Probationary Period For New Employees
With employment rates still looking bad, probationary periods and short-term periods employers use to try out job candidates before rewarding them with full-time status and associated benefits are becoming increasingly common. When it comes to hiring employees for your organization, you probably do it all the time as a human resource manager. However, you may not be putting the right amount of time and attention into the process. Do you have a probationary period in place? This is one of the key foundations of bringing new employees on board. It’s a critical step to protecting your company while also ensuring that your new employee is ready to contribute properly to your business.
A probationary period is a must to have in most situations. As a human resource manager for a company, this probationary period must be clearly defined. How long is it? When does it start and end? What happens in the middle of it if a problem occurs? What steps do you, as the human resource manager, need to take during that time? Define what it is and what is provides to the company. This should be included in the employee handbook.
Use It
It’s a mistake that often happens in HR departments. The guidelines including in the employee guidebook can tucked under the rug and forgotten about. That’s not a good idea. If you have the probationary period in place, you need to use it. That means at the end of 30, 60 or 90 days (as your policy dictates) sit down with the new employee and determine if things are improving and, if they are not, what the next step is. Most often, this affords you an opportunity to let the individual go if the work quality is not high enough.
Hiring Well Is Step One
The reason for a probationary period is simple. No matter how well you interview and hire a new employee, you are never going to know how good of a worker this person is until they are on your floor working for you. However, at that point, you may not want to let this individual go. A human resource manager should sit down with this individual after this time period passes to evaluate the situation. Is now a good time to keep working together or to let the individual go?
The HR department needs to incorporate a probationary period into the employee guidebook and then use it. It is an opportunity to work with an employee and to gather information, evaluate the potential successes and determine if the individual is a good fit.
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