Do You Make This One Big Mistake When Recruiting And Retaining Staff
By: Sital Ruparelia

For any business, one of the biggest factors in finding and keeping customers is that of building and maintaining trust. If you cannot build trust with a potential customer or client, you will never win their business ? regardless of the price or quality of your products and services.

By not keeping your word and delivering on your promises (no matter how small), you will lose that trust and with it your existing customers.

The very same applies to finding & keeping your team.

If you make the mistake of not keeping your word with employees ? whether it be your current team or potential employees, you will lose their trust.

Once you have lost the trust of your team, it is almost impossible to win it back and it will be a clear signal that they will at some stage move on.

The break down of trust between an employer and an employee is in fact, one of the single biggest reasons for staff turnover.

So how do you build and keep trust?

In simple terms, I suggest you follow these 3 steps:

1. Under promise, over deliver

2. Always do what you say you are going to do

3. If you know you won?t be able to keep your promise, be proactive in informing people as early as possible and manage their expectations

Following these 3 steps will, in most circumstances, help you keep people?s trust and so maximise the chances of hiring and retaining the right people.

So how do these specifically apply to your business on a day to day basis?

FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Losing someone?s trust during the recruitment process is a sure fire way to miss out on the best people.

Remember, the best people in the market place want to work for people and businesses that they like, trust and respect.

So you have a great opportunity during the recruitment process to compete for the best talent by the way you act during the recruitment process.

1. Call them back when you say you will

Remember first impressions count: Doing what you say you will right at the beginning of a relationship with a potential employee makes a huge impact on someone. (Particularly if they are unhappy with their existing employer).

So if you have told someone that you will call them ?before the end of the week? or ?on Tuesday afternoon? to discuss their application or CV, then make sure you do it. If you can?t, then get someone else to make contact with them an explain that the delay.

2. Make decisions when you say you will

If you tell someone at the end of an interview that you will have a decision ?within 24 hours?, then make sure you do. If not, make sure you contact them to explain that there is a delay. Better still, telling them it will be 48 hours (under promise) and try to get back to them within 24 hours (over deliver) will help you exceed their expectations.

3. Deliver all documentation on time

It is imperative that any documentation (e.g. offer letters, employment contracts etc) arrive when you say they will. Any delay and people start getting nervous, maybe consider progressing with interviews elsewhere and possibly start to have second thoughts about joining you.

Whilst you may have just got caught up with other things and got delayed by a day or two ? changing jobs brings a lot of uncertainty and stress for people, so bringing an element of certainty will have a huge impact on them.

But again, only promise what you can deliver ? if you cannot get the contracts to them ?within a day? then don?t make that promise. Tell them it will be delivered within 3 days and deliver them beforehand.

And if there is a delay, get on the phone to them and explain the delay rather than them having to chase you.

With all these points, you will very likely slip up at times ? you?re juggling lots of balls in your business and life and it happens. But provided you are on the ?front foot? in explaining any delays or changes, you will maintain their trust.

Most of this is common courtesy, but it sends out a very clear message about the kind of business you are and how you treat people. This starts to build the trust and credibility that will help you retain them once they join your business.

KEEPING THE RIGHT PEOPLE

With your exiting employees, there are many areas where keeping your word will help you retain them. Here are just 3 of the key areas:

1. Deliver on your financial promises

Failing to deliver on financial promises ? whether they are pay raises or bonuses, will very often de-motivate your people and directly lead some to start searching for another job fairly quickly.

The key points to remember are

a) Never make a financial promise unless you know you can realistically deliver it (you are just storing up problems here for the future).

b) If you think you may not be able to deliver, then communicate this on the ?front foot? very early on and explain the reasons as openly as you can.

Yes, you may find that people may still choose to leave.

But very often, being honest, open and up front will help maintain trust and prevent someone from making a ?knee jerk? decision to leave as they feel let down

2. Deliver on the promises to train & develop people

This means delivering the initial training and induction you promised people during their interview. It means following through with any other training for your existing team that you agreed to.

Whether it?s sending them on a formal course or some on the job coaching from you, doing what you say helps you build trust and loyalty.

3. Deliver on your career progression promises

It is not always possible to fulfill everyone?s career aspirations ? your business needs to change with the market place. And so the career plans of your team will need to be flexible as the business adapts to its environment.

But once again, the key is to under promise and over deliver. Don?t promise promotions or exciting new projects if you truly do not believe they will materialise. Be realistic.

Even when you are realistic, things do still change and it may not always be possible to deliver. In these situations, being up front and honest as early as you can will maximise the chances of retaining the trust of your team.

None of this is really rocket science - the point I am making is very simple:

Treat your existing team like valuable customers and treat potential employees like potential customers.

That means always do what you say you are going to do. If you can?t do what you say you will do, then have the courage and integrity to tell people as soon as you can.

Better still, maybe don?t over hype things in the first place so that you can exceed people?s expectations

You see, being open, up front and authentic where ever possible ensures you build the trust and loyalty required to build a great team around you.

By the way, if you are looking for ways in which to build a great team around you, you may want to take a look at the Find Staff NOW!! e-book. It will give you a step-by-step guide to hiring the right people in the right way so that you truly have a loyal team around you. Take a look right now by clicking on this link: www.findstaffnow.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sital Ruparelia, The Recruitment & Retention Specialist? works with small businesses that struggle with recruitment and retention issues and helps them implement strategies proven to Find and Keep the Right People consistently.

Sital writes a FREE newsletter twice a month with tips on how to Find And Keep The Right People. To sign up now, visit http://www.authenticresourcing.com.

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