The most critical issue facing our industry today is attracting and retaining people. While I firmly believe that the solution involves addressing retention, the fact remains that recruiting will always be an essential part of the solution as well, and recruiting is more difficult today than it has ever been. It’s easy to become demoralized and unsure of where to look for people.
Recruiting today is a year-round endeavor and involves multiple methods to be successful. The days of only recruiting when there is an opening and simply applying one recruiting method to fill the opening are long gone. Of the many recruiting methods available, there is one that is, and always will be, the most important. Let me explain.
The way to approach this method is by applying “The Ultimate Question” to your recruiting. If you’re not familiar, it is this: “On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, how likely are you to refer us to a friend or relative?” Applied to a recruiting situation, it’s the same question but the context changes from how satisfied you are as a customer to how satisfied you are as an employee. This has everything to do with recruiting. Please hear me out.
When an employee is highly satisfied (a 9 or 10), they will tell everyone they know about how awesome their company is. They won’t be able to help themselves. Their exuberance will pour out of them organically. They will be your best recruiters, and they won’t need a bribe (referral bonus) to do so. You won’t be able to stop them. This has always been true, and it is true today as well.
In addition, your highly satisfied employees will take your newly hired people under their wing to help them fit in and become a valuable part of the team. They will indoctrinate the newbie with all sorts of information about your company’s mission and core values, its customers, quality standards, processes and expectations. If the new person steps out of line or needs a little encouragement, they will step up and take care of it. Peer-to-peer accountability is pervasive.
When an employee gives a rating less than a 9 or 10, none of this happens. Recruiting is nonexistent or sparse at best, most likely only driven by a bribe. This makes perfect sense if we stop and think about it. Why would someone who isn’t feeling great about their company go out of their way to recommend the company to anyone? Even if they were asked about the company, they would probably not provide a great testimonial or may even dissuade a potential employee from applying.
If an employee gives a rating of 5 or worse, you can only imagine the damage they are doing to your reputation and employee retention. Sometimes we put up with them out of desperation, but at what cost? Is it really worth it?
If your employees aren’t your best recruiters, what does that tell you?
Is it worth the effort to improve employee satisfaction and engagement? What’s the alternative?
The Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement survey is a great way to accurately measure how satisfied your people are. It’s based on a five-point scale but the concept still applies. If you’re interested in more information, email Neal Glatt at Neal@GrowTheBench.com.
Let’s continue this discussion next month.
Now go forth.
