaces across the country.

And it’s not just smoking and obesity that we need to worry about. As the sedentary lifestyle of desk-bound workers reaches epidemic proportions, encouraging employees to get more physically active is now one of the hottest topics on the corporate agenda.

The World Health Organisation now lists physical inactivity as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality causing an estimated 3.2 million deaths globally.  With these type of statistics it’s not hard to see why sitting is considered the new smoking.

Recent medical studies highlight sitting for prolonged periods increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death. An average 10 million Australians spend 77% of their 8-hour work day sitting at a desk. This level of inactivity is causing serious health concerns for employees.

One business owner who realised the importance of encouraging staff to take time out of their day to be active, is Employment Office Managing Director Tudor Marsden-Huggins. To encourage staff to get away from their desks and get moving, Marsden-Huggins established Tour de Office, a continuous cycling relay that takes place on a stationary bike right in the office.

“We came up with Tour de Office because the statistics of sedentary workers suffering chronic disease from being inactive are truly alarming.  We must promote and create awareness of the importance of a healthy work/life balance,” he said.

“It’s an annual charity event and workplace health initiative which sees staff ride stationary bikes in workplaces to raise funds for their charity of choice.  Now in it’s fifth year, 21 workplaces participated in the event in 2015 and raised over $150,000 for worthy causes.

“Tour de Office is unique because not only does it raise awareness of the importance of getting up off your chair to get moving, it also brings both entry level and executive staff together for a great cause,” Marsden- Huggins said.

According to Dale Tanner, chairman of Australia’s first workplace wellness conference, other organisational offerings like gym memberships and healthy cooking classes are really only scratching the surface. Tanner says companies need to initiate true change in their organisational settings.

“We know that really successful workplace wellness programs have all levels of management on board, signed up and participating,” he said.

So what can you do to promote an active lifestyle for your staff?  To get the most out of your team, management must lead by example. Without spending a cent, leaders can bring running shoes to work and take positive actions such as walking up stairs instead of taking the elevator, or having meetings while walking around the block.

However, if you want to instil long term changes in your organisation it’s necessary to invest in a sustainable workplace wellness program. If you ensure an effective program is an organisational priority this financial year you’ll soon experience the rewards of a happier and healthier workforce.

To find out more about Tour de Office, visit tourdeoffice.com

Do working Mums make better employees?

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We all know mothers are great at multi-tasking, but how do they stack up in the productivity stakes compared to their childless colleagues?

A recent study released by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis revealed that over the course of a 30 year career, mothers outperformed women without children at almost every stage of their working lives.

Interestingly, mothers with at least two kids were the most productive employees of all.

The study found mothers of babies and toddlers were 15-17% less productive than their childless colleagues, however despite this temporary dip, mothers were still more productive over the course of their careers.

Employment Office Managing Director Tudor Marsden-Huggins says it’s no surprise employers are starting to realise the value in hiring mothers.

“There has been a definite shift towards mothers becoming a highly regarded candidate demographic in the last few years.  Employers see how great working mothers are at getting work done well in a short space of time.  They are also very resourceful and know how to keep a cool head in a crisis.  Becoming a parent provides a wealth of life experience,” he said.

Domestically, a report prepared by Ernst and Young for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency found women in flexible roles (part-time, contract or casual), largely made up by mothers, are the most productive members of the Australian workforce.

Women in flexible roles only waste 11.1% of their working hours, compared to an average of 14.5% for the rest of the working population.

In an average year, these women effectively deliver an extra week and a half of productive work, simply by using their time more wisely.

Based on these figures, Australian and New Zealand businesses could save at least $1.4billion on wasted wages by employing more productive employees in flexible roles.

Marsden-Huggins says employers need to be adaptable if they want to position themselves as an employer of choice for working Mums, implementing flexible working hours or working from home options where possible.

“The relationship between a working mother and her employer is a two way street.  There will inevitably be days when a Mum needs to leave early to pick up a sick child or attend the school sports day.  But in the vast majority of cases, if an employer is flexible in their approach with not only working Mums, but parents in general, the benefits they receive in terms of employee loyalty, dedication and engagement far outweigh the investment in flexibility,” he said.

Should employers adopt a no smoking recruitment policy?

