Recruiting and hiring advice during tough (or great) times

Roberta Chisky Matuson, author of the recently published book on human resources and talent management called Suddenly in Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around, interviewed me recently and wrote the following article for Monster.com. Click here for the article.

What are your best ideas for retaining your talent? I’d love to hear your comments.

Talent retention is important during good times when everyone is competing for top talent and during tough times when you need to retain your best and most productive people.

Talent recruitment, management, nurturing, and retention are critical to any growth strategy.

Most people leave their employers because of a poor relationship with their direct supervisor, lack of recognition, lack of challenge, and a lack of a career path. Do any of these apply to you? Have you lost any key talent lately that you didn’t want to lose?

Here are some solutions.

  • The key lesson for entrepreneurs is to chart your growth plan and show your key people what the future holds.
  • Write out your organizational chart for your business five years into the future.
  • Identify your talent pool now and map out who has the potential to be a leader in five years.
  • What new positions will you need in the future that don’t even exist now?
  • Who needs additional training or development to grow for the future roles?
  • What are the gaps in your talent plan and organizational chart?
  • Provide a clear career path for everyone. Ensure people are developing their own successors so promotion doesn’t create a gap.
  • Take great care of your employees, and they will take great care of your customers (like Ritz-Carlton, WestJet and Southwest Airlines).
  • Measure performance, give regular feedback, and train, coach and mentor everyone.

There are lots of things that you can do that don’t cost money and make the workplace more fun. I like ‘bring your dog to work’ day.

In five years, can your business grow to become two or three times as large? You need good people to accomplish that.

Develop your long-term talent plan to create success….in any economy.

Copyright 2011. All Rights Reserved. Phil Symchych