Attracting and Keeping Employees

We hear that many companies are having a hard time finding employees.

When attempting to attract employees the best place to start is how to best retain your employees. Not only is it cheaper to keep than train new employees, but the best advertising you can have, is a happy workforce who will brag to others about how great it is to work for your company.

Even before the “great resignation” surveys have shown that our desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves is one of the strongest motivators. You can use this to your advantage. One of my favorite quotes is, “if you know the why, you can live any how”.  It is well worth the time and effort to figure out how to communicate the philosophical why of your business. Now you can create belonging by connecting each roll to the larger why. This will allow you to give your employees more autonomy and flexibility, the top 2 things employees are asking for.

Even with a strong culture in place, potential employees have so many options that looking at your on-boarding processes can help you stand out and keep them around long enough to understand your why. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you review:

Keep it short. While hiring the right people is very important, don’t drag out the process. They will likely assume that support and feedback will also be delayed once they are employed.

Well-defined position and expectations. This will help the right people to apply, and they feel safer knowing they will probably always be kept informed of what is expected of them.

The Interviews should be a natural conversation; this is a chance for both parties to gather information. Knowing and asking safe questions doesn’t mean you have to sound like you are just reading a script. Let the candidates ask as many questions, if not more, than you. If the candidate brings up topics that leads you into a legal minefield, gently guide the conversation away and do not make notes that do not pertain to their ability to perform the job duties or personality traits match up with your culture. For example, if they tell you they coach their kids’ sports team, your note could be; volunteers in the community, enjoys being active and, shows leadership qualities. The fact that they have kids or that they are married or not should not be the focus, these could lead to an unintended discriminatory decision.

Communicate early and often, we are all bombarded by things that demand our attention. We have also been conditioned to expect instant gratification, there for if your candidates, and employees, don’t know where they are in a process, they will assume they have been forgotten about or don’t rank high enough on your priorities to be kept in the loop.

Keith Heckman, PHR, SHRM-CP
Columbia EDP
Data Specialist/HR Consultant

Posted Date: 2022-06-03

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