LESSON 4 - HOW TO HIRE & RETAIN THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Introduction:  The goal is to hire and keep the best people

The most important aspect when looking to hire someone is to have the mindset to hire and retain the best and right person for the job.  Try to recruit people who will thrive under your management approach.  In most cases you will inherit your staff and department, which is obviously out of your control.  So when it comes to hiring someone new, you get a chance to make a fresh start and hire nothing but the best.  And, once you hire the right person, you do not want them to leave.  Nothing is worse than hiring someone, provide training, and as soon as you feel comfortable about the person, they leave.  This is why you need to determine up front if the person you hire is going to be around for the long run.  The ability to spot the perfect candidate is a necessary skill in management, and it is easy to learn. 

Be patient when you are hiring, and whatever you do, don’t just hire for hiring’s sake.  You might get lucky and find someone right away, or interview 20 to 30 people before you find the right candidate.  You will have to live with the people you pick, so it is imperative that you make the right choice. Once you hire a problem employee, you will have a lot of work and stress ahead of you.  It is also a morale killer when you bring in a bad apple, and it makes you look bad as far as judgment goes.  Hopefully, you will work, or currently are working for a reputable company that pays well.  People are drawn to the better companies and you will most likely get more applicants.  If not, you might need to look into other ways to get the message out to the public.  Some advertising ideas will be discussed later in this lesson. 

Once the individual is hired, you will need to set clear expectations, evaluate the person’s performance, and compensate and reward when the goals and objections are met, as described in lesson 3.  It is up to you to hire the best people and keep them happy.  This lesson will show you valuable information and ideas to use during the interview and hiring stage.  There will also be some ideas and ways keep them in your company for a long time.

First off, do you really need to hire someone?

Many times, a new hire is replacing someone who left, or you have an opening available in your budget, so you feel you have to fill the spot.  You need to carefully examine exactly what you need before hiring someone.   Being overstaffed can cause boredom, and even worry, because of the reduced workload.  When there is little work to do, there is more of a possibility of future layoffs. 

You might even be asked from the team to hire some more help, but the solution is not necessarily to throw more bodies into the mix, but to re-examine processes and procedures that are in place.  It is up to you, and expected of you as manager, to determine this conundrum.  When you do not replace an employee just because they left, which is sometimes part of an acceptable attrition rate, you might just be doing everyone a favor, not to mention less cost to the company thus higher profit.  You might even be able to shift the current responsibilities to another department.  Keep all of this in mind when thinking about filling a new or existing position. 

Only fill the position if truly needed.  It‘s understandable that you might feel if you do not hire someone right away, you will lose that position forever. This is quite common, but you have to weigh out the pros and cons.   One pro is you will have another employee under your belt, thus a better chance to hit the goals.  One con is you are costing the company more money, thus your management skills might be in question.  Create a list, think about it very carefully, and then make your choice.

Job Description

Creating the right job description to find the right person

You need to create a job description that truly focuses on the exact skills and qualities you are looking for in the potential new hire.  You need to define the right job responsibilities.  You want this description to be truly in synch with what they will actually do, and the skills they actually need. This way when you are evaluating resumes, you will be able to spot strengths and weaknesses much easier.  The performance evaluations should also be in synch with the skills and responsibilities within the job description.  You will have to update the job description from time to time if there are any additional responsibilities, new skills, or new product experience needed. 

Items that should be on the job description are:

• General Description: Basic overview of what you are looking for in a candidate.

• Primary Job Functions: Brief description of the type of work performed.

• Required skills:  The “must have” would be on top, the “should have” in the middle, and “nice to have” at the bottom.

• Desired skills:  This would be skills you wish the applicant had, but not absolutely necessary.

• Experience: Type of work experience the applicant must have, and the amount of years doing this type of work.

• Education: Needed or desired.  This can be anything from technical certification to a master’s degree.

• Work status:  Full or part time.

• Travel:  Enter a percentage if there is any travel associated with the position.

• Reporting:  The positions direct report.  It might be you or one of your supervisors.

For example, if you were looking for more of a Tier 1 support technician with lower technical capabilities than a Tier 2 technician, you need to be clear on the expectations in the description which will justify the lower rate of pay.  You would create it around the skills needed for the position.  You would not want to make a description with too many high-end requirements for a lower type of position.  It might put off some potential good applicants.  The opposite is true if you are looking for a higher end type of position. 

