When is an applicant an applicant? This is THE question being asked by employers who are government contractors since the publication of the new regulations by the OFCCP effective February 6, 2006. Even though employers have until May 6 to come into compliance, many HR professionals are anxious about how these new regulations will impact record-keeping and employee selection strategy.

In a seminar on March 23, 2006 in Louisville, KY, Mickey Silberman, partner with Jackson Lewis LLP and legal counsel for the National Industry Liaison Group, clarified not only the regulations themselves, but more importantly, the implications for employers.

There are four requirements that determine whether an individual is indeed an applicant, and all four must be met in order to count this individual an applicant. Outlined here are each of these requirements, with implications for employers in terms of their selection procedures.

1. “The individual submits an expression of interest in employment through the Internet or related electronic data technologies.”

Implication: Employers may want to include some electronic response option for all open positions since this new definition will allow all the applicants to be counted in the same way (and this new way is more favorable to employers than in the past, which required employers to count all those who responded to be counted as applicants, even though they did not meet basic qualifications). This means candidates who are not “basically qualified” will not be counted as applicants. Adding an email address as a response option permits employers to use all four eligibility requirements outlined in the new regulations, which is more favorable to employers.

Implication: Individuals must express interest to the employer in a particular position in order to be a true applicant. Therefore, resumes generated by going to an on-line data base such as Monster would not be counted until specific resumes are culled through a search using the basic requirements of the job and those candidates have indicated mutual interest.

2. “The contractor considers the individual for employment in a particular position.”

Implication: This regulation is the same as the old regulation and specifies the employer use some sort of tool to screen candidates, whether manually reviewing qualifications or using electronic tools.

3. “The individual’s expression of interest indicates the individual possesses the basic qualifications for the position.”

Implication: Employers must use care in determining “basic qualifications” for the job, ensuring these are job-related, objective, and non- comparative (for example, not the top five candidates). Basic qualifications are substantive credentials established for the job, such as experience, education, certifications, and other objective credentials. Employers are obliged to list the basic requirements in any recruitment advertising and pre-determine these qualifications prior to the selection process. The OFCCP will closely examine an employer’s basic qualifications for those positions where there is adverse impact greater than two standard deviations.

4. “The individual at no point in the contractor’s selection process prior to receiving an offer of employment from the contractor, removes himself or herself from further consideration or otherwise indicates that he or she is no longer interested in the position.”

Implication: You don’t have to count individuals as applicants if they:

• reject an offer.
• fail to respond to inquiries.
• are unwilling to meet requirements of the job (e.g., shifts, overtime, travel).
• indicate higher salary requirements than are afforded by this position.

Some employers are examining “front-loading” key screening questions early in the selection process, that is, before other credentials are “considered” by the employer. For example, if candidates are to supply a cover letter or complete a form indicating their minimum salary requirements and openness to various work elements such as travel and overtime, then candidates who are not open to the specifications of the job can be eliminated from being counted as an applicant.

Implication: Employers may establish their own procedures for selection and may differentiate procedures for different types of positions. However, employers must remain consistent in applying their own procedures within these job categories.

Implication: You may limit the number of candidates you review on a non-comparative basis as a data management technique. For example, you may look at blocks of candidates (say, the first 20 who apply, or the last 20 who apply). While the regulations don’t speak to the record-keeping requirements, it is recommended that employers keep a record of the technique used.

Employers who are federal contractors should review these new regulations with their corporate counsel for clarification on their own internal policies and procedures for employee selection.

Have you worked hard to recruit and select top, diverse candidates? Now the question is, how do you keep them? Mentoring is an outstanding way to keep employees, at all levels, engaged and satisfied in the workplace. Mentoring helps employees deal with difficult work situations, model positive behaviors, learn new skills, make career decisions, and master other strategies to keep themselves motivated.

What are the various models for mentoring? Examine these options:

One-on-one mentoring. Match one protégé with one mentor, and you have the traditional formula for mentoring. Mentoring relationships can be formal or informal, based upon the needs of the organization and the individual. Organizations may match high potential, fast-track employees with senior leaders who can help them move their careers forward, or may team up poor performers with promise and peak performers who can model behaviors and necessary job skills.

Reverse mentoring. Jack Welch began this concept when he paired more senior executives with high potential junior staff, not so much as a strategy to help move the junior employees forward, but to strengthen the technology skills of his senior staff.

Peer mentoring. Employees can often gain business knowledge when matched with their colleagues outside of their functional area. For example, by matching an engineer with a marketing director, each learns issues that will enable the organization to develop better processes.

