Successfully Integrating Today’s Entry-Level Employee into Your Company’s Culture

William ObenauerBusiness Management InstructorSouthwest Vermont Career Development Center

Ground rules:

• This presentation will discuss changes in legislation.

• This presentation will discuss changes in American culture.

• These topics will be discussed with the sole purpose of explaining the unique needs of employees that have resulted from these changes.

• This presentation will not comment on the positive or negative impacts of any cultural or legislative changes in our country.

Are you hiring the right people?

Are you hiring the right people?

Hiring the best candidatevs.

Hiring the right candidate

21.90%24.70%

33.50%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

1975 1995 2012

Americans Age 25-29 With Bachelor's Degree

Information Courtesy of National Center for Education Statistics

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75+

Age

Percentage of Americans With College Degrees

Information Courtesy of U.S. Census Bureau

How does this impact us in the Northeast?

State Population Age 25-34 with Bachelor’s Degree

MA 53.4%

NY 47.7%

CT 46.3%

NJ 46.0%

NH 45.6%

VT 43.8%

RI 43.4%

Information Courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education and based upon 2010 U.S. Census Data

Today’s premium for college degrees is caused partly by increasing selectiveness among employers about whom they hire and screening based on education even for positions that do not require higher skills.

June 12, 2013

Today’s premium for college degrees is caused partly by increasing selectiveness among employers about whom they hire and screening based on education even for positions that do not require higher skills.

The smarter, the better, right?

“According to 2011 research by management-consulting firm Gallup, 71% of American workers are either not engaged or actively disengaged from their jobs, with highly educated and middle-aged workers the least likely to feel involved in and enthusiastic about their work.”

May 31, 2012

Costs of boredom in the workplace-

• Lack of productivity• Significant errors• Accidents

Cognitive psychologist John Eastwood of York University, Canada-

“Boredom has at its core the desiring of satisfying engagement but not being able to achieve that.”

Overqualified employees want to do meaningful work, but aren’t given the opportunity to do so.

If you hire an overqualified salesperson, what are some tasks that he/she could perform in order to decrease boredom and increase the value that he/she provides to your company?

• Inventory sales analysis• Develop merchandise layout• Purchasing• Customer feedback analysis• Develop promotional strategies

If they’re not bored, we’re good

then, right?

Where does engagement fall?

Safety

Physiological

This will fall!!!

We base wages on the competitive market, not on

our employees’ needs.

Have you ever gone to work hungry?

How productive were you?

Basic economic factors for the college graduate

• Average reported monthly student loan payments for college graduates are $300 per month.

• Excluding the cost of your home, your total debt payments should not exceed 25% of your take-home pay

• Your home payment should not be more than 30% of your take-home pay• Total debts should not exceed 55% of your take-home pay

Student Loan

Car Home Monthly Take-Home Pay

Est. Gross Salary

Est. GrossHourly

$0 $250 $500 $1363.63 $25500.00 $12.26

$0 $250 $1000 $2272.72 $40800.00 $19.62

$300 $250 $500 $1909.09 $34700.00 $16.68

$300 $250 $1000 $2818.18 $50100.00 $24.09

When you hire people who need to earn more than you’re offering, you will not meet their needs, and eventually, they will refuse to meet yours.

Low turnover increases morale

and the feelings of safety and security.

So I’ve hired the right employees.

Are my problems solved?

2012 U.S. Retail Sales

$4.3 Trillion

Sales for Top 100 Retailers

$1.8 Trillion

The world-wide web came online in 1993. Along with it, came email. Today, 294 billion emails are sent each day.

Texting with your mobile phone was first completed in 1989. In 1995, only about one message was sent by customers per month. The average increased to around 35 in 2000. Today, sending a text message is the most widely used service on cell phones.

In 2004, 1 million people used Facebook each month. Today, more than 1 billion people do.

Between 1970 and 1990, the number of single parent families in the United States doubled.

In 1975, only 40 percent of mothers with a child younger than age 6 held a paid job. As of 2010, 64.2 percent of women with children younger than age 6 were in the labor force.

How employees are portrayed on television is becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy

“I am not a role model,” Charles Barkley

Where do schools fall into this?

What this means to you as the employer…

Title VII

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer -

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Americans With Disabilities Act

Sec. 12112. Discrimination

(a) General rule

No covered entity shall discriminate against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

Age Discrimination Act

SEC. 623. [Section 4]

(a) Employer practices

It shall be unlawful for an employer-

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s age;

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s age

What prospective employees hear:

• I’m an American; I have rights.

• Things in the workplace must be fair.

• You need to have a really good reason to fire me.

How you can work with these perceptions:

• Give employees honest feedback on their performance.

• Have the difficult conversations.

• Keep employees informed on the state of the business.

• Explain business decisions when possible.

• Hire the right employee (not the best employee).• Develop a wage system based upon what meets the needs

of both your employee and your business (do not develop wages based only upon competition).

• Be prepared to train your employees on soft skills. Train them on what they need (not what you like to teach). This provides you with the opportunity to integrate your company’s culture into your employees habits.

• Provide honest feedback.• Maintain open dialogues on the state of the business.

Use your local high schools and tech centers as resources. They cannot meet your needs unless you

communicate specifically with them. State laws require that technical education programs have

community members on their advisory committees. Don’t be afraid to participate.