You also need to keep in mind whether this is a non-exempt position (paid on an hourly bases) which would include overtime and is typically on the lower end of the pay scale, or exempt (paid on a salary basis) which is usually on the higher end of the pay scale but with no overtime. 

The following screen shot is an example of a basic job description for a Tier 1 technician with somewhat lower expectations than that of a Tier 2 technician.

How to find the right person

The first place to look for the right candidate is to search within the company.  Most HR departments insist on this anyway.  HR will most likely perform a pre-interview for both internal and external applicants. The good news is if you implement all that is taught throughout this course, you should be known as a good manager that people want to work for.  You would post your position internally for a period of time, and then look outside the company if you could not fill the position.  Hiring from within is the best bet, as you will already know the person’s character, background, and realize that they already know the company’s goals.  It also reduces costs.

You will also have the benefit of talking to that person’s supervisor or manager.  They will be able to answer any concerns you might have.  Keep in mind this manager might oversell this employee because they want to get rid of that person.  You will then inherit a problem, and also realize you cant trust that manager ever again... 

The next place to look for a possible candidate would be through any or all of the following.  The costs will be in parenthesis:

• Online job finder (minimal cost) such as monster.com or careerbuilder.com.  You just go to the Internet site, sign up, and fill in the necessary info.

• Post on the company’s website  (none to very minimal cost) – the possible candidate will also have a chance to see what your company is all about.

• Newspaper ad (minimal cost) – Post an ad in the classified section of your local newspaper.  You will need to provide the title of the position, a brief opening regarding the company name and what they are all about, the qualifications needed including years of experience, the salary if desired and contact info.  Even if it costs a little bit more, make the ad big enough to catch their attention.  Try not to make it look crammed up. Many times this same ad will appear on the newspapers web page as well.

• Recruiter or Headhunter (medium to high cost) – This is a person or search firm who you ask to look for the right candidate based on the job description criteria you gave them.  In most cases they will take a one-time fee of a certain percentage of the yearly salary once you hire the candidate.  For example, they might take 5% of a $40,000 a year salary, which would be $2,000.  This would be considered paying the recruiter on a “Contingency” basis.  The other payment method would be considered on a “Retainer” basis in which you pay the associated percentage whether you hire someone the search firm found or from another source.  In this case the recruiter gets paid either way.

• Networking (none to very minimal cost) – Word of mouth or certain blogs on the Internet can be very effective, and inexpensive.

• College or trade school bulletin board (none to very minimal cost).  This is a simple way to get perspective students in the same field as yours to apply.

• Employment agency (medium cost) – This is an agency that assists job seekers in finding work.  Companies such as kellyservices.com andappleone.com are a couple of online examples.

• Radio or TV advertising (medium to high cost) – This will depend on your location and if it is viable.

• Temp (Temporary) agency (low to medium cost) – An agency that places jobs for temporary work.  This is a good way to determine if the position is really needed, and if you do not like the person, you can ask the temp agency for a replacement.  Some agencies would expect an extra fee if you hire the person full time.  There could also be a waiting period before the person is eligible to be hired full time.  This is also a good idea if you are busier only during a certain period of time such as Christmas.  An example of an online temp agency would be roberthalf.com.

What to look for in an interviewee

Much of the hiring phase is based on how well they answered the interview questions, but what gets their foot in the door is based on key words and experience from their resume.  When screening and reviewing resumes you will develop a quick eye for:

·         Key phrases

·         Acronyms

·         Familiar companies in the genre of your company

·         Over qualified or under qualified

·         Bounces around a lot

You should have a “yes,” “maybe,” and “no” pile.  Calling the “yes” and “maybe” candidates yourself for a pre-interview helps both you and the candidate so you don’t waste each other’s time.  You might even strike up a good rapport, which will make the live interview that much more interesting.  You should create a list of quick and to the point questions for the telephone interview.  Ask about experience, education, desired salary range, and general information.  Use this same list for all pre-screenings to help keep the telephone call to a short and formatted way.  You can go into more detailed questions during the live interview.

