How to recruit and retain the best people

1. How to recruit and retain the best people by Inger Larsen Larsen Globalisation recruitment inger@larseng11n.com www.larseng11n.com

2. Localisation people – what’s so special about us? • Technical AND linguistic – both sides of the brain are used and stimulated • International – culturally stimulating • Introverts and extroverts • Unlimited career opportunities

3. Typical career paths

4. Work permits and international careers today • The localisation industry used to have more vacancies than qualified job seekers • Now: a fair balance between the two • International experience a huge advantage • Vendor and client-side experience • Technologies: software and documentation • You need a valid work permit for the country you are applying for – unless you are a localiser with specific mother tongue skills

5. Why people look elsewhere and where they look • Reached the ceiling in current company • Want to experience another culture/new technologies • Want to move geographically • Where: • Friends in other companies • Research companies – approach directly through web site • Recruitment agencies

6. Retention schemes • Sources of dissatisfaction to pre-empt: • Boredom • Lack of appreciation – a simple “thank you, well done” can do miracles • Lack of training and investments in people and technologies • Lack of career paths and promotion • Salary and incentives • Employee satisfaction surveys – with actions…

7. Overview – for hiring managers • the importance of a good job and person specification • the selection process • sources of candidates • training and development • retention schemes

8. The importance of a good job and person specification • Spend time on it and review with colleagues and managers, make changes for individual requirements • Synergy: think about what and who would add to the team, not just adding clones

9. A good job specification • To identify the right candidate – skills, experience and personality traits • To improve the candidates’ understanding of what the company and the job are really about • Bonus: Performance measurement • Typical components • Company positioning and culture • Job title • Who the job reports into and who reports to the person (organisational chart) • Salary range • Objective of position and measurements of success • Job tasks • Skills and experience specification – “must have” and “desirable” • Personality traits/competencies - e.g. hunter/farmer, starter/finisher, detail-oriented/strategic, team-player/renegade, people manager/task manager, inspire/inspired

10. The importance of a good cultural match • Who are you and what kind of employees would suit you? • Advice to job-seekers: study the psychology of the individual company: • Who runs it? • Family and/or friends vs large corporate • What is your history? • Growth, employee retention, investment in people and technologies • What are their objectives? • Quality, money, reputation, growth • Watch out for company ethos – real or just wishful thinking?

11. The selection process and sources of candidates • Internal candidates • Promoting people sends out positive messages – or do job swaps • External candidates • New skills, fresh blood, new broom • Sources: word of mouth, finder’s fees, direct applicants, advertising, recruitment agencies

12. The interview process • Predefined, fair, involving colleagues on different levels • Methods for success – from 0 to 10 (Pilbeam & Corbridge) • 0: Graphology and astrology • 1: References • 3: Unstructured interviews • 4: Personal assessments • 5: Work sampling and ability tests (verbal and written) • 6: Skilful and structured interviews • 7: Assessment centres for development, including psychometric testing

13. Training and development • Plan for people leaving or moving up • Training is an excellent motivator as well as improving the skills sets of your team • Ask people to share what they have learnt

14. In Summary • Prevent loss of employees for the wrong reasons • Plan for recruitment – people do leave or move on… • Put a proper recruitment process in place – who, what, when