It is common to see a vast number of candidates compete against one another to get accepted by the best companies. Similarly on the other hand, these companies themselves have to compete against each other to attract and retain the top talented candidates who are looking out for jobs. They need to go the extra mile and take every measure possible to encourage this creme de la creme to choose their company over others.
Employees are the key to a successful organizations. Thus attracting and retaining the best and the brightest talent should be one of the highest priorities.
We are big fans of Hubspot blogs. They produce some of the most authentic & insightful content about Inbound marketing. Taking inspiration from their post, we have created an infographic that depicts an Engaged Employee Life Cycle (EELC).
4 stages of Engaged employee life cycle
1. Attract & Hire Talent
a. Build employer brand
Focus on developing and publishing the company’s EVP i.e Employer Value Proposition. It showcases the company’s unique offerings, that are considered valuable by prospective as well as current employees. The company’s EVP can provide a consistent positive message internally and externally about the benefits of their work environment.
b. Use unconventional channels
Invite applicants for a contest in your organization, or in a golf course to know more about them or maybe just call them to play games in your organization.
c. Spread the word
Employees are the best ambassadors. Encourage the talent of your organisation to spread the word.
d. Hire for culture
The hiring process should reflect your company culture. It gets easy for both the employer and candidate to determining if the latter is the right fit for the company culture.
e. Train for values
Some of the employees could he highly skilled but if their how low work ethics or no values, they are a danger to the organisation. Train employees for values that match with the company to ensure a long and lasting relationship.
2. Show the direction
a. Talk about your compelling vision
The management should highlight the vision of the company and how it wants to proceed in the coming years or what is its plan for certain situations. Employees are able to build trust when they understand that their employers is sure of how to proceed ahead or how to tackle unforeseen obstacles.
b. Help employees see the bigger picture
Employees need to be shown that their efforts are also important for organisation growth, no matter what their designation or position is. If they are able to see the bigger picture, it gets easy for them to understand how their efforts contribute towards it.
c. All hands & Town hall meetings
At frequent intervals, say on a monthly or quarterly basis, it is highly recommended that the management conducts an all-hands meeting wherein they talk about what has been the progress during that period, what were the obstacles and how they were tackled, and lastly the takeaways for the next period. Thus everyone in the organisation knows where it stands, and not just the top echelons.
d. Assign stretch goals
Adopt stretch goals to challenge your employees limitations and perceptions and set a target that goes beyond their comfort zone. Help employees realize that they are capable of far more than they ever thought. Aim for the stars and if you fail, you will land on the moon. Enough said.
e. Use goal management software
Do not fall prey to ‘Set and Forget’ attitude that has plagues many of the best intentions. Adopt a goal management software that can help you manage your the entire goal setting process, irrespective of the size and complexity of the organisation.
3. Motivate & Coach daily
a. Celebrate small successes
Break your goals down into smaller milestones and upon achievement of each make sure that you take a moment to celebrate these small wins. It helps to reinforce your beliefs and continue with renewed vigour.
b. Coach on every opportunity
Employees may stumble a couple of times and thrash around trying to get ahead. Their managers need to step in and provide guidance or nudge them gently in the right direction.
c. Build a culture of continuous learning
It is easy for employees to get complacent over a period of time which could affect their performance levels. Develop a culture of continuous learning so that employees review their strengths and weaknesses frequently and take steps to consistently develop their performance.
d. Request feedback to break the ice
In the absence of feedback, it gets difficult to understand the exact cause of a problem. In such situations, request feedback to get to the root cause and break the ice. Make it a regular practice.
e. Use continuous feedback software
Adopting continuous feedback can quickly become a nightmare if you are using spreadsheets to log every feedback sought or given. Opt for a software that is specifically designed to facilitate continuous feedback in the organisation so that the entire process becomes a breeze.
4. Reward performance & ask for suggestions
a. Public recognition
Recognition plays an important role in motivating employees and appreciating an individual’s performance in front of his or her team takes it a step ahead. It also provides an incentive to the other team mates to perform better.
b. Frequent one-to-one meetings
Don’t wait for annual meetings to discuss the wins and losses of an employee. Make it a frequent process to ensure that your team members are congratulated and given guidance wherever applicable. It helps them stay on track whereas their managers are able to be more involved.
c. Transparent raises
To avoid favoritism in the organisation, make increments and raises transparent. These should be tied up with employees performance so that there are no biases.
d. Surveys & polls to collect suggestions
Conduct surveys and polls to collect suggestions from the entire organisation on what steps can be taken to make the work environment a better place to work. Implement on those that have the capability to improve some processes that were either broken or unnecessary.
e. Use a performance management & survey software:
Manual performance management is not a piece of cake especially if it is done on a regular basis. Adopting a relevant can software help the company make its performance management process transparent, provide detailed insights for a particular period, and help in taking decisions in a timely manner.
Attracting the top talent in your field is hard. And unless you have the budget like Google, Apple or Microsoft, it is a whole lot harder to retain this talent. Leverage these strategies and experience a significant change in your recruitment process. What are some other ways that you can think of?