You also need to develop a sixth sense and follow your gut, although don’t hire based on gut alone.  Try not to pre-judge based on stereotypes, such as, thinking a man with long hair must mean he will be a troublemaker.  After performing a few interviews, you will start to build confidence on exactly what you are looking for and need.  You might also want to have one of your employees, like a supervisor, to be in the interview with you.  Their impressions count and can help determine if the person will be a right fit for the team. 

Here are 16 things to look for when interviewing and evaluating a person to join your company:

1.      Natural talent.  Getting someone who you know has the aptitude and attitude is just as important than experience, intelligence, or determination.  You can always train for skills.

2.      What the person has really done in previous jobs.  Resumes are most often quite embellished.

3.      Knowledge of your industry or product without going off track.

4.      Emphasis on a great education and hoping you do not notice the lack of experience.

5.      How long they spent at each job based on their application and resume.  If they tend to bounce around a lot and spend just a few months or one year at each job, you might be in for some trouble.  It usually takes a few months just to get someone trained to be able to fully perform the job functions.  The last thing you want is someone who gets trained and ready to go, but leaves just a short time later.

6.      Are they over qualified and only applying because of a slow economy and high unemployment?  This employee, although qualified, might be desperate for a job.  They might leave the moment something better comes along.

7.      A nice and good personality.  Remember this adage, “You can train a nice person to become skilled, but you can’t train a skilled person to become nice.” 

8.      Integrity and honesty with a strong work ethic.

9.      Comfortable eye contact.

10.  Nervous mannerisms showing they have something to hide.

11.  Someone who can articulate clearly and speaks well.

12.  Excellent attendance and dependability.

13.  They way they are dressed.  A dirty look says a lot about their personality.

14.  A person with a team attitude who will fit in with the rest of the team.  Think about how much energy will this person bring in to the department.

15.  Someone who wants to go the “extra mile” to ensure top customer satisfaction.

16.  Someone who looks like they will appreciate the job and opportunity and will have fun at work.

Job interview questions to ask

First create a guide form to use on all interviews, which grades each of the questions given below.  Grade it on a level of 1 to 5, with 5 being best.  You should have at least 10 skill related questions.  You will want to make many copies to use as a guide for future interviews as well to help stick to the same outline.  Have a comments and notes section, as well as a name and date.  This can then be attached with the application and resume.  Make sure you have a few “how and what” type of questions to verify what they claim.  See how quick and correctly they answer the question.  Many times if someone does not know the answer, they will go off track and talk about something they do know.

The more prepared you are, the more respect you will have already developed if you decide to hire this person.  With respect comes trust, and they will look forward to working for you.  The opposite is true if you seem like you are just bumbling around during the interview.  Also make sure you give your full attention to the interviewee with no interruptions.  Put the applicant at ease by making some non-threatening small talk, and not jumping right into the question/answer phase.  They are going to be nervous and blow the interview if they feel threatened or intimidated.  You goal is to find the best in this person, and watch out for the worse.

Here are 14 questions you can ask during the live interview.  You may have already covered the basics if you did a pre-screening interview over the phone:

1. Ask about their experience.  You are looking for what they did, time spent at jobs related to the position you are trying to fill, and how well that experience qualifies them for the job.  

2. Ask about their education.  Related college courses or certificates are highly valued and shows that they are taking this career choice seriously.

3. Ask about their skills.  You are looking for their top job related strengths.

4. Look at the application and review the salary range at their previous or current employment.  This will give you an idea if they are in or out of your pay range, and the opportunity for them to give a desired amount.  They should not ask up front what the pay is for the job.  It shows impatience.  You should provide the opportunity.

5. Ask a couple of questions to see if there might be some potential conflict or attitude issues down the road.  Ask, “Who was their favorite manager and why?” then ask, “who was their least favorite manager and why?”  The second question is the trick question.  You can get some valuable information from a person who you might suspect as dubious.  Listen for the negatives that could end up haunting you, if you hired the person.

6. Ask what they liked the most about their last job.  The type of answers you want, relates to learning, growth, respect, and loyalty.  If you get answers pertaining to non-job related duties, such as making a lot of friends, or got to go home early when it was slow, you might have more of a social butterfly who is not focused on the true meaning of a job.

7. Ask what they least liked about their last job.  If you get complaints that are related to the day-to-day running of a business, you might have someone who doesn’t like structure.  You want comments that are more justifiable like, "A lack of structure or direction."  You might not get a negative comment at all, which is ok.

