One goal of intern programs is finding people who will come work for the company when they’re finished school.

But if companies aren’t careful, they can turn these people off to the idea of seeking permanent employment. Here are some of the common problems and advice on avoiding them:

• Cutting them too much slack. That doesn’t do anyone any good. They’re there to learn about the “real world,” and you want to learn about them. Sure, they probably won’t be treated exactly the same as regular staff, but it should be pretty close. Most importantly, constructive feedback is key.
• Not helping them learn. In addition to giving them meaningful work, managers should give interns plenty of time to ask questions about the company and the business in general. Also, if there are specific things an intern wants to try doing, some flexibility in assignments might be the best way to get the most out of him or her.
• Avoiding talk about the specifics of future opportunities. If you’d like the interns to consider taking a permanent job after graduation, tell them it’s a possibility and that you’ll be in touch down the road. Getting too specific might box you in or give the impression you’re making a commitment. Sending regular e-mails to past interns (the good ones, anyway) is a good way to keep the company on their minds.

Social networking Web sites.

Many HR managers think social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are the new tool most likely to lead to better quality hires, according to a recent survey by PBP Media and Standout Jobs.

When asked which new trend will provide the best improvement to their recruiting process, the HR managers surveyed answered:

• social networking (33%)
• candidate relationship management tools (26%)
• search engine optimization for job listings (20%)
• blogs (5%)
• online video (5%)
• Twitter (2%)
• pay-per-click advertising (2%), and
• other (7%)

One other recruiting tool more companies are relying on this year: their current employees.

When asked where they plan to increase spending and focus in 2009, the top two responses: 22% of HR managers said referral programs, and 17% said internal transfers.

A lot of workers are close to walking out the door.

One in four employees say they don’t feel loyal to their current employer — and 20% said they’ll likely change jobs within the next year, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey.

Losing that many workers can have costly implications. What can HR do about it? Here are the most common reasons employees gave for their lack of loyalty:

• My employer doesn’t value me (61%)
• My work isn’t recognized or appreciated (52%)
• I’m not paid enough (51%)
• There’s no room for advancement (44%)
• I don’t like the company culture (33%)
• The benefits aren’t good enough (32%)
• I don’t like my boss (23%)
• I don’t get enough training or education (21%), and
• The work isn’t challenging (19%).

Employers and managers often wish to build up a diverse workforce, and that’s a good thing. But a recent court ruling sends a powerful message: Discrimination is illegal no matter what form it takes.

One woman, who is white, sued the company after she applied for a job and was turned down. She had plenty of relevant experience and met all of the job’s requirements.

When she went to interview, she claimed she heard the hiring manager say to someone else, “We need more African-Americans.”

In the end, an African-American woman was hired — even though she was less qualified, according to the unsuccessful applicant. Moreover, the woman who was hired did not answer all the questions on the application and was not put through the same interview process.

In court, the judge sided with the woman. The hiring manager’s comment about needing more diversity, combined with the woman’s greater qualifications, were enough evidence that she was turned down because of her race.

The company had to pay a total of $99,500.

Diversity, the wrong way

The lesson of this case is clear: “Reverse discrimination” is still discrimination.

Companies with diversity goals should focus on attracting a diverse group of applicants, while still hiring the most qualified candidate.

And, of course, hiring managers must be careful about comments they make during the hiring process.

Cite: Vitullo v. Borough of Yeadon

A majority of workers (79%) don’t want to switch employers any time soon, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder and USA Today. (41% said they’re staying where they are until they retire, while 38% said they plan to keep their current jobs for at least the next year.)

Those numbers coincide with a drop in the number of companies that plan to hire — only 23% said they’re adding full-time employees within the next three months. That’s down from 25% when the same survey was conducted in July.

The employees’ plans could be good news from a retention perspective. But for companies that are hiring, the uncertainty may make it tough to convince prospective hires that the move to a new job is the right choice.

Whether you’re hiring from outside or promoting from within, companies have a lot riding on putting the right people in supervisory positions. How can HR help identify the best leaders for the organization?

When interviewing managerial candidates, it’s important to make sure they have these key qualities:

• Adaptability — It’s a fact of the workplace: No two employees are exactly alike. Managers need to be able to adjust their approaches and figure out how to get the most out of different types of workers.
• Problem-solving skills — Managers deal with countless issues over the course of their careers. Often, the best managers don’t come in with a wealth of technical experience but know how to learn on the fly and come up with solutions to new problems.
  
