Staffing

Recruitment and staffing provide the overall framework for the process of planning, recruiting, selecting, and hiring employees. The goal of recruitment and staffing is to identify the smartest, most versatile employees you can find. Retention of your best employees starts with your effective recruitment and staffing process, strategies, policies and procedures. Recruitment and staffing are the focus of these resources.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Job Description Development
• Job Announcement Development
• Job Posting
• Resume Review
• Applicant Pre-Screening
• Applicant Reference Check
• Offer Negotiation and Offer Letter
• Applicant Background Check

Performance appraisals

Performance appraisals should be an overview of all warnings, performance improvement plans and other disciplinary action taken against an employee. There should not be any surprises in the appraisal. If done correctly, the feedback provided in a performance appraisal can be used to support an employee’s termination and defend the termination decision in the event of a lawsuit.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• 360 degree appraisal (scalar rating system)
• Management by objectives (MBO)
• Assessment Centers

Compensation and Benefits

The compensation and benefits processes belong to most important HR Processes, which are critical for the organization and modern HR organization. The compensation and benefits is about managing the personnel expenses budget, setting the performance standards, setting the transparent compensation policies and introducing the competitive benefits for employees. The organization with effective compensation and benefits drives its personnel costs, manages the performance of employees and rewards the extraordinary performance.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Customized compensation studies
• Analysis of competitive pay levels
• Incentive pay plans
• Board of Directors remuneration
• Job evaluation
• Salary administration programs
• Performance planning and management systems
• Short-term, medium-term and long-term incentive plans
• Group benefit plans and management perquisites
• Deferred income plans
• Paid time off arrangements
• Total compensation and total rewards
• Pensions and investment policy and planning

Training and Development

Training Department usually spends the biggest part of the HR budget as it pays for the external training provided by the training companies and it is mixed from the administrative training tasks and the value added training development tasks. It is usually fully reflected in the training job profiles, where the proportion of the administrative tasks at lower levels of the organization is huge and the management of the training department is more focused on the proper budget management.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Evaluate Organizational Business Model (Business Plan, Business Strategies and Strategic Imperatives)
• Determine Key Competencies for Success (Experience, Performance Competencies, Functional Requirements and Performance Standards)
• Evaluate Employee – Performance and Aspirations (Determine & Measure Gaps and Create Development Plan)
• Testing, Multi-Source Feedback, Appraisal, Train, Rotate, Monitor and Coach)

Employee and Labor Relations

Many matters pertaining to employee performance or conduct that require improvement are discussed in a counseling session conducted by a supervisor. Certain issues or incidents may be serious enough to warrant a counseling session, confirmed in writing a copy which is filed in the employee's Official Personnel File, as the first corrective step. If, following these actions, the problem is not corrected, the next step usually is disciplinary action. Verbally counseling again or issuance of another written counseling generally is not appropriate corrective action for repeated similar offenses occuring within a short time span. Certain incidents, such as abuse, verbal or physical assault, theft, insubordination or destruction of state-owned property generally are serious enough to warrant immediate disciplinary action.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Analyzing, developing and implementing policies and practices to create a positive, sustainable employer-employee relationship
• Providing your leadership with training as well as on-going advice and guidance on handling often sensitive issues including performance counseling, discipline, workplace disputes, and hopefully only rarely discharge
• Ensuring that your relationship with your employees complies with applicable local laws and regulations
• Contract negotiation and administration

Safety and Health

Nobody wants accidents to happen in his or her business. A serious fire, a permanent injury, or the death of an employee or owner can cause the loss of profit or even an entire business. To prevent such losses, you don't have to turn your business upside down. You may not have to spend a lot of money, either. You do need to use good business sense and apply recognized prevention principles.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Management Commitment and Employee Involvement
• Worksite Analysis
• Hazard Prevention and Control
• Training for Employees, Supervisors and Managers

Creation of competency models that can be used for recruitment, development and performance management

A competency model is a delineation of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other attributes (KSAOs) required for success in a job or job family. Competency models are the foundation for many HR systems and processes.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Guide the transformation to a competency-based organization
• Distill the critical leadership competencies that drive each particular organization's success
• Develop a specific competency model for each functional job family (e.g., Marketing, Sales, HR, and Finance)
• Construct competencies with behaviors that can be observed and assessed
• Ensure competency models are foundational to all HR processes and tools

Evaluation of the bench strength of current talents

Total Talent Training and Consulting will help you maximize your human capital by developing high potential talent for future leadership needs. Our approach will ensure leadership continuity, and assure that there is a pool of leaders ready to meet the challenge of achieving long-term strategic goals.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Define skill factors and experience
• Assess the talents of potential leaders
• Assess the performance of emerging leaders

