7 Effective Principles of Hiring to Retaining Employees

“Getting Right People & ‘Early Employee Mortality’ is a major concern for all Media organisations. We spend countless hours hiring and training employees. We knowingly or unknowingly provide a lot of reasons for them to leave us early even in the stages of hiring or after coming on board.”

Principle 1: Building a strong employer brand on the Internet

We live in times when all our prospective employees are online. Building a strong company brand on the internet is essential in today’s digital age. A robust online brand presence can help establish credibility, attract customers and foster loyalty.

• Consistent Branding

  Ensure that your company's branding elements, such as logo, colour scheme and tone of voice, are consistent across all online platforms. Consistency builds recognition and trust.

• Engaging Presence

  Invest in a user-friendly, mobile-responsive website. Develop a content marketing strategy that focuses on creating high-quality, relevant content. Optimize your website and content for search engines to improve your online visibility. Continuously monitor and analyze your online performance using tools like Google Analytics.

• Social Media Presence

  Create and maintain active profiles on relevant social media platforms. Share informative and engaging content, interact with followers and respond promptly to inquiries and comments.

• Online Reputation Management

  Monitor online reviews and professionally address positive and negative feedback. A positive online reputation is crucial for building trust.

• Community Building

  Engage with your online community by participating in forums, groups or online events related to your industry. This can help you establish authority and trust within your niche.

Principle 2: Sourcing the right talent

We often are made to believe that there is a war for talent. While that is partially true, there is enough talent available for you. It is the art of sourcing the right set of candidates for the roles you are hiring for. Talent is like a river. You are going and picking up a bucket of water from there. Make sure you are picking up a clean bucket relevant to you.

• Attractive Job Descriptions
  Create an innovative and attractive job description for the role. We must remember that this is one of the first documents shared with the prospective candidates.
• Create an outreach spurt
  Reach out to candidates across all channels. Advertise for the role and do email campaigns making sure that you are heard on the internet.
• Passive candidates are the best
  Engage someone to look for passive candidates. They are often better than the active candidates. LinkedIn, and Naukri are two of the best platforms to look for passive candidates. You can use tools like Lusha to discover mobile numbers and connect with passive candidates.
• Trust employee referrals
  Known devils are better than unknown ones. Typically, your current employees would know who would be a good fit. Invest in an employee referral scheme. ROI on employee referrals is always great.

Principle 3: Make the interview process interesting

Many hiring managers engage in interviews from a position of power or authority. Gone are the days when candidates used to accept that. They expect to be treated with respect for the skills they bring to the table.

• Create Interesting Assessments
  This not only helps to hire right but also creates deep interest in the prospective employees in the role and the organisation.
• Tell a great story
  Create a great story about the organisation. You can write it in a document or prepare a video. The first story that you tell prospective candidates creates the context for a long-lasting relationship.
• Treat them with respect
  As we have already written, treat them with respect & dignity for the skills they bring to the table. Make them feel special; if you can do this, you are likely to hire 90% right candidates all the time.
• At least one in-person interview
  Nothing can replace an in-person experience. We strongly recommend at least one in-person interview in the whole assessment process.
• Train interviewers
  Training on conducting an interview. We need to remember that an interview is an assessment-cum-selling process where both assessment and selling are happening simultaneously.

Principle 4: An engaging offer process makes a big difference

One of the challenges we face regularly is 'offer dropouts'. How do we make sure that the offer process is engaging?

• Refrain from सस्ती मंडी offer negotiations
  We are dealing with a prospective talent. Just refrain from सस्ती मंडी offer negotiations. This does not mean that you become lenient. Negotiate hard on the offer. Maybe have a trained resource who can do this for all offers.
• Designer Offer Letters
  We get that this sounds fancy. Just imagine the smile on the face of your new employee. Whether the offer is a printed one or an email. Remember, everyone is pleased with a good look.
• Letters to Family
  You may be thinking who does this? Many organisations do. Letters to parents or wife or wife & children. Through this, you are not just engaging with the employee, but also with the family. Even if the candidate is in two minds, his family will put pressure on him to join your organisation.

Principle 5: A memorable joining experience

There is a famous sentence in English. "Your vibe creates the tribe". Joining vibes has the power to make the new employee a member of your Tribe.

• Onboarding in Office
  It is easy to execute virtual onboarding which robs us of the opportunity to create the vibe. We strongly recommend the onboarding process in one of your office locations.
• Welcome at Office on First day
  Please ensure that the following takes place.
  • Welcome with flowers or a memento, when the new employee enters the office.
  • Provide his appointment letter on the first day.
  • There is no substitute for a great first impression.
  • Provide a joining kit on the first day.
  • Decorated office desk or cabin.
  • For remote working employees, create a space where he/she can spend the first day.
  • Meeting with the manager on the first day.
  • Meeting with the team on his first day.

Principle 6: Connect in the first three months

This is one of the most critical steps in retaining the new employee as well as making him highly productive.

• Structured Onboarding Program
  Start by providing a well-structured onboarding program that includes orientation, training, and introductions to team members.
• Mentorship or Buddy System
  This person can provide guidance, answer questions, and introduce the new hire to the team.
• Regular Check-Ins
  Schedule regular one-on-one meetings between new employees and their managers.
• Open Communication
  Encourage & create a transparent culture where employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, ideas, and concerns.
• Company Culture Integration
  Emphasize your company's values and culture during the onboarding process. Explain how these principles guide decision-making and behaviour.
• Recognition and Appreciation
  Acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of new employees. Recognize their achievements and milestones, both big and small, to boost morale.
• Employee Resource Groups
  Promote employee resource groups or affinity networks. This can help employees connect with others who share common interests or backgrounds.
• Feedback and Improvement
  Continuously assess your onboarding process through feedback to identify areas and make necessary adjustments.

Principle 7: Focus on the manager-employee relationship

There is a famous sentence from Gallup (75 years work in this Employee & Customer engagement), "employees do not leave organisations, they leave bosses". Focus on manager-employee relationships. There is no substitute for this.

Some of the elements managers can focus on to build an engaging relationship with his team members are: clarity in communication, regular check-ins, goal setting, feedback & recognition, empowerment and trust, invest in professional development, active listening, fast conflict resolution, flexibility & support, lead by example, engage in social interactions, recognition and appreciation, respect for diversity, close feedback loop at all times.

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