5 Tips on How to Recruit Employees and Reduce Employee Turnover Rates

5 Tips on How to Recruit Employees and Reduce Employee Turnover Rates

I moved to the Bakkan oilfield area a bit over two years ago. What I noticed right away was the high turnover. Business owners all over the city struggled with how to recruit employees and reduce employee turnover rates. I’d go into one restaurant and see a server one week; the next week I’d find the server working at a dry cleaner. For a while, and maybe still a bit today, it was an employees haven. Employees were job hopping like they were running from paychecks.

Unfortunately for employers, hiring job hoppers can run a toil on profitability, particularly in this area. With such a high demand for services, many businesses struggled to keep their doors opened, while many held reduced hours. On top of that, the hiring process and training new employees costs money.

Don’t hire out of desperation

When the oil boom was at its height, employers were hiring warm bodies. I went into one of the nicer restaurants in town and heard a man tell the hostess that he’d take a shower if they hired him. I don’t know if they hired him, but I will tell you other restaurants in the area did hire folks that didn’t look or smell like they’d washed in weeks or months. During the oil boom, no one who wanted to work went jobless.

With that in mind, I encourage employers not to hire out of desperation. Too many times have I had clients come into my office complaining about the time, money, and energy they’d spent on less than savory employees. Even worse, some of those employees cost the company business through poor interactions with customers. In the end, a less desirable employee can be more expensive than leaving the opening vacant.

Be prepared with a good job description

If nothing else, don’t go on the hunt for a new employee without a job description. I’m not saying you’re going to find the perfect candidate who meets all the qualifications in the job description. However, you should at least know what you want.

Treat the job description like a wish list. There should be at least two categories of qualifications. One should be a list of requirements… the job skills a candidate must have in order for you to hire. For instance, if you’re looking for a social media marketer and your candidate doesn’t even understand the concept of turning on a computer, that person may not be the right fit. You should also have a list of highly desirable skills. Taking the social media marketer again, you might put expertise with Adobe products on the list.

In the end, a good job description will help provide comparisons for the candidates you recruit or who walk through your door. It sets the bar.

Don’t wait for candidates to come to you

With that in mind, remember that hiring is a two way street. In an employers market, candidates tend to be plentiful. In the Bakkan (at least during the boom), the opposite scenario existed. Employers were constantly keeping their ears to the ground, keeping their eyes open for new recruits. However, even in an employers market, recruiting can be an important process for hiring new employees.

If you know what you want (and you should, as I mentioned in the above section), shouldn’t you be out there looking and inviting your ideal candidate to an interview? And as awful as this may sound, don’t be afraid to steal an employee from your competitor. After all, why leave the best on the other team if you can have them for yourself?

Use networking to your advantage

One of the great benefits of networking is it’s often about reputation. Not only do like-minded people often associate with each other, but people put themselves on the line when they recommend another individual for the job. They usually don’t stake their reputation on a recommendation for just anyone. As a result, when you network to see who’s available or looking for work, you’ll get a better chance of finding quality candidates through networking… that’s if you’ve surrounded yourself with reputable individuals.

Respect your employees

Finally, respect your employees. Remember, respect is a two-way street. It’s hard for an employees to respect a boss that treats them like they’re a dime a dozen. Create a culture that inspires loyalty. You’ve likely been on the employee end and know how you wanted to be treated. Now that you’re the boss, treat them like valuable employees. After all, your employees can be your greatest resource in a business.

What techniques have you used to hire employees?