5 Tips to Finding and Keeping Talented Employees

 
culled from:smallbizclub.com

As noted by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, research shows that the average American will hold about 11.3 jobs during their career. Today, companies are in constant competition to attract and retain the best talent in their respective fields. Below is a set of tips that all companies should consider.

As you know, keeping your employees and acquiring new talent is critical to the success of your business. Seeking new talent and acquiring it is a good thing, but having a constant turnover of employees coming and going can be detrimental to the performance, and overall sustainability of your company.

Employees switch jobs for a number of different reasons. They can be personal and completely unrelated to your business practices. As a business, you know things will never be perfect, yet, you need to be focused on the certain talent management and employee retention aspects that you can influence. Follow the tips below to help in your efforts to find and keep your talented employees.

1. Create a Flexible Company Culture

Seeing as your employees are your business's greatest assets, you want to create a company culture that is flexible, but still productive. As long as deadlines for projects and assignments are met, consider allowing employees to work from home a few times a week. You don't want to create a company environment where employees dread every waking hour they are in the office.

Ultimately, communicate with your employees to figure out their needs, while still getting what you need to be done. A balanced give-take structure will make your employees feel more respected, and more willing to want to work at your company. Create a culture of trust, where everyone is willing to work together to succeed and meet goals.

2. Make Sure You Pay the Right Price

To acquire new talent and retain your best employees, you have to make sure you paying them the right amount. When you think about it, why would someone with top talent stay at a company that's not paying enough when they can just pack up and work elsewhere?

Prevent your top employees from even considering leaving by doing your research. By doing so, you will make sure you're paying the right amount based on the skills that they have. Use the available online tools that can show salaries for certain jobs based on the ZIP code.

3. Recognize/Reward Good Performance

No one wants to work for a company where his or her hard work and accomplishments go unnoticed. Whether it be financially, or some other non-monetary benefit, make sure that your employees are recognized when they reach their goals and perform above the rest.

Today, a one size fits all approach will not work. Make sure to pay attention to what motivates your different employees. They will want to be recognized in different ways, and if you are unsure, make sure you ask them. By engaging with your employees, they will see that you actually care about them and will be more likely to give you their all. Consider planning a day trip to the city on a charter bus to build company unity and have a little fun. Rewarding your employees for their good work will go a long way in your efforts to retain the top talent, and new hires will also take notice.

4. Hire the Right Employees for Your Company

When interviewing new talent, make sure that the person you hire has the skills you want and will fit in with your company's culture. Yes, some potential candidates will be considered top candidates because of their talents, but if they are not a fit for the culture of organization, then they shouldn't be hired. This is because you will most likely notice that they will not see maximum performance from this new hire or even retain him or her.

Create a relationship that will last by hiring the right candidate from the interview stage. This can be done by understanding your company's culture and realizing who will fit in it and who will not.

5. Training

The final and maybe one of the most important tips to consider is making sure you train your new hires appropriately. New hires will be more likely to succeed and be more productive if they are trained well the first time. Then again, if they are trained poorly and as a result perform poorly within the company, they may take their talents elsewhere.

Thus, you want to make sure that each new hire is welcomed into the company and their skills are utilized in the best way possible. For instance, you may notice that a new hire is not performing well because he or she is in the wrong position. Consider tailoring a position based on your employee's skills and strengths. Doing so will increase their motivation to work hard, as well as their productivity.

The next time you are in search of a top talent employee, or trying to retain your current ones, make sure you consider the tips above.