Retaining talent: It starts long before they show up (page 1 of 2)

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.