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1. FEATURE STORY:
ARE YOU OVERLOOKING ONE OF YOUR BEST RECRUITING OPPORTUNITIES?

All new hires are excited to have a new job, but some are genuinely thrilled to be working at your organization. Finding these individuals isn't as hard as you might think. All it takes is viewing your customers in a new light.

A recruiting light, that is. Customers make ideal job candidates because they're already engaged in the brand, possess product knowledge, and, most importantly, are enthusiastic about the company's products and services.

That's all well and good, but if they really wanted to work for your company, they would have applied already, right? Not necessarily. They might not know you are hiring. They might not even know they are in the market for a new job. It's your job to spread the hiring word and plant the seed of interest in their minds. Try these tactics:

• Ask them directly. Example: "You really seem to enjoy our products and shopping here. Why don't you join our team?"

• Post "now hiring" signs at the job site, and make applications easily accessible to customers. With each, outline some benefits of employment. A discount for purchases, for instance, might be enough to interest some customers.

• Insert recruitment brochures into customer bags or shipments.

• If customers can place orders on your website, include a link somewhere on the order page to your organization's career page.

• Create recruitment cards. The size of a business card, these cards contain basic information about open positions and instructions for applying. Supply these cards to all staff who directly interact with customers.

• Then, train staff on how to recognize customers worth recruiting.

Turning your recruiting attention to customers is just one of a number of ways to find enthusiastic, motivated employees. For more suggestions, attend AHI's How To Hire A Motivated Workforce web conference to be presented live on December 5.

2. CATHIE'S CORNER:
IS YOUR TARDINESS POLICY READY FOR THE WINTER?

Recently I've been getting a lot of questions on the subject of tardiness. Since we are coming into a time of year when, for many parts of the country, there will be weather-related difficulties affecting employees' commutes, it seemed an appropriate time to review "best practices" for such issues.

After once being the employee who, after a snowstorm, arrived first at the office despite being the one who lived an hour and a half away, while the employee who lived only two blocks away was the last to arrive, I've occasionally been somewhat skeptical of claims that, "I couldn't get in because of the [snow/rain/wind/other weather condition of your choice]." But there is no question that such things do happen. Weather patterns can vary greatly even within a small area. Sometimes you have to take it on faith since you can't see what the employee's neighborhood looks like. If an employee has a good attendance record and comes in late after a snowstorm, there's no need to disbelieve him if he claims to have been held up by the snow. But if you have several employees in the same area and all but one get in, or get in several hours apart from each other, it might be worth your while to investigate further.

The same applies when it comes to delays on the subway or accidents on the freeway; those are usually verifiable situations. If one employee's commute on a given day takes considerably longer than others who live in the same area, and the employee puts it down to weather, an accident, delays on public transportation, it might be worth checking it out with the Department of Public Works where he lives, the state police, or the transportation authority, if you have reason to believe he's fudging the truth. But if there's no significant reason to disbelieve him, trust is a good thing to have.

Then there's the question of the use of paid leave for such time. Personally, I see no reason why an employee who has vacation time available shouldn't be allowed/required to use it; if they truly didn't have any control over the situation, their paycheck shouldn't be penalized for it, and if they did, being required to use vacation time might make them re-think the options next time.

To review your options: A non-exempt employee can be either paid or not, since non-exempt employees do not have to be paid when they do not work. Whether or not they are paid vacation time for the absence (partial or full day) is a matter between you and the employee.

An exempt employee, however, is a little trickier. If they miss a full day for personal reasons ("I can't get to work because my driveway is snowed under" is a personal reason), you do not have to pay them for the day. You may, in all 50 states, require the use of a vacation day for the unworked day. However, if they come in late, their pay may not be docked. In 49 out of 50 states, you may unquestionably use vacation time to pay them for the time they missed. If you are in California, please check with your corporate counsel or the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement before using vacation time for less than four hours for exempt employees, as California law on this is decidedly unclear.

As a last thought, be sure that your tardiness policy is clear and that your employees are all aware of it. Doing so can reduce tardiness problems significantly!

Catherine Bannon is the President of HR by Request, Inc., in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting firm.

CUT RECRUITING COSTS DOWN TO SIZE

If you don't understand where your recruiting dollars are being spent and if you don't measure the effectiveness of those dollars, you could be pouring those dollars down the drain...View the full story on our website.

Kick back, relax, and take a few minutes to check out the HR Soapbox, "Jerks At Work: The Holiday Edition," in which an editor vents about the people at work who add to your typical holiday irritations.