Generation Y (the young men and women born after 1977) are
different from other generations in many respects, from
their political views to the careers they choose (or don’t
choose).  Their presence in the workplace is truly making
an impact, causing employers to worry, fret and scratch
their heade, and asking,  “What do I do to attract the
20-something worker, and once I have them, how do I keep
them?”

When it comes to loyalty, the companies Gen Y works for are
last on their list.  These millennial leaders are
ambitious, and if you can’t find a compelling reason to
stick around, they won’t. They will either find a better
job , or they’ll move back in with mom and dad (hey…free
rent and a packed fridge is not a bad deal after all, and
moms and dads are allowing their 20-something age kids to
move back home in droves).

Many employers are labeling Gen Y workers “demanding” and
“self-serving” (not a smart move) and when you look at the
fact that over 64 million workers will exit from the
workforce by the year 2010, this puts employers in a talent
deficit dilemma.  The pools they have to dip  from are
these young men and women from ages 22-30.  So, if you want
to attract the young knowledge work, I highly recommend
that you stop calling them names and start doing what you
can to accomodate their needs, even if outrageous.

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I recently had a conversation with a director of a major
law firm about morale among employees. It was low, and
employee retention was beginning to be an issue.

As we talked, it became apparent that while the lawyers had
access to everything that would help them perform to their
potential, the same could not be said for everyone else in
the firm. People from managers and supervisors to support
staff at all levels felt their contribution was not valued.

The problem was not money. On the contrary, these people
were paid very well, and in fact that may have become part
of the problem. Senior management felt that any unrest in
the ranks could be quieted by simply giving them more
money, and they were quite dismayed to find that was no
longer doing the trick. For them, money was the first and
only form of reward and recognition to offer employees.

Why would they think that, and why would they be surprised
to learn they were wrong?

I wonder how often they actually thought about the feelings
and attitudes of their people, and my guess is — only
when there was a problem. Of course the problem was there
all the time, and growing worse, but they just didn’t
notice.

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One of the most costly mistakes for small business owners
is making a bad hiring decision.  Losing the money spent on
recruiting, the time to interview the candidates, and the
time and cost spent on employee training are a few of the
major profit-squeezers that result from hiring mistakes.

Some entrepreneurs attempt to reduce risk by hiring family
or friends-which in most cases proves to be the worst
hiring mistake of all.  It is difficult for most people to
accept the relationship transition from family member to
employee.  Most often, those friendships will end in
resentment and disappointment.  When a veteran small
business owner tells you, “Never hire family!” you can bet
he’s learned the hard way.

With a little skill and guidance, small business owners can
learn much about potential candidates by understanding
resumes.  When reading resumes, there are three great
things to look for-and two traps to watch out for.

When reading a resume, the three things to look for are:

1.  Industry experience

You’ll make shortcuts in new employee training if your new
hire has previous experience in your industry.  You will
see a faster return on investment with your new employee
when he or she already understands what your customers
want.  Prior industry experience also means he or she may
have a business following that will result in added revenue
for your business.

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Assessments are powerful tools to use in hiring the right
people. They can also improve communications, reduce
turnover and improve retention of top people. Assessments
represent an opportunity to do all these things while
returning the highest ROI of any single people directed
investment you can make!

The following recommendations can help you better utilize
these very valuable tools in a variety of ways.

Recommendation #1: Use assessments to provide information
in the areas that are most likely to result in success or
failure. Assessments add to the elements of experience,
technical skills, accomplishments and education by adding
another dimension to the decision making process. They can
identify Behaviors, Values and Personal Skills that are the
real drivers of success in every organization. Assessments
can provide as much as 33% of the information used in the
hiring process – a critical 33%, since experience has shown
that most people succeed or fail in positions because of
their Behavior Fit, Value/Culture Fit and Personal Skills
Fit.

Recommendation #2: Choose assessments that are designed for
business use, so that your managers and leaders can use and
trust the reports. If your managers don’t feel the
information is specific, directed to their interests, and
delivers value to them in their relationship with the
person assessed, you will lose most of the leverage the
assessment could have. Choose  based on the question “How
can our managers use this information?”  Use assessments to
help make business decisions.

Recommendation #3: Use assessments after candidates have
passed the technical skills, education, experience and
accomplishment phases of the interview process. Do not use
assessments as early knockout tests, unless there are
specific criteria that are absolutely essential to the
success in the job, and that can be measured by very
specific assessment tools.

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In today’s competitive employment world most people are
interested in “standing out” from the crowd.  But, think
again when it comes to the image you present to your
prospective employer.  What are they looking for?  What
does their culture support?  Will the image you present
blend in – or standout, and which is best?

The answer is really “both”.  Yet, how can you possibly
standout and blend at the same time? And what does that
mean when it comes to your “image” anyway?  Simple…
research!  From the employers point of view the fact that
you have taken time to research your fit and taken steps to
be sure you blend with the culture is what will help you
standout.  So, how do you make this trick happen?

