Retention

Employee retention is not usually looked at in terms of staffing, but it can really play an integral role. Your firm could be the best ever at attracting new talent, but if you can't keep your employees, you'll be running in place. That's worse than not attracting candidates, because you're continually in a training mode. You'll have few experts in the company that you can rely on to take the lead. In fact, one tool of retention—promotions—specifically allows you to place an employee in a higher-level, and presumably more difficult to fill, position. The easier job is left to be filled with an outside candidate.

Keeping employees isn't only a matter of providing competitive pay and benefits. Employees must be challenged, receive recognition and rewards, be given an opportunity for development, and be offered flexible policies. There are some who would disagree with providing employees with anything more than a job and a paycheck. These are the companies whose candidates and employees will wind up on their competitors' payrolls.

Keeping Score

Finally, don't forget recording what worked and what didn't. It can be argued that the recruitment life cycle begins and ends with metrics. When evaluating current efforts, metrics should always play a critical role. Reviewing data is also important as you move through your strategy to continuously improve your efforts. Finally, at the end of the cycle, reviewing metrics can help determine what was successful and where changes may be necessary. Remember that evaluating data over time (trend data) is more effective than looking at point data. When establishing metrics consider the following:
- What data will give you a true picture of program effectiveness?
- Are you evaluating data that addresses fair hiring practices? Cost management? Shared accountability? Results?
- Are you considering placement quality?
Whether evaluating an existing recruitment strategy or building a new one from scratch, breaking it down into phases can turn this daunting chore into a manageable task. It is important to take a holistic approach and make sure that your recruitment plan mirrors the overall business. Most importantly, when you have your recruitment strategy in place, don't just file it away until next year. Use it as a road map, taking stock along the way to make sure you are on course.
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What is your recruitment strategy?

The economic downturn may have stalled many of your plans. To paraphrase the financial guru Warren Buffet you should buy when others are selling and sell when others are buying. Smart employers are going to be looking at the opportunities created by the recession. Good or bad - one company's misfortune can be another's gain. A smart strategy for recovering would be to rethink your talent needs and possibly just as important - your hiring practices. Many companies often grow quickly, plan poorly and make mistakes when bringing in new people. We can help you modify your strategies to help establish sensible hiring policies for both the short term and long term. Look first at the task that needs to be performed. Our clients often find that our On|Demand contingent workforce is a better value than hiring employees.

Other task that are involved in your hiring process should be re-examined as well. With many companies significantly reducing HR personnel and eliminating in-house recruiters. That area may be insufficient to meet the needs of as your company recovers. While we do offer recruitment services, we also provide a host of other related RPO services that can augment or replace your internal efforts.

You've no doubt noticed how difficult it is to keep your staff level in line with growth. Although it's easier to stay on top of recruiting needs when a company is young and small, eventually a growing organization will need to develop a staffing strategy. Many businesses approaching the high-growth stage have yet to experience a significant staffing crunch. If your company is nearing that point, take the first step in formalizing a staffing strategy for the organization by dedicating manpower and resources to the hiring effort. Implementing a strategy will require our recruiting teams working in tandem with your hiring managers to create a seamless hiring process to manage the increased flow of applicants. Determining your short term needs and long term goals and bring the two into alignment is the first step. Begin by answering the following questions.

What are the growth goals for the coming year?
Where has attrition been and what factors may affect future attrition?
What is important to the organization in terms of recruiting and how can it be measured?
Have we been effective in creating an employment brand?
Has our current infrastructure been able to support our efforts?
How are you tracking recruiter successes? Hiring manager responsiveness?
What types of people will we need to hire?

Next you must develop a staffing strategy that is manageable, and then sustain it so that you're able to hire the people you need to facilitate expanding company activities? You can keep the process as simple as possible by breaking it down into its three primary components: Locating Candidates, Hiring The Best, and Retention.

Locating Candidates... You've likely had some success in finding candidates, and you'll want to keep doing the things that have worked. But with a dedicated recruiting team to manage the process, you can greatly expand your efforts and opportunities to find not only viable candidates but the best of the best. Our recruiting teams will use traditional and very non-traditional methods to find the best matching candidates for you. Our databases typically maintains a contact database of over 30,000 of the industry elite. We will also help you screen internal candidates and even set up Employee referral programs. One of the most creative solutions technology now allows us is predictive recruiting. This is simply a process in which we analyze previous hiring trends and then source candidates into a a short-listed recruiting pool. These special candidates receive additional insight into your company, are thoroughly screened, and relationships are built in anticipation of potential future openings. This is especially helpful for growing companies, those with constant needs or those who prefer to handle there on final recruiting. Hiring The Best After you've decided on a strategy for finding candidates, you have to develop a strategy to attract them to your organization. There are two parts to this phase: realistically evaluating the type of individual your firm can or should attract and taking a page from the marketing department's book by getting the word out about your company and its needs. Ask yourself the following questions: How can we ensure the best possible match? How can we manage candidate expectations and set a realistic picture? Are we going to use any type of pre-employment testing? What criteria will we use to select these tools and how are they validated? What interviewing technique will our team use and is training required? What have been the road blocks in our screening process? What approach will we take to communicate with the candidate? Are we providing every opportunity for candidates to self-identify? What has the offer-to-acceptance rate been? What factors have impacted acceptance rates? What is the market for the types of candidates you seek? What are your strengths as an employer? Weaknesses? What strategies can be implemented to increase closure rate? What methods will be used for communicating with candidates and extending offers? • Who Can/Should You Hire? Take stock of the positions you're trying to fill. For example, you may determine that a position requires excellent team skills, in which case you'd want to avoid individual contributors. Or when a job calls for plain-vanilla skills, you're not likely to want to hire someone with leading-edge experience, and vice versa. If you do need top talent, you should evaluate how your company compares to other companies in areas of importance to candidates. These areas include work environment, pay levels, benefits, culture, location, industry, and job content. If an honest evaluation reveals shortcomings in several areas, don't spend undue time trying to accomplish the impossible. Until your organization can compete for thoroughly trained candidates, you may be better off hiring someone who has good skills and fits the company profile but who needs training. Taking several months to train a new employee is not always an attractive option, but it's worse to still be at square one after six months of a futile effort to find a top candidate. • Marketing the Organization. Have you ever considered putting some "sizzle" into your recruiting? If you need top candidates, you're going to have to give them a reason to look into your firm's opportunities. Make every employment ad a public relations vehicle. Be creative. And above all, speak to your potential candidates, not at them. Mention the uniqueness your firm has to offer. It could be the leading-edge technology you use or the environment for professional development. If you're offering a chance to be in a leadership position in a short time or if your company provides a telecommuting option, let candidates know. Appropriate "attractions" should be repeated to applicants when they interview at your company. • Be Professional When You Interview. One of the biggest mistakes in recruiting is to treat applicants shabbily when they come in for interviews. Remember, as soon as they drive up to your building, they begin forming an impression. But the critical point is when they make their first personal contact with a representative of your firm. Just as companies expect candidates to put their best foot forward at a first meeting, candidates expect the same from the company. If the first meeting is less than inviting, the candidate isn't likely to think working life at your company will be any better.