8. Ask about the best praise or recognition they’ve received and what made it so good.

9. Ask about their greatest strengths and weaknesses.  To help determine strengths, ask them about their best day in the past year and what were they doing and why they liked it so much.  To help determine weakness, the same applies for their worst day and why they disliked it so much.  This is a bit of an uncomfortable question to answer, but it can determine the overly confident from the sheepish person.  There might be some great value for you to learn in both the strengths and weaknesses on how they answer this question.

10. Ask what is the best way they learn and when in their career did they learn the most and why.  This can help you determine how best to train this person if you hire them.

11. Can they multitask and perform well under pressure?  Give a few different scenarios related to the position.  For example, there is an outage that is affecting customers, and the lines are ringing off the hook.  Customers are on hold for a long period of time even adding to their frustration, and you still need to enter the notes from the previous call.  Should you quickly take care of the customer to get to the next call? Should you let the customer know that you have been inundated with calls and that you are doing the best that you can?   The answers to these types of questions can give you insight on how well they handle stress.  You should also ask the interviewee about a couple of stressful times they’ve had in previous jobs.  If they answer that they have never had any type of work related stress, then they are most likely lying or never had that type of position.

12. Are they a team player and will they fit in?  You have to think about the rest of the team and determine if this person will benefit or hurt the team spirit and production.

13. What makes them feel they are more qualified than the next person?  This is a hard question to answer.  They will worry if they come off as too confident or too humble.  But you can still get some valuable insight from the answer to the question.  If they say something like, “I’m the right person because I know the type of idiots who are out there,” then you know you’ve got trouble.  If they come across as unsure about themselves, you’ve also got trouble.  You want someone who feels comfortable enough to answer the question with a simple but clear statement like, “The best way I can answer this question is to tell you that I really love doing this type of work and will not disappoint you.”  The answer might be rehearsed, but it is still worth a try.

14. If you have a company website with your product line, you can ask them if they went to the website before the interview.  If they did and answered some questions based on information from the website, you know you have someone who is ready to take the initiative to learn.  If they didn’t go to the website, it shows that they weren’t even willing to take the time to do their homework for the job they are seeking.  Unless they state that they do not have an Internet connection or are not computer savvy, there is no reason why they couldn’t have visited the website.

If applicable, also have them perform a quick typing test to show speed, spelling and use of grammar. 

Be sure to find out what shifts and possible hours they can work.  Also, if they are going to be working a swing or graveyard shift, make sure you have them on a normal shift for the first few months so they can get all of the training and support they need.  You do not want to throw them into the deep end with little to no support.

Don’t be surprised if you get questions asked from the interviewee.  Depending on the question, this is not a bad thing and it shows they have a true interest in the company and where it is going.   Be careful not to mislead, or give job security type of comments or commitments.  Tell them that a decision will not be made until all applicants have been interviewed.  When in doubt, have them talk to HR for all benefit, and salary type of questions. This includes how and when they will be notified if they got the job. 

If they ask questions that show more interest in not working than working, you should be concerned.  Here are a couple of questions that if asked, should be considered dubious:

• When can they take a vacation and for how long?
• Will they get paid if they take off the day before or day after a holiday?
• Is working overtime mandatory?
• Is working on the weekends mandatory? 
• Can they only work the hours that are required?
• If it is slow, can they leave early?
• When will they be promoted?
• How long do they have to work in your department before they can transfer to another department?
• When will they get a raise?
• How late can they be before it is considered a tardy?

If they are asking these types of questions now, who knows what they will be asking in the future. 

Use your time wisely, however, try and ask questions that give the applicant a chance to talk about their experience and skills, rather than asking only yes or no type of questions.  You want to ask as many open ended questions as you can.  It gives you a chance to see how well they know the subject at hand, and gives them a chance to relax a bit. 

Let them do most of the talking during the interview.  Many managers talk too much and come across as intimidating or bragging.  You can also learn a lot about someone on how they react during uncomfortable silence.  Do not jump in and try to finish their sentence.  You should also find some common interests to break the ice, just make sure you do not cross any possible discriminatory lines.

