Hot Topics: Retention and Recruitment

Labour or lack of skilled labour is a hot topic in our region. Because how productive your organization is boils down to how good your people are I thought I would tackle that subject this week. Basically we are talking about two things; retention and recruitment.

Let’s start with retention. Want to retain your people then you really need these two things as described in Forbes by Erika Anderson.  The article is called ‘Why Top Talent Leaves: Top 10 Reasons Boiled Down to 1’ and Erika states “top talent does indeed leave for the same reasons everyone else does”.  So what are those reasons? Basically it comes down to 2 things – people leave an organization when they are badly managed and the organization is confusing and uninspiring.

So what is the answer? First the managers in your organization really need to be able to manage people well and they need to be supported to get even better at that. What’s more they need to be held accountable and rewarded for doing so. Secondly the organization needs to have a purpose, not just financial goals and not just some mission statement that is hanging on a wall somewhere.  What does the organization bring to the community? And does the culture reflect that? If not you have some serious work to do!

Over to recruitment, in another article I found on Forbes George Bradt suggests there are only three true job interview questions.

1. Can you do the job?
2. Will you love the job?
3. Can we tolerate working with you?

I really like this. It comes down to the potential employee’s strengths, motivation and whether or not they will fit into your organization. All questions and research on the potential employee are really inquiries to determine the answers to those three questions. Simple right? Well probably not as simple as it sounds but a clear understanding of what you are trying to determine when you are in that recruitment process definitely helps.

Productivity is a measure of how much – work, time, effort, money, or energy – you have to put into something to get the desired outcome. For more tips and tools on how to get more productive please visit Blue Collar Consulting Inc. at http://www.bluecollarconsulting.ca/.