Recruiting and Retaining the Best Employees

1. Recruiting and Retaining the Best Employees

2. Recruiting and Retaining the Best Employees Paul McDonald Executive Director RHI Management Resources

3. Recruiting Techniques • Know your market • Stay informed about local hiring trends • Refer to the business section in your newspaper • Glance through classifieds • Network with others in your field • Participate in business organizations and professional associations • Ask others about their recruiting experiences

4. Recruiting Techniques • “Sell” your company • When giving a tour of your firm, highlight attractive features: • Awards your company has received • Benefits of joining your team • Have top candidates meet with prospective peers

5. Compensation and Benefits • Research salary trends • Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) • Internet and other resources (http://salarycenter.monster.com) (www.salary.com) • Salary guides (www.rhi.com)

6. Compensation and Benefits • Review salaries regularly • Set clear guidelines for raises • Tie wage increases to targets or goals that you can quantify • Reward performance • Don’t set unrealistic qualifications/goals • Don’t make promises you can’t keep

7. Compensation and Benefits • Consider bonus options • Signing bonuses • Performance-based bonuses • Spot bonuses • Cash • Alternatives • Year-end/mid-year bonuses

8. Compensation and Benefits • Consider equity incentives • Stock options • Allow employees to purchase shares in the company at a set price • Make options one component of a balanced compensation and benefits package

9. Compensation and Benefits • Consider equity incentives • Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) • Provided as deferred compensation • Profit-sharing plans • Cash plans • Payments distributed quarterly or annually • Deferred plans • Payments made after employees retire or leave the company

10. Corporate Culture “Other than base salary and bonuses, which one of the following do most applicants ask about during job interviews today?” Source: Robert Half International survey of 1,400 CFOs

11. Corporate Culture Executives were asked: “Which one of the following factors do you think is most important in keeping an employee satisfied?” Source: Robert Half International survey of 1,400 CFOs

12. Corporate Culture • What is corporate culture? • The business environment in which employees spend their time • Defined by your company’s values

13. Corporate Culture • Recognize employee achievements • Formal programs • Consider your target audience • Include everyone • Reward teamwork • Set attainable goals • Be consistent • Give meaningful rewards

14. Corporate Culture • Recognize employee achievements • Informal programs • Give day-to-day praise and recognition • Don’t forget the little courtesies

15. Corporate Culture • Make time for fun • Hold a monthly TGIF celebration • Bring refreshments into the office • Consider different meeting locations • Celebrate success • Get to know your employees

16. Corporate Culture • Promote work/life balance • Telecommuting • Flextime • Concierge services • Child- and elder-care assistance • Resource and referral services • Relocation assistance

17. Management Practices • Use a team approach • Be receptive to suggestions • Keep the lines of communication open • Reward risk as well as results

18. Management Practices • Provide challenge • Don’t hesitate to promote your firm’s successes • Be an enthusiastic coach

19. Management Practices • Promote from within • Help employees achieve their career goals • Create a career plan • Prepare a list of action items • Emphasize skills enhancement

20. Professional Development • Develop employee training programs • Support employee interest in opportunities to learn and grow • Help maintain a competitive edge by having skilled staff • Seek the right program for your company • In-house classroom training • Off-the-shelf non-classroom training such as videos • Self-paced online programs

21. Professional Development • Support external education • Encourage employees to attend professional seminars, courses, workshops • Offer tuition reimbursement

22. Professional Development • Develop mentoring programs • Benefits to: • Less experienced employees • Learn office protocol and build skills • Reduce learning curve • Mentors • Receive recognition for their expertise • Enhance leadership skills • Organization • Build employee knowledge • Increase loyalty

23. Professional Development • Develop mentoring programs • Goals • Assess your firm’s specific needs • Structure • Formal • Can be more efficient, enhance relationship-building • Informal • Can provide more flexibility to participants • Measuring results • Conduct a mid-point survey

24. Retention Issues • Recognize when employees are unhappy • Look for a noticeable change in attitude • Less communication with management • Longer lunch hours • Frequent absences • Sharp increase in personal phone calls

25. Retention Issues • Recognize signs an employee plans to quit • Noticeable improvement in attire • Altered appearance of workspace • Changed vacation pattern • No longer takes work home

26. Retention Issues • Saying goodbye to top performers • Conduct an exit interview • Uncover real reason for employee’s departure • Act on information gathered • Leave the door open • Use as a learning experience • Analyze firm’s policies and procedures • Evaluate management style

27. Recruiting and Retaining the Best Employees