There are many things to consider when hiring new employees, and it’s not just how much the salary should be. Ben Hogg, Managing Director, International, Lucid, explains how to hire the right person for the right role for the long-term and how to create a happy workplace.
In today’s competitive job market where 1 in 20 people are unemployed, companies could easily choose to accept higher employee attrition rates rather than proactively trying to recruit the right people and then, go above and beyond to keep them.
Yet, as employers and employees alike navigate work/life changes brought on by the pandemic – from increases in flexible working practices to ‘zoom fatigue’, there appears to be increasing evidence that happy workers are better workers. And, what could make an employee happier than being a perfect fit for a role? So how can businesses ensure they’re adapting to keep pace with what prospects want to attract the right people long-term?
Hire for attitude, train for success
Many roles require specific skills and ‘on-the-job’ training necessary for every candidate. What businesses can’t teach is that something extra – the passion, drive and personality that makes a group of people feel like a team. If a candidate has these personal qualities – the professional skills can easily be taught.
At Lucid, we recruit talent from a variety of sources, such as from traditional graduate programmes to job boards for underrepresented communities. We are constantly on the lookout for gaps – what perspectives or skills we’re currently missing on our teams. The last thing we want to do is add more people with identical skillsets, mindsets and experiences. Diverse backgrounds bring diverse thinking, enabling more creative solutions for clients and a more inclusive work environment. It’s vital for making any business stronger. Our Head of Sales was a schoolteacher immediately before joining!
The training of employees is essential and can take many forms – anything from expensive outsourced affairs to employee lead resource groups. From productivity, management skills and assertiveness training to business or industry-specific competencies – having these opportunities available creates a sense of commitment and worth to your workforce.
Money can’t sustain happiness
Offering an attractive salary will certainly pique interest in a role but a competitive financial package isn’t enough. Someone who takes the role for the money and not the role itself is unlikely to be happy, almost definitely won’t be productive and certainly won’t work out long-term. And that could mean starting the recruitment process all over again.
Packages that include softer benefits, such as healthcare, generous holiday allowance and flexible working are better, but to really attract and keep an employee in today’s cutthroat environment, there needs to be something extra. Not unlike personal relationships, there needs to be a future.
Visible career development pathways are a huge motivating factor, but promotion isn’t the only way to progress. Practices, like a ‘Career Mobility Programme’, that promotes internal transfers and lateral moves throughout an organisation can be just as attractive to future employees. Understanding that a person’s professional direction can change just as much as a personal one, allows for transferable skills to be utilised in a different way – to the benefit of all involved.
Don’t dictate, communicate!
Gone are the days when people used to worry about their own prospects being diminished by ‘smarter’ people joining their team. Employees want to see their organisations continue ‘levelling up’ because bringing in the brightest and best enables existing teams to learn, develop and grow, too. Our employees support this approach, and we know this because we keep the lines of communication very much open.
The process of simply conducting employee satisfaction surveys makes employees feel like their opinion is valued – and this itself adds value. Workers that are appreciated and feel like they are a vital part of a company’s community will do what is best for the business because it’s also what’s best for them. Employee reward programmes that share and promote personal and professional achievements motivate employees and increase loyalty and engagement in their roles. There are other ways to go beyond traditional incentives to motivate staff – at Lucid, 70% of employees are part of our share option plan. They think and behave as owners of the company because they are personally, professionally and financially invested in the business.
Working in the market research industry, it is perhaps unsurprising that employee surveys are executed regularly – but by really drilling down into the responses we are able to feed the ecosystem of the company and provide a deeper understanding of each other to create a more sustainable business.
Practice what you preach
Every business today should be totally committed to diversity and inclusion. It’s not enough to talk the talk, leaders must make sure they’re walking the walk and practicing what they preach. For example, Lucid is an active part of the MRS Inclusion Pledge, where we commit to creating safer and more representative workplaces by publishing pay statistics annually, working towards government targets for women and ethnic minorities at the board level and improving recruitment practices. Even more, our promotions take into consideration age, gender and ethnicity.
Being active members of initiatives like these within your respective industries has become business critical. And so too is ensuring your business has a dedicated budget for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion function as well as a dedicated DEI role, whose sole purpose is to promote fairness across the organisation.
Community spirit
A year, or more, in COVID has taught many of us – from employers to employees – to better appreciate our work-life balance and as such, to seek out opportunities that go above and beyond the working day. Employees will relish any support given to them to take part in other activities they find fulfilling – whether it be committing to charity work, attending Pride parades or launching industry initiatives that align with their passions.
It’s not just about supporting these opportunities that lie close to your employees’ hearts but also to provide emotional and wellbeing support to your staff. Fostering environments when individuals can share ideas and express how they think and feel about what’s going on globally is essential. Doing things like encouraging your teams to meet regularly with their peers to share successes, challenges and best practices, or running open discussion sessions to facilitate real conversations around sensitive topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement, can help bring employees together, while ensuring that their voices and opinions are heard.
It’s cool to be kind
Going against the grain to provide educational, professional and social opportunities for their employees from the start has practically become table stakes for successful recruitment. However, developing skills and providing opportunities are worth nothing without genuine care for your employees. Compassion should be at the heart of your business. No one method will work for everyone, remembering that employees are people and promoting kindness, inclusivity and empathy in every daily task is what makes an employer really stand out.
If you really want to attract outstanding employees, lead by example and be an outstanding employer.