four steps to attract and retain great employees

Fantastic employees can be your greatest asset, and possibly your greatest cost. Therefore recruiting and retaining the right people from the start can play a huge role in achieving your businesses success. When 90% percent of new hires decide whether to stay or go during the first six months of employment, it is extremely important to get your process right from the beginning.

Here are Cornerstone’s top 4 tips for hiring employees:

  1. Get clear on when to hire

Evaluate your need for additional employees early, rather than working to the point of burn out before you consider adding to your team. Consider if you really need a full time employee, or if other employment arrangements will work, such as; casuals, part time, fixed term or job share options.

  1. Get clear on your requirements

Think about what your business needs – not just now, but into the future as well. Put togther a job description which outlines required: position duties, skills, qualifications, experience and personal attributes. This will assist you to define what you are looking for and help you to search for the most suitable candidate. It’s important not to tailor the role to the candidate, but to what you and your business need.

  1. Onboarding

Onboarding is an important first step to retention, so it’s important to set up and maintain an effective onboarding process. Why you may ask? Because 90% of employees will decide if they will stay or go within the first 90 days. Onboarding is not just a day 1 task – it is ongoing, so make time for 1 on 1 meetings with your new employee.

Check out our blogs for more information on the importance of onboarding, and what to include in onboarding packs.

  1. Develop & Retain

It’s important for your employees to feel that they are adding value, and giving them the freedom and to opportunity to push themselves will allow them to grow and develop. Give your team demanding tasks that will challenge them, but make sure you make your expectations clear. Studies show that the harder the task, the prouder and more engaged the employee feels once they have completed it.

If you have any questions or would like to find out how Cornerstone HR can help your business with attracting and retaining the right people, contact one of our HR consultants today.