Back To Basics: Employing and Retaining the Right People

We have often heard it said that ‘people are an organisation’s most important resource’.  If you are in business or a leadership role, you will recognise the significance of this statement. Certainly, if you want to build an organisation that extends beyond self-employed status (i.e. a one wo/man band) you will have to get your head around the complexities that are involved in employing and developing people.

Sadly, I have seen it happen countless times. A great idea, business concept or community project fail, simply because time and money was not invested in robust recruitment, induction and professional development processes.  It doesn’t matter how small your business or organisation is, it is critical to your future success to get this right.  

Gone are the days of simple ‘interviews’ where potential employees can ‘sell’ themselves only to find on day one of employing them that what they said they could do so very well, was not quite the case! Does this sound familiar to you? Avoiding this situation (in the majority of cases) is quite simple. Incorporate a HR function into your business planning at the early stages and solicit support where you may lack knowledge.

There are some basic aspects that you should include in your planning:

1. Rigorous recruitment and selection activities that test a broad variety of skills, knowledge and experience. A good recruitment process will ‘weed out’ those candidates that are just talking a good talk. Please make sure the process is fair, balanced and reflects what the job holder would actually be doing.

2. A structured, in depth induction process that covers all the salient issues, policies and areas of the job role and organisation. Be sure to include your wider team in this process.

3. Regular one-to-one sessions to provide guidance and direction and to assess competence and training support that may be needed.

4. Ongoing training and development activities linked to the job role and more importantly, your organisation’s vision and mission.

Implementing the above will put your organisation in good stead for longevity. If you are feeling out of your depth, then commission the services of a professional who can guide you through the process and provide you with coaching support to enhance your own leadership, management and business skills.  Disregard these essential steps and the cost could be great. Choose to be informed and apply these principles.