In business, it’s important to be competitive. But it’s not just the marketplace where you should be working hard to have that competitive edge. Attracting the best talent to staff your business is also about being competitive. After all, your business is run by these people. Your customers interact with them every day. You wouldn’t have a business at all if it weren’t for the hard work and dedication of the people on the front line.
So how do you remain competitive in attracting the best staff? There are many things your business should be doing to drive recruitment and increase retention of your employees. Here are 10 of the most important ways you can attract and keep the best staff for your business:
Competitive Salaries
Pay what your staff are worth to you. If you pay less than your competitors are offering, then you will get less from the people you recruit. Your competitors needn’t be market competitors. They may be other businesses in your neighborhood. You can find out your local average salaries at http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Country=United_States/Salary. Good people find it easy to get jobs. That leaves the ones that don’t fulfill the criteria of top talent you’re looking for. You need to lure the diamonds in with good salaries, and a whole lot more!
Excellent Benefits
An excellent benefits package works to your advantage in two ways. The first is that it attracts a lot of good candidates for your recruitment drive. The second is that it keeps your employees in place. Nobody wants to leave behind a good benefits package by leaving their job. Employees become reliant on what you are offering, and it provides the motivation they need to stay put.
Providing key health care benefits also helps you to avoid costly sick days. Healthy employees are happier and far more productive. Some benefits packages can even extend to the employee’s family. It’s up to you what packages you choose to invest in. You can find some choices at https://www.deltadentalmo.com/Products/Group_Voluntary_Plans to give you an idea what may be attractive to your employees.
Interest In The Business
Employees that have a keen interest in the business tend to work harder for it. That interest may be shares, or it may be discounts on the products you sell. One of the best ways to encourage an active interest in your company and what you do is to get your staff involved across all levels and departments. Invite them to idea meetings. Let everyone offer something into the creative pot.
You could ask your staff to act as focus groups once or twice a semester. This gets them engaged with the products or services you sell to the public. It arms them with greater product knowledge. They can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your proposition and create a greater impact on the shop floor.
Clearly Defined Vision For Business Growth
Any vision for growth that you have for your business should be shared with your employees. They need to see where you want them to take your company. Clear objectives and defined goals help them visualize their future with you. And best of all, they’ll feel they are an integrated part of that future success.
Whether you need to or not, you should publicize your intentions for growth. It’s good PR for your company and keeps your brand in the public eye. Knowing your name is important to candidates that apply for positions in your firm.
Clearly Defined Career Progression
It’s not just your business that your staff care about. They have selfish motivations for working for you. And it’s not all about that great salary and benefits package either. It is human nature to want to better ourselves. We crave knowledge, and we strive to be the best at what we do. And many of us have an eye on leadership, perhaps all the way to the top!
Identifying where an employee sits in the company is important. And creating a clear path for progression is even more essential. Nobody wants to be stuck in a dead-end job. Instead, detail time scopes and direction for every employee. There should be no ceiling for the vast majority of your staff. Those that come in at the very bottom should have the promise of progress to management if they are right for the position.
Good Location
Housing your company in a high profile location helps to attract the best candidates. City center offices can be very expensive, though. Purpose built buildings on the edge of populous cities can be a great alternative. You should look for accommodation that is just a short walk from regular bus and train routes. There should also be adequate parking for those employees who need to drive in.
The office building you choose for your business should also be just a short walk from major services like cafes and bars and restaurants. Employees like to get out at lunch time for a change of environment. Some will shop, others will enjoy a good meal. Best of all, you will be in the center of an area that you can take key clients to when you need to entertain.
Good Quality Facilities
Your offices should provide all the facilities needed to keep your staff happy, healthy, and motivated. A healthy cafe that provides fruit, salads and healthy choices is far more attractive to candidates than a vending machine. Many employees have families. Show that you welcome candidates that want to grow their families. By providing a creche service, you will attract the very best.
Gyms in the office building are becoming more popular. They may be an expensive outlay at first, but they cost little to run in general. Best of all, they help employees stay fit, healthy, and stress-free. This cuts your costs in sick days. Standing desks are another way to help employees stay healthy. Standing meetings and walking meetings are also becoming a trendy way to stay active, focused and healthy at work.
Flexible Working
Of course, it’s not always practical to own luxury office buildings in the city. Sometimes it’s more affordable to set up outside of town. Commuting isn’t fun for anyone. The stress can increase your chances of becoming ill. Taking a flexible approach to working in the office reduces the impact of commuting on your staff. And every one of your employees has a life outside of work! Let them weave your requirements into their life in a way that suits them if you can.
Working from home is wholly practical in most cases these days. Video calling makes it easy to still have a face-to-face if necessary. Online and cloud-based working are essential to businesses. It means everyone can collaborate on documents and projects. You don’t need to be in the same building. Best of all, it saves your employee precious personal time. No commute saves them time, energy, and stress. It gives them time to enjoy their home life more. Best of all, with the pressure off, they can become even more productive.
Management That Works
As an employee, you’re more likely to gripe about your direct manager than anything else about your working life. Managers that are trained well can produce the best from their direct reports. It’s important managers facilitate their staff rather than crack the whip. Motivation is important, especially when the work is high pressure and tough. Communication is the key to this. Let your staff know what is happening higher up the chain.
If you think back to your school and college days, one of the biggest motivators for your attendance was the social life. Most of us spend more time at work than with our families. So make that time more pleasant. Inter-department sports teams and music groups help develop solid relationships. You might start a book club or art club to run for an hour a week. And bringing in massages and health checks to the office can also reduce stress, increase happiness, and cut sick days.
Rewards That Go Beyond Pay
Reward your staff as frequently as you can. Identifying the good contributions is crucial. Notice what staff are doing. See how hard they’re working, and hear their ideas. A thank you is a great reward to receive. You don’t need to be handing out checks! Cash rewards are, of course, always going to be welcome. But you don’t need to pay someone a bonus to reward them for a job well done.
You might offer a weekend break or a bottle of bubbly as a thank you for the extra effort. Or you might even offer a promotion. For most employees, just the recognition that they have gone the extra mile for you is enough. A certificate of achievement costs you nothing but a couple of minutes of your time.
You may be concerned with the costs of implementing some of these staff benefits. But if you calculate the cost of staff turnover and sick days, you are likely to see these investments as beneficial to your bottom line. Most importantly, consider the benefit to your business of hiring and retaining the very best talent in each of your departments. How much profit could each one contribute? That’s the figure you really need focus on.
