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Employee Recruitment and Retention
Remember this topic? A few years ago, “Employee Recruitment and Retention” was THE topic on the minds of almost every leader I talked to. There was a lot of buzz about the shortage of quality people and the rate at which younger people were changing jobs.

Fast forward to today, and virtually nothing has changed. All that has really changed is timing. The recent downward blip in the economy caused people near retirement to work a bit longer and gave younger people fewer jobs options to choose from. But the reality is, our aging population and our improving economy are about to converge to put us right back where we started. Are you ready?

I recently visited with executive directors from several Community Living organizations (CLOs) to see how they’re dealing with the issue of employee recruitment and retention. Our discussions were broad and far reaching, and one question, "Why do people leave your organization?" proved to be very insightful. As expected, most leaders tried to solve their R&R (recruitment and retentions) problems with higher wages or better benefits. But one response, "Our employees leave because we ask them to leave," caught me by surprise and made me want to dig deeper and learn more because this organization was doing something different – something that appeals to their employees.

As we discussed the topic further, the ED made it clear that employee recruitment is indeed a challenge for this organization, but because they seem to approach and manage it differently, they have higher employee retention than most.

Here are five things that have improved employee recruitment and retention for this CLO:

1. Screen potential employees carefully
2. Hire slowly, fire quickly
3. Hire people looking to leave other CL groups
4. Provide strong orientation and on-going training
5. Promote leaders who are great role models

1. Screen Potential Employees Carefully
This CLO took the time to understand the type of person that is most successful in their environment. Then they developed methods for attracting and identifying this type of individual and for screening out those that have proven to be less successful.

They screen for professionalism. They look for people "who have a professional outlook on the job we do here, not tending towards filling voids in their own personal lives. We are looking for people that see the rewards in this without the need for a certain type of relationship with the people they support."

Personality profiling and multiple interviews help to identify applicants with the desired profile. But screening does not end when the person is hired. Certain factors are carefully monitored throughout the probation period and beyond to ensure the new hire is indeed a good fit.

Their philosophy is to be critical and conscientious about who is hired. While this approach reduces the number of applicants that become employees, it helps ensure that those who are hired will succeed and stay longer, thereby reducing training time and costs and improving retention. It seems better to constantly keep screening for suitable employees and admitting only those that seem like a good fit, rather than adding many and having to deal with higher turnover later.

2. Hire Slowly and Fire Quickly
The previous point focused on hiring practices and the importance of taking appropriate time in deciding who to invest in. This next point, focuses on recovering quickly if a hiring mistake is made, and we all know mistakes happen, regardless of how carefully we screen.

This practice takes maturity, leadership and discipline, but after appropriate attempts to help a person with issues, it is the right thing to do in almost any circumstance. Great organizations do not sit idly by while people do things that actively de-motivate other staff, compromise service levels or model poor work habits.

Recovering quickly from a hiring mistake has been a huge lesson for me as a business owner and manager and seems just as important for CLOs. It was this ED’s answer to my question about why people leave that first pointed me to the fact that this was an exceptional organization. Despite typical troubles with recruitment and an almost constant shortage of staff, the most common reason for someone to leave at this organization is because they are asked to. Mistakes in the hiring process are dealt with quickly.

3. Hire People Looking to Leave Other Community Living Organizations
This was a unique point that I had never considered. After all, why reward employees from other CL groups who are moving around just to get a higher wage? However, not everyone is moving around just for a higher wage, what if they want to leave because they want to grow their career or they don’t want to work with a particular supervisor or even a particular supported person anymore? As this ED pointed out, isn’t it "better to keep good people in the CL community than see them move on to other sectors?"

Of course to find great employees this way, you need a careful screening method, a good reputation as an employer and a willingness to hire those leaving other CLOs.

This practice seems to be good for Community Living as a whole by keeping good people in the sector, providing career advancement or a needed change of scenery not possible within a single organization.

4. Orientation, Training and Tracking
While many CLOs I met with had strong orientation and training programs, this organization’s training program reminded me that training is most effective when it is ongoing, planned, monitored and applies to all employees.

In this CLO, training starts with helping new employees understand Community Living in general as well as the Mission, Vision and Values of the organization. Next comes basic classroom training and soon after, on the job training. Over the next few years, a large number of courses are available, some very specific to front line work, like non-violent crisis intervention and first aid, but also topics such as dealing with stress and communicating effectively. A full time training coordinator oversees the progression of training across all staff. The coordinator sets up training and ensures that each person gets the mandatory basic training as well as opportunities for more advanced learning.

5. Promote Leaders Who Are Great Role Models
Not surprisingly, effective leaders who are great role models are another critical factor in ensuring good employee recruitment and employee retention at this CLO, because you can’t keep good employees with bad leadership practices.

The ED of this CLO revamped the leadership team and leadership practices of their organization. Today the same care that goes into hiring the front line workers goes into recruiting a new leadership team. People are only hired or promoted after carefully assessing the key skills and attitudes required for the position. By creating clear Mission, Vision and Values statements that are at the heart of the organization, the whole leadership team had a new sense of direction.

“A big part of my leadership is modeling attitude and behaviors that contribute to the Mission, Vision and Values of our organization. The leadership team needs to set a great example at all times because those statements get watered down quickly as they filter through the organization.”

Leadership is not a popularity contest. The best leaders do things to make each person feel understood and listened to, understand and promote the Mission, Vision and Values of their organization and model the behaviour and attitudes that they want to see in their staff.

In summary, employee recruitment and retention is not a passing fad, it is a constant requirement for all organizations and as our economy rebounds and the older baby boomers retire, the need to have a strong R&R program that begins with your leaders and ends with your front-line staff will be more important than ever.

I hope the practices outlined here will help you today and in the future.

Sincerely,
Darryl Stewart
IBEX - The Evolution of Payroll
(204) 478-3700 x200
www.ibexpayroll.com