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Personnel Payback Staffing Strategies with a Long-Term Outlook
October, 2007
By Barbara Carss
Property management firms are experiencing increased staff turnover in a labour market with strong demand for both entry level and experienced employees. The costs of replacing departing workers and allowing time for their successors to get acclimatized in the workplace can become even more pronounced if new hires don't stay long enough for employers to recoup their human resources investment.
Recruitment specialists stress the importance of competitive remuneration and recommend a hiring strategy that takes both the employer's and the prospective employee's goals into account. "Always hire with a view to retention rather than filling the immediate need," says Anthony McCormack of Hays Construction and Property, a staffing consultant to the property and facilities management sectors.
McCormack and his colleague Jennifer Weiler recently outlined a multi-step strategy for identifying, securing and retaining capable employees to seminar attendees at the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada's annual conference and exposition, BOMEX 2007, in Toronto.
Employers should look for candidates with skills and aptitudes that match the vacant position. That might be a candidate who is ambitious to advance, a candidate who would be content in one stable enduring role, or a candidate who isn't actually pursuing a new position. Detailed job specifications will help prospective applicants to assess whether their qualifications and interests fit the employer's requirements.
FINDING QUALIFIED APPLICANTS
Candidates might be reached directly via published advertisements and/or internet job postings, but often they'll hear about an opportunity from other sources. Companies can get good results by asking their own employees to make referrals.
Indeed, Weiler's industry experience shows that high calibre employees tend to recommend others who perform at the same level. Internal referral programs can also support a cooperative and cohesive work environment because employees will recommend people they've worked well with in the past.
Industry related educational and/or social networking events are tailor-made venues to get the word out about employment opportunities or to glean intelligence about potential employees' performance and accomplishments. "Make best use of the time you're getting with peers in the industry," McCormack urges.
The requirements of the position should help define the scope for finding candidates. Broad based job posting services can work well if the position calls for generic skills, while specialized web sites and publications geared to particular professional associations, for example, could yield a smaller selection of better-qualified candidates.
Staff recruitment or headhunting services can tap into a still wider pool of qualified personnel. "With job postings, you're only looking at the best of the candidates who are looking [for a position] as opposed to the best candidates in the industry," Weiler observes.
A TWO-WAY EXCHANGE
A timely and professional interview process is essential, especially since it can be the basis for an applicant's first impression of the company. As a given, interviews should be conducted in tidy surroundings free from disruptions, and interviewers should be punctual, polite and sensitive to cultural issues. All applicants' confidentiality must be safeguarded.
Company officials who have limited experience with hiring staff and/or are uncomfortable in the situation should enroll another colleague or a human resources specialist in the process. Interviewers should have an agenda or checklist of the information they need and a consistent format for questioning applicants. Providing some initial background about the company helps build rapport and lead into the discussion of the applicant's employment history, skills and reasons for applying for the position.
Weiler recommends asking applicants to provide a chronological overview of their previous positions and salary levels to illustrate their career growth and the market demand for their abilities. Ask what they were looking for in previous positions, what they see as their noteworthy accomplishments in those positions, and why they left - which, again, illustrates career goals and mobility. Listening to whether applicants use the word "we" or "I" in relating past roles and achievements can also offer some insight into their management approach and possible fit in the company's work environment.
Protracted hiring processes can confuse and frustrate applicants and predispose them to accept other job offers. "It's always the best candidates that you're going to lose during the process because they are the people who have the most choices," McCormack says.
An efficient and transparent process in which candidates are made aware of the schedule for follow-up interviews and decision making will help discourage applicants from looking elsewhere. Leading candidates should be informed of their status and made to feel confident about the prospective employer's intentions.
"You want the candidate to really maintain the enthusiasm for the position and your organization," Weiler emphasizes. "You want to be the first person to bring up the counter offer so that when it does come up with their current organization it is less likely to be appealing."
WORK SATISFACTION FACTORS
In assessing candidates, McCormack advises employers to look beyond the candidate's ability to carry out required tasks. Employers should also consider whether the vacant position is a good career move for the applicant and if he or she will fit into the organizational culture since studies show that these two factors shape employees' commitment to a position and a company.
Employees typically have differing goals and motives for staying in or pursuing a new position depending on their seniority and stage in their working life. However, there are consistent themes in what underlies job satisfaction and loyalty. Compensation, career advancement, opportunities for professional development and flexibility for innovation, risk and autonomy are all highly ranked in employee satisfaction surveys.
Compensation is not just limited to salary levels, but might include bonus structures, vacation time and/or other perks. Whatever the method of remuneration, companies have to stay competitive to attract and retain good employees. "There is a market rate for things. It's a dynamic market and it seems to be ever more so," McCormack observes.
Many professionals, particularly in the earlier years of their career, look for a work environment that offers a range of responsibilities and roles. "When I am screening candidates, I let them know that in a small firm they are going to have an opportunity to put their hands in a lot of different buckets," Weiler notes.
With the gaining of experience, though, the same people may look to a larger organization that offers more management roles. Lack of opportunity for upward mobility ranks as the number one reason why employees leave a company.
MANAGING FOR RETENTION
Still, that's not always due to the company's size. Rather, decision makers within a company may be failing to recognize and capitalize on their employees' potential. "The thought for the day is: employees leave managers, not companies," McCormack adds.
Asking employees why they are leaving could be a simple and straightforward way to uncover such management issues. Weiler recommends exit interviews with departing staff - even those who have been terminated. "You are going to find out all the motivating factors of why the individual chose to leave and, if the factors apply to that individual, it's a good indication that they also apply to your existing staff," she says.
Confidential employee satisfaction surveys will similarly highlight vulnerabilities on the employee retention front, as well as successful practices that should be retained or possibly expanded. On the other side of the equation, regular employee evaluations give staff a sense of their value to the organization and/or clarify the employer's commitment to developing their skills and helping them better function in the workplace.
Training programs and team building exercises show that the employer is investing in staff development. "Employees should feel and know they are on a path," McCormack notes.
Employee evaluations can serve a dual purpose in helping to rank and categorize employees' contribution. McCormack and Weiler suggest that creating lists of "A", "B" and "C" grade employees can help guide human resources decisions and priorities.
"There is no such thing of as 100% retention," Weiler asserts. "You want to focus on keeping your A's - the people you cannot afford to do without."
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