Every now and then, the field of human resources gloms onto some new trend. Within minutes, HR departments from everywhere leap gleefully and thoughtlessly on the new bandwagon.
This is not wise. HR fads are not infallible. Following the HR herd can hurt you.
Take one recent HR trend. Ever seen these words in a job ad? “Only currently employed persons need apply.” To tell the truth, I haven’t yet seen those words in the Herald & Review classified pages, but then, I haven’t looked all that closely.
Even if the words aren’t in the help wanted pages, many companies still adhere to the practice. They hire only those who already have jobs. This growing practice is legal in Illinois and most states.
HR figures that if a person is working, they must be good. “If they’re employed in today’s economy, they have to be first string,” sniffs Ryan Ross, a partner with the Kaye/Bassman executive recruiting firm in Dallas, quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
People are also reading…
I suppose that Mr. Ross thinks that unemployed people have something wrong with them. They are to be shunned, and their resumés are to be tossed into the reject pile without so much as a light scan of the eyes.
Our community has taken some strong and hurtful blows in the last few weeks. ADM laid off 175 salaried employees, many of them with decades of experience. As of this writing, StarTek is in danger of a complete shutdown in which hundreds of employees could lose their jobs. Most of these are entry-level positions, the first steps on the ladder to economic self-sufficiency.
We still have long-term unemployed persons from the national downturn precipitated by the 2008 housing collapse and subsequent market plunges. Local employers have tons of unemployed candidates to choose from.
Why should you consider hiring the unemployed? Let me give you three great reasons:
First, you are looking for the best person, right? So, why in the world would you automatically exclude an entire group of people, especially a group which could contain the best candidate?
Second, an unemployed person is very likely to actually want the job and give you his or her absolute best effort. The unemployed completely understand the value of paid work.
Third, an unemployed person is much more likely to be loyal than the person you just poached from another company. What makes you think he or she won’t listen to an even sweeter offer from someone else?
Note to my reader: I was planning to use this month’s column to give advice on what to do for your newly unemployed friends or neighbors — what to say, how to help out — those kinds of things. And maybe next month I’ll do that.
But it struck me that the best thing you can do, if you’re in a position to do so, is to offer him or her a job. And you should not let some unfounded HR fad stand in the way.
Fred W. Spannaus, principal of Spannaus Consulting, is a senior professional in human resources. He loves feedback to his columns. Fred can be contacted by email at spannaus@
ameritech.net or by phone at 425-2635.
