Retaining talent: It starts long before they show up

Of course the best way of overcoming this dilemma is to establish a systematic recruiting program that addresses the needs of the company as well as the concerns of potential employees.

Attracting and retaining talent is one of the most challenging activities organizations face in today's competitive environment. Of course the best way of overcoming this dilemma is to establish a systematic recruiting program that addresses the needs of the company as well as the concerns of potential employees. An effective recruiting program needs to:

- Identify the skills needed within the organization
- Prioritize all vacant positions
- Focus recruiting efforts on those that add the most value
- Collect resumes, CVs and job applications
- Follow a systematic screening process for all applications
- Select the top candidates
- Manage the interview process
- Explain the feedback process to each candidate
- Selling the company and the job to the applicants
- Ensuring a fit between the candidate and the company exists
- Make final selection decisions quickly and inform the candidates

Establishing a systematic program will address part of the problem but a visionary company will actually start thinking about employee retention from the time they make a job offer! Why? Because the message you send to the applicant contains a lot more than just the salary and starting details - the offer provides another chance to promote the company's image while actually reinforcing the applicant's decision to join.

What if the HR folks create a flashy promotional offer, will that do the trick? Will that make a difference in long-term retention? Although a well-designed offer creates a very positive image on the applicant there is still an enormous amount of work to do. What your company does next, or fails to do, will have a direct impact on how well new employees are integrated into your existing work force. Why is this important? Because helping new employees feel comfortable with their new position affects the retention rate, as well as, the company's bottom-line.

Where does it all start? With the candidate's acceptance letter - it needs to contain the job title, a brief job description, the starting date, time and place to report. The letter is only part of a more comprehensive package the company sends to the applicant. Other items to include should provide information on the pay and benefits program, promotional literature, the in-house newsletter, product descriptions and even an annual report. Why send out so much information? Because it helps the applicant reconfirm their decision to join while also providing material that can be reviewed by the applicant's friends and family.

Although the HR department is responsible for coordinating the offer and acceptance letter the new employee's manager also has a key role to play. If the company wants to really shine it should include a welcoming letter from the new supervisor in the package. This might be nothing more than a simple hand-written note referring to something discussed during the interview. The manager might want to include department's achievements and future objectives in their letter and both examples are acceptable. Unfortunately, most companies send a simple job offer and miss the opportunity of creating a truly memorable event for their future employee, or like Kevin Robert's, the CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, would describe it - a lovemark.

The applicant received the package and sent back their signed acceptance letter, so what's next? Now the real action begins - there is an enormous amount of coordination that must take place before the new employee arrives. First, the supervisor needs to be told when the new employee is scheduled to arrive. Next, the HR personnel will need to organize an initial meeting where they help the new employee become an official member of the organization. Although there are numerous actions that will need to be completed, such as, gathering the initial documents and entering information into the system, the first HR meeting should not last more than a couple of hours. The remaining areas, listed below, can be discussed anytime during the first week of employment:

- Attendance
- Company mission
- Dress code
- Email and internet usage
- Employee manual
- Grievances / complaints
- Health plan
- Meal breaks
- Parking facilities
- Probationary period
- Overtime rules
- Telephone policies
- Security regulations
- Smoking / No Smoking policy
- Suggestion program

Why not get everything completed while the employee is with the HR personnel? Because it's critically important to have new employees meet their supervisor and see their new work environment. Besides, their supervisor will be conducting their own orientation program. So what should your supervisors do? They need to prepare the new employee's physical work area and make sure they have the right supplies, equipment, and access they need to get the job done. This means having an email account set up, making sure the new employee's phone number is working, and their computer contains all the programs they'll need to complete their job requirements.

The manager also needs to discuss the employee's job description and make sure they understand their major responsibilities. At the same time the supervisor needs to explain what standards the new employee will be evaluated against. This naturally opens a door for explaining the organization's culture - the customs, behaviors, values and traditions that guide the company's day-to-day activities. Why is this so important? Because the success of the entire company depends on how well the employees fit into the system.

Michael Eisner, the former CEO of Disney, once said, 'Maintaining Disney's culture was his No. 1 priority.' Disney's orientation program was built on preparing new employees for work by explaining why the customer is visiting Disney. When the employees live and breath the Disney culture they play a key role in attracting repeat visitors. Their orientation program is designed to ensure new employees feel empowered to help the guests and make them happy!'

Although the discussions between the manager and the new employee are important there are other things that should also take place. The manager should take the employee on a tour and introduce the newest team member to their colleagues and the person who will be providing help and guidance to new employee as they settle in. The tour should also point out the location of the break room, rest room, emergency exits as well as the location of fire extinguishers or other safety equipment. During the tour the location of the supply cabinets, photocopy machine and fax machine should also be pointed out.

So what happens next? With such a substantial orientation program you'd think everything was covered but there's still one critical action that needs to take place! The new employee needs to be assigned an initial work project that supports the department's mission. The new employee needs to start working on a task that has real value. Unfortunately, this rarely happens and new employees are frequently given manuals to read, policies to review and other 'busy work' when they first arrive. Assigning work to a new employee is easier said than done - it takes true dedication on the manger's part to develop challenging initial work assignments that have goals that can be achieved in a short period of time.

Regular and frequent follow-up with the new employee will also be needed during the first week. During these meetings the manager should explain how the employee's duties and responsibilities relate to the company's and department's goals, identify other contribution areas, prioritize the employee's key responsibilities and describe how performance will be evaluated and rated. Managers will also include sufficient time in each meeting to answer any questions the employee has. And why is this orientation process so important? Because a company's long-term success depends on getting the best return from their most important asset, their people!