As businesses grow and evolve, the employee search process becomes increasingly important. Finding and hiring the right employees is crucial to success.
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While the hiring process can be time consuming and challenging, it must be done right. Not only do the best employees help to increase productivity and profitability, but they can also contribute to a positive company culture and overall better employee satisfaction.

To improve your likelihood of success while looking for new employees on job boards like ZipRecruiter, it's important to understand how to optimize hiring. Explore how to find quality candidates by applying some of these strategies for conducting an effective employee search.

1. Determine your needs.

Before you start the employee search process, you must determine your needs. What position do you need to fill? What skills and experience are required? What kind of personality traits tend to be successful in this role? Once you understand what you need, you can start looking for candidates who meet those criteria.

2. Create a compelling job description.

A job listing serves as more than just a description of responsibilities. It presents a chance to promote your company and the position to prospective candidates. Use clear language and emphasize the advantages of being part of your organization. While specifying the necessary qualifications, also showcase any selling points of your company culture or work setting.

3. Use job search sites.

Choosing the right platform is essential to reach the best possible audience. ZipRecruiter is one site that can help you reach many quality job seekers. The robust platform offers tools for posting jobs, screening candidates, and managing applications all in one place. It also allows you to reach candidates actively looking for jobs and those who may be open to new opportunities.

4. Encourage employee referrals.

Your current employees can be a valuable resource in the employee search process. They may know of someone who would be a good fit for the open position or may be able to spread the word to their own networks. Incentivize employee referrals to encourage your team to participate in the search for a new employee.

5. Screen candidates thoroughly.

Once you start receiving applications, it's important to screen candidates thoroughly. Look for resumes matching your job description and pay attention to relevant experience or certifications. Conduct phone or video interviews to better understand a candidate's personality and communication skills. Consider using pre-employment assessments or tests to assess a candidate's fit for the role.

6. Conduct in-person interviews.

After you've screened your candidates, it's time to conduct in-person interviews. This is an opportunity to dig deeper into their experience and qualifications and assess their compatibility with your company culture. Ask behavioral questions to understand how a candidate handles different situations and use the opportunity to showcase your company culture and values.

Hiring A-list employees may seem like a daunting task. Following these helpful tips can help streamline the employee search process and set your business up for long-term success.



​Source: Entrepreneur.com
Image Credit: ​Shutterstock

As an entrepreneur and success coach to multimillion-dollar companies and rising stars in business, I am the first to admit that I could not possibly do what I do without my fantastic team. I know the amount of effort it takes to find and train employees and to inspire them to work together like a well-oiled machine, and it's no easy task.

In my career, I have seen how some companies can unlock the potential of each employee over and over again. They attract, engage and retain top talent who are enthusiastic and highly functional in their jobs. In turn, these employees boost productivity, engagement and profitability. When you've seen that magic at work, it's incredible. When you're experiencing the opposite, figuring out how to fix it is overwhelming.

No matter how big or small your business, everything about it comes down to the satisfaction and happiness of the people who are working in it and on it. Happy employees equal happy clients and customers, which equals happy owners and stockholders.

Employee hiring, retention and productivity are some of the top issues companies face today, and solving these problems can be one of the biggest challenges for companies of every size. My clients always ask me: How can I ensure that our employees: 1) enjoy their jobs enough to stay with the company and 2) care enough to work at their highest and best levels?

I learned a lot about what I know about building strong teams from Bryan Howard of Mercury Performance Group, and I use his principles with my own clients. After decades of working with some of the biggest names in business, including Chase, Wells Fargo, TIAA and more, he knows it's possible to build a company culture that rewards employees, provides a purpose for people, and cares about its employees and their families.

I recently talked with Howard about his experiences fixing internal workforce issues for companies with more than 500 employees. He claimed the secret was found in harnessing the power of people.

When looking at a company that needs help with employee productivity, you look at the Inchworm Effect or Pareto Principle. Study the 20% of employees on the right side of the bell curve — the top performers — and teach their approach to success to the average and lower performers on the left side. And as those workers are upping their game, the top performers keep innovating and improving, and again their innovations are passed along. Momentum is created, the bell curve gets ever steeper, and the entire team functions at a higher level.

Howard shared his program for improving companies, which always starts with people:

1. People are at the center of the solar system at every company.
2. Every person in an organization has unique superpowers that lie dormant until allowed to shine.
3. Alignment and engagement are the hinges that swing open the door to high performance.
4. Leaders are the key to unlocking the potential of people and teams.
