Fun, the lighthearted culture of the office lends itself to an environment with happy, engaged employees serving customers and giving their best effort.
Since the start of the pandemic, practices around the country have struggled with hiring and staff turnover. The “why” of this varies depending on whom you ask – more money, work-from-home opportunities, or maybe a COVID-prompted midlife crisis in some cases. Regardless of the cause, the amount of time needed to train and recr'uit new staff on a routine basis can strain your business and the mental health of you and your staff.
We help with discussions with your administrative team on how to manage this.
- Was it how you were hiring?
- Was it the amount of money you offered?
- What was the “secret sauce” that not only found these employees but has kept them with the organization for several years when the new norm seems to be a new job every year?
Here are the top four things our newest employees said “sold” them on accepting a position with our clients that keep an exceptionally low turnover and staying with them.
Behavioural Assessments
Allenvision offers a tool based on performance traits that predicts the success of a person in each role. Using this tool gave employers greater assurance that I hired the right person for the right job while also ensuring they had the basic skills needed to succeed, like computer literacy and decent typing speed. Additionally, it was a tremendous weed-out tool that allowed us to avoid people on Indeed just applying for every job they could find. Usually, those people won’t take the additional time to fill out any further tests we would send them.
Their main concern was that taking these assessments would be so time-consuming that it would turn off too many applicants from continuing the application process. However, this requirement did not prevent companies from receiving enough applications for open positions.
Prospective employees told us the performance trait assessment was the number one reason they were intrigued with the organization. Both the prospective employee and the company want the individual to be phenomenally successful in their role.
It sent them the message that they would be valued members of their new team. New employees are impressed that an organization cares enough to get to know them and figure out where they would do best in the office. This unique perspective is compared to most corporate settings where these applicants have often been sent the message that they are just another body in another chair. The hiring manager brings up the applicant’s profile during the Zoom interview, discussing why they feel like their results would fit well with the job they were applying for.
The new employees feel seen and heard and knew we had made a good effort to get to know them and worry about their success and work happiness.
Working Interview
Several new employees told us they felt the working interview was one of the best they ever experienced. All staff can be welcoming – get to know the new hire’s name and sometimes a fun fact. The hiring manager needs to make sure to go around and talk to multiple staff about who was coming and mention their last job or where they were from.
Excellent teams know hiring new people will only make their current jobs more manageable, and they want to ensure they put their best foot forward. Don’t hide this from the staff – get them highly involved in our hiring process. Ask their opinion, listen to their concerns, and genuinely want to involve them in hiring decisions as much as possible. After all, they are the ones who will be spending two-thirds of their lives with these people!
Also, pay a per diem for the applicant for being there. It shows that you value their time by paying them for the working interview, whether I planned to hire them or not.
Office Culture
Whatever your culture is, whatever makes you “you,” lean into it. Embrace it, and make sure it’s quickly apparent. Ensure new employees fit your culture perfectly. Give them a feel for your culture during their working interview day.
When one of your core values is fun — it’s obvious. However, another value is professionalism and loving our job, which is helping people and being a good collaborator. Having fun must be accompanied by doing an excellent job. They see that if the job is getting done and the main work is finished, having fun and not having busy work is OK.
Attracting like-minded individuals who approach life the same way. Whatever your thing is – put it on display. Make it obvious this is what you’re about, so you attract employees who reflect what you’re looking for.
Provide Extra
When you have an office meeting supply food for the participants. It is team building/camaraderie time for everyone, hear what’s going on in our office, discuss any difficulties they are having and sometimes play games! Make them as important to the staff as these gatherings are as important as they are to you.
Pay a little extra for weekend work. Like paying for their working interview, paying extra for weekend work shows you value their time, and working Saturdays or Sundays can be hard. But it’s also our most booked-out day, usually several weekends in advance. They know our customers value us being open, and it’s an important part of who you are. However, no one wants to work Saturdays. So, we show our appreciation with food and extra money that they are doing this for us. Some employees may choose to work every Saturday for this reason. “Free” money and free food is quite the motivator for some people. Staff will let you know that these extras for weekend work make a positive difference to them.
Allenvision offers ideas for how to attract, and then keep team members for a long time. Build your ideal team of employees.
