How do you retain staff? What do you consider as a long term employee in today’s market?

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Doing what we do in recruitment, we see a lot of resumes coming through our system on a daily basis. The stand-out thing for us is the short tenure that most applicants have in their work history, which makes us ask the question – what is considered a long term employee? We also ask, do you hold employees longer than 3 years, and if so, do you do anything special to retain them?

Reading a story from this month’s BRW magazine about ‘The 50 Best Places To Work’ we saw some common themes about engagement of staff, team building, flexibility, having fun at work, recognition and professional development. We also read with interest some of the other activities such as free holidays, competitions, Kung Fu sessions (yes, Kung Fu!!!) and thought, what do our clients do to retain staff? We select and work with some great businesses on the Gold Coast and each has something to give that helps retain their staff. We have found that the culture plays a huge part, recognition for effort, flexibility in work hours (this one needs clear policies in place) and being paid appropriately were the major factors. Minor factors included the workplace perks such as bbq’s at lunch, Friday drinks, gym memberships and huge Christmas parties, that are all real factors for some people and they really love to tell their friends (or brag) about it.

Now we ask the question of what is considered a long term employee? Again we spoke to clients and our candidates about their employment tenure, and whilst we had quite a few that were 10 years plus in the one organisation, we are seeing more and more that employees are leaving around the third year mark or earlier. With this in mind, have you ever thought of working the opposite way to others and decided to recruit your next role with the focus on the person being in the role for 2 or 3 years maximum? Obviously there should also be a longer term plan for the role, as we always hope that they would stay longer, but what if they don’t?

Some may think that deciding on your next employee only lasting 2 or 3 years in the role as a defeatist attitude however, it can also prove to be a very smart and practical way of working within the current employment environment. Consider this for a moment:

  • If you have committed to having the person for 2 years, you can now plan what outcomes you want from that person (and the role) in the 2 years, break it down into quarters and set targets and/or projects for the role over that period
  • The role and KPI’s / targets will actually be better defined, giving the new employee a purpose in their role and better engagement as they know where they currently stand
  • By doing this, you may find that the new employee is focused on and may actually enjoy, achieving those targets (all roles can have targets, not just sales) and could become a long term employee and ultimately, an asset to your business
  • It could also help you develop a new recruitment strategy and succession plan for developing staff internally – recognition is valued by employees including the opportunity to advance their career

What you may find from taking a different approach is that morale and focus could be boosted, employees are more engaged, employees develop faster, and you lower the attrition rate in your business. There is no magic pill; however a small change in strategy can yield very good results.

Would you hire someone that says they can do everything?

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You can do everything? umm… right… Ever been in that situation? On the receiving end of a candidate that overstates what they can do. Maybe they can and maybe it’s all fluff, but how do you find out before hiring them?

As a recruitment agency we see this all the time and it’s our job to weed out those that actually can do what they say as opposed to those that believe that they can do it. We really like interviewing people (you have to love your job!) and regularly come across those that undersell their skills and those that really oversell what they have to offer and have the ego to match it. You also have to put into context what the role is; if it’s a sales role you would like the person to demonstrate some ability in their chosen career and what better way to do it then selling themselves, as the actual product, to you.

To find out if the person is all fluff or the real deal, some straight forward steps should include:

  • Looking at your role before even advertising it. What we mean by this is, looking at the technical skills required, having a position description with key competencies outlined to assess applications and having input from decision makers on the type of person that would fit the role
  • Advertising the role well – this is where you should not oversell the company or the role – take time to write it and be clear on what you want candidates to address
  • Develop a list of questions for screening and then for interviewing. The first may be a checklist against competencies stated in a resume or letter (remember that resumes can be just as inflated) and the second, your behavioural (example) based questions to find out real examples of a candidates knowledge/experience. It is also a good idea, and not often done, to create a range of acceptable answers to each question – if a candidate runs off on a tangent, they may be avoiding answering the actual question – bring it back to what you need in the answer
  • There is a really big difference between the word “can do” and “have done”  – depending on what you need or are happy to train, assess their experience carefully
  • When a candidate is describing their experience or projects, listen out for the word “WE”. What you may find is that a lot of people talk about tasks that they undertook as part of a team rather than the actual component that they worked on. Find out what their contribution was – sometimes you may be surprised
  • When a candidate states blatantly that they have done it all, come back to your competency list and walk them through it – don’t take their word for it. Start with the first competency, ask about what they know/did, ask for an example and mark off if they actually can do it or do know it
  • Good reference checks. There are reference checks and then there are reference checks. You have already made the effort to write out checklists and formulate specific interview questions so why not have specific questions for the reference check? Look again at what competencies you need answered, look at notes that you took about projects – was their uncertainty about their involvement? Now is the time to find out what they do and don’t know and find out about team fit, personality and other traits to help with your decision

People are people and sometimes you follow all of these processes and the new employee doesn’t work out – it just happens. Feel safe though in the knowledge that if you follow these processes well, you are increasing your chances of hiring some really great new employees that will add value to your business as they have actually proven the skills and experience that you are seeking for your role.

If a candidate states to you that they can do everything – pull out your new selection tools and find out. If they actually can, and have a great attitude, you may be onto a winner!

