Loyal employees are at the heart of successful companies. When people feel fulfilled in their jobs, they go above and beyond to help their organizations – and they tend to stay with them for the long term.
How can you find long-serving talent that supports your ongoing mission and vision? The key lies in avoiding a “firefighting” approach to hiring. The more you recruit and staff based only on today’s needs, the less you’re investing in the lasting success and ongoing growth of your organization.
Build a Robust Process
Employee loyalty is inspired by flexibility and individual attention. A rigorous hiring process pays off in the long run. By being more selective on the front end, you will lose fewer people later on.
- Develop realistic job previews. These are the right combinations of updated descriptions, testimonials, videos and tests that give prospective hires an accurate appraisal of your company culture, along with the pluses and minuses of the job itself.
- Implement an employee referral program. One study showed a 46 percent retention rate after one year by individuals hired through employee referrals. This compared with rates of 33 percent for those recruited via career sites and 22 percent hired via job boards. And hires referred by other employees had a lower chance of being terminated for poor performance, making them better long-term fits.
When investing in your future workforce, your goal is to determine whether a candidate is:
- Fresh or stale: The right hire may be a brand new graduate or a 20-year veteran. That wet-behind-the-ears college senior with the latest skills may trump the candidate who actually has one year of experience repeated 20 times. Look closely. The weight placed on length of experience depends completely on the specific role and type of support the new hire will have. Is your focus on a seasoned subject matter expert or cutting-edge innovation and technology?
- A genuine lifelong learner: This means more than just collecting designations and letters after your name. The best employees are those who continuously develop themselves to benefit not just their careers, but also the role they fill and the company they work for. For instance, do they belong to professional organizations in name only or do they actively contribute? Do they attend seminars and take courses? Be sure their efforts are up to date, not 15 years old.
Hire for Cultural Fit
Cultural alignment between an employee and employer is critical, especially if an individual’s role involves interaction and cooperation with others. And don’t they all?
- Know your culture and don’t hire a candidate unless you’re 100 percent satisfied that you’ve made a match. Learn their values, preferences, goals and objectives.
- Of 18 consistently top-performing multinational companies over 50 years, all place top emphasis on cultural fit when hiring.
To learn more about perfecting your strategy to hire for tomorrow today, read our related posts or contact the PrideStaff Fresno team.