Finding and Retaining Today’s Best Employees
By Mary Massad, Administaff
Assembling a team of talented, motivated employees is crucial to the productivity and profitability of a small business. However, a war for talent has made it more challenging than ever to find and retain good people.
To build a winning team in today’s market, it is imperative that you adopt creative strategies. The first step is to determine exactly what your company is seeking. Take a careful look at your goals, as well as your business, to determine the types of employees that would be the best fit.
Before hiring someone, it is critical that you define the job role. A clear definition of an available job position, its tasks, and its responsibilities will prompt you to ask appropriate questions.
At the time of the interview, provide as much information as possible about the position’s role and how it relates to the entire organization. Otherwise, the interviewee may have false expectations of the job, and then be disappointed later. Often, the result is diminished work performance.
You also should develop a recruitment plan. The more complex the job, the more sophisticated the recruitment process should be. Determine where job postings should go and the criteria for sorting through resumes—and make sure these tasks are done long before staffing needs become acute.
Many employers agree that interviewing should be an ongoing process, even if you don’t have an immediate post to fill. By building relationships with prospective candidates before a job opening occurs, you have a strong pipeline to tap into whenever there is a definite need.
A selection process also needs to be in place. Who in your organization will be meeting with candidates? What are the interviewing steps? Will there be a background check or any type of assessment test? Who will make the final decision? These issues need to be addressed prior to the interviewing process, so that all candidates are treated equitably and the process runs smoothly.
Once your company has determined its needs, prepare for the interview. There are plenty of pitfalls to avoid. For example, you must guard against bias and stereotyping of a candidate based on physical appearance or other factors.
Also, remember that certain questions are off limits, including those dealing with a candidate’s age, marital status, or ethnicity. If the conversation gets off track, steer the focus back to the basic requirements of the job.
Once the interviewing process is complete, there is still work to be done. Retention is critical, and your efforts should start at the beginning of an employer-employee relationship. Fortunately, there are tips to help keep the best employees from running into the arms of your competitors:
Offer a competitive employee benefits package. Nowadays, a competitive benefits package typically includes health care, dental, vision, and prescription drug plans, as well as other components such as a 401(k) savings plan and disability and life insurance.
Help employees develop and grow professionally. Offer internal and external training sessions, teamwork, and mentoring programs.
Explain how their role affects the company’s success. Seek out and listen to your team’s ideas and feedback, because employees want respect and need to know they matter.
Establish career paths. Provide opportunities for promotion or cross-training to help keep employees challenged, and allow them to advance within the company.
Rewarding employees for a job well done directly affects their performance and the company’s bottom line. Success is even more meaningful when it is shared. Decide how to reward performance and how to communicate rewards.
Look for ways to have fun in the workplace. Encourage creative brainstorming to overcome challenges or roadblocks.
Allow employees to balance their work and personal lives by being flexible in scheduling.
Be sure employees know what is expected of them. Establish and communicate standards of performance, conduct regular reviews, and link compensation to performance.
Praise in public. Be sure to make an individual’s achievements known. Conversely, deliver constructive criticism in private. No one wants to be dressed down in front of co-workers.
A company’s employees are at the heart of its success. Effective hiring practices, combined with strong retention methods, can help ensure that your employees remain engaged with their work, thus contributing to the overall wellbeing of your company.
Mary Massad is the managing director of recruiting services for Administaff. Administaff (NYSE: ASF), the nation’s leading professional employer organization (PEO), serving as a full-service human resources department that provides small and medium-sized businesses with administrative relief, big-company benefits, reduced liabilities, and a systematic way to improve productivity.The company operates 43 sales offices in 22 major markets. For more information, call 800-465-3800 or visit www.administaff.com.