What Employees Want
Understanding the Impact
Employers sometimes forget or misunderstand the impact a new job has on their new employees. This includes the personal change that a new job brings for said employee, as well as revealed personal skills gaps, or attaining new management responsibilities. The New Job Impact does not have to be negative, it can be very positive. And when it is, the impact on the hiring company, in turn, can also be also positive.
Hire to Retain
Having this hiring policy requires a change in how we view every new hire, as well as every single current employee. With a gained understanding that companies want to protect their investments, doesn’t it make sense to protect their talent from those things / distractions that keep employees from fully investing, heart and soul, in their organizations?
What Employees Want
- Appreciation – to feel valued
- Commensurate Compensation and Benefits – to feel valued
- Involvement with their own Performance Management – to feel valued
- Opportunities for Growth – to feel valued
- Leadership Development – to feel valued
- To Be Heard – to feel valued
- TRUE engagement…
What employees really want is a clear understanding that there is a plan – a plan in place for them to be a valued team member of the staff and organization. This what every single employee wants – no matter their level.
We all want that time between the hire date and the day an employee leaves an organization to be important – to the employee and the employer, to know that a difference was made on a team, in a department, for an organization. This provides the employee with the confirmation: I contributed to some success or positive change for my company or my industry.
The Life of the Employee
Successful organizations invest a great deal in every new employee – from the early hiring process through onboarding, orientation, training, and early retention efforts. Does it not make sense to continue this investment after the 90-day mark? Past the time when new employees are eligible for benefits or a raise in their current pay? Past their probationary period? Past the time when they are eligible for PTO? Past the time when they have mastered their current role and are ready training or promotion? Past the time when they have been identified as management material? Of course, this makes sense, this is employee strategy.
Your employees are the life of your organization, the foundation. They are your culture, they represent your employer brand, in the truest sense and they can be your greatest brand asset. The stats continue to point to employees also being your greatest source of hire with the ability to challenge and change the current work environment.
Hiring Done Right
When a right hire has been made, an opportunity exists to prove and grow the future of your organization. Employees – the right employees – quality employees – want the opportunity to give and receive more. Job stability is not under-rated – both organizational stability and employment stability.
When an organization truly cares about and invests in its employees? Built in retention.
My first job in HR was as a third-party recruiter with an executive search firm. Early on, I read a book called Decency by Charles S. Lauer, whom I met him in person at a conference and asked to sign my copy of his book – he smiled and nodded his head knowingly. He seemed to know that about hiring quality. I also cared about the employee – if they stayed an employee, I would keep my job – it meant I was a good recruiter – and so I cared about the function of human resources. “People are any organizations greatest assets,” Mr. Lauer said to me that day as he signed my book:
“Rayanne,
To someone who loves life and loves people. You have a great attitude!!
-Charles”
Whenever I feel my attitude slip or job fatigue set in – I grab this book, which is never far from my desk and I read Mr. Lauer’s words to me…
I knew it was true then, and I work to keep it true now. And it does take work.
It’s called work for a reason.
