How To Resign From Dominating Bosses In The Construction Industry

Resigning-job-construction-engineering

With so many strong leaders in the construction game, giving notice of resignation can be a bit intimidating. But whether you’re looking for work elsewhere or have already landed a new job, you’re entitled to leave your current job in one piece! This blog will take you through each step of your resignation, and offer some tips on overcoming obstacles along the way.

1. Negotiate notice

Before you sign any papers with your new employer, dig out the contract you signed with your current employer. Here you’ll find the terms of your resignation, along with the required notice period. Negotiate your start date with your new employer so that it comes after your required notice period. If no notice period is given, a good rule of thumb is 30 days.

2. Meet your manager

Always meet with your immediate manager to provide face-to-face notice of your intentions to leave. And do this before providing written notice. Organise a short meeting with your manager in a quiet place. They may want to know why you’re leaving or ask questions you don’t want to answer about your new job. Maintain your professionalism and stick to what you liked about your old job, not what you hated.

3. Provide written notice

You may choose to take written notice, in the form of a printed letter, with you to your meeting with your manager. These days, email tends to be more convenient for everyone involved, which you can send as a follow up after the meeting. Keep it short, sweet and to the point, and include the relevant dates. Don’t forget to ’cc the HR department.

4. Don’t gloat

Never tell your colleagues you’re leaving before telling your manager. While you may have developed close relationships with some teammates, you never know who will spread the word, making you look unprofessional. When giving verbal notice of your resignation, check with your manager that it’s okay for you to tell the office, for example, by making at an announcement at the next team catch up. This will ensure you exit the company gracefully, and it will serve you well should you require references in the future.

5. Stick out the notice period

So you’ve accepted your new job offer and have given notice of resignation, now for the hard part. The 30-day notice period can be daunting, as others may try to unload more work onto you or even treat you differently to how they did before. Maintain your poise and integrity by working fairly through your handover. Don’t try to take longer lunch breaks of use up your sick leave, as this kind of behaviour will only backfire.

6. Avoid bad-mouthing

Some of your colleague may take this opportunity to vent about their gripes with the company or the job. Now that you’re leaving, they feel you’ll offer a sympathetic ear to their grievances. Don’t let gossip get the better of you, because what you say could come back to bite you. By staying neutral and professional, you’ll keep your professional connections for longer and earn great references for the future.

7. Give an exit interview

Some companies like to give exit interviews to discuss the reasons why you’re leaving. Remember, you’re always entitled to keep the reasons to yourself. But if you do want to provide some feedback, make sure that it is constructive and never critical of others.

Get more goss in construction & engineering. Connect with us on LinkedIn today.

Hiring Tips For Better Employee Retention

Hiring the wrong person for your company can take a big bite out of your revenue. In fact, the cost of onboarding the wrong person can be about 30% of their earnings in the first year. This is why hiring the right person is so important. Whether you’re using a HR consultant or getting involved in the process yourself, these hiring tips set you up for better employee retention.

Don’t rush

There can be a lot of internal company pressure to fill roles as soon as they’ve come up. Suddenly there’s a gap in your team and everyone’s working harder to keep the ship afloat. But many new employee terminations result from rushing through the recruitment process, which becomes even costlier than having the position open for longer. Don’t rush to hire someone, take your time to find the right person.

Set expectations

Employer and employee expectations are never more unclear than during the first weeks of work. Start setting your expectations as early as the interview stage, and get a feel for your candidate’s own expectations of the company. One way to do this would be to outline what accomplishments you’d like to see in a set period of time and to ask the candidate what strategies they’d use for delivery.

In medias res

This latin phrase means ‘in the middle of things,’ and refers to starting a story in the middle of the action. While we don’t suggest hurling your candidates into real work situations during their interviews, it’s useful to describe a real situation they’d encounter on the job and get them to describe how they’d work through it. This will paint a good picture of their approach, their competence and their style. You’ll also gain insight into their past experiences and even their training, factors which play into their approach.

Choose a person, not a piece of paper

A resume will tell you where this person has worked in the past, what qualifications they hold, and possibly their achievements throughout their career. What the resume won’t tell you is whether this person is a good match for your company. Google set a precedent when the company decided to hire only those with a passion for achieving the company’s mission, rather than those that looked good on paper. When meeting with candidates, find out if they’re a good fit for your company culture, and whether their vision aligns with your own.

Talk to a construction recruitment specialist about how you can hire better staff today.

Early Performance Red Flags & Intervention For New Hires

employee-performance-civil-construction-engineering

Some new hires will take to the role and your company like a fish to water, others will need a little more time to adjust. Before writing your new hire off as a “dud”–and wasting all that time and energy hiring a new person– let’s take a look at some early performance indicators and possible solutions.

They’re just not getting it

Unless your new employee has done something terrible in the first six weeks (like stolen money from the donations tin or behaved inappropriately towards others) then their difficulties in adjusting may not be their fault. Don’t expect your new hire to be a “mind reader”. They don’t know what’s expected of them unless it’s communicated clearly. Is it possible that your new hire isn’t “getting it” because performance outcomes have not been laid out or negotiated properly? It takes a good leader to communicate realistic expectations and give constructive feedback.

They’re just not fitting in

It’s always important to hire a candidate who gets your company culture and gets along with the team. That said, it also takes time to build rapport and relationships. Your new hire may be “not fitting in” because, again, performance indicators and expectations haven’t been set out. Just because they haven’t fit in perfectly from the get-go doesn’t mean they never will.

What not to do

Letting go of a new hire is a huge waste of resources. But more than that, it will actually impact on your team and even diminish morale for those who have just witnessed what happened. Then you’ve got the headache of risking the same situation with your next new hire. Take a step back and reflect on your intervention processes for new hires. If your new employee is raising performance red flags, it’s time to re-evaluate your way of handling things.

What to do instead

Even just one twenty-minute chat with your new hire can resolve the issues you’ve been having, putting you both on the same page again. However, ideally we encourage regular catch ups to ensure everything stays on track. During your meetings, ask the new hire how they feel they are going, and ask them for any feedback they may have — you could find this very enlightening. Then, give specific examples of where their behaviour is not working for you and specify how things need to be done next in the future. Together, negotiate and agree to actions and goals to be reviewed at the next meeting. Finally, ask the employee what their understanding is of what you’ve just discussed, to make sure you’ve been clear in your delivery.

Congratulations, you’ve just rescued a floundering new hire!

For more human resources tips, follow Quadrant Exec on LinkedIn.