Questions you should not ask

You need to be familiar with topics that are not permissible as interview questions to avoid possible discrimination lawsuits.  Examples would be race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, health, illness, disabilities, and national origin.  Stay away from all questions and conversation that is not related to the job unless they are just some nice pleasantries like hobbies or the weather.  Absolutely refrain from making any illegal type of statements or asking discriminatory questions.  Go to this link to help find out what are considered illegal questions to ask during an interview:  U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission http://www.eeoc.gov/.

***It is a good idea to have at least two people responsible for interviewing and hiring applicants.  Not only will you get a second opinion, it can help support the decision not to hire if the unsuccessful applicant files a discrimination charge.

Checking their references

The candidate might seem very trustworthy, but to ease your mind and to fully justify hiring this person, take the time to check both the professional and personal references.  Think about it, if they are lying about their references, you never know what else they might be lying about.  In many cases HR will perform a background check, which will help as well.  You want to be assured that the person you hire can do the job, contribute to your growth and development, and have no past history of violence that might one day endanger your employees. 

Also keep in mind that you might be liable if you failed to do a background check on a person who then attacked another in your workplace.  That alone should give you reason to not ignore this important part of the hiring process. 

Many companies you call will only verify the employment dates and not job performance.  At least you will know they did indeed work at the location they stated, and at the same timeframe that was stated on the application. 

How much should you pay?

In most cases, HR will have already determined the pay rates.  If you have created a new position, you will have had to work that out with HR before even posting the position.  You can always try to use your management influence and change the rate of pay due to the expertise needed.  Just make sure you have your boss’s blessing, and you have the budget to cover the change.  Just be careful not to make waves with HR.  You need them to be on your side.  You will have years of heartache if you do not have a good relationship with HR… 

If you are able to set the rate of pay yourself, check around and see what the competition pays.  If you can pay the same, or even slightly more than your competition, the better the chance for a long-term happy employee.  Look for the average rate of pay for the experience required in your city.  It would also be a good idea to use some well-known companies rate of pay as a benchmark, even if it is nationwide.  You want to find the range of the highs and lows.  Hopefully you will at least be in the middle.  Just remember, you get what you pay for.

If you have a range of pay for the position, you can try to balance it out by hiring the least experienced and not as technically skilled at the lower end of pay, and the more experienced with higher skills at the upper end of pay.  However, if you do this, you need to stress to your employees to never discuss their rate of pay with their peers.

Making the final offer

HR will most likely present the offer to the candidate.  It really is best as they will be able to answer questions associated with benefits, first paycheck date, etc.

If possible, it would be a good idea to set a probationary period of 90 days.  This would give you the right to let someone go if they are not performing up to standards.  You should find out if this is possible before making the final offer.  If not, you should try to lobby this idea for future new hires.

Employee on-boarding and orientation process

You want to make the first days on the job as stress free and exciting as possible.  With the right approach, you can have your new hire “chomping at the bit” to get to work and be productive.  You want them to know that they will be trained, given clear directions and expectations, understand the goals of the department, and will be part of a team.  You want them to feel comfortable, and not feel like they are in the way.  Make sure you give the employee who will be training the new hire plenty of advance warning.  This shows respect for both individuals.  Make sure the trainer takes it easy for the first couple of days, and encourages the new hire as much as possible.  Do not let the new hire train with someone who is too busy, or will share any ill feelings they might have with the company. 

Here are 10 tips to use whenever dealing with the new employee:

·         Gladly welcome the employee the moment they arrive.  Shake their hand with a hearty welcoming tone.

·         Chances are they will be nervous and already stressed by filling out all of the new hire forms with HR.  Offer a cup of coffee or something to help make them feel at ease.

·         Walk the employee around the building, and introduce the new hire to your staff as a welcomed addition to the team and company.

·         Give a brief history of the company and where you feel you’re headed.  Explain how it works, described the products and/or services you provide, talk about the competition, etc.

·         Go over the department and company’s goals and objectives. 

·         Go over the job functions and responsibilities.

·         Give absolute clear expectations of the employee’s role in your department and company.  Stress for attention to detail on every aspect of the job, for example, you expect nothing but world-class customer support with excellent documentation.  If you have set up a probationary period, now would be a good time to discuss immediate expectations.

·         Cover any rules or regulations that HR did not cover.  This includes any safety policies and procedures. 

