Stage 1: Hiring
Every employee, unless you’re the owner, has to go through the process of hiring and selection. This is the part where the applicant goes through several process of screening to determine if they are the right fit for the job. Applicants are screened according to the criteria set either by the team leader or department head. On a usual screening process, the applicant would need to pass the following tests: the initial interview, IQ exam, technical exam, secondary interview and the final interview (whichever applies to the company).
Furthermore, this tedious process of finding the right person can be expensive. First off, you need to post online or print advertisements to announce the need for a new personnel. Then, the recruitment manager has to screen each applicant’s resume which then takes a lot of time and cost too. After that, the recruitment manager and/or HR officer then set the applicant’s interview schedule. This too is considered costly since both parties would need to set time and money to push through with the process.
Once an applicant starts working at the company, the employee’s salary, benefits, and other work-related perks become the employer’s responsibility. In addition, the employer also shoulders the cost of trainings so the employee gets to become adept with the company’s existing procedures and/or protocols. On average, all the aforementioned costs would probably round up to about $1000 per month.
Hence, with all the costs involved, imagine what happens when a newly hired employee suddenly decides to resign or gets fired after his/her fifth or sixth month of employment. It’s like all that hiring and selection cost goes down the drain. Yikes!
To ensure that the company’s investments are not put in vain. Many corporations now require their employees to sign training bonds. Some employees think of this as a lame process as some of them feel like they were not trained during the period they were hired. But truth be told, I think no one can ever start their job without getting proper guidance from any existing personnel of the company.
People NEED direction. They just don’t come in and do what they want, which is why HR takes care of the process of guiding the applicant of the rules and regulations of the company. Also, the immediate head takes care of the technical side of the orientation to equip the employee on what to do on a daily basis. That’s generally counted under training costs.
Stage 2: Growth & Development
So, let’s say the employee stays for a year and here comes the performance appraisal. Every employee gets evaluated according to a set of criteria set by the company. Performance appraisal schedule is usually the discretion of the company. Oftentimes, companies conduct performance appraisal evaluations quarterly, semi-annually or annually.
This process is important since this doesn’t only mean salary increases for employees but also serves as a way for the upper management to keep track of those who are not doing so well in their jobs. For those doing good, in most cases they get rewarded. While those [employees] who are not performing so well, gets a demerit or an agreement to do better in a certain time frame. Moreover, aside from usual performance appraisals which measures employee efficiency. Management also comes up with different activities, seminars or training to improve the both the employee and company’s well-being.
In fact, there are technically a lot of ways to develop an employee. Sadly not all companies are gifted with a training budget. A few old companies I know, see training as an expense – although in reality, it’s actually an investment. This is because every time a company allows his/her employees to go to trainings related to their field of work, they [employees] become better people and better workers.
Some trainings are super expensive that only a few people chose to join the training. The most expensive trainings I know are of those with high technicality such as those trained to handle enterprise systems (Oracle, SAP, etc.) These trainings usually require experts and are usually outsourced. Of course, there are also those trainings which don’t need expensive budgets. In-house trainings, for instance, are trainings which are conducted by existing personnels of the company.
Stage 3: Ending your employment
Eventually, time will come when people would decide to leave the company or they get terminated due to poor performance. This is usually the saddest part of the process where you have to let go of friends or colleagues for them to grow.
Many of you may not know, but there are several provisions listed on the labor and employment code of the Philippines about firing or ending your contract with your current employer. Here are a few things you need to know:
When an employee resigns, the company has the sole discretion of determining your last day with them. The purpose of the 30-day resignation notice is to ensure a smooth turnover and transfer of the work currently being held by the resigning employee to the successor. This is especially necessary if the position which is to be abandoned is critical or detrimental to the company’s operations.
Next, the employer will have the employee sign an acceptance letter indicating the employee’s last day of employment. If the employee goes AWOL before the last few days of his/her employment, the company will forfeit the employee’s last pay since it would be harder for the employer to process the employee’s clearances. Also, going AWOL sends a wrong vibe to the employer so, I suggest, employees should show a sign of good will by fulfilling their last few days diligently with their employer.
In addition, when an employee decides to resign, they are responsible for submitting the necessary documents or items to HR in order to get cleared. Clearance is to be accomplished first before the employee can claim his/her remaining monetary benefits, like the 13th-month pay and last pay. Once cleared and all checks have been received, the employee would be asked to sign a quit claim stating that the employee has released the company from further liability.
Once all requirements and clearances are cleared by the company, the resigning employee may then get a copy of his/her clearance, quit claim, certificate of employment, BIR form 2316, and last pay.
Ultimately, getting in a company may be difficult but I think, leaving it is just the same.