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We may have left the days of smoking in the office far behind, but tobacco users still abound in Australian workplaces, taking breaks throughout the day to keep cravings at bay.

Organisations across the country are cracking down on tobacco users, with some even considering placing restrictions on hiring smoking candidates.

Restricting the recruitment of smokers has become a trending topic over the last week, following the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring they will no longer hire candidates who smoke, or reject assistance to stop smoking.

The measures aren’t surprising considering the organisation’s hard line on tobacco use, however the ban on recruiting steadfast smokers has upped the ante in terms of smoke-free workplace policy.

As the United Nation’s Public Health Arm, WHO defends its recruitment policy, reiterating that an estimated 5.4 million people die from tobacco use every year.

Their policy on non-recruitment of smokers states that WHO “is at the forefront of the global campaign to curb the tobacco epidemic. The organisation has a responsibility to ensure this is reflected in all its work, including in its recruitment practices and in the image projected by the Organisation and its staff members.”

WHO’s recruitment process includes a series of screening questions including whether the candidate is a smoker, and if they would continue to smoke if they were employed by the organisation. If the answer to both questions is yes, the candidate will not progress to the next round for consideration.

So we know the World Health Organisation’s stance, but is it possible for Australian employers to determine smokers need not apply for roles in their businesses?

The major issue is whether precluding a candidate from the recruitment process amounts to discrimination.  So far, this argument hasn’t been settled in Australia. In the US, courts have determined not hiring a candidate based on their smoking habit is not discriminatory and is well within an employer’s rights.

The issue is yet to be tested in Australia, and currently no legislation exists to prohibit employers from excluding smokers from their workforce.

While a smoke-free workforce might be a new concept, the smoke-free workplace is not.  Employers have largely adopted non-smoking workspaces, and providing employees with access to smoking termination support is on the rise.

Designated smoking areas are being pushed further and further away from office buildings and managers are cracking down on designated break times.

And when you consider the figures it’s easy to understand why an employer would prefer to have non-smoking employees.  Statistics show the average Australian smoker takes two more days off per year than a non-smoker and, while at work, loses up to an hour out of each day on smoke breaks.  This lost productivity translates to an $800 million dent in the Australian economy.

For now, organisations wishing to advertise for ‘non-smokers only’ are free to do so, but they should know they will be eliminating a tenth of the talent pool straight off the bat, and in an increasingly tight labour market, that’s a large slice of candidates to rule out.

5 of the Best Interview Questions and How to Evaluate Them

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Interviews are essentially your only chance to learn about the candidate as a person, in a way that hasn’t been edited by friends and family. Resumes are still important, but a resume only tells you the person’s best experiences, and often times it goes through plenty of rounds of edits before it is sent over. In an interview, their responses are their own.

So that means you need to ask great questions and make sure you are evaluating the answers in a way that will help you identify the best candidate. The following are five popular interview questions that you can consider when you’re ready to start narrowing down applicants.

Interview Questions

  1. Where do you want to be in 5 years?

Five year plans used to be too common a question, and the canned answers were corny. But now they have become useful again, as many of the younger generation seem hip to telling employers that they have goals that are completely unrelated to the position. That tells you something about their loyalty and productivity, and so pay attention to those that actually indicate they want to grow with your company.

  1. …Can you show me?

In the interview, you’re going to ask about things specific to your workplace. In general, people can learn on the job. But every once in a while there is a talent that is absolutely crucial to a person’s employment, that they’ll need to do on day one. After you have asked the individual if they know the task, follow up by asking them if they can show you. You don’t even need to make them show you. You just need to ask and see their response.

  1. Tell me about a time you had a problematic customer.

If the applicant is going to work with customers, you want to get an idea of whether or not they see a customer as a nuisance or a priority, and how they handle difficult situations. This type of behavioral interview question handles that goal.

  1. Tell me about yourself.

This is perhaps the most common interview question out there, and yet it is still one of the most useful. That’s because it is a question that tells you two things about the applicant: what do they feel like highlighting about themselves and how prepared they are for the interview. Everyone “should” know that this question is coming, and so you want to see not only how they answer it, but whether or not they felt the need to prepare for the job interview.

