Upgrading Your Talent
It has been said that every job is open for a reason. Even the person you don't want to leave is leaving for a reason. After all, if the person leaving felt satisfied in their position, they would not be leaving.
Over time, you have people who you ask to leave, then you have people who leave on their own. Either way, you are stuck with a situation of having to fill a position. What do you do?
Most people put a few ads out and start weeding through the candidates and hire the least expensive with most experience they can afford. Or they just hire back someone who worked there before, but they previously left for one of the above reasons.
Neither of those scenarios are perfect. Don't get me wrong, sometimes, they work, when the person comes back after leaving on their own and garnering new experiences which can enrich the organization. Most times, they don't work that way, as it merely the path of least resistance.
When you have to fill a position, the #1 thing employers should think about is "how do we upgrade the position?" Even the best employee has elements you would like to see and not see in your next hire.
How often have you, as an employer, made a list of characteristics you want to hire and another list outlining what you don't. Chances are, you haven't. If you have, good, you are seeking the right employee. If you haven't, it doesn't mean you are seeking the wrong employee. You are just making your job more difficult.
I can't speak for all businesses, but in radio, I have had a lot of success in hiring better employees than I have lost. (and I lose very few, because of how I hire.). Here is my list of how I hire. (Most of no-brainers, but I see people miss these all the time.)
1.) Make a list of what the job entails.
2,) Set my highest point of what I am willing to pay
3.) Put together list of characteristics to seek when reading resumes and interviewing.
4.) Ask for recommendations.
5.) Depending on the job, look outside of the industry. (In radio, I have made hires from Starbucks, Subway, police officers, customer service agents from Best Buy, etc.) These people can learn the business, don't come with preconceived notions of what we should do and they bring in an outside perspective, from a listener's point of view.
6.) A traditional job ad is a lesson on why no one wants to apply. You need to write your ad so it talks to the candidates you want..
There are some great articles on how to write job ads to Millennials. I did this recently and was inundated with high quality candidates. The difference in the ad style to Millenials is that you are talking to how they will be offered the opportunity to contribute, time off, that we will train...and I like to include, "if you want to stay forever, we want you here. If you want to stay here and move on to bigger places, we will help you get there". (FYI, Make sure you are ok with that last line and you are willing back it up. If you don't believe that last line, don't use it. It is far better to be honest . If you can't back up, you will lose good people.)
Click here and check out an example of a job ad I used recently that was unbelievably successful.
7.) Make 2 piles, the applicants that have the qualities you want and put the others in the EEO file.
8.) Start calling the candidates and let them know what qualities they have as to why you called them.
9.) Then do the #1 thing that no one ever does at the beginning of an interview. The one thing everyone says to never until the end of the last interview....ASK THEM "HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO MAKE?" If it isn't close, let them know what your range is. If it is in the ballpark, let them know that we are close. I will say that prefacing that question with "I don't want us to waste each other's time in this process", as you want to find a good match and they want to find a good job. Be honest.
10.) If the person moves past the first interview, CALL THEIR REFERENCES AND FORMER EMPLOYERS!!!!!
11.) See #10. Very few people do this any more and it bites employers all the time. If you have a number of people telling you contradictory info, is not able to be re-hired, etc. flags should go up. Sometimes, you may find that you have a potential super-star on your hands that hasn't been given the right opportunity yet...and your radio station may be a perfect fit.
12.) During your interview processes, let the candidate ask questions...lots of questions before, during and after the interviews. Remember, they are interviewing you, as much as you are interviewing them. The candidate can walk away from the job, even if there is an offer.
13.) When you make the offer, give it to them in writing. I am not suggesting a contract (unless that is your intention), but let them know that you are planning on delivering on everything you both negotiated. Putting it in writing is an act of trust and it is an act of faith.
At the end of it all, you will find a great employee and you will most likely find a number of other candidates that impress you along the way. And if that or any other employee leaves,you have a great system to find talented people who will upgrade your radio station.
