A few weeks ago, I received a call from a placement firm checking references for a prior employee. This individual didn’t leave here on the best of terms so I had a bit of trepidation about what the recruiter would ask me and how I should answer her inquiries. Of course, the lawyers were telling us “name, rank and employment dates” as the standard response. But recent case law has found that employers who pass along their unsatisfactory employees to others with glowing recommendations and misrepresent the real facts could open themselves to liable from the new employer. Read more…
ECI® Blog
Creating Selection Standards
November 21st, 2008 by The ECI Team
We recently had a team discussion over whether a company with 50 or less employees and no government contracts needed to abide by OFCCP, EEO and Uniform Guidelines in its hiring criteria. Who must comply and which federal guidelines should these clients follow in developing their selection standards? You might be interested in this discussion, if you are developing selection standards for your company, or haven’t reviewed yours recently. There are a variety of guidelines, legislation, and case law out there you should know about and some new issues that have been raised because of all the web sites offering candidates and employers the opportunity to find one another.
Read more…
How To Achieve HR Department of the Year
November 20th, 2008 by The ECI Team
A few days ago, some of the folks at ECI were invited by a client to attend an HR Department of the Year awards dinner. We knew that our client and his wonderful team of Recruitment and Talent Management Staff was in the running for this prestigious award. Annually, companies apply and compete in a variety of categories, such as Staffing, Compensation and Benefits, etc., for this award which is given by HR Executive magazine.
This was the first time we had heard about this award program, although now that we have been looking into it, we see that it has been in place for several years. Our client is quite unique in the staffing arena, since he heads up the Talent Acquisition function within a recognized pharmaceutical company. The things that he does differently are what I am nearly positive helped them to win the award. Here’s my view on how they won. Read more…
Answering Behavioral Event Interview Questions
November 13th, 2008 by The ECI Team
One of the most frequent searches that leads to our website is “How do you answer Behavioral Event Interview questions?” Or more often, “How do you answer ECI interview questions?” For those of you who are in the job market, and it seems like there are a huge number of people looking for work these days, here are some tips from a firm who provides such questions to potential employers.
Before you go to your interview session, take time to think through your own key experiences and success stories. What are the situations where you personally achieved outstanding results? What did you do specifically to achieve the outstanding result? What was the benefit of your efforts to the company and to your own personal growth? This is the fundamental structure of behavioral event interview questions. Read more…
Are You Downsizing or Maximizing?
November 12th, 2008 by The ECI Team
Turbulent times cause companies a lot of problems, and sometimes opportunities. One question our clients ask is how to staff the current operation to support the business, without cutting out so much muscle that you lose the ability to grow or improve your profitability. There is a break point in that discussion and the answers depend upon what your end objective is.
We’re used to seeing nearly annual reorganization by our clients in the pharmaceutical sector. The reasons behind this are related as much to the need to show a positive return on the balance sheet as they are to addressing shifting market needs. I believe that some companies continually refine the quality of the sales force, for example, by doing a nearly annual lay-off to avoid having to dismiss staff for cause and taking the chance that they will be sued for wrongful discharge. But, hey, I get it. The average time to run someone through the discharge process is about 9 months. That is a long time to wait in a turbulent business environment to make a change and correct a performance problem. Read more…
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