  1. How many snakes are there in Australia?

You don’t need to literally ask this question, but you should ask at least one question that will throw someone off of their game. See what their mindset is and how they go about dealing with difficult questions. You can learn a lot about a person by how they answer tough questions that are not necessarily something they could prepare for.

BONUS: How About This Weather?

All interview questions are simply tools to help you learn more about an applicant. Something as simple as “how is the weather?” or “seen any good movies lately?” can tell you things like what the person values, if they’re prone to complaints, and so much more.

So it’s not necessarily about the questions you ask, but learning what answers you’re looking for and how to evaluate what you’re told. There are nuggets of information inside every interview answer.

Benefits of Video Interviewing

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The interview process is changing rapidly. We’ve learned more in the last few years about interviewing effectively than we knew in the decades before then, and candidate expectations have also evolved. As more and more companies start to adapt, even more will be pushed towards new, more innovative interviewing strategies in order to find the best talent.

Technology Changing Interviews

Savvy companies learn to adapt to changing technology and a changing recruitment environment. One way you can see this change is with video interviews, which are becoming much more common and are now an innovative product of Employment Office.

Video interviews can be either a one-way or two-way process.

The one-way video interview is a hybrid of the phone interview and the candidate application. They take place using some type of video technology, like Skype, Google Hangout, or one of the many video interview technologies in the market that have been built specifically for recruitment. The one-way video interview allows further insight into the candidate application, but is a static tool that captures pre-determined information only.

Employment Office has developed a two-way video interview technology that is unique in the recruitment marketplace. The two-way video interview is a sophisticated tool administered and conducted by a recruitment expert, thus allowing a very thorough and professional in-sight into a candidate that overcomes the limitation of location.

Advantages of Video Interviews

Video interviews have several advantages for modern companies. A small sample of these benefits include:

  • Accuracy – Allows the recruitment expert to fully assess, clarify and probe into a candidate’s responses, which is significantly more accurate than a one way video application. The hiring manager gets to view a live interview conducted by a recruitment expert without having to be in the room.
  • Positive Employer Branding – Video interviews provide a professional and sophisticated process for a candidate to engage with a potential employer, which could be the competitive edge they need to secure the best talent.
  • Easy Scheduling – Video interviews tend to be easier to schedule and are not affected by distance or transportation. They’re also one of the only affordable ways to interview national and international candidates.
  • Personal – Video interviews are far more personal than traditional telephone interviews, and allow for more feedback and data on the candidate. They allow the recruitment expert to fully engage with the candidate, thus gathering a better understanding of their motivation and background whilst building a strong relationship.
  • Efficient – It’s difficult to bring candidates in and out of the company quickly. Video interviews allow you to interview multiple candidates while minimising travel time and concerns around availability and scheduling. Our video interviews can also be viewed at any time.
  • Revealing – Adding a visual element into this stage of the interview process allows the recruitment expert to assess non-verbal communication skills, professional presentation and to ensure a thorough understanding of what is being communicated. Video interviews create a more complete picture that provide you with a more revealing look at potential candidates.
  • Shareable – Video interviews, especially those recorded by Employment Office, can also be saved, shared, and re-viewed so that you can make sure you missed nothing about the candidate. This can also create consistency in the recruitment process when multiple hiring managers or decision makers, such as Board members, are involved in the process.

Video interviews are also easier to do now that most laptops are equipped with their own cameras, and the technology has improved so dramatically that some of the traditional pitfalls of video interviews (like a freezing screen or troublesome sound) are near obsolete.

Video interviewing is quickly becoming a popular strategy among recruiters, and those that want to stay ahead of the curve should consider video interview strategies as part of their recruitment process. If you’d like to learn more about the video interview shortlisting services from Employment Office, contact us today.

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Use Video Interviews in your next Recruitment Campaign

Employment Office is proud to offer a new service to companies looking to gain a competitive advantage through the use of modern technology. We are now offering a first in class recorded

Recruitment Campaign

product – a style of shortlisting that has proven to be more effective for screening applicants, and a great choice for your business.

Read more about our Video Interview Product here

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Is “Competitive Pay” Good Enough?

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Compensation is one of the biggest factors a potential employee will look for in an open position. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the only thing they’ll look for – telecommuting, great benefits, stock options, potential for growth, and more are all going to play a key role in their decision. But good compensation is what all employees are looking for.

