How to Find and Keep the Right People: Part 3- Employee Retention
Posted: May 20, 2015 Filed under: business, employee retention, employees, strategy | Tags: benefits, Business, community, Employee, retention 1 Comment
Employee turnover can be challenging, and for many business owners, an ongoing issue. As difficult as it is to terminate an employee, we often forget how difficult it can be to find ways as a business owner to retain good employees.
Business owners know they must offer competitive compensation packages, benefits, incentives, and bonuses in order to attract strong performers. Retaining them will require some creativity. Here are some suggestions you can use in your business to keep one of your greatest assets from leaving:
Community
Today, particularly with millennials, there is a need and desire to have a sense of being part of a community. Make your office an open and inviting one. Make sure you host regular meetings, ask for input, share good stories, applaud good work and allow them to work collaboratively. Give them a sense of belonging and nurture that with open communication.
Share Your Plan
Make sure your employees understand the big picture, and the purpose they serve in your business. Set aside time to set goals and expectations with them. If your employees understand your plan and know where their future is headed in this position, chances are they will be motivated to stay and reach the goals you’ve set. By doing this, you are showing them opportunity and giving them a role to play in creating the future of your business.
Recognize & Reward
To recognize and reward your employees does not mean doing so just once a year at their annual review. It means continually recognizing achievements by calling them out in a team meeting, sending them a personal letter or card or taking them out for lunch. If you know that employee is a huge concert-goer, make a point to buy them tickets to a concert they’d like to attend. Communicate your gratitude and never let hard work go unnoticed.
Fun Factor
A flexible work schedule, and creating a ‘fun factor’ could also prove a beneficial incentive for your employees. Every workplace is different, so discuss with your team some ideas of what they would like to have as a fun factor and then you can decide which idea is feasible and appropriate for your business.
Do you have any other tips for employee retention you would like to share? How important have you found a sense of community to be in your office?
How to Find and Keep the Right People: Part 2- The Hiring Process
Posted: May 5, 2015 Filed under: employees, Hiring, interviews | Tags: Advice, Hiring, Interview, interview testing 3 Comments
In my last blog, I discussed some possible ways to find the right candidates for your business. In today’s blog, I am going to discuss the hiring process.
Employee hiring and firing is one of the most time-consuming and costly investments you’ll make as a business owner. It can be a long, drawn-out and sometimes unsuccessful process if you aren’t asking the right questions or looking for the right things. Many of the people I have worked with throughout my 30-plus years in business have improved their success rates by following a formal hiring process. Creating a hiring process that works for your business will prove invaluable to making this daunting task less taxing on your time and budget.
After sorting through resumes, you’ve chosen the most suitable candidates and it’s now time to meet these candidates and interview them.
The Interview
The first step in the hiring process is the formal interview. Ask questions pertaining to their behaviour and personality, as well as their knowledge and skills. The type of person they are is as important as their skills. Evaluate if this candidate will fit with your vision, your team and the culture of your workplace.
Testing
Many businesses stop their process after the interview, but why not include a testing element? The testing element will differ depending on what industry you’re in but what remains the same is the value you will get from it. You will be able to get a true sense of the candidates’ skills and what exactly they will be able to bring to your business. Tests are also a way that you can filter if the person can back up what they say they can do.
Be sure to utilize a test that will give you a real sense of how the person will perform on the job. These could be hands-on, performance-based, or analytical tests. For example, if you are hiring a salesperson, have them present a sales pitch to you, or for an IT candidate, maybe it’s a written test that displays skills that are directly related to certain job duties they’d be performing. This will allow you to get a better sense of the overall capability of this candidate in the role they are applying for.
Score the tests and then determine which candidate you should move forward with to the next step – the reference checks.
References
I have seen many people show mixed emotions when it comes to reference checks. Some believe they are the most help in making a decision to hire or not to hire and some believe they are just a waste of time. I suggest that in order to make the most of references, you need to make the calls personally and ask the questions you want the answers to. Ask questions about the candidate’s personality and work style, as well as skills. You want open-ended questions that spark discussion, not closed-ended ones that only allow for one-word answers. After all, you want to know if this candidate is right for your business, so use this time wisely with directed questions.
Who you accept as a reference is also an important component of this step. Contacting a relative or friend as a reference will give you the biased answers you don’t want you to hear. Ensure that you make the most of the limited time you have during these calls to find out what your face-to-face interview and test have not already revealed.
The hiring process can be exciting and purposeful. An elevated interview, the addition of a testing element and appropriate reference checks are just some things that can make a world of a difference to your process. Once you’ve found your perfect candidate, what are the best ways for keeping employees? Stay tuned for my next blog that will provide insights on employee recognition and retention.
What procedures have you used during a hiring process? What worked the best? What didn’t work? I look forward to a lively discussion!
Philip Spensieri 