1st, the “Hire Me Page” idea…This was a clever way (even for you) of advertising for and attracting the type of employee (ee) that fit your business needs at the time. Most ads cast a wide net, even if not consciously designed to do so, due to the job title, company name, listed benefits, job location, etc. Your one line ad required those interested to do more than simply write your address on an envelope and send their resume in. Prospective applicants/ees had to read, comprehend and follow instructions in order to reach the more elaborate job ad that contained detailed information about the open position as well as information about the company and its culture. Your simple ad helped you to find those applicants with the basic KSA’s (knowledge, skills, abilities) the position required without having to go through large “A”, “B” and “C” piles of resumes thus, speeding up the interviewing and hiring process. However, not all was rosy when I read through the “Hire Me Page”. The last 3 or so sections contained language that I would’ve counseled against using then and even more so now considering how active the EEOC is becoming. Job advertisements and job descriptions should contain job related information ONLY. Therefore, I would leave out the bowling shoes reference for starters.

2nd, the “Video Want Ad” (VWA) question (and why you really called me out)…Those of us in HR have seen video resumes for a while now so producing an “VWA” to be used in concert with your other recruitment efforts in this age of YouTube and MySpace seems like a logical progression. The use of “VWA’s” could give organizations a leg up on their competition when it comes to recruiting ees. Placing a want ad in the paper at best allows the company to put forth their name, company logo and brief descriptions of the position and company culture. A “VWA” allows the organization to do all that and more. Plus, you can include graphics, music, photos and other whiz bang stuff. In your case, I would lose the suit and shades, project an upbeat/positive tone and leave the sarcasm to me. Just remember to keep your verbiage job related!

Thank you for mentioning that you had to terminate an underperforming ee during the probationary period. THAT’S WHAT PROBATIONARY PERIODS ARE FOR, PEOPLE!!! If your state allows for a probationary period, your organization should take advantage of one. A probationary period is the time for the ee to decide whether or not your company is where they want to continue to work AND it’s also the time the organization should be evaluating the job performance of the ee. I would recommend documenting a 2 week evaluation as well as an end of the probationary period evaluation. Be sure to share this information with the ee. By doing so the organization has documented the ees job performance and in the case of an underperforming ee, given them notice of the need to improve. Keeping an underperforming ee past the probationary period is just going to lead to HR headaches down the road and I can’t be everywhere. The probationary period is your chance to take care of problems before they escalate. Take care of those attendance, smoke breaks, dress code, and any and all job performance issues, NOW. Here’s your chance to be like Barney Fife and to nip it, nip it in the bud !!

As for the stinking lawyers, let them grow up to be garbage czars…

Now, where’s my chicken tenders and DP…don’t forget the pretzels !!

GO HOGS GEAUX !!!!