A friend of mine told me a story recently. She had a marketing position open at her company. It took some effort to get the position approved and budgeted. Then she had to post the position internally first. After no luck, she was finally able to post it externally. Her HR department did not do a good job of pre-screening, so she saw many candidates who were not qualified. Finally, a candidate came along who looked promising. By then, the position had been open for two months and the workload was getting unbearable. She needed to hire quickly. She offered this candidate the position, and after some negotiation, the candidate accepted. Good news-she had the position filled. Bad news— the candidate quit two weeks after she started the job, so my friend was back to square one.
What can you do to ensure you hire the candidates and keep them engaged? Read these tips from hiring expert Magi Graziano, CEO of Conscious Hiring® and Development, in this issue of Promotional Consultant Today.
1. Hire the right candidates in the first place. It may sound obvious, but hire the right person to begin with. Not only do candidates have to prove their value to you, in turn, you have to show the real value of working for your organization. Show them why they are the right fit for the culture of your team. Ensure that the top candidates fit in terms of behavior, competencies, values, capacities and emotional intelligence.
2. Focus on the onboarding. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, right? Make sure your new employees get a good first impression of your organization. Be prepared for them. This is the time to get the new employee invested in the organization. It’s your job to give them a sense of where their specific role fits into the larger goals of the company as a whole. Let them know you and the company are investing in them for the long term. Give the new employee a clear picture of the responsibilities, accountabilities and timelines of the position as well.
3. Promote a culture of growth. Give your employees ways to stretch their wings and try new skills and tasks. This could mean rewarding them with attendance to an educational conference or asking them to lead an internal team or task force. Likewise, encourage informal networks to share information across departments or teams. By doing so, it keeps the work interesting and engaging, and also encourages innovation and collaboration.
4. Reward contributions. Recognizing and acknowledging accomplishments and contributions to organizational goals is key to reducing employee turnover because appreciated employees are more likely to stick around. Create a process to recognize employee accomplishments and tie these accomplishments back to your company’s core values and corporate goals. Make them understand their important place in your organization.
5. Work with company leaders on self-awareness. Be sure that, as a leader, you are equipped to handle the needs and responsibilities of your team as it grows over time. For example, as your team expands and you add managers or supervisors, realize that these new leaders may require training as well.
Source: Magi Graziano, as seen on NBC, is the CEO of Conscious Hiring® and Development, a speaker, employee recruitment and engagement expert and author of The Wealth of Talent. With more than 20 years’ experience as a top producer in the recruitment and search industry, she empowers and enables leaders to bring transformational thinking to the day-to-day operation.
