3 Ways Human Resources Can Contribute to the Bottom Line - Spark Hire

3 Ways Human Resources Can Contribute to the Bottom Line - Spark HireIn every company, there are 2 departments sales and marketing, and all the rest. The marketing department drives units and revenues. The other departments are to run as efficiently as possible. Their primary goal is to save money, and every dollar saved is used to allow sales and marketing to advertise and sell mora units. The only department elend asked to come up with creative ideas to save money is human resources.Those days are over. All departments are being asked to contribute to the bottom line. In the past, the mere mention of such a thing to human resources was thought to be taboo. How can you decrease what you spend on recruiting? How can you eliminate background checks? How can you more effectively change the timing or availability of new hires?You cant. But there are 3 things you can look into that may impact your bottom line.Provide training only where neededIf you hire an experienced candidate, do you have to train them on everything? You should have the candidate complete an assessment, and train them only where there is a deficiency. By doing this the delta between hire date and productive day will shrink. The faster you get them generating sales the more incremental sales you make. This is a win-win.Hire for later not nowThis will be the most difficult to execute but will definitely be the most beneficial if you can. On the surface it looks like over hiring, but its much more than that. Over hiring is hiring the person with the most skills whether those skills align to your needs or not. When hiring for later, you are consciously hiring a person who has skills you need now and later. So, for example, you are looking to hire someone for door to door sales now but know you will be hiring for retail sales later then your hiring team will be on the lookout for someone proficient at both. By doing this, you are effectively building your own bench.There are some disadvantages to doi ng this. You may have to pay your new hires more than you normally pay them. Also, your long term plans may change, and with it change your employee profile. But the old adage says better to have it and not need it than need it and now have it.Poach from winnersIts not enough to poach people with experience. If not careful, you may poach someone who is a bad long term fit for your team. Your best bet is to poach someone who works for a successful company. It may sound like a no-brainer but typically hiring teams look for experience not the company that they came from. A winner with a bag full of ideas that are proven to be successful may be a shot in the obere extremitt for your company.The right moves by your H/R team may be the engine that drives your companys revenue, cash flow, and stock value.About the AuthorStephen Thomas is an Executive with 27 years of experience. He currently has over 1,000 employees, and has conducted hundreds of interviews for candidates at all levels of an organization. Thomas currently writes articles on careers for the Chicago Examiner. Thomas writes out of his passion and desire to help leaders tap into their visionary talents and make good companies great.Image Santiagp Cornejo/BigStock.com

Why we need more inefficiency

Why we need mora inefficiencyWhy we need more inefficiencyA few months ago, I attended an unusual conference.As an academic, Im used to conferences with the usual formula one panel after another where three speakers each have 20 minutes to showcase their latest publication while the audience members twiddle their thumbs and await their turn to offer opinions disguised as questions during the QA period.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreBut at this conference, there were no panels. No speakers. No QA periods. The conference consisted entirely of small breakout sessions where attendees were asked jarring questions like Whats the one thing you believe that other people think is weird?I do a lot of weird things, but when I got this question during the conference, one jumped to mind I still get Netflix DVDs in the mail.Yes, you read that correctly. The Varol household is the only one I know in streaming-obsessed America where DVDs still arrive in little red envelopes.Im a productivity nut, and I realize ur Netflix DVD subscription is spectacularly inefficient. From the moment I add a movie to our queue, it takes 2-3 days for it to arrive in the mail. If I wanted, I could rent the same movie on iTunes or Amazon in 2-3 minutes.But finding the movie on iTunes removes one crucial part of the movie rental process The anticipation.I love everything that precedes the arrival of a Netflix DVD in the mail The process of finding it online, adding it to my DVD queue, and eagerly waiting for its arrival. Spotting a red envelope in our mailbox brings an inexplicable smile to my face. I open the envelope like a new gift, pop the DVD into my DVD player (yes, I still have one of those), and enjoy the show.Heres the thing The more instantaneous the gratification, the less we value it.Anyone whos planned a vacation knows The anticipation can be more pleasurable than the experience. You get more joy out of daydreaming about the possibility of uninterrupted beach time, with your toes in the sand, the latest Dan Brown novel in your hand, and a frosty cocktail with an umbrella next to you- as opposed to experiencing the actuality of delayed flights, crushed expectations, and bouts of food poisoning. Pleasure disappoints, as Sren Kierkegaard said, but possibility never.This is partially why vinyl is making a comeback. Yes, you can simply say Alexa, play I Cant Get No Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones. Or you can walk over to your shelf, select the limited-edition vinyl, carefully remove it from its case, place it on your turntable, lower the tonearm just so, and let the player start spinning out its own crackly version of one of the best rock songs of all time.Dont get me wrong Efficiency has brought tremendous value to our lives. Im not about to give up Spotify, Amazon Prime, Lyft, or numerous other modern services that make my life easier.But when we take our o bsession with productivity too far, the activities we enjoy lose their meaning. We end up optimizing and automating away the joyful and pleasurable moments of our lives.Its no wonder that we cant get no satisfaction.There are numerous people- most notably, Elon Musk- whore preaching the dangers of artificial intelligence. Their fears may be well-founded, but we forget the other side of the coin The danger of computers becoming like humans is not as great as the danger of humans becoming like computers, asKonrad Zuse, who built the worlds first programmable computer, purportedly said. The world may be driven by efficient microchips, but we dont have to behave like one.The remedy doesnt have to be dramatic. Dosomethings the slower, inefficient way. Get your DVDs in the mail (or better yet, go in person to a video store, if one still exists around you). Send a postcard instead of an email. Skip the Postmates order and go to a farmers market to pick the ingredients for your dinner. Buy a book at a bookstore instead of downloading it on your Kindle. Take the longer path home the next time you walk your dog.In a world obsessed with moving faster and faster, inefficiency might be the most subversive- and fun- thing you could do.This article first appeared on OzanVarol.com.Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned law professor and bestselling author.Click hereto download a free copy of his e-book, The Contrarian Handbook 8 Principles for Innovating Your Thinking. Along with your free e-book, youll get the Weekly Contrarian - a newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and changes the way we look at the world (plus access to exclusive content for subscribers only).