Wow, An HR poerson that gets it

[Scout26]

There isn't a talent gap, there's reality gap.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2015/01/08/the-truth-about-the-talent-shortage/2/

I think some managers think they are "saving" money by leaving positions unfilled, but they are hurting the company.  Likewise, there are those that try to cheap-out on hiring talent. (See: H1B visas, Google, et al and the suppression of IT salaries...)


Granted, most of my hiring was done at entry level, so I was looking for folks with basic skills.  The absolute best forklift driver I ever hired had never been on a forklift before.  (She applied for the job figuring she had nothing to lose and everything to gain.  )  We would give them a basic "pick the pallet off the top rack, drive around the racking and put it back" test.  She did it perfect and in record time.  It was only after she'd been with us three months that she "confessed" to her inexperience. 

But just as important is admitting you've made a bad hire and letting them go.  No one wants to admit they've made a mistake, especially in hiring, and will hang on to someone long after they've proven their ineptitude and/or unsuitability for the job.  Having that conversation is never fun.  "Hey, I think I've made a mistake, and we can agree that it's not a good fit."

If you have to do that a lot then you suck at hiring.

[Hawkmoon]

But just as important is admitting you've made a bad hire and letting them go.  No one wants to admit they've made a mistake, especially in hiring, and will hang on to someone long after they've proven their ineptitude and/or unsuitability for the job.  Having that conversation is never fun.  "Hey, I think I've made a mistake, and we can agree that it's not a good fit."

Unfortunately, during my term as "Director of Technical Services" for [big firm], I got to have that conversation twice. In neither case did the other party agree that it wasn't a good fit. In one of those two cases, the other party told me if he ever saw me on the street he would shoot me.

I'm glad I'm not involved in that sort of nonsense any more.

[MechAg94]

Unfortunately, during my term as "Director of Technical Services" for [big firm], I got to have that conversation twice. In neither case did the other party agree that it wasn't a good fit. In one of those two cases, the other party told me if he ever saw me on the street he would shoot me.

I'm glad I'm not involved in that sort of nonsense any more.

Well, he did prove you were right....and also got the cops involved I guess.  So much for references.

[MechAg94]

She only briefly touched on money.  You start to realize your budget is low when you find your applicant and they decline when the offer is made. 

The other side of that is turnover, but that is another discussion I think.

[lupinus]

I've had people sign for entire pallets worth of freight, sometimes in excess of a 100k in value, that aren't on a damned truck.  Multiple times. One is up to four times this month signing for the entire count on multi pallet shipments that have been split. Other times the pallet is just missing, often found and delivered eventually but occasionally not.

Hell on the last one he signed for 8 pallets when five on the trailer. He got the load with the other 3, and I'll give you three guesses how many he signed for again.

I'll give you another three guess to figure out the level of disciplinary action these upstanding workers receive when they do this and other stupid *expletive deleted*it by not paying attention.

[Fly320s]

Speaking of bad hiring decisions and letting people go...

http://imgur.com/a/ApjTk

[makattak]

Speaking of bad hiring decisions and letting people go...

http://imgur.com/a/ApjTk

I'm just in shock here. That's a spectacular failure. Several million dollars in damage, I assume?

[Fly320s]

I'm just in shock here. That's a spectacular failure. Several million dollars in damage, I assume?

Might be a total loss.

[makattak]

Might be a total loss.

Airbus 330 price: $221M

Catastrophic failure of the employee selection process.

[lupinus]

Airbus 330 price: $221M

Catastrophic failure of the employee selection process.

Well. I suppose that one ups the 150k pallet we had to pay out for cause the guy signed for it even though it wasn't on the truck...

[AJ Dual]

Also, there's even more hidden savings to an organization that's aggressive about hiring and firing and creating a little "churn" by hiring quickly, and firing anyone that doesn't work out, it keeps the damn HR dept. busy so they don't have time to waste coming up with inane PC bullshit that brings everyone down.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

The author mentions the real problem only in passing:

They wanted somebody with ten million years of this and four hundred thousand years of that, plus a little html experience and public relations background thrown in for good measure, all for the low low price of sixty-two thousand dollars per year, the exact amount in their budget!

Managers can only offer applicants what's actually in their budget.  Spending more isn't an option.  Every manager I've known would love to hire that whizbang perfect applicant for $200k or $300k, but that isn't their choice.

So what's the manager supposed to do, hire an inadequate applicant who can't get the job done, because that's all he can afford?  Who's gonna take the blame when his team can't meet goals because that crummy new hire can't pull his weight?

Better to leave the position open.  It's never a good solution to to hire a bad applicant.  The HR lady author should know this.

[HankB]

She only briefly touched on money.  You start to realize your budget is low when you find your applicant and they decline when the offer is made.

When I was finishing grad school there was a fairly sharp dividing line between companies seriously trying to hire quality talent and companies trying to hire cheap talent - starting offers fell into two groups, separated by nearly 20%.

Both I and fellow grad students declined quite a number of offers; in one case, the hiring company actually complained to the university's placement office, outraged that "Nobody was willing to accept our job offer!!" 

