The Importance of Recruiting Your Employees
A good recruiting strategy is the pathway to expanding, growing, and maintaining a profitable company. Considerable budgets allocated for the right recruiting strategy to attract the best and brightest in the industry, positioning your company an employer of choice. With the focus on the external acquisition or day-to-day operations, sometimes the very lifeline of the company is neglected, as current staff find themselves increasingly disenfranchised.
They are checked out. They’ve decided to quit without leaving. Just because there’s a person in the chair does not mean there isn’t a vacancy…many of your best resources have mentally checked out, doing the minimum it takes to simply keep the paychecks coming in.
The latest employee engagement figures confirm this fear, suggesting approximately 70% of US employees are disengaged at work, costing businesses upwards of $550 billion in lost productivity annually. Globally, the figures do not look any prettier. Do the quick math on a 70% loss on your salary expense. It is terrifying to consider, particularly when you’ve planning to expand.
This also affects corporate branding, as dissatisfaction and negative messaging — particularly from inside the company — is instantly damaging in today's hyper-connected world. Every one of your employees and their extended circle is an extension of your brand, and it is worth the expense to make sure they’re engaged and evangelizing it appropriately. It makes sense: happy, engaged employees are the best recruiters, so make sure they’re up to the task.
What does it take to recoup your investment in salary expense to make sure that you’re reaping the rewards of an engaged, excited employee base? One prepared to tell the whole world how much they love working for your company? It’s time to recruit your employees, and if you’ve ever crafted a strategy to acquire external talent, a few of these savvy techniques might look familiar.
Employ them: they work.
- Communicate often – The same materials used to talk about who you are, what you do and what you stand for to candidates are an excellent starting point to reinforcing your mission, vision, and values with your current staff. Take those data points a few steps further and invest in regular education with your employees. Whether that is regular emails from the CEO to all employees on how things are going to all-company meetings that source ideas from all employees, you cannot over-communicate with employees; they appreciate being involved.
- Source ideas internally – Some of the most revolutionary ideas in corporate history have come from individuals below the top management level. Walk around, take the temperature, and treat your employees as your most treasured clients. Ask how they feel you’re doing when it comes to the corporate direction and work environment, then take action on their feedback. Value their opinion. Listen. They’ll share and feel more inclined to take action, particularly if they feel they suggested it.
- Reward from within – Upward mobility and reward sets the tone for corporate culture. Weekly staff meetings that reward performance, promotion announcements, and internal awards – all of these make it exciting to perform at your highest level. If the staff feels rewarded for their efforts, they will put more energy into their work. Most people come for the total package, but top performers stay because they believe they feel valued.
- Break the mold – Sometimes, it’s helpful to break a few things to get corporate structure right. Are the right people in the right roles? Is someone capable of more responsibility? Is someone overwhelmed and screaming for help? Can you offer challenges to top performers to keep them interested? Are your salaries what they should be? Are your teams organized with peak performance in mind? There are so many things, big and small which can be changed to make your company the best place to come to work every single day.
- Relieve the pressure – Some companies roll their eyes at workplaces that stock the refrigerator, provide breakfast once a week, offer gift cards to weekly performance winners, and create corporate events where the company can get together to blow off some steam. However, the companies who have made these investments are among the top performing organizations in the world. Review your workplace benefits and find out what more you can do to alleviate the stress of the things your employees need to do outside of the workplace. It keeps them happily focused on what you are paying them to do, which means a small cash outlay can improve productivity immensely.
It is time to re-engage your employees with the same vigor you approach external talent. An ongoing strategy to engage your current employees could reap rewards beyond your wildest dreams, laying the groundwork for successful expansion and the success you’ve always wanted.
Start now: greatness awaits.