Hiring new employees is stressful.
SHRM tells us that it will cost you at least 50% of a low level employee’s first year salary to hire and train them. If you’re hiring for middle or upper level positions, that cost skyrockets to over 150%!
There’s a ton of pressure on HR and managers to pick just the right person. The problem is that almost no one enjoys the interview process and even fewer people are actually good at it. Unfortunately that means a costly 17.42% of your new hires are going to walk right back out the door before they’ve been with you for 3 months.
What can you do to increase the chances of picking and retaining the best new employees?
1) Be the best option right from the start
When a bigger, internationally known rival company opened right down the road from Sekisui SPI and then tried to poach workers by advertising higher wages with a billboard practically on their lawn, company president Ronn Cort was understandably concerned. Would they lose their valuable players? Who wouldn’t want to jump ship for more money?
But that’s not what happened at all.
Some of his employees did go to an interview at the rival company. They all came back.
Why? Because they said that new company only cared about the skills. They didn’t really care about the people. That interview process had been a real turn off for those very talented people.
Catalytic Coaching had brought something to Sekisui SPI that even higher wages couldn’t compete with: Employees that were invested in their company.
And those employees saw the difference right away during the interview process.
Using the Employee Input sheet to help guide the interview can really be eye opening for both the applicant and the interviewer. You’ll have a chance to learn what motivates that person, what value they find in their work, and where they’re steering their career… IF they’re steering their career.
You’ll learn more about the potential new hire and they’ll learn your company cares about what’s beneath the surface and beyond the resume.
Ronn Cort, President of Sekisui, SPI discusses how his organization has used Catalytic Coaching to “create a line at the door of people who want to work on our factory floor” in a market with 3.7% unemployment.
2) Get the right people in the right seats
More often than not, a company will have multiple openings available or will have other openings coming soon. Though an applicant submitted their resume for one job posting, they may actually be better suited to another.
That becomes more apparent when you go beyond the resume and the typical interview questions. Diving deeper and drilling down on accomplishments, disappointments, and aspirations is more revealing and a better guarantee that you’ll fit the right person to the right seat.
Your new hire will carry that fresh excitement and energy further if they are put in the best position for success. They’ll know you care about them as a person and will be invested in the success of the company.
3) Separate the wheat from the chaff
Resumes can be polished. The perfect answers to typical interview questions can be Googled and memorized. A new outfit and dazzling smile can gloss over red flags.
By introducing Coaching to your hiring process, you’ll prompt authentic responses that will reveal the best fit for your company culture. Maybe it’s a personality conflict or life goals that just can’t be accommodated. Whatever the reason, it’s better for both you and the applicant to bring it to the forefront early on. It saves you both time, heart ache, and money.
4) Hit the ground running
Catalytic Coaching emphasizes open conversations between Coaches (managers) and their team members. Using Focus Areas as a guide, Coaches highlight each employee’s contribution to the company goals and provide guidance on how that fits in with their team member’s aspirations. That clarity is vital for reducing stress and increasing productivity.
When new hires get that right out of the gate, they’ll have greater focus and be better prepared to integrate into the company faster. Less hand holding from your managers means more time spent getting important initiatives accomplished.
This also gives the Coach the ability to refine the conversation when their new team member hits that critical 90 day mark. That’s when they’ll revisit the entire Catalytic Coaching process to set firmer goals and be sure everyone is on the path to success.
Garold (Gary) Markle is the creator of Catalytic Coaching and author of Catalytic Coaching: The End of the Performance Review. He brings real world experience from 17 years in HR leadership, over 23 years in Senior Leadership, and over 20 years of teaching organizations how to cultivate their leadership and ditch their detrimental performance reviews for a proven Coaching process.
Book Gary to speak to your audience about Energizing and Engaging the Human Spirit at Work.
Connect with him on LinkedIn - Check out his videos on YouTube - Sign up for emails or Request information
