Become a Hiring Machine
Here are 10 Things you should be fixing now, before the next labor boom. Note, I am starting at the end of the employment cycle for a reason.
1. EXIT INTERVIEWS - Start doing exit interviews for EVERY team member that leaves voluntarily. Ask three questions:
To be THE employer of choice in your community, you MUST have a positive employee culture and exit interviews will let you know immediately how you are doing.
2. Have Productive Conversations. Most club managers ( all departments) fail miserably when you score their effectiveness in this area. Why? They will say “ too busy or don’t want to pry into personal lives!”. The real reason this is not happening is either lack of training or lack of confidence. Train your managers to talk to their people and watch them grow.
3. Schedule Check-ins - Require your trained managers to develop individual and team goals for their team members and perform scheduled, five-minute check-ins to review progress. If your managers are trained to have Productive Conversations, Check-ins will be a breeze. And then, the Exit Interviews will be easier to accomplish because you already have a culture of productive conversation.
4. Evaluate Performance Annually – When done properly, performance reviews are a key component to improving your employee culture. These should be an annual summary of your on-going conversations. Your Stars thrive on feedback, your Dogs hate it but need to hear it and your plow horses (the folks grinding it out) need to know their job performance is tied to the success of the club. If you are already having Productive Conversations during Scheduled Check-ins, your team members will look forward to receiving positive feedback and goal setting.
5. Fix Your Employment Culture
Notice this is NOT number one on the list. Why? You cannot fix this until you understand what’s broken. Using the information you got from your Exit Interviews, your Productive Conversations, your Scheduled Check-ins and your Performance Evaluations will allow you to work with your managers, identify issues that negatively affect your employment culture and fix them. Be prepared to say goodbye to problem management team members in this process.
This Step Is Critical and may require HELP! Be prepared to call in a facilitator to assist with these meetings.
6. Develop Team Building Opportunities – Work is still a 4 letter word but it does not have to be a drag. Team builders like employee birthday and anniversary celebrations help break the monotony. Tie in a “friendly” bingo game with some give-aways to kick it up a notch. Recognize tenure at your annual all-staff meeting and build some camaraderie between departments. Never miss an opportunity to celebrate success with the whole team!
7. Develop Goal Setting, Scorecards and Training Programs
You want to have fun, ask your managers to write down what they really want from their staff and ask them to be specific. Setting benchmarks and committing to scheduled management team meetings with ONE agenda item, measuring progress. This will do more to improve performance than anything you can do. Keep a scorecard to measure progress for all relevant goals. Training should be on-going and reflect the goals you set.
8. Develop an orientation program - ALL new hires must go through orientation BEFORE they meet their first member. A GREAT first impression will reduce turnover and increase productivity and engagement. Internet based programs like my Team Builder ensure that all new hires start their job with a solid foundation.
9. Build Your Hiring Process – Hiring great people doesn’t just happen. Successful organizations ( think Disney, Apple, Google) put as much effort into the recruiting and hiring process as they have developing and offering great products. Their entire organization feeds the recruiting process by design!
If you have completed steps 1 through 7, you are ready to build your hiring process.
Regardless of your choices, your Employee Referral Program (ERP) better be number one. Engaging staff ( and members) to help with recruiting will always be your best source of like-minded individuals. And now that you have your employment culture working for you, your team will help you protect the quality of the team.
Commit to making recruiting great people a cultural initiative that you pursue every day and demand that your managers are in the process.
For an overview of your recruiting channel choices click here: Recruiting Channels
1. EXIT INTERVIEWS - Start doing exit interviews for EVERY team member that leaves voluntarily. Ask three questions:
- What did you like about working here.
- What did you dislike about working here
- Would you recommend us to your friends, if not, why not.
To be THE employer of choice in your community, you MUST have a positive employee culture and exit interviews will let you know immediately how you are doing.
2. Have Productive Conversations. Most club managers ( all departments) fail miserably when you score their effectiveness in this area. Why? They will say “ too busy or don’t want to pry into personal lives!”. The real reason this is not happening is either lack of training or lack of confidence. Train your managers to talk to their people and watch them grow.
3. Schedule Check-ins - Require your trained managers to develop individual and team goals for their team members and perform scheduled, five-minute check-ins to review progress. If your managers are trained to have Productive Conversations, Check-ins will be a breeze. And then, the Exit Interviews will be easier to accomplish because you already have a culture of productive conversation.
4. Evaluate Performance Annually – When done properly, performance reviews are a key component to improving your employee culture. These should be an annual summary of your on-going conversations. Your Stars thrive on feedback, your Dogs hate it but need to hear it and your plow horses (the folks grinding it out) need to know their job performance is tied to the success of the club. If you are already having Productive Conversations during Scheduled Check-ins, your team members will look forward to receiving positive feedback and goal setting.
5. Fix Your Employment Culture
Notice this is NOT number one on the list. Why? You cannot fix this until you understand what’s broken. Using the information you got from your Exit Interviews, your Productive Conversations, your Scheduled Check-ins and your Performance Evaluations will allow you to work with your managers, identify issues that negatively affect your employment culture and fix them. Be prepared to say goodbye to problem management team members in this process.
This Step Is Critical and may require HELP! Be prepared to call in a facilitator to assist with these meetings.
6. Develop Team Building Opportunities – Work is still a 4 letter word but it does not have to be a drag. Team builders like employee birthday and anniversary celebrations help break the monotony. Tie in a “friendly” bingo game with some give-aways to kick it up a notch. Recognize tenure at your annual all-staff meeting and build some camaraderie between departments. Never miss an opportunity to celebrate success with the whole team!
7. Develop Goal Setting, Scorecards and Training Programs
You want to have fun, ask your managers to write down what they really want from their staff and ask them to be specific. Setting benchmarks and committing to scheduled management team meetings with ONE agenda item, measuring progress. This will do more to improve performance than anything you can do. Keep a scorecard to measure progress for all relevant goals. Training should be on-going and reflect the goals you set.
8. Develop an orientation program - ALL new hires must go through orientation BEFORE they meet their first member. A GREAT first impression will reduce turnover and increase productivity and engagement. Internet based programs like my Team Builder ensure that all new hires start their job with a solid foundation.
9. Build Your Hiring Process – Hiring great people doesn’t just happen. Successful organizations ( think Disney, Apple, Google) put as much effort into the recruiting and hiring process as they have developing and offering great products. Their entire organization feeds the recruiting process by design!
If you have completed steps 1 through 7, you are ready to build your hiring process.
- First, write job descriptions and position profiles that reflect the club you want to be. Do not rely on boiler plate templates! Use language that is real and relevant to the job.
- Review your hiring documents to ensure they are well written and present a polished, professional image of the club.
- Walk through your hiring process and iron out the kinks. Make sure your applicants meet your best face first.
- Write job postings from a marketing perspective that answer the question “Why would someone want to work for us?”. You have to sell the sizzle!
- Make recruiting a “thing” that you and your team discuss often.
Regardless of your choices, your Employee Referral Program (ERP) better be number one. Engaging staff ( and members) to help with recruiting will always be your best source of like-minded individuals. And now that you have your employment culture working for you, your team will help you protect the quality of the team.
Commit to making recruiting great people a cultural initiative that you pursue every day and demand that your managers are in the process.
For an overview of your recruiting channel choices click here: Recruiting Channels