It is difficult to stay at the 10,000-foot level when considering finding, hiring, and keeping great employees. Every detail about hiring is connected to just about every other aspect of the company. The jist of the matter is: hire great people and your company prospers; make hiring mistakes and you suffer unending distractions, low productivity, and high costs.
Insperity once had a client company that lacked an effective hiring strategy. They were turning over about half of their 500 employees and spending about $1.5 million in recruiting annually! Insperity experts went to work developing an employment strategy, creating better targeted employment branding that attracted people who were the best long-term fit, trained hiring managers in effective interviewing and candidate evaluation tools, and made other improvements. As a result, the company’s turnover rate decreased by 30% saving time and returning $1 million to the bottom line. Many hiring solutions like these begin before a position ever comes open.
Begin by creating a strong recruiting strategy. Create a profile of the ideal employee. List desired employee attributes such as technical abilities, knowledge levels, certifications, collaboration skills and attitudes. Make the profile the foundation for position descriptions insuring that one exists for every position. Apply this standard as you screen applicants.
The strategy should include a system of durable, standardized, and repeatable: screening, interviewing, and selection processes and practices. Essentials such as job description content, internal recruiting practices, advertising strategies, interviewing, pre-employment assessments where appropriate, and onboarding procedures among others should be defined. Include careful background checks to help catch potential mishires.
Establishing the company’s recruiting brand in the marketplace takes time and concerted effort. Like marketing a product, the company must sell itself to potential candidates through an attractive recruiting brand. Actively nurture it by promoting employee successes.
Finally, hiring managers should be well versed in behavioral-based interviews and the complex skill of comparing candidates with different competencies. When it’s time to hire, processes are ready and hiring managers are trained. Hiring great people must be followed by effective onboarding. A system of orientation and acclimation to the company, the culture, the position, and a socialization with their new co-workers are key to initial and continued engagement.
For more details on getting your finding, hiring and retention right, get the book: Paul Sarvadi, (2019) Take Care of Your People, The Enlightened CEO’s Guide to Business Success, ForbesBooks.