Auditing the business critical risk of losing key talent groups

Organizations cannot afford to neglect employee engagement. The costs to the organization can be significant. Losing key players means spending money to recruit, train, and get new employees up and running as contributors. It could also mean declines in productivity, lost business opportunities, and weakened customer relationships. Employee turnover impacts other employees, as well, contributing to increased workloads and stress, further eroding engagement and creating an environment of discontent.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Benchmarking individual executives and teams against competency frameworks by auditing their competencies
• Expert use of robust diagnostic instruments which provide a deep understanding of people
• Reports that identify strengths, weaknesses and risks written in plain English
• Business relevant interpretation of individual differences and the implications of psychometric findings
• Feedback to candidates in terms which enable them to focus on closing performance gaps

Identification of the potential talents within the business to assume future key roles

The process of identifying high potential employees and developing those employees to take on critical roles in the future is vital to organizational competitiveness. Identification and development are two separate concepts. Although both concepts are important, organizations would be wise to put particular emphasis on how they go about identifying high potential employees. The emphasis on identification is imperative because not all employees are equal. Some employees perform better than others, some have more knowledge, and some are just more motivated. It is the proper assessment of these individual differences between employees that should be the foundation of any succession management or leadership development program. An organization should be able to classify employees based on their potential to succeed at higher levels or in critical roles within the organization. This process of classification is necessary in order to fully understand the extent of employee development needs. In other words, identification drives development.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Identifying High Potential Criteria
• Making High Potential Criteria Measurable
• Creating Tools to Measure High Potential Criteria

Targeted selection of external talent

Accurate employee selection decisions have never been more vital to organizational success. Advances in technology and changes in organizational structure and responsibilities have increased the demand for high-quality job applicants who, if hired, will grow into productive contributors to organizational success. This demand, when combined with a competitive job market and significant legal compliance requirements, means that hiring processes and decisions are increasingly complex and challenging.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Focus on job-related behavior
• Use past behavior to predict future behavior
• Assess both job fit and organization fit motivation
• Organize selection elements into a comprehensive system
• Apply effective interviewing skills and techniques
• Use data integration to make the best hiring decision
• Make a positive impression on applicants; sell them on the job and the organization

Performance, behavioral or strengths based selection

Performance Based Selection is an innovative business and recruitment process for hiring top talent: designed around an advanced form of behavioural interviewing, Performance Based Selection begins by defining what top performers need to deliver to be successful within their role, rather than the skills and experience required for the role itself. By addressing actual job performance it provides a more accurate and objective assessment of the suitability of candidates to the role, which leads to improved staff retention and a continuing flow of higher quality candidates.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Performance Profile
• Talent Centric Sourcing
• Performance Evaluation Interview
• Assessment Matrix

Creation and delivery of assessment and/or development centers

Assessment Centers enable organizations to achieve quality assessments (comprehensive, valid, reliable, differentiating, useful and defensible) of each participant’s capability and potential. Quality is achieved by integrating assessments from a range of exercises, simulations, and tests - many of which simulate the real working environment and demands.

Development Centers are based on very similar content and processes to Assessment Centers but are focused more on identifying and seizing opportunities for each participant to accelerate their personal development. This can be aimed at driving up individual performance and/or developing capability to take new roles.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Creation or refinement of an assessment frameworks (competency capability)
• Selection and validation of tests and personality profiles for effectiveness and FIT
• Design and/or identification of suitable business simulations. While we believe bespoke business situations are often ideal, we can also use off-the-shelf proprietary material from the client or reputable suppliers when required
• Comprehensive client management in the engagement process of participants and the assessment and development processes. We offer observer and facilitator training as required
• 360° or multi-rater feedback - design and delivery of including feedback facilitation
• Web-based center management tools to ensure robust data collection, including real-time feedback to ensure data quality at source
• Coaching discussions with participants following the center to enhance understanding and increase the likelihood that strengths and limitations will be turned into improved performance
• Post-center, Development Management and Talent Management tools and technology to ensure that development plans are turned into development actions.

Use of psychometric tools

These days, employers and recruitment agencies use sophisticated methods to gain an overall picture of each candidate. Psychometric testing is a commonly used assessment tool.

Psychometric testing is often used for professional and managerial roles and can be administered using paper and pencil, and online. Timing, instructions, content, scoring and interpretation are all standardized.

Our consultants can offer assistance with the following issues:

• Ability tests
• Personality questionnaires
• Motivation questionnaires
• Interest inventories

Environmental management systems

The ISO 14000 family addresses various aspects of environmental management. The very first two standards, ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 deal with environmental management systems (EMS). ISO 14001:2004 provides the requirements for an EMS and ISO 14004:2004 gives general EMS guidelines.

