RECRUITING,HIRING AND RETENTION

I recently heard the new term “quiet hiring”. The definition is “the process when organizations acquire new skills and capabilities without acquiring new full-time people.”?So basically, they are adding additional duties to existing employees. This isn’t new and is often a huge complaint with employees. The workload increases but the pay doesn’t. I think most employees are willing to take on more if they are compensated but I don’t know how long this will last. It seems to me employees will become stressed and overwhelmed with additional workloads.

We all know how hard it is to find talent. Some roles can take months to fill. ?This is the best time of year to search for talent. There are a lot of people that waited until they got their yearend bonus to start their search process. Although we see large companies doing layoffs, we are still expecting to see smaller companies grow. This is an opportunity for you (if you are a small-medium sized business) to snatch up some the talent that might be a victim of a recent layoff. How can you find the talent you need?

If your budget is right, start with referrals. Turn to the people who are already in your circle. Your employees often have their own little network to tap into. You know the old saying “It’s all in who you know”. You may be surprised at the talent your current employees are connected too. Now, let me be the first to tell you, this doesn’t always work. Sometimes this can be a mistake. You don’t want to hire a referral and then it feels like it is an “us vs. them” situation. You also take the risk of the new hire being terminated for poor production, not catching on or any other reason and then losing the one that referred them. Use caution when hiring a referral. ?

Career sites and job boards. Love them or hate them (personally I hate them), online career sites and job boards are a way of getting as many eyes on your job posting as possible.?Maybe the person that sees your posting isn’t a fit, but they may know someone that is. Occasionally, you will get a qualified candidate from a job board but I rarely have success with job boards. However, you never know, it could be your lucky day.

Previous candidates. This often overlooked believe it or not. A lot of recruiters don’t check their database. They start fresh when recruiting for a new opening. Here are some tips for this, Put all candidates into your database system. Even if they don’t fit the role you are hiring for. You never know when you might need them later. They could match a completely different role. If you have a candidate that you previously interviewed but didn’t hire for whatever reason, maintain contact with them as there might be a more fitting job for them 6 months down the road.?

When you are interviewing talent, it is important to dig a little deeper than just the skills on their resume. Take the time to learn about their ambitions, their goals, what they are looking for long term. This may sound like an old school question, and it is, but it is important to make sure they have the same vision that you have.?

So, the question arises in your organization, should you invest money in hiring new talent, or keep the current workforce from leaving??Hiring and retaining employees are one of the biggest concerns among companies today.

In fact, there was a survey conducted recently with HR professionals and 72% of people polled said they were somewhat or extremely concerned about losing talent over the next 12 months. Why? Because they know how hard it is to find talent at all levels.

As some industries enter into an economic slowdown, organizations face hiring slowdowns and freezes. However, some industries still deal with the talent shortage that exist

Deciding whether you should focus on recruiting new talent or retaining the ones you have really comes down to aligning the employee’s goals with the business goals. If you have people on your team that don’t have the same goals in mind, then it may be time to replace them.

What are ways to retain employees? First and foremost, don’t assume you know the answer to this. If you truly want to retain employees, ask your employees what would make them stay. People are motivated by different things. You may have to come up with 100 ways to motivate employees but if they are worth keeping then listen to what they say. Give them what makes them happy if you can.

Be sure to provide competitive compensation and benefits. It's essential that you reward your employees with adequate compensation and benefits in a competitive market. If you can't afford salary increases, consider giving a performance bonus, half days off, extra vacation days, etc. ?All of these will help with the employees' job satisfaction. Come up with unique ways that might encourage them to stay with your company. It is too expensive to lose them and replace them.?

If you have additional questions on Recruiting, Hiring and Retention, please contact me at (281) 478-0827 or connect with me on LinkedIn.