Mentor posting. Some organizations electronically post biographies and other information on those individuals wanting a mentor, as well as those employees who have volunteered to mentor other employees. In this way employees can decide which individuals best match their specific needs.

The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling

Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative

By Stephen Denning

John Wiley & Sons, 2005

A Book Review by Cathy Fyock

Why should HR professionals and business managers and leaders want to hone their skills at storytelling? Isn’t that really just kid stuff?

Stephen Denning, author of The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative, tackles this myth of storytelling as fantasy and explains why every business leader—especially those charged with enacting change in organizations today—should understand the role that storytelling plays in building trust, sharing corporate vision, and creating collaborative, high performance work teams.

First, Denning lays out some of the compelling research that demonstrates storytelling as a powerful management tool for change, then highlights the elements of storytelling performance. He stresses the importance of using a straightforward style and talking as if you are speaking to just one person.

Denning then outlines eight narrative patterns serving eight distinct business motivations: igniting action, building trust in you, building trust in the organization, transmitting values, developing collaborative work teams, sharing knowledge, taming the grapevine, and leading others by communicating a shared vision. He offers sample stories to illustrate his points and offers a framework for readers to identify their own stories to be used in their organizations.

This book is an excellent tool for any business leader, especially those involved in establishing corporate culture, building trust, and communicating change.

Join Us! If you’re in the Louisville, Kentucky area and intrigued with this new business book, we’ll be discussing this book on April 13, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. at the HR Book Club meeting. The meeting is free, with wine and cheese refreshments served.

Contact Cathy Fyock for more information at 502- 243-2482, or at cathy@cathyfyock.com.

You don’t have to create hiring materials from scratch when this handy tool kit puts more than 60 samples of good materials and best practices at your fingertips:

• Hiring flow charts
• Job requisition forms
• Application forms
• Interview guide
• Interview checklist
• Reference-checking forms
• Orientation guides
• Illegal interview topics
• Tips on recruiting Hispanic employees, with materials in SPANISH and English equivalents
• CD-ROM with materials in PDF and Rich Text formats for easy customization

The only one-stop shopping hiring book available— great best-practice ideas, excellent sample forms, and a CD-ROM to customize forms and materials. With this book you’ll be ready for the upcoming labor shortage.

—Sharon K. Koss, SPHR, CCP, president, Koss Management Consulting

Order from Cathy’s website at http://cathyfyock.com.

April 3 – 5 HR Generalist Certificate Program, SHRM, Dallas, TX

April 6 Diversity Recruitment and Retention, Texas A&M University System, College Station, TX

April 13 HR Book Club, The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning, Louisville, KY

April 26 KY SHRM Council Meeting

April 27 AARP Employment Resource Center Volunteer Leader Training, Louisville, KY

May 10 – 11 HR Generalist Faculty Meeting, SHRM, Alexandria, VA

May 21 Avoiding Sexual Harassment, Summit Heights United Methodist Church, Louisville, KY

Dates for the SHRM HR Generalist Certificate Program ‘06

April 3 – 5 Dallas

June 24 – 27 Washington, DC (SHRM annual conference)

July 10 – 12 Atlanta

Oct 9 – 11 New York City

October 30 – Nov 1 Chicago

Nov 13 – 15 Washington, DC

Nov 29 – Dec 1 Orlando

Tentative Dates: Dec 4 – 6, Orlando, Beta HR Generalist Certificate Program 2007

Hold the Date!

May 16 LSHRM sponsors Dave Ulrich for a luncheon and workshop, “The HR Value Proposition,” Louisville, KY. Call Cathy for more information at 1-800-277- 0384!

Are you looking for a high-content speaker for your next conference or meeting? Call or email Cathy to find out how she can work with you to meet your specific goals and objectives.

Cathy Fyock, CSP, SPHR, is an employment strategist—helping organizations develop strategies to recruit and retain top talent in an aging and changing marketplace. For over 15 years she has combined her knowledge of work-force issues and her talents as a speaker to provide innovative and inspirational learning events. She has helped organizations attract top talent, reduce turnover, and improve productivity in a volatile labor market.

Permission is hereby granted to reprint articles from this report by Cathy Fyock, at no charge, with the agreement that the biographical information be included following each article used. One copy of the publication in which the article is published must be forwarded to Innovative Management Concepts. A fee of $300 per article will be expected for articles published without the biographical and contact information. Please contact us for assistance in editing this article to meet your publication guidelines.