The other standards and guidelines in the family address specific environmental aspects, including: labeling, performance evaluation, life cycle analysis, communication and auditing.

An ISO 14001:2004-based EMS:
An EMS meeting the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 is a management tool enabling an organization of any size or type to:

• identify and control the environmental impact of its activities, products or services, and to
• improve its environmental performance continually, and to
• implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonstrating that they have been achieved.

How it works:
ISO 14001:2004 does not specify levels of environmental performance. If it specified levels of environmental performance, they would have to be specific to each business activity and this would require a specific EMS standard for each business. That is not the intention.

ISO has many other standards dealing with specific environmental issues. The intention of ISO 14001:2004 is to provide a framework for a holistic, strategic approach to the organization's environmental policy, plans and actions.

ISO 14001:2004 gives the generic requirements for an environmental management system. The underlying philosophy is that whatever the organization's activity, the requirements of an effective EMS are the same.

This has the effect of establishing a common reference for communicating about environmental management issues between organizations and their customers, regulators, the public and other stakeholders.

Because ISO 14001:2004 does not lay down levels of environmental performance, the standard can to be implemented by a wide variety of organizations, whatever their current level of environmental maturity. However, a commitment to compliance with applicable environmental legislation and regulations is required, along with a commitment to continual improvement – for which the EMS provides the framework.

The EMS standards:
ISO 14004:2004 provides guidelines on the elements of an environmental management system and its implementation, and discusses principal issues involved.

ISO 14001:2004 specifies the requirements for such an environmental management system. Fulfilling these requirements demands objective evidence which can be audited to demonstrate that the environmental management system is operating effectively in conformity to the standard.

What can be achieved?
ISO 14001:2004 is a tool that can be used to meet internal objectives:

• provide assurance to management that it is in control of the organizational processes and activities having an impact on the environment
• assure employees that they are working for an environmentally responsible organization.
• ISO 14001:2004 can also be used to meet external objectives.
• provide assurance on environmental issues to external stakeholders – such as customers, the community and regulatory agencies.
• comply with environmental regulations.
• support the organization's claims and communication about its own environmental policies, plans and actions.
• provides a framework for demonstrating conformity via suppliers' declarations of conformity, assessment of conformity by an external stakeholder - such as a business client - and for certification of conformity by an independent certification body.

Security and confidential information systems

ISO/IEC 27000:2009 provides an overview of information security management systems, which form the subject of the information security management system (ISMS) family of standards, and defines related terms. As a result of implementing ISO/IEC 27000:2009, all types of organization (e.g. commercial enterprises, government agencies and non-profit organizations) are expected to obtain:

• an overview of the ISMS family of standards.
• an introduction to information security management systems (ISMS).
• a brief description of the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) process; and
• an understanding of terms and definitions in use throughout the ISMS family of standards.

The objectives of ISO/IEC 27000:2009 are to provide terms and definitions, and an introduction to the ISMS family of standards that:

• define requirements for an ISMS and for those certifying such systems.
• provide direct support, detailed guidance and/or interpretation for the overall Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) processes and requirements.
• address sector-specific guidelines for ISMS; and
• address conformity assessment for ISMS.

Food safety systems

ISO 22000:2005 specifies requirements for a food safety management system where an organization in the food chain needs to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards in order to ensure that food is safe at the time of human consumption.

It is applicable to all organizations, regardless of size, which are involved in any aspect of the food chain and want to implement systems that consistently provide safe products. The means of meeting any requirements of ISO 22000:2005 can be accomplished through the use of internal and/or external resources.

ISO 22000:2005 specifies requirements to enable an organization:

• to plan, implement, operate, maintain and update a food safety management system aimed at providing products that, according to their intended use, are safe for the consumer,
• to demonstrate compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory food safety requirements,
• to evaluate and assess customer requirements and demonstrate conformity with those mutually agreed customer requirements that relate to food safety, in order to enhance customer satisfaction,
• to effectively communicate food safety issues to their suppliers, customers and relevant interested parties in the food chain,
• to ensure that the organization conforms to its stated food safety policy,
• to demonstrate such conformity to relevant interested parties, and
• to seek certification or registration of its food safety management system by an external organization, or make a self-assessment or self-declaration of conformity to ISO 22000:2005.