·         Talk about the schedule, the person or people who will be doing the training, seating and computer arrangements, etc.  This is also the responsibility of the employee’s direct supervisor.

·         Make sure a positive and welcoming feeling has been established, and shake the employee’s hand with a sense of value and ensuring confidence.

Employee Retention

Now that you have hired the right person, you want them to be a part of the organization for many years to come.  The less turnover, which is the coming and going of employees, the better.  It reduces costs, keeps morale high, and you get full return on your investment.  You need to keep your new hires, and existing staff, happy and content as discussed in lesson 3.

Finding the best people who can fit within your culture, and contribute within your organization, is a challenge and an opportunity.  Keeping the best people, once you find them, is easy if you do the right things. 

These 16 specific actions will help you with recruiting and retaining all the talent you need: 

1.      Be known as a great company to work for.  If your company has the reputation as being the best, people will not want to leave.  Why would anyone want to leave a place they love?  A place where people envy and wish they were able to work? 

2.      Be known as a great boss to work for.  You want your employees saying, and truly meaning, that you are the best boss.  Implementing all of what is taught in this course will surely help make that happen.

Point to keep in mind; it is more common for people to leave due to quality of supervision than any other reason.  You do not want people leaving because of you, or your supervisory staff.

3.      Always provide the right tools and training.  The easier a person can do their job, and the more they know about their job, the more likely they will be comfortable and not want to leave.

4.      Continue to promote the best.  You want your employees to know that when they strive to be the best, they can be promoted and grow with the company.

5.      Pay better than the competition.  Although this is fairly obvious, and has already been mentioned earlier in this lesson, it is still worth mentioning again.

6.      Use your influence to have, and keep, the best benefits package.  This helps you personally, helps retain your employees, and helps the company as a whole.  People will not want to leave a company with a great benefit plan.  Even if the competition pays better, knowing you are secure in benefits can outweigh the other.  This includes medical, dental, life insurance, and retirement.  Matching 401k’s are also a big incentive to stay with the company for the long-term.

7.      Have a company bonus plan.  If the employee knows that they will get a bonus if the company hits the yearly goals and targets, the more likely they are to stay.  Even if the company missed the year-end bonus target, there is always the hope for next year.  That right there just helped retain an employee for an additional 12 months. 

8.      Offer stock options.  This is a great way to keep people for 4 or more years, due to most options are fully vested by the 4^th year.  For example, 25% vested after year 1, 50% vested after year 2, etc.

9.      Offer tuition reimbursement.  As long as they are with the company, and are taking a course that is related to their position within the company, it’s a win/win situation when the company pays for tuition fees.  This helps retain the employee for at least a year or two, and people tend to stay with a company that treated them so well, even after the course is through. 

10.  Competitive vacation package.  The longer you are with the company, the more vacation time is added.  For example, you get two weeks vacation after years 1 and 2, three weeks vacation after year 3, four weeks vacation after year 4, and max out at five weeks vacation after year 5 and beyond. 

11.  Provide cross training.  Employees who learn what others do usually want to aspire to learn more and train harder.  It takes time to learn new skills, which means they will stay with the company for quite some time.

12.  Inspire employee feedback.  An employee who is afraid to share ideas and concerns is more likely to explode with bottled up emotions, and then look elsewhere for a job.  There will be employees who are quiet and seem content, but inside they are fired up.  They do not say anything because they are afraid of retribution.  Encourage openness as described throughout this course.

13.  Parity amongst departments.  If one department is getting all of the perks and recognition, and the other departments are ignored, you will have some disgruntled employees.  First off, don’t let the ignored department be yours.  Second, make it a point that fairness and equality is established.  You might need to explain that certain department’s function differently when it comes to commission and perks.  For example, the sales department gets paid by commission, and might get a better reward than you can give to your staff as customer service manager. Your job as customer service manager is to make sure your staff is aware that if sales do not sell, they do not get paid.  The trade off between a steady paycheck that your staff receives, and the possibility of a great reward that sales might receive, should offset one another.

14.  Do not rule by intimidation.  When people feel intimidated and threatened by you, you might achieve short-term gain, but the employee will leave the moment an opportunity presents itself.