Compensation tells an employee a lot about their place in your company. Since most companies aren’t sure how much they want to offer a new hire, they write “competitive pay” in the section on compensation, not realizing that their pay is not actually competitive.

The Problems With Poor Compensation

All companies want to decrease their expenses in order to increase their profits. But paying someone less than they deserve or expect can have pretty drastic consequences on your recruitment, including:

  • Turning Off the Best – Your absolute best talents may be expecting more money from their work. Employers that are either unwilling or unaware of how much their talent brings to the company are going to offer less than the best applicants deserve, and in many cases this will get them to turn down a job quickly. It may even cause YOU to want to avoid hiring THEM because you think their salary demands are too expensive, when in reality they are asking for their market price and you are undervaluing their contributions.
  • Pay Minus Perks – Other companies do offer competitive pay, but nothing else. For example, perhaps the average employee in the position earns $65,000, so they decide to hire $68,000 to be “competitive.” But if that company offers fewer benefits, fewer perks, or fewer reasons to work for their company, the reality is that $68,000 is too low, because other companies offer much more. A “Competitive Salary” has to take into account the other benefits you’re offering.
  • Likelihood of Seeking Competition – Recruitment doesn’t end after the hire, either. Employers that do not pay their employees a competitive wage are at risk for losing the employee once they find work elsewhere. Competitive pay keeps employees in the long term, and so an offer that’s good-but-not-great opens the door for another company to steal them away.

In some cases poor compensation is not your fault. For example, you may assume that you’re opening up a lower talent position in your company and asking for someone with a specific ability, and most people that have that ability are used to being in higher positions in companies and getting paid very well. The task itself may be simple, but the value associated with that task may be high, and you may not be aware of these compensation differences.

Nevertheless, learning how to offer truly competitive pay can make a big difference in your recruitment efforts, and it’s important that you examine how much you’re genuinely willing to offer and how much you can afford before trying to advertise to the top talent.

 

For you recruitment concerns and employment branding you may contact Employment Office Australia at info@employmentoffice.com or visit our website at www.employmentoffice.com.au.

Why Advertising in the Same Places will Get You the Same People

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In order to find the best new hire for your organisation, you need to make sure the best applicants see your job ads. That’s why companies go straight to the big names in job boards any time they need to advertise an open position.

But is that the right strategy?

Problems with Using Popular Generalist Boards

These job boards are simple places to post jobs and get a lot of applicants, but they are not without their problems. In order to get the best applicants:

  • You have to be positive your job perks are better than every similar job.
  • You have to be sure that you are reposting often, so the ad doesn’t get lost in a sea of other ads.
  • You have to make your title and job ad as noticeable and appealing as possible.

And even if you do all of those things right, you’re still going to be suffering from one major problem – when you advertise in the same places as all of your competitors, you are going to attract all of the same people.

Posting Job Ads Where Your Best Applicants Will See Them

Companies do not succeed by being the same as everyone else. They succeed by being better. While you can still post on the major job boards at your leisure, you also want to make sure that you’re actively finding out where your best applicants spend their most time, and trying to advertise there. For example:

  • Niche Job Boards – Instead of posting a job ad the same place as everyone else, find specialty job boards that appeal to the specific demographic and industry that you want to appeal to. For example, if you’re looking for Engineers, place a job ad on Engjobs, where Engineers go to find open positions.
  • Forums and Websites – Websites that appeal to those working in the industry also make great places to advertise a job. Find a place that you can post a job opening or try to actively recruit by reading the submissions. Look for places that appeal to those working in the industry even if they are not active job seekers. Attract those currently employed, and you may be able to steal an incredible talent away from a competitor.
  • Your Own Site – You’d be surprised how infrequently companies openly advertise great jobs on their own site. People that come to your site often think highly of your business, and an open position may quickly attract top talent.

All of these are going to attract different talent, and different talent options means that you’re not just hiring from the same applicant pool as your competitors. You’re finding applicants that they haven’t found, and you’re attracting talent that can play a major role within your organisation.

For more tips and information on recruitment and company branding you may contact us at info@employmentoffice.com.au or visit our website at www.employementoffice.com.au.