Well, when your offer is the LOWEST of any, and you indicated little advancement opportunity and benefits that are mediocre at best, what did you expect?

[BobR]

Speaking of bad hiring decisions and letting people go...

http://imgur.com/a/ApjTk

That slice behind the pressure bulkhead is bad news. If you never wanted to pressurize the plane again it might be salvageable. The may figure it is worth it to fix it, but probably not.

bob

[MillCreek]

That slice behind the pressure bulkhead is bad news. If you never wanted to pressurize the plane again it might be salvageable. The may figure it is worth it to fix it, but probably not.

bob

This may seem like a silly question, but it would not be feasible to essentially amputate the nose of the aircraft and put on a new one? 

[AJ Dual]

This may seem like a silly question, but it would not be feasible to essentially amputate the nose of the aircraft and put on a new one? 

A lot of aircraft construction, especially the airframe is a one-time deal. Composites, or formed metalwork that can't be patched or welded and things that are permanently attached in ways that aren't conducive to being replaced.

The engineering pressures of fuel efficiency, safety, avoiding mechanical fatigue in parts, "failure is not an option" level of safety etc. mean the airframe assemblies are engineered to the hilt, and new bolt-on parts or patching the structure isn't an option.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

This may seem like a silly question, but it would not be feasible to essentially amputate the nose of the aircraft and put on a new one? 

It might be possible to fix.  It would be very, very difficult, but I think it might be possible.  But that's beside the point.

Aircraft are engineered so meticulously, and to such difficult standards, that it would be impossible for any repair job to pass that level of scrutiny.  No engineer (or regulator, airline, pilot, etc) would ever sign off on putting that plane back into service.

[Firethorn]

On the airplane - I think I remember that one!

If it's the one I remember, they did fix it.  Cost something like $20M.  It made it onto a 'big repairs' TV show where they also show things like replacing the azipods on cruise liners.   

It was nearly $1M just to ship a replacement pressure cap.  Dedicated repair team consisting of dozens of engineers for a month.

[KD5NRH]

If it's the one I remember, they did fix it.  Cost something like $20M.  It made it onto a 'big repairs' TV show where they also show things like replacing the azipods on cruise liners.   

It was nearly $1M just to ship a replacement pressure cap.  Dedicated repair team consisting of dozens of engineers for a month.

Seems like it would have been cheaper to find something it could do with a lower-cost repair; I can certainly understand wanting a passenger airliner to be repaired to full, exact factory spec, but ripping out the seats and using it for short-hop large cargo in Alaska or similar wouldn't entail nearly as much risk.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Wow, they managed to fix that for only $20 million?

[Scout26]

Seems like it would have been cheaper to find something it could do with a lower-cost repair; I can certainly understand wanting a passenger airliner to be repaired to full, exact factory spec, but ripping out the seats and using it for short-hop large cargo in Alaska or similar wouldn't entail nearly as much risk.

Still has to meet FAA airworthness standards for that type.  Doesn't matterr what it's hauling, there are still st least two people on-board. 

When I was with Airborne Express we had two major incidents on the ORD ramp.  (Thanfully after I left that station).  1) a 26ftBox truck backed into the wing of a DC-8.  It sat for there for 3 months, until repaired and approved by the FAA.  2) a driver backed into the containe conveyor, pinning then killing a fellow (new) supervisor.      Both drivers were fired.  The guy killed, though had violate a major safety rule, so his eath was his fault, but the driver paid the price for that mistake.

[KD5NRH]

Still has to meet FAA airworthness standards for that type.  Doesn't matterr what it's hauling, there are still st least two people on-board.

Sure, and you'd want it fully repaired in terms of overall structural integrity, but if it's only carrying the flight crew and cargo, does it really need to be pressurizable?

For that matter, sell it to any of the countries that routinely overlook such minor safety complaints as "aircraft exploded in mid flight."

Or a nice automation package and all the high explosives it can carry.  Don't even need landing routines in the guidance package to make one heck of a cruise missile.

[Scout26]

Sure, and you'd want it fully repaired in terms of overall structural integrity, but if it's only carrying the flight crew and cargo, does it really need to be pressurizable?

For that matter, sell it to any of the countries that routinely overlook such minor safety complaints as "aircraft exploded in mid flight."

Or a nice automation package and all the high explosives it can carry.  Don't even need landing routines in the guidance package to make one heck of a cruise missile.

1) Not unless you plan on taxiing the entire trip.

2) It still has fly there, unless you plan to disassemble it and ship, which will price it right out of their budget.

3)  We've already got cheaper cruise missiles.

[MillCreek]

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2022625459_ethiopian787firexml.html

I remember that this was being reported in the Seattle media for a couple of months.  And this was a relatively simple skin repair.  Boeing made another fuselage barrel and then cut a skin patch from the new barrel to replace the burned skin.

[KD5NRH]

2) It still has fly there, unless you plan to disassemble it and ship, which will price it right out of their budget.

Price is FOB.  Throw in a few rolls of duct tape, and let them worry about it after their check clears.