Whether your business is just starting out or you are going through a period of change, development, and growth, your employees are key to everything that you do. Attracting the best candidates who become employees is essential, and so too is retaining them. Recruitment is a costly process, and you want to ensure that the candidates you employ and hire turn into long-standing employees who add value to your business.
Attracting Good Candidates – What is Important?
To retain good employees, you first need to attract good candidates and potential employees. To get the right candidates for your business, you need to think about what you want and then clearly convey this in your job advert. A job description that clearly states what is expected of future employees will set you off in the right direction. When you are clear about what you want and why, and you highlight this within your job description and advert, you will attract high-quality candidates. Being specific about what you want, about what you expect, and also explaining how important candidates will be to your business is crucial.
Offer a Fair Remuneration Package
The best candidates and employees know their worth, and they know their value. If you are not prepared or willing to pay and remunerate accordingly, then you will find that you will attract the wrong type of candidates who will ultimately turn into poor employees. A fair and decent remuneration package will offer a competitive salary, but it will also list additional employee benefits, including a good dental plan and healthcare. Within the package that you offer to both new candidates and existing employees, you may want to offer additional incentives. For instance, you could offer gift vouchers on special occasions, or you could offer discounts for use at popular online or offline retailers.
Allow Flexible Working Hours
The way that businesses operate is changing. Long gone are the set 9-5 working hours. Offering flexible working hours and losing the traditional mentalities of days gone by is crucial for any business that wants to thrive, succeed and retain the best employees along the way. Changes in roles within the home and changes within home setups and dynamics have meant that more flexibility is needed to accommodate childcare, additional jobs, and even travel time. If you cannot offer flexibility in even the slightest way, then you will struggle to attract and retain the best employees. Life can sometimes get in the way of work, and, as a business, you need to accept this and respect it. Once you have accepted this, then you can start to see new ways of working through the eyes of your valued employees.
Excellent Human Resources is Essential
No matter how small or large your business is, focusing on incorporating excellent human resources is essential. Human resources fosters positive employee engagement and working relationships, and it also encourages growth and development. As human resources is a key department, or section, within your business, it is essential that a good level of knowledge and experience is held. Of course, experience can be gained over time; however, knowledge can be attained through a program of study. If you want to undertake human resources within your business, and you feel that you have the time and the energy to handle human resources, then you will definitely need to study for an MBA in Human resource development simply because you need to know the correct way of handling employee relations. Effective human resources can save your business thousands of dollars if it is incorporated successfully. Savings can be made in many ways, including within the finding and retaining of employees. So, never underestimate the importance of excellent human resources.
Build and Maintain an Employee Focused Culture
What culture does your business currently have? And what type of culture do you want to build? Focusing on building and maintaining an employee-focused culture is key to getting the right employees. When employees feel that they are the heart of your business’s operations, they will feel valued, and they will stay with your business even longer.
Reward Both Existing and New Employees
Employees will come to work to earn a living, and if they get job enjoyment and satisfaction, then that is a bonus. Rewarding both existing and new employees with things such as time off, late starts, and even the chance to work from home on occasion will leave them feeling valued and appreciated. When employees feel valued, then they will stay with your business, and they will increase the levels of effort that they put into their job and their role.
Support and Training is Crucial
Being there for both new and existing employees is crucial. Employees need your guidance and direction, they need your backing, and they need your support. Offering support packages and offering training opportunities to develop and harness their skillsets and knowledge shows that you care, and it shows that you are genuinely interested in doing what you can, when you can, for all employees.
Good Communication is Key
Open, honest and transparent communication at all levels, on all occasions, is crucial. Potential employees and existing employees need to know where they stand, and they need to be aware of how communication works within your business. If employees, both new and existing, feel that they cannot communicate with you or even with others within your business, then you will struggle to build a strong team, and you will struggle to retain employees. Poor or missing communication can lead to other issues, such as misinformation, further down the line, and once lines of communication are lost, so too is respect and loyalty.
Building and Maintaining Respect
All employees deserve to be shown respect. Listening to what employees have to say, taking on board suggestions, and even building respect through teamwork can ensure that employees stay and grow with your business. If employees do not feel respected for their contributions, then they will leave, and you will be left footing the bill and counting the cost of starting the hiring process once more.
