Attract, Train and Retain: 4 Keys to Building Your Team

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If you’ve tried to hire anybody in the last 12 months, then you have most likely experienced what most business owners and recruiters have found – there isn’t anyone!  Well, let’s clarify that a little bit, in that there are people still unemployed, it’s just that most of them probably are not going to be a good fit for your business.  If you want a good employee at this point, you will have to steal them from someone else.  Oh, and while you are looking to steal someone away from someone else, guess who else is being heavily recruited … your best employees!

The best way to grow your company in this economy, and any economy really, is to build a company that Attracts the type of candidate you are looking for, Trains them to be productive quickly, and Retains them for the long term be being a Great Place to Work.  Here are the Four Keys I teach my coaching clients.

Key 1 – Create a Business that Attracts the Types of Talent you Seek.  This takes learning what top employees in your industry are looking for.  Do a little research on your industry, ask your team (gasp, can I do that), ask your peers.  Make sure your visible presence and culture/environment are fitting for the type of candidates you want.  I have clients looking for “A” players who barely deserve “C” players right now, and I have clients who have candidates walk in and ask for a job every week, willing to take a paycut if necessary to work there.

Key 2 – Select the Right Candidates from those who apply.  Employees are People, who have to work on a Team with other People, completing work for your Customers, who also happen to be People.  All the skills in the world won’t overcome being a misfit team member, so make sure you hire for team and culture fit first, skills second whenever possible.  Just know that if you hire for skills first, you run the chance of not only this person not working out, but first they will drive away some of the others.

Key 3 – Help Them Become Productive Quickly.  This one is simple, have a written training plan with skill mastery objectives, dates, and expectations in it.  Share this with the new team member, ask about it every single week. 

Key 4 – Create a Work Environment that Engages Your Employees.  Culture, culture, culture is the name of the game.  You want your team to want to come to work and to go home talking about what they got done, not about what they hate.  Learn how to engage them and keep them engaged.

There you have it – pretty simple really.  Give me a shout if you need help figuring any of these out for your team.

Author: Mark McNulty, Business Coach in Louisville, KY

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Attract, Train and Retain: 4 Keys to Building Your Team