Ep2 S6 'Recruitment and Retention Made Easy'- Lisa Askwith- Engaging Your People for Success

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Introduction

John Maxwell says that he gets asked all the time, “How do you motivate your people?” and his answer is very simple: “Hire motivated people.” You want to attract and hire the best talent in order to continue your development and growth as a company.  You can have great processes and great products but the execution of your business plan is dependent on the people in your organization. They are the ones that will allow it to Thrive……..or Stagnate.

Recruitment is not as easy as many people think…..in today’s fast paced work environment it has become an essential part of any leader's role, however, it is more often than not, not given the attention it deserves in order to really get it right.
 
If you are finding you are struggling to recruit, or to recruit and retain for any length of time, then it is time to thoroughly review your recruitment process.
 
Hiring the best Talent is a crucial leadership skill.
 
First you need to decide what the best talent looks like, and there are many ways to get the overall picture, lots of websites give reviews, and matching job requirements and salaries,  for all ranges of roles, which allow you to target the right people and remunerate them accordingly.

Show Objectives - The Why

Recruiting the best talent is not a one off event, it is a process. Regardless of your industry there are some basic steps that you can take to help you with the process of recruiting and retaining the best talent. The people in your organization are your greatest investment. So they need to be thought of and treated that way, not as an afterthought.  Today’s show talks about steps that you can take to help you successfully recruit people to your business, and then retain them.  

To call in today and ask a question, please use

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Key Issues

Owner/Manager Perspective: 

1. The company’s Brand – Your company's reputation and brand will either attract or repel the best people,
2. Clear Technical Requirements – The eligibility - intelligence & competence - requirements are clear and consistently applied throughout your organization. 
3. Fit test – The character, personality, and other desirable qualities needed for the position are clear 
4. People worth the investment – You are willing to invest in hiring process to increase the likelihood of hiring the best talent

Key Tips for looking outside of the box and building your brand for recruitment
Think about;

1. LinkedIn and Facebook- obvious, but are you really utilising it regularly and effectively, are you reaching people and creating interest in your brand, or just making noise? Regular engagement and positive reviews are key.
2. Local universities and work associations- do you have partners, and better yet avid supporters? Local universities or ite’s/ polytechnics, such as in Singapore can be great sources of support as well as surprising benefits, such as graduates running short projects for you.
3. Developing your internship program- are there also government or industry grants?
4. Industry job fairs, network platform, local chapters of key business areas etc
5. Links with industry chambers, chambers of commerce etc. These can be a great source of referrals.
6. Internal- Don’t forget the power of internal advertising and referrals- develop your program here too!
7. Government grants and agencies

What You Need to Know - The What

• The definition of “Best Talent” is dependent on the context of the job needs, your company culture, and the level of compensation. Check and review what you are looking for against the current relevance. You can do this easily online
• Be aware of your company’s culture.
• Successful Recruitment is much more than a one off event, it is a whole package.
• Technical and non-technical requirements have to be considered and Job Descriptions critically evaluated.

What You Need to Do - The How

1. Invest the needed time and resources to go through the process needed to successfully recruit.
2. Know your company’s brand and reputation with internal and external stakeholders.  Your reputation can attract or repel the best talent.
3. Understand your company culture and define “best talent” within the context of the job requirements and your organizational culture.
4. Develop a well-rounded assessment of the job requirements: Technical and non-technical requirements; the desirable qualities to make this job a success.
5. Market to your ideal candidate with your job advertisements. Tailor and change regularly
6. Conduct well thought out interviews as part of the process that provide insight into the technical proficiency and the core values of the candidate.
7. Remember to have set questions that are the same for all candidates
8. Develop your own rating scale t make comparisons easier and consisent
9. Remember that it is a team effort
10. Close the deal by connecting the offer to what is important to the candidate.

The actual Interview- define the interviewers roles based on already preselected questions and needs……you can ask other questions, but you should have some preselected core questions you ask every candidate.

Remember from the moment the candidate walks into the room you are responsible for and to them just as you are one of your staff members, hence remember your HR requirements, i.e. discrimination etc.

•       Divide the Interview into three parts
•       1-Welcome and introduction
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•       2- Ask the candidate to review the last 10 years of their work history with you. You will ask questions as they go and after they finish. When they have finished if you have not already completed your preselected questions then review those.
•       3- General wrap up, give the candidate a chance to ask any questions that they need to. Plus ask any relevant final questions yourself, such as if you were successful, how long before you can start, what is your salary expectation and do you have and leave plans, or medical conditions that would stop you from performing parts or all of the role. At this point it is critical to give the candidate next steps, both for them and your brand. Don’t forget to follow up!
And before you finalise- do proper reference checks!!!!!!

Good recruitment does not stop at the point of the job offer, it goes further, the next critical step is good on boarding;

Good Onboarding

• Done by the hiring manager- like recruitment
• Clear weekly agenda
• Time spent with the person to ensure any required training is clear and being utilized
• Hiring manager to review all training with the new employee as it is finished/passed
• Clear program set out for the entire length of probation, and run by the hiring manager- milestones, expectations and meetings
• For the first week, the hiring manager should meet with the new employee daily at a minimum.
• For the entire length of probation the program should ensure the new employee has weekly meetings with the new manager to review their feelings of settling in, success, training, needs, and general work ability. As the new employee displays the appropriate skills and attitudes these meeting can become less formal, and if probation is to last for 6 months then the last 3 months may just be a monthly meeting
• Fixed probation review meeting with workplace expectations that are clear and able to be reviewed.
• Clear objectives     
• Most importantly- document everything!!!!

To bring all of this together and make your business the best that it can be, you need to ensure you have through training and succession plans linked to your job description and roles. This will then help you retain and develop your people past recruitment and into the future.


Shows

Previous: Ep 1 Season 6. Kick off - Structure your Business for your People
Next: Ep 3 Enable your Strategy to Support your Culture and not work against it


Written by Lisa Askwith

Director of ApexBRS | ApexBRS, Regional Director of See Global Media, Chair of  EGN Singapore, and Associate Professor Cambridge Corporate University | At the Age of Change, providing the HR component of the Global Executive MBA and BBA. Lisa has worked for some of the largest companies in the world and successfully led restructures and change management programs in order to improve the bottom line through engaging the people for success, while developing exceptional leaders who can make a positive impact on Culture and long term business sustainability.

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