From Talent Acquisition to Talent Retention

Anyone who learns and masters a skill will tell you that the really hard and important part is not just becoming skilled in the first place, but how you actively maintain that skill so it doesn’t degrade. And the fact of the matter is that hiring the right talent is the same issue – it’s not just about how you find and hire the talent, but more importantly, about how you cultivate and retain it. Too many companies think that once they onboard the perfect hire, the HR work is done, but nothing could be further from the truth. Take a read below!

Keep Up Employee Engagement

Too often, the employee experience with HR happens when they onboard, if they leave, and if they have a problem with a coworker. This creates a diminished view of what HR can do to help employees succeed and thrive at your company, and misses out on opportunities to get a better understanding of what employees are thinking, feeling, and doing. Think of targeting quarterly, or even semi-annual “re-onboarding” processes, where HR can re-engage with employees and discuss how their experience is proceeding. Sometimes, if questioned in a formal way, employees can bring up issues and concerns that might not always be at the front of their minds in other situations, and you can gain valuable insight and keep them happy. Try to make Day One Thousand as important as Day One.

Maintain Ongoing Employee Information-Gathering

Everyone grows and changes over time. This is a pretty uncontroversial and widely-observed fact of life. But often times, companies don’t treat their employees as if this is the case. Even when companies are forward-looking enough and engage in the kind of onboarding Expectations Scan that we offer at Kazi, they will often just leave this information untouched after they’ve put it to use. But the scan can be put to use effectively again at a later date. From the experience of working at your company, your employees will develop new skills, new interests, and new professional partnerships with other employees. An employee at the beginning of year 2 is not the same person she was when she started – maybe she’ll work better in a different way now? Don’t let your employee information be frozen in amber! Keep asking the right questions, and you’ll learn surprising things!

Walk the Walk on Professional Development

So many companies talk about how it’s important for them to see their employees grow and learn and thrive. But relatively few actually do something about it, and this is one of the most commonly-cited reasons employees leave their jobs: no space for professional growth. And the fact of the matter is that it’s not hard to create space and opportunities for employees to grow. Most people enjoy a challenging task, or new project that develops skills. But in order to know what to give to whom and when, you need to be asking the right questions. In the wrong circumstances, or for the wrong person, professional development opportunities can feel like “just some more shit to do.” And no one likes that. With employee Expectation Scans like we’ve developed at Kazi, you can get the insight and information you need to know to make the right assignments and create the right opportunities for your employees to grow and shine!

Cultivate Internal Brand Integrity

Any good founder or CEO knows the importance of managing your brand for your customers. But few put as much effort into maintaining the brand for their employees. This is a big oversight. In the same way that customers are often willing to pay more for a “brand premium” for your products, employees are willing to go out on a limb in more ways for a company with a great brand reputation as a good place to work. The right workplace environment, useful perks, supportive managers, and much more all go into creating and maintaining this for employees. But just like a brand for customers, you need to build it carefully. And what do you need to do that? Information! Get your employees involved in thinking about how to raise the brand of your company as a great place to work!It’s always easier and cheaper to hold on to the talent you have than it is to try to acquire more talent later. Turnover in your headcount will take more out of you and your growth than you may think. Spend some time and effort cultivating and retaining the talent you have, and the effort will pay for itself many times over! At Kazi, we’ve helped many companies with problems just like that. If you’re facing an HR challenge and want to see what we could do for you, drop us and line and we’ll talk!