The EPG Connection

Our May 2009 Employee of the Month is Elizabeth Lowe.  Elizabeth registered for temporary work in February of 2009, while temporarily visiting from her home in Louisiana.  We sent Elizabeth out that very same month and she has since completed five assignments for us. Elizabeth is presently working on a sixth assignment with a client who requested her.  The feedback we have received from each client has been outstanding.  Elizabeth is always willing to pitch in and help out.  She is wonderful, and we appreciate all of her hard work!  Congratulations Elizabeth!

Congratulations to our April 2009 employee of the month, Elaine Squires.  Elaine began an ongoing temporary position as a customer service representative for a prestigious Center City Philadelphia corporation on February 2, 2009.  Elaine is still on assignment and we have received wonderful feedback on Elaine.  Following is an excerpt of an e-mail sent by her immediate supervisor, “I would like to pass along another huge thank you for Elaine.  She is the forerunner on the team and is absolutely fantastic to listen to on the phone.”  Congratulations Elaine!  We appreciate your dedication!

Hiring is a critical element of any manager’s job.

There is no joy in reiterating the importance of hiring right - there’s enough and more that has been said about the price of making the wrong hiring decision. The problem is on two fronts - there are people who know what is to be done, but don’t, and then there are people who don’t know how to go about the interviewing process in the first place. So why follow the same routine that gets you the right result by chance, and not by choice? When you’re hiring next, follow the following 4 simple steps and you’ll dramatically improve the chances of making the right hiring decision.

Understand the requirement: you may think that you know what you’re hiring for, and you probably do.

Nonetheless, draft out a quick job description if you don’t have one already. You’ll be surprised at the insight that you get into the role. This exercise offers another advantage, it not only helps you understand clearly what questions you should ask during the interview, it also allows you to remodel the role - there are many tasks that could perhaps be done by this role incumbent, and many others that could probably sit outside this role. In any case, read the job description thoroughly, and get the role clear in your head first.

Prepare, prepare, prepare: don’t reach the interview room not knowing what you want to ask.

For this, the foremost requirement is for you to have read the candidate’s CV many times over - know him well before you start interacting with him. It is not only bad manners to start looking at the CV for the first time in front of the candidate, it also enables the candidate to take charge of the interview flow, something that you don’t want ever to let happen. At the same time, know the questions that you must ask the candidate. Structuring the flow of the interview enables you to stay in control, minimises the chances of something critical not been covered, and allows you to get a comprehensive ‘feel’ of what the candidate has done in the past, and what is he capable to doing in the future.

Follow a structure: the interview has three parts - the opening, the body and the closing.

It is important to understand that each one of these is an important piece in the jigsaw. While 80% of the time is spent in the body, the opening and closing bits leave perhaps a more lasting impression in the candidate’s mind. In the opening, greet the candidate, set the tone of the interview, build rapport, make the candidate feel comfortable so that he is able to showcase what he is fully, and clarify the structure of the interview. In the body, gather behavioral information, don’t rely on “gut-feel”, sell the position to him, ask if he has any questions, clarify elements of the role and organization that he might have questions on, and always keep control. In the closing, thank the candidate, and tell him clearly what the next steps are.

Follow behavioral model: the best indicator of future performance is past performance - this is the dictum that you should always keep in mind while interviewing.

There is a simple model to follow - EAR. E is for example, continuously ask the candidate about examples of what he has done in the past. Hypothetical questions (what will you do if…) do not necessarily tell you how will be react in real-life situations, but a recount of his actions in the past under similar situations will give you an idea of what to expect in future. A is for action, continuously probe on his actions in the example (stay away from “we”, “my team”, etc.). R is for result, continuously seek the outcome of his actions in the examples that he quotes. Merely knowing the example and the action is not sufficient, you must know what happened as a result of his actions. Put together, the EAR model helps you gather information that’ll be useful in the final decision. Any other model throws up data that is not conclusive, the candidate can go either way while performing in the role.

In the final analysis, it is important to understand what the candidate has done in the past - meandering interviews that focus on generalities do not make for decisions that can stand the test of real life performance. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, how will you know when you’ve found it?

Good luck with your next interview.