Generation Y and why we should close the recruitment debate

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Following on from yesterday’s front page write-up in the Gold Coast Bulletin about ‘Generation Y’ being lazy and arrogant and unemployable, as researched by a team at Gold Coast City Council, we actually believe the opposite. We were asked to comment for the article and gave a positive response, stating that times have changed over the last few years and so have candidates in that category (our “edited” response was on page 4).

We believed the research to be somewhat outdated as today’s ‘Gen Y’ candidates that come through our agency for interview are quite skilled, are happy to negotiate salary and have shown their worth to our clients. Whilst some employers may have experienced some poor performers both in attitude and value for money through their own recruitment efforts, we have seen and placed some exceptional ‘Gen Y’ candidates that far exceeded those of ‘Gen X’ or ‘Baby Boomer’ categories.

Looking at the negatives that some of those against ‘Gen Y’ had experienced included:

  • High expectations of salary or wages
  • Disrespectful to their peers and managers
  • Poor work ethic (not hard workers, late to work, not goal driven)
  • Hard to manage
  • Hard to retain

What are the solutions?

From our experience in the recruitment space, a lot of these negatives are actually standard responses we receive from employers about people of all ages in their workforce, excluding the ‘hard to retain’ reason for more mature workers. Our job is to screen these candidates out before presenting them to you anyway. The best way for you to beat this is to actually look at your recruitment methods – how do you recruit, what are you actually looking for, what type of person fits your work culture, are you writing an attractive job advertisement, how do you interview, what questions do you ask, what questions do you ask their referees, are you judging character properly, what are you offering, is the salary/wage offered relative to the current market or just your opinion, what will be the status of their employment (casual / permanent / full time / part time / contract)? If you can answer these questions and recruit well, chances are that you will be screening out those that don’t meet what you want, irrespective of age or generation.

Retaining staff

We certainly agree that some ‘Gen Y’ candidates and employees differ from those before them and can be hard to retain – there is, unfortunately, no magic pill for this. ‘Gen Y’ have more of a sense of ‘now’ and needing to move up quickly through the ranks to make good money to be part of the ‘have’ generation. They are more self aware in the fact that they assess who they are and where they are going more often than we do – this is something significant that we have seen during our recruitment campaigns.  ‘Gen Y’ sometimes have the tendency to get bored in their role as they are used to technology, can pick up things a lot quicker than some of us  and may be attracted to other roles in the organisation that seem more detailed – by seeing them stagnant in their role it can raise the assumption of laziness rather than what it really is – an urge to learn and move to the next thing. Our thoughts on this are to look at their learning and communication styles. You most probably differ in your learning style and may assume that is how they learn, which is not necessarily the case. You don’t need to hold the hand of ‘Gen Y’ employees, just sit down with them more regularly, ask them how they are going, ask for ideas to improve current processes, and ask them if they feel they are being paid well. You may be surprised with the responses and ideas that they bring to the team and their insight on their worth, which you can debate openly. They will feel more involved, respected and have the recognition that this generation craves. It may also improve their focus on the business, helping you to retain someone that could be a future supervisor or manager.

At the end of the day, it’s about your business and how a person fits what you require for it to run well. Yes, things can go pear shaped however having the right processes at the beginning can have a huge impact on whether you continually have issues arising in your workforce. If you say no to ‘Gen Y’ then quite frankly you are missing out on some really good candidates that could help you attract a new market, steer your business in a new direction, offer new ways of doing what you have been doing, and ultimately, help lead to the survival of your business in a new economy.

Now, let’s put the debate to bed once and for all and recruit some great candidates!

Companies are still employing in South-East Queensland – believe it or not!

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We hear so many mixed messages in the media and throughout our networks of the doom and gloom out there at the moment and never any good news for candidates and employers. Stories of job losses followed by company closures… and the list goes on. However, among all of this hype, and some real stories of hardship… we are still recruiting and filling some great new roles on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane!

We have some really good news stories of companies that have struggled through the last few years and are coming out the other side, not just needing one new staff member but a number of new staff members. It is so refreshing to sit down with a new or current client and for them to map out the role that we are recruiting for and their plans for future roles as their business grows. If you are in this situation as well, sit back for just a moment and have a quick smile to yourself and feel proud of your achievement.

Candidates are certainly knocking on our doors due to redundancies however employers are also knocking so that they can obtain new staff. There are still shortages in some industries and there probably always will be, meaning a demand for skilled workers in specific roles. We filled a very specialised role a week ago where we had been on the case for almost 3 months attempting to fill it – a recent redundancy from a large company provided the solution for a local employer and delivered an exceptionally talented candidate that will help move his business forward and provide further growth opportunities. Another employer changed the way they did business over a year ago and are now reaping the benefits, with another 6 staff coming on board in the next few months.

As far as jobs / careers go, we have seen a rise in the number of HR opportunities on the Gold Coast as employers grow to that next level and require a specialised person to reign in all of their policies, streamline processes and ensure compliance with legislative requirements. We have also seen a good rise in administrative (general administration / reception / accounts), sales, marketing roles and a slight increase in IT locally.

On the candidate side, we have met with some impressive candidates across a number of industries that we are currently assisting to find their next career move and also some that we have successfully placed. At the moment we are busier than we have been in quite a while. Just like you, it is great to be doing what we love.

Who said that it was all doom and gloom? We don’t think so!