• Comfort during conflict — One thing’s sure about being a supervisor — there’s never a shortage of unpleasant situations. If it sounds like a candidate has always run away from conflict rather than dealing with it head-on, that’s a bad sign.
• Confidence — Managing also frequently involves making risky choices. Good supervisors are comfortable with that and have confidence in themselves and their decisions.
• People skills — Communication is essential. Of course, managers need to give useful feedback, but they should also be able to get input from employees and listen and respond to criticism.

Promoting from within

When you’re promoting a current employee, there’s one rule to keep in mind: The best employees don’t always make the best supervisors.

So how do you know who should be put into a leadership position? Here are two important skills to look for and how you can verify that employees have them:

• Ability to take on extra work — Sure, employees may be successful with their current workloads, but the extra responsibilities required of a manager are a whole different ballgame. When your organization is considering promoting employees, give them some more to do and see how they handle it.
• Training skills — Another good test is to let the potential manager train new employees. That will speak volumes about how he or she would perform in a leadership role.

That’s what happened to a company in one recent case.

An employee was hired and resigned a few months later, after a dispute about the employer’s diversity program. He sued to get his pay for the rest of the year, claiming he was under a contract which stated he was owed a full year’s salary.

The company’s response: The man was an at-will employee, and paying for a full year when he only worked a few months would be ridiculous.

The judge sided with the employee and ordered the company to pay up. Why? The job offer letter indicated his salary would be paid in “12 monthly installments.” According to the judge, that was “a clear indication” the company intended to hire him for a year.

It was just one simple phrase, but it made a huge difference.

Cite: Herndon-Brown v. Riverdale Country School

HR should get them involved.

Roughly 31% of employees feel HR and upper management hire the wrong people too often, according to a recent Zogby poll. Their solution? Giving job candidates’ would-be co-workers some say when the hiring decisions are made.

It’ll improve more than the quality of hires, apparently. One in five workers said they’d feel more motivated if employees were selected by groups, rather than getting stuck with co-workers picked by one manager.

1. Adaptability — A stubborn manager will cause all sorts of problems, especially as the workforce includes more and more twenty-somethings who have different values from their predecessors.
2. Problem-solving skills — In some ways, a wealth of technical experience is less important than an ability to learn on the fly and handle all the new and unexpected problems supervisors face.
3. Ability to listen — Recruiters know to look for managers who can communicate. But it’s just as important for managers to seek out communication from employees, respond to criticism and gather input from subordinates.
4. People skills — This one’s a no-brainer, but many companies still don’t give people skills enough weight. It’s well established that employees don’t quit companies, they quit bosses — and workers are more motivated when they respect the person they’re working for.
5. Self-confidence — You want to hire managers with strong people skills, but you’ll also want to make sure they trust themselves and their decisions.

HR knows how to legally recruit and interview candidates — but that doesn’t mean hiring managers aren’t going to make costly mistakes from time to time.

Here are the five key areas managers need to look out for to keep your company out of court:

Interview questions

Questions about age, race, sex, family responsibilities, national origin and disabilities are off limits. Even if a manager doesn’t ask about those things directly, “small talk” questions like “Oh, what church do you go to?” or “Do you think you’ll ever have kids?” can give the impression of bias.

Interview notes

Information about a candidate’s protected status might come up when he or she answers other questions. But mangers must be absolutely sure not to write any notes related to those categories.

No matter what the reason for writing something down, to a judge or jury it usually means one thing — that the manager considered that information when making the hiring decision.

Questions from unsuccessful candidates

Managers have to be very careful about the comments they make if they have any contact with unsuccessful candidates — for example, if people ask them why they didn’t get hired.

In recent court cases, managers have said things along the lines of “We wanted someone who’d help our diversity,” or “You didn’t have the right look” — and ended up costing their companies big.

Remind managers to avoid answering those questions or stick with an all-purpose statement: “We filled the position with a more qualified candidate.”

Promises about the job

A few weeks ago, we wrote about a case in which a manager incorrectly told a candidate she’d get a certain benefits package — and she sued after she was hired and given less coverage.

The lesson for managers: Don’t exaggerate anything about the job. Even false statements of non-monetary things — for example, possibilities of promotion — could potentially lead to the company getting sued for making false promises.