You’d be surprised to find that most employees are motivated by similar things. And likewise, most management teams are looking to implement solutions that coalesce around a similar set of goals — including attracting, hiring, and retaining talent that will align with the strategy and goals of their organization. And above all, produce results. So how do you achieve that? Here’s a few ideas I had the opportunity to present at NACD’s Southern Region Meeting last month that should get you going in the right direction.
Hiring Trends
What did you want to be when you were a kid? Was it a data scientist? Or an Instagram influencer? Probably not.
A lot of folks are surprised to find that the 10 most sought-after positions today didn’t exist 10 years ago. People are switching jobs more than ever — resulting in higher and more expensive turnover among your workforce. As a result, we’re also seeing a larger focus being placed on retention to mitigate those costs. How are companies stepping up to the challenge to fight turnover? One answer is a newfound focus on company culture.
Company culture isn’t just a box for companies to check off. It goes beyond having a fantasy football league in the office and live karaoke at the holiday party. Fostering an inclusive and appealing company culture should focus on the things employees actually care about, like a flexible schedule and work-life balance. It should reflect the things that actually make working at a company worthwhile — including a sincere sensitivity to individual differences and working styles among other things.
Cautions
Now that we’ve talked about what employees are looking for, let’s go over a few of the things you should assess before hiring someone.
To start, never place too much emphasis on your interview with the candidate or be overly impressed by their resume. As I’m sure you’ve come to discover, some candidates just interview better than others. It’s often hard to discover this until after the fact, but an easy remedy is to use an objective assessment like the Caliper Profile or at least place equal weight on every aspect of their application — whether that be their writing sample, references, or an on-site test you administer after the interview.
Since preventing turnover is paramount to your organization, you should never rush into hiring a candidate out of desperation. Wait until you find a person who is a match with your job and culture. Trust me. It will save you the added time of having to fill that role all over again. And you’ll have the ease of mind of knowing you have the very best person in that role performing at the best of their ability.
In a similar vein, it’s also important not to give up on an employee too soon. While you should never have to teach someone to be on time or use acceptable grammar in emails, you should always try to give new hires the opportunity to get better and grow into the shoes the job requires.
Best Practices
So how do you implement these strategies? Attracting good talent isn’t easy, but spending the time to create a strong value proposition for why your candidate should want to work for your company and your industry goes a long way. Creating an enticing employer brand may take time, but it’s always worth it. In addition, be sure to give your candidate a realistic preview of what their day-to-day will look like in their new role. Are there going to be busy weeks that will require they stay late in the office? Let them know. They’ll appreciate your honestly. And you’ll be more likely to find someone who is actually a good fit for the role.
At Caliper, we design robust solutions for our clients by blending best-in-class assessment content, leading-edge technology, and deep consulting expertise across the entire career life cycle. Thanks to our affinity agreement with NACD, we also maintain a NACD Service Provider Affiliate membership. We’re also the only Talent Management company listed and considered an NACD Strategic Partner. While your workforce needs may change year-to-year, know that you can rely on your NACD membership to leverage resources like the expertise we bring at Caliper.
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