By: Jo Bennett 

Criminal background checks are a popular screening tool for employers. More than 80 percent of U.S. employers perform criminal background checks on job applicants, according to a survey conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management. Technological advances have made the process of checking criminal backgrounds faster and cheaper, making the investment worthwhile for employers.
Employers have valid reasons for obtaining background checks. Chief among them is the desire to limit the company’s legal exposure for negligent hiring and retention claims. An employer could face legal liability if it hired an applicant with a violent criminal past who later, after hire, assaulted a customer. Employers also may be reluctant to hire someone with a criminal record relating to drug use, or to hire someone with a record of theft or crimes of dishonesty.
Although employers have many good reasons to make cautious hiring decisions, they also must be conscious of the legal pitfalls associated with policies that restrict employment based on a person’s criminal past. This is particularly true now because the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency that enforces federal anti-discrimination laws, has taken a keen interest in employer policies that restrict the hiring of individuals with a criminal past.
In February 2007, the EEOC launched its E-RACE (Eradicating Racism and Colorism in Employment) initiative. As part of that initiative, the EEOC has been holding public meetings on employers’ use of criminal records and is expected to issue new policy guidance on the subject. The agency also has filed a lawsuit against a staffing firm in Michigan, alleging that the firm maintained a policy that prohibited the hiring of any individual with a criminal background. In June, advocacy groups asked the EEOC to investigate Bank of America and Manpower, Inc. over job postings that allegedly told candidates not to apply if they had a criminal past.
The EEOC’s concern arises from statistics showing that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely than Caucasians to have a criminal record. Under federal anti-discrimination laws, an employer may be held liable for intentional and unintentional discrimination. Criminal background policies typically implicate unintentional discrimination under a disparate impact theory of liability. Under this legal theory, if an employer policy that is neutral on its face — that is, applies equally to all — has a disproportionate impact on a particular group, the employer may be culpable for discrimination. An employer may avoid liability only if it shows a “business necessity” for the policy.
Employers that have blanket restrictions on the hiring of felons may have a difficult time defending those policies. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the federal appellate court whose decisions apply in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, has ruled that employer policies restricting employment based on a criminal history must “accurately distinguish between applicants that pose an unacceptable level of risk and those that do not.”
The Third Circuit established this rule in the case El v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transp. Authority, in which the plaintiff challenged a policy that prohibited the hiring of anyone with a conviction of “any crime of moral turpitude or violence against any person(s).” In El, the plaintiff, Douglas El, sought employment as a driver providing door-to-door and curb-to-curb transporation for people with mental and physical disabilities. He was hired contingent to the results of a criminal background check. When the report on El came back, it showed a 40-year-old murder conviction, prompting his termination.
The Third Circuit ruled in favor of the employer, which relied on expert testimony to articulate that its policy met the business necessity defense — that the policy was necessary to protect a vulnerable population. A criminologist for the defendant testified that former violent criminals are more likely than members of the general population to commit a future violent act. The Third Circuit also accepted the expert’s testimony that the employer’s policy as drafted distinguished as accurately as possible who was and who was not likely to commit future violent acts.
Even though the employer prevailed in the El case, the Third Circuit’s decision demands employers to rethink their criminal background policies. First, the Third Circuit rejected common-sense assertions of business necessity: “[E]mployers cannot rely on rough-cut measures of employment-related qualities.” Instead, the court found, in order to successfully defend its criminal background policy, an employer must demonstrate “some level of empirical proof that challenged hiring criteria accurately predicted job performance.”
Although the Third Circuit found that an employer’s criminal background policy did not have to be perfect, employers would be wise to review their policies and give thought to these questions: why they chose their policy, what research did they undertake before drafting the policy, and what is the business purpose for the structure of their policy. Similarly, when employers apply their policies, they should very carefully consider the relationship between the crime committed by the applicant and the job sought, and the likelihood that any harm would occur if they hired the applicant.
Jo Bennett, a shareholder in the Philadelphia office of Stevens & Lee, P.C., advises companies on equal employment opportunity matters in her consulting and litigation practice. This article is provided as general information only and should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal advice on any specific matter. Professional advice should be sought on any specific situation.

Do I really need a cover letter?

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Do recruiters really read those cover letters that you painstakingly write? How about managers? Some do - some don’t! I know some managers who never look at them. I also know some who will not even look at a resume if there is no cover letter. Since you have no idea who will and who won’t, it’s in your best interest to include one just in case! And, I would propose that if you don’t, you are missing out on an opportunity to sell yourself. The cover letter is another chance for you to attract the reader’s attention and tell them concisely and powerfully why you are the right candidate for the job. What should you include in a cover letter? Obtain any information about the job from the ad, the company website, and networking, if possible. Explain your key qualifications in relation to a specific position and what you think you can do for this company. If possible, identify any prior impacts or accomplishments that are relevant. Be specific but brief - no one is going to read a long cover letter. Give them a compelling reason to want to bring you in for an interview. Finally, review your letter and see if it is marketing the image you want to project. Wishing you lots of success!

How do I leverage my references?

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Recently, I was asked how a job seeker could leverage their references during a job search. As you might expect, I have some questions about this question:

• WHO are your references?
• Are your references really even providing information?
• Are your references providing POSITVE information about you?

References generally should be work colleagues, preferably former managers, who can attest to your work performance in detail and can verify all of that other work-related “stuff” such as reliability, initiative, communication skills, and more. Vendors can serve as references as well, if you deal with them often as part of your job. I sometimes see job seekers include “personal references”, such as friends, relatives, etc. These people should not be on your list unless asked specifically for such references. It’s rare that they would be able to provide any relevant work-related information and even if they could, they would be thought to be biased.

On the employer side, trying to gather reference information requires detective work. Many former employers will only provide confirmation of employment dates to callers. They have adopted a practice of not giving out any information at all because of concerns with legal suits. So, you need to be prepared to provide names and contact information for references who will talk. When you leave a company, ask your manager and other appropriate colleagues for letters of reference. You may lose contact with those individuals should they move on to other companies. So, while recruiters usually ideally want to make a live call, a written letter provides excellent evidence of a desirable candidate.  Solicit active “recommendations” from appropriate sources to post on your “LinkedIn” profile (see http://www.linkedin.com/). You can refer potential employers to this site to view them. Finally, have a typed list of potential references ready that you can provide when asked. Be sure to ask these people if they are willing to be contacted as a reference.

Job seekers often wonder how they can insure that their references are POSITIVE?! First, be sure that you always maintain good relations with others. Even if you have a conflict or disagreement with someone – especially your boss – try to always conduct yourself in a professional manner. When you change positions, it’s just not the time to share any negative thoughts or words that you’ve been “saving up.” If you suspect that a reference is sharing negative information you can discreetly check this out by using the services of a reference checking firm or have a friend pose as a potential hiring manager to verify the response. Also, take note that in this technology-age, employers are regularly “googling” potential candidates and signing onto sites such as Facebook to check out prospective new hires. So, be careful about what you post on networking sites…and be sure to check out what pops up when you google your name! Remember to get involved in professional networks and volunteer your time. Those you work with can serve as excellent references not only for your skills, but also for your “softer skills” such as taking the initiative, follow through on projects, collaboration and more. As always, wishing you the best of success!