15.  Keep to your commitments.  People do not trust a boss who is all talk with no substance, thus will want to leave.  Always follow up no matter what the circumstance.  Always keep to the meeting you have scheduled, the events you have planned, or the promises that you made.  Even if you give information that the employee does not want to hear, the fact that you respected their idea enough to follow up will earn you respect.  When they respect you, they will not want to leave you.

16.  Make sure they feel like they are part of the “in crowd.”  Treat your employees like they are special and that working for you is cool. They should feel they are part of a team that is looked at as “the best of the best” with respect, and even awe.

Your goal is to make it to where there is no reason for your key employees to leave other than that of a brand new experience or relocating.  There’s not too much you can do about that.  The chances of high retention are also higher when you hire the best as described throughout this lesson. This is just another reason why hiring someone with a good attitude who shows integrity is such a good thing to do. 

Key employee retention is extremely crucial to your department and the company’s success.  Retaining your best employees ensures a solid future along with customer satisfaction and higher sales no matter what kind of department you run.

A short story about hiring and keeping employees

Sample Corp was growing, and more support was needed to provide the kind of customer service that was expected of John and his department. Because John had structured his department to it’s optimal, it was easy to add an additional person, both logically and physically.  John updated the job description and put an ad in the local paper and online for a Tier 1 data repair technician.  He was so excited to add another person to his head-count; he ended up hiring one of the first people he interviewed.  This person had the right skills and seemed like a good enough person, but after just three months of employment, the new employee quit.

John was upset.  It cost the company time and money to bring in a new employee, not to mention the time and money invested into all of the training that was needed.  John thought, “What kind of person starts a new job and quits after just three months?”  He decided to investigate to see where he went wrong and if there was anything to learn from this poor hiring decision.

John pulled out the employees resume and quickly spotted that this person jumped around between companies more than he had realized.  In just three years, this person had five different employers and the reason for leaving was because a better offer was made.  To make things worse, John did not call any of the previous companies or references for employment verification and character assessment.

From that point on, John added job history and time at each company into his new hire checklist.  He knew that it was pretty easy to spot someone with the right skills, but it was harder to spot someone who is still searching for what they want out of their career.  He also made it a point to call references and verify employment. 

It also made John realize that if his existing staff sees people leaving for other opportunities, they might leave as well.  Luckily, he already had a motivated staff, due to setting clear expectations along with recognition and rewards in place.  However, he just knew not to take that for granted. He decided it was time to discuss some new retention ideas with his fellow managers and upper management.  After a few meetings, they came up with a new vacation policy that rewarded those who stayed with the company for over four years, with 4 weeks of vacation (the previous policy was 3 weeks).  It was also decided to provide tuition reimbursement for job related studies.  Just these two changes greatly reduced attrition, not just in John’s department, but also throughout the entire company.

Epilogue:  You have to really do your homework when it comes to hiring a new employee.  You not only have to look at their skills, aptitude, and attitude, but that they will be around for the long run.  Always look for ways to retain your employees and do not be afraid to discuss ideas with upper management.  The points discussed in this lesson should help greatly when it comes to hiring the right person and keeping your employees for many years to come.

Quick Lesson Summary

• You have to hire the right person, not just a body to fill the seat.  You will have to deal with all that comes with the “wrong person.”  It is better not to hire at all, than hire a problem.  Remember, “You can train a nice person to become skilled, but you can’t train a skilled person to become nice.” 

• Make sure you truly need to hire a new employee.  Don’t just hire for hiring’s sake.  You don’t want to lose the opening, however, you also do not want to be overstaffed.  Make the right decision.

• Create a relevant job description and always keep it up to date.  Focus on the most important job skills first, and then add the desired qualifications.

• For a successful interview, have a good list of questions to ask and points you want to discuss based off of their resume.  Look for aptitude and attitude, as they are the most important qualities.  Provide a professional, yet friendly atmosphere to put the applicant at ease.  Make sure you know what questions you cannot ask during the interview process.

• Check their references and employment history before making a decision

• Set the rate of pay as competitive as possible.

• Set the right tone by making the on-boarding process a positive one.

• Always look at ways to retain your employees.  Motivating, recognizing and rewarding are very good ways to keep your best employees, but there are also incentives like tuition reimbursement, longer vacation time, and bonus plans to keep them around for the long run.