Food safety systems

BS OHSAS 18001 is the internationally recognized assessment specification for occupational health and safety management systems. It was developed by a selection of leading trade bodies, international standards and certification bodies to address a gap where no third-party certifiable international standard exists. The standard promotes a safe and healthy working environment by providing a framework that allows an organization to consistently identify and control its health and safety risks, reduce the potential for accidents, aid legislative compliance and improve overall performance.

In following the Plan-Do-Check-Act approach of many management system standards, BS OHSAS 18001 has been designed to be compatible with ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environmental).

Key Elements of BS OHSAS 18001:
The following key areas are addressed by BS OHSAS 18001:

• Planning for hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control.
• OHSAS management programme.
• Structure and responsibility.
• Training, awareness and competence.
• Consultation and communication.
• Operational control.
• Emergency preparedness and response.
• Performance measuring, monitoring and improvement.

Who can use BS OHSAS 18001?
BS OHSAS 18001 can be adopted by any organization wishing to implement a formal procedure to reduce the risks associated with health and safety in the working environment for employees, customers and the general public.

Management systems

The ISO 9000 family of standards represents an international consensus on good quality management practices. It consists of standards and guidelines relating to quality management systems and related supporting standards.

ISO 9001:2008 is the standard that provides a set of standardized requirements for a quality management system, regardless of what the user organization does, its size, or whether it is in the private, or public sector. It is the only standard in the family against which organizations can be certified – although certification is not a compulsory requirement of the standard.

The other standards in the family cover specific aspects such as fundamentals and vocabulary, performance improvements, documentation, training, and financial and economic aspects.

Why an organization should implement ISO 9001:2008:
Without satisfied customers, an organization is in peril! To keep customers satisfied, the organization needs to meet their requirements. The ISO 9001:2008 standard provides a tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing the organization's processes so that they consistently turn out product that satisfies customers' expectations.

How the ISO 9001:2008 model works:
The requirements for a quality system have been standardized - but many organizations like to think of themselves as unique. So how does ISO 9001:2008 allow for the diversity of say, on the one hand, a "Mr. and Mrs." enterprise, and on the other, to a multinational manufacturing company with service components, or a public utility, or a government administration?

The answer is that ISO 9001:2008 lays down what requirements your quality system must meet, but does not dictate how they should be met in any particular organization. This leaves great scope and flexibility for implementation in different business sectors and business cultures, as well as in different national cultures.

Checking that it works:

• The standard requires the organization itself to audit its ISO 9001:2008-based quality system to verify that it is managing its processes effectively - or, to put it another way, to check that it is fully in control of its activities.
• In addition, the organization may invite its clients to audit the quality system in order to give them confidence that the organization is capable of delivering products or services that will meet their requirements.
• Lastly, the organization may engage the services of an independent quality system certification body to obtain an ISO 9001:2008 certificate of conformity. This last option has proved extremely popular in the market-place because of the perceived credibility of an independent assessment.

The organization may thus avoid multiple audits by its clients, or reduce the frequency or duration of client audits. The certificate can also serve as a business reference between the organization and potential clients, especially when supplier and client are new to each other, or far removed geographically, as in an export context.

IT Infrastructure Solutions

Our Company’s infrastructure consulting services help you strategize, design and transform your IT infrastructure. Helping move away from measurements in terms of infrastructure availability to being able to deliver information to a business based on expectations and agreed on levels of service. Our comprehensive approach helps you optimize your IT infrastructure by focusing on key aspects – technology, skills, governance and processes.

• Infrastructure Strategy.
• Infrastructure Architecture.
• Infrastructure Consolidation / Optimization.
• Service Management.

Development of policies and procedures related to information systems privacy

Maintaining the security and privacy of customer and employee information is a key business imperative. As information systems and supporting technologies become increasingly sophisticated yet easier to use, growing amounts of personal information are being collected. As a result, organizations are confronting a challenging array of business issues in efforts to secure and protect sensitive consumer information from a variety of vulnerabilities, including theft, misuse, and unauthorized access and disclosure.

• Privacy impact assessment.
• Privacy policy and program development.
• Retention policy review.
• Sensitive data inventory.
• Data flow analytics.
• Information protection controls diagnostic.
• Risk management and regulatory compliance.
• Privacy training and awareness.

Information systems audit

All successful businesses integrate technology (IT) into their organizations’ operations. Whether your business is large or small, you are exposed to internal and external risks due to your information technology solutions.
Information technology risks are ever changing and must be managed for an organization to remain confident in the security and control environment.

• Data Analysis.
• Information Technology Risk Assessment.
• ERP – Pre and Post Implementation Review.
• Information Technology Policy and Procedure Assessment .
• Network and Operating System Platform Specific Services (AS/400, UNIX, Windows).
• Regulatory Gap Analysis.