By Daniel Bobinski
If your town is like my town, it seems like every other company is advertising for help. Conditions in the workplace have definitely changed over the past few years, and “turmoil” might be a good way to describe what’s been happening. What’s keeping people plugged in? One human resources study examining the workplace found that employees are now seeking maximum flexibility and relationships with a high degree of trust.
Naturally, each workplace is unique when it comes to defining flexibility. Engineering firms usually revolve around a work process that involves input and creativity to solve design problems. People do most of their work in front of computers or in collaborative meetings to iron out design problems, and evidence is mounting that productivity is going up in companies that switched to a work-from-home model.
Not so flexible are places like retail establishments and hospitals, where the business model requires people to show up in person. When it comes to creating flexibility in those workplaces, the wiggle room for how flexibility gets defined becomes fairly narrow. Therefore, to attract or retain good employees, more importance must be placed on developing solid workplace relationships.
How to Be Attractive
One of the biggest draws for attracting and retaining good team members is providing opportunities for leadership and advancement. In fact, the human resources study I mentioned earlier noted that only 43% of American workers believe their employers offer good leadership and advancement opportunities.
As an example of this, recently I was speaking with a doctor who supervises a team of people, and he shared how his own supervisor announced that she’d be retiring in about nine months. Her stated reason for the long window? She wanted to give the company time to do a nationwide search to identify her replacement. My doctor friend was reserved when telling me about the situation, but after a bit of talking, I learned he was frustrated that the company has not been proactive in creating succession plans.
This is a common problem. Rather than promote from within, too many companies bring in outsiders to fill management and leadership roles, Thus, by default, they create a demoralizing mindset among employees. Why bother working hard? Better to create paths for growth within the company. One company I know has a policy to promote only from within, and every time I speak with people who work there they talk about how proud they are to be affiliated with that company.
Another way to be attractive to employees is to openly discuss benefit options and incorporate them where possible. One company found that offering pet insurance was a huge draw to some people. Another is letting team members decide how bonuses should be earned. When they have a say in how the bonus gets divided, they are more likely to engage in the effort for success.
Still another is the “universal day off.” Often, when people take a day off work, they still are hit with emails and phone calls from co-workers wanting to know the status of some project or the location of some item. Their time off isn’t really time off. But with a “universal day off,” everyone on the team is given the same day off during the workweek. That way, nobody is having to respond to a work-related email while shopping or spending time running other errands.
Good management is key
One thing that leads to success in attracting and retaining good employees is having good managers. I’m not talking about super techs promoted because of their superior technical skills, I’m talking about people who understand people and are adept at creating an atmosphere of camaraderie and focus.
Such people are not insecure, looking for others to tell them how good they are nor afraid that a subordinate will have great ideas for how to solve problems. Quite the contrary. Good managers understand their responsibilities include becoming experts about the people on their teams and help each of them develop.
- What strengths does each person have?
- What are their blind spots?
- What motivates each person?
- Where does the manager need to come alongside to help each person operate at his or her best?
Good managers and leaders don’t need to have all the answers. They need to know where to find the answers – and sometimes answers are found in the knowledge base of individual team members.
Have a clear job description for each position
One of the most underused tools in all of management is job descriptions. And, when they are used, they’re one of the most misused tools. Clear expectations help attract and retain quality personnel, and good job descriptions help people know what’s expected of them. The main problem from my experience is most job descriptions are too generic. They are usually full of HR-speak and are too light on job specifics.
A good job description identifies to whom the position will report as well as a specific list of duties. To differentiate duties from tasks, duties are general areas of responsibility; tasks are the different activities that, when completed, accomplish a duty. For example:
Duty: Oversee emergency response teams
Tasks (to fulfill the duty):
- Create response teams and appoint leaders
- Educate all personnel on potential emergencies
- Schedule and conduct emergency response training
- Evaluate emergency team effectiveness
Notice that each task starts with a verb. All duties should, too. This tells employees what must be done, and when employees know what behaviors are expected, they are more likely to feel confident about their performance and are therefore more likely to stay.
Finding and replacing employees continues to be an expensive endeavor. To help your organization stay profitable, think of it this way: an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure. Taking the time to set up succession planning, provide good management training, and ensure all job descriptions are accurate and practical will all go a long way in attracting and retaining quality people in these challenging and competitive times.
Daniel Bobinski, who has a doctorate in theology, is a best-selling author and a popular speaker at conferences and retreats. For more than 30 years he’s been working with teams and individuals (1:1 coaching) to help them achieve excellence. He was also teaching Emotional Intelligence since before it was a thing. Reach him by email at DanielBobinski@protonmail.com or 208-375-7606.