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Last month, we followed along as Jane and Bob examined
motivation and how each team member is motivated
differently.  Now, Jane and Bob are looking at how to
improve employee retention by creating an environment that
reduces stress while improving energy and morale.

Statistics consistently show that employees leave companies
more often because of unhappiness with their role or
environmental conditions rather than compensation.

What kind of environmental conditions?

Environmental stressors include change (especially big
changes), which can include:

• new department head
• downsizing
• merger or acquisition
• team member challenges
• new job responsibilities or project

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Progressive companies are increasingly relying upon
employee benefits to attract and retain top talent
according to a new MetLife study.  55% of employers rank
‘employee retention’ as their No. 1 benefits objective.
Unfortunately, the same study showed that only 33% of
workers feel strongly that their company effectively
educates them on their benefits options.  This reveals just
one of the many problems the employers face when confronted
with the daunting task of developing a benefits strategy
and communicating it with their workers.  If you’re going
to use benefits to build a solid workforce, here are the
five most common mistakes to avoid.

Lack of communication

Perhaps the biggest mistake employers make is not involving
the employees during benefits decisions.  Open
communication is key.  Finding out what employees want in
regard to benefits should be your first step before making
any changes.  Communicating your objectives will make
employees an active part of the decision making process.
Different employees have different needs.  Don’t assume
that the folks in the warehouse are interested in the same
benefits as the middle managers in accounting.  This is a
big mistake.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Mr Sital Ruparelia

Finding the right people on a consistent basis is not a
question of luck - it’s about taking some specific actions:

1. Construct a powerful vision - People are drawn to
businesses that know where they are going and have a plan
for success.  Craft an exciting vision for the future and
communicate it to potential hires all the way through your
recruitment process.

2. Make ‘finding and keeping the right people’ a priority -
Make recruitment and retention a priority now and you will
save time and money well into the future. The key is to
focus your time on the right activities so that you deliver
results quickly and consistently.

3. Develop your unique proposition as an employer -  Why
would talented people choose to work for your business?
Like your products and services, you need to have a
compelling message as an employer which makes you stand out
from other employers against whom you are competing for
people.

4. Be clear about the people you are looking for - This is
not just a ‘job spec’ of skills and experiences you see on
a CV – but being very clear about the type of personal
attributes you are looking for.  So ask yourself – what are
the values, attitudes, the personality, level of ambition,
the work ethic and work style that is right for your
business?

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Copyright (c) 2007 Mr Sital Ruparelia

Many people assume that people leave jobs largely for
financial reasons - but that simply is not the case.

Extensive research into employee retention shows that
people leave jobs for a combination of factors. Factors
which may include -  limited opportunities to develop,
being in the wrong job, not feeling valued, that the job no
longer fits their lifestyle or indeed a sense that they no
longer trust and have faith in their employers. So, to
retain staff, you require a strategy that seeks to limit
these factors:

1. Recruit the right people in the right way. If you have
hired the wrong person, then you are always going to
struggle to keep them. You may have hired someone who has
the skills and knowledge to do the job, but do they have
the right personality and attitude to fit into your
business? Is your business able to match their career
aspirations or are they going to be looking for the next
job very soon? Similarly, if you have failed to “wow” a new
employee during the recruitment process then the seeds of
doubt may already have been sown by the time they join you.

2. Effective induction, training & development. Inducting
people effectively – in whatever format - is fundamental.
Get it wrong and you have started to sow those seeds of
doubt in their minds in the first few weeks. Beyond that,
one of the keys to retaining people is ensuring there are
opportunities for people to grow, learn and develop
themselves.

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If you manage a team, you will at some point have a “high
maintenance” employee you will need to deal with.  If they
contribute to the overall success of the team, your time is
well spent.  If they do not contribute to the team, your
attention is wasted, and could be more wisely spent in
other areas.  So how do you handle these situations?  I
would put most “high maintenance” people into a few
categories, and handle each a little differently.

The first category is High Maintenance, High Performer.
This type of person will contribute a great deal to the
overall success of the team, but needs a significant amount
of your time and attention to do so.  They may require
constant feedback on their contributions, or they may need
your guidance more often than the average team member.  The
High Maintenance, High Performing person is usually very
focused on their goals, and expects the same from those
around them.  Thus, you may spend a large amount of your
time “smoothing over” some of the conversations this person
has with others.  All in all, because they are performing
well, you will need to determine if the positives out weigh
the negatives.  Many times sales managers have this issue
with one of their sales people. They may be the best on the
team, but may not follow the rules and rarely gets along
with others.  You have two choices, continue to spend the
time with this person, or make a decision that the benefits
do not exceed the “cost”, and make a change.

(more…)