A huge hello to all engineering firms looking for some well needed advice on the basic how to of HR. We know how smart you guys are at developing the best solutions of technical problems with your out of this world mathematics and science skills, but do you know what kinds of HR you need to make both your employees and your business thrive?
Our blog post today will guide you whether you are a mechanical engineer, civil engineer or any of the hundred other kinds.
We know how process driven all engineering businesses can be, we are just here to improve and support your already developed business frameworks. The main goal of us is to assist your company to meet your desired business goals and objectives with the help of your Human Assets (Hussets). Below we will give you our most important top tips from our Husset Model of HR. The 6-phase model incorporates all aspects of the employee lifecycle starting with identify and communicate and finishing with retain and redeploy. All the in-betweens incorporate find and recruit, onboard and induct, manage and develop, train and grow.
Let’s get into these tips shall we….
Create detailed job position description for new engineering candidate roles
It is hugely important when hiring that you have comprehensive position descriptions when trying to find a new person for the firm. As engineer’s vital technical knowledge and skills are needed to perform the job to the very best standard. Engineering offers more career choice than any other field, creating differentiating skills for so many similar jobs. What is expected of an employee for a certain job can change from each engineering firm. Make sure you list the precise qualifications and technical skills that are needed to perform the identified job in order to find the best candidate for the position. This ensures the employee will meet and align with your constructed business goals.
Clearly list the “Responsibilities and outcomes” of each position. These job descriptions can be a great way to monitor if the employee is working to the expected position standard.
Streamline your onboarding processes
Update your current onboarding process so that it is quick and easy. The simplest things really go the longest way! Don’t forget the basics, show the new employees the toilets, what time lunch is, where to find needed stationery and how to contact IT. This will make for a far better successful transition into the business leading to a boom in your employee tenure.
Incorporating electronic onboarding platforms is a great way to reduce admin and speed up the process when it comes to tedious documentation.
Implement regular development and employee performance reviews
Employee performance reviews are regularly discussed on our HussetHR blog page, this is because they are so important! You need to ensure you are implementing regular development meetings with all your employees to ensure that your team is mirroring the expectations of the business structure. These meetings are a great time to let the employee know their engineering design ideas are great and what they also could improve on. Using the position description as a guideline, looking at the gradual progression of their work within the company. These development meetings are a great way to form a basis for the annual review.
Ensure you have detailed policies and procedures in place to support the success of the team
The best way to detail all in company policies and procedures is by creating an employee handbook. This can be given at the beginning of each employees start. Asking the employees to sign the handbook is a great way to know they have both read and understood what is expected of them.
This information guide can ensure that what the employee is doing is aligned with the overall company goals. It can also be used as a standard to outline the expectations of employees.
Lastly, these handbooks are a great go to if any employees are confused about things like leave. This way they will know how much notice to give, how much leave they are entitled to etc.
Create an organised, reputable graduate position program
Engineering is known for its competitive and well-rounded graduate positions. These like-minded post graduate students may be the perfect additive to boost your firm to meet its business goals. Putting an efficient post graduate program into place will assist the employee to progress up to meeting the professional employees award and support them whilst completing their Engineers Australia graduate program.
Have a supportive redeployment culture
With engineering consistently booming and a huge variety of jobs forever expanding in the field, redeployment is natural. If an employee has decided to leave and continue on elsewhere, support them during this transition. Make their memory of your company a good one! During this process an employee feedback survey is a great way to get an indication of what they loved whilst working with you and what you could improve on.
We hope the above has given you an easy guide on some HR that is a must in any engineering firm. The fast-paced nature of your work makes it difficult to keep up with every single aspect of your business. If you are looking for some extra HR help call us! Our number is on the top right corner of your screen 😊