Employee Attraction and Retention #1 Priority for Businesses
There must be a better way...To Attract and Recruit staff
Labour Shortage is here to stay
Within the next few years, we will have 195,000 less people in the labour market than what we did in December 2005. We have already gone past the tipping point. More people are now leaving the labour market than entering it. This information is not new and many factors contribute to it. Baby Boomers, Generation Y, Technology, Globalisation and the list goes on.
We can analyse the situation and validate that yes we are in different times and our labour market is not the same as it used to be. The question is – what do businesses do about it?
The corporate market with 200 staff or more have the ability to be more competitive and alluring to the jobs market- where they can compete on salaries, conditions, career paths – just to name a few. Businesses cannot compete using these techniques, but must compete just the same in order to survive. Most businesses cannot survive or build scale in their businesses without employees. So what can they do?
What you Need
Before a business can identify “who we need”, a business must first identify “what we need”. Lets look at an example.
Case Study
A business with 20 staff identified that they have a low performing Manager. After some performance coaching sessions and measurement of performance, she decides to leave. This leaves a hole in their business. Right? Well in fact, this helped the business owner to review their business process with their management team and they decided that they could redesign their work practice and not have to replace the position.
Through measuring their own jobs, the team saw they needed to improve the productivity of each role by 7% to take up the slack. Three months later, the business was improving in performance and the position was not needed.
So before you jump in and replace a person with another, ask yourself the question – do we need it?
Don’t think that this is a drastic measure. It is a smart one. It is a measure that will be adopted by many proactive businesses in a tight labour market.
Who you Need
Now, if you do need an employee and you have reviewed all your alternatives, it is time to identify “who you need”. To open the market for choice, means that you must also consider opening up your mind. Many businesses maintain a closed ideal of “who” they are looking for. A graduate with 3 years experience is a typical profile of professional services firms – which as you know is a limited market.
All industries though must challenge the norms in who works within that industry. As traditional core pools of people diminish, alternative groups will need to evaluated. The HR Coach Research Institute as part of a 5 year business study has identified that businesses in the December 2007 quarter were more proactive than ever before in recruiting mature aged workers.
It was found in the study that 65% of businesses where having difficulty in attracting and retaining staff and 56% were actively recruiting from the mature aged sector. This is a healthy sign for industry and many associations are working hard with their members such as the Queensland Tourism Industry Council in reshaping how work is done and who does the work.
Mature aged sector is just one pool. If you are reviewing who you need, consider various segments of untapped markets:
· Women
· Mature Aged People
· Sole Parents
· Carers
· People with a disability
· Multicultural and indigenous descent
Skills or Attitude
The smaller the business, the greater the teamwork and flexibility required within roles. This was identified in organisational behaviour research conducted on growing businesses by the HR Coach Research Institute. Businesses valued staff with the right attitude and would prefer to teach them the skills for the job.
Are you Attractive?
This is not a personal question! But are you attractive to a prospect employee? Would they want to really come and work with you? Remember it is a buyers market and they are in high demand! So how do you make yourself attractive. Well, as they saying goes, beauty comes from within.
In your business – make sure that you do look after your staff, measure their satisfaction, look for ways to continually improve, be a good boss, invest in your people and focus on retention. The most effective way to do this is through the development and implementation of a HR Plan. This information is a great way to demonstrate how good a workplace you have created.
Where are my future staff today?
Sourcing applicants is like a game of cat and mouse. You have those who are actively looking in the market and are relatively easy to find. Use sources like the newspaper, on line advertising, your business network including clients and suppliers and ask who they know. Be innovative in the way that you look.
Others who are not actively looking but would be great for your business may not be looking at your advertising. They may be at industry functions, networking events, training or just head down in their jobs. They may not even be doing the same job, but have skills and knowledge that you could really benefit from. You may need to talk to some advisors on strategies for this market.
Have a great process of recruitment
Being prepared and having a quality process is the first point of demonstrating that you really do know what you are doing and that you do look after your people.
Having interview guides with established questions, a position description which outlines your expectations and time set aside without interruptions are all a good start. You can also have a business information kit. Review your website so that it reinforces the values, goals and quality of your business.
Recruit the best
Make sure that they are the right fit for you and your business. Assess for attitudes as well as skills. Don’t forget to complete reference checks and other assessments to ensure that you have the best person possible.
Your existing staff will also thank you for recruiting the best to work with.
Not sure how to put it all together?
Review this checklist with a key staff member or a HR Coach to develop systems for your business including:
· Develop a HR Plan
· Measure Staff Satisfaction
· Develop Interview Guides
· Have Position Descriptions for each position (including yours!)
· Review your Website to build an “Employer Brand”
How Professionals Can Help
You don’t have to wing it, your time is too important to waste it. Look for a qualified HR Coach who understands the changing labour market and your future business needs.
About the Author
Louise Broekman is the Founder and Director of the Australian HR Coach Network. The HR Coach Network facilitates focus groups for business people and conduct national based research on SME’s. Contact: 1300 550 674, www.hrcoach.com.au or business@hrcoach.com.au
Recruiting staff has become even more difficult in a tight labour market. How do you find staff, how do you represent your business in the best way and how do you select the right employee for your business? This article will example processes and techniques to get your business on track.