I think that there must be a special place in heaven for Recruiters. I hate recruiting, and based on what I hear from business owners, you hate recruiting too. As a matter of fact, finding good help is your #1 complaint. The simple-sounding solution is to make the applicants come to you.
But how do you, as an owner of a growing company, earn your place on future “Best Companies to Work For” lists? What do you need to do to be the business where friends of your employees beg, “Please let me know if a position is coming available where you work”? The kind of place that not only has a pipeline of talent waiting outside the door, but in which your staff is grateful every single day to be among the chosen to have their positions?
Adopting some of the practices of these Great Employers can help, but it ain’t as easy as it may seem.
Flexible SchedulingA young entrepreneur of a successful, growing firm told me he envisioned having a workplace where outcomes were more important than adhering to traditional work schedules. He is now tapping into a source of highly talented candidates who are being overlooked by other firms because they have nontraditional scheduling needs.
The Easy Part: He puts an emphasis on quality work while allowing staff to work flexible hours. He now rarely has an open position that is not filled quickly.
The Ain’t Easy Part: He started getting complaints from his clients that no one was available at certain times of the day when they would call to talk about their projects.
Paying Above MarketFrustrated by what she felt were unfair pay practices when she worked for another company, a new business owner started off hiring people at above-market wages, based on each person’s individual skills and experience. She feels this creates loyalty from her staff.
The Easy Part: She experiences less turnover than some of her competitors because her employees know they will have to take a pay cut if they leave.
The Ain’t Easy Part: When unexpected business fluctuations occur, she has a bloated payroll that she is committed to. Also, she has watched production and quality drop over time. Her outcomes are suffering, but her compensation overhead grows each year. The bottom line is progressively shrinking.
A Relaxed EnvironmentThe owner of a rapidly growing company read that he could appeal to new grads by adding a break room, complete with a pool table and video game consoles. He loved the look on the faces of job candidates when he showed them the perks of working there.
The Easy Part: Through Social Media, he got the word out that their workplace was a “creative, relaxing environment,” thus, creating a pipeline of candidates from the local university.
The Ain’t Easy Part: Some older workers who helped him start the business began to resent the new team members playing pool or video games while they were plugging away at their desks. Factions were formed. Soon, he had an Employee Relations nightmare on his hands.
None of these ideas are bad. As a matter of fact, these ideas came straight from the firms that are on the “Best Employers” lists. The failure was not making comprehensive, strategic changes to prevent the outcomes they experienced despite the good intentions.
While I may not do recruiting, I do know how you can earn your place on the Employer Honor Role while increasing productivity and profitability and minimizing the risk and pitfalls that these employers experienced. A place that the top candidates are asking to work for.
Let’s chat about the type of Employer you want to be.
