How to Hire and Retain Good Employees
Employees are the foundation of any business. A bad employee can make or break a new business. A bad employee can affect an employer by driving down sales, costing the company money due to lack of motivation or carelessness. It can affect customers, because in dealing with a bad employee, that may cause customers not to return or to use a competing business. It can cause other employees to become unhappy with their work situation and drive their productivity down. Bad employees lead to a lack of satisfaction for the employer, other employees, and customers. So how do you find a good employee?
Hire a person's "attitude." Hire nice people. It seems obvious, but it is the most basic and essential part of a good employee. Everything else is secondary. Hiring a nice person will get everything going in the right direction. Experience and degrees are wonderful, but do they have a good personality? The fact that they are educated and have the right qualifications will not make up for the fact that they have the character of a wet paper bag. Nice people are amiable and can learn anything easily. Nice people have the greatest potential.
Most hiring is done based on one or two interviews, but you wouldn't choose a spouse based on such a little amount of information. You would want to know as much as possible when you make such an important decision, and the same goes for selecting an employee. When interviewing candidates for a job, try doing one conventional interview and one in an unusual environment. Some good examples of an unusual interview are inviting a candidate to play in a company softball team. You can see how this person would work within your existing team and their attitude. Are they focused on winning and get easily upset when a teammate drops a ball? Perhaps they are not the best candidate for your company. Have them go on personal drive with you. Their driving style will say much about their personality. Are they aggressive or assertive? Another example is inviting a candidate to a company social event. Does the person brag about themselves the whole night? Do they talk at all? A meeting in an unconventional setting will allow much greater insight into a person's character.
Retaining good employees is an even tougher matter. Most employers assume that people will stay because of a good benefits package. Though there are some that will stay for that reason, for most that is not enough. According to a survey conducted by Robert Half International Inc., a staffing firm in Menlo Park, California, ?limited praise and recognition? was the number one reason why employees leave jobs. People want to be appreciated for what they have done and need to feel they are a valuable part of the company. Praise and recognition, even a small thank you note or a pat on the back, is an important part of the employer-employee relationship.
Allow for growth and development in the company. Challenge them. If an employee wants to try other things within the company, permit the person to do so. Your employee will gain more experience and skills and will increase their confidence. If they are kept in a single job, a person may become bored. Job-hopping, as it is known, is a widespread occurrence and can only benefit the company.
Finding a good employee can be a difficult, though not impossible, task. Retaining one can be even more complicated. With the few simple guidelines mentioned above, it can be an easier and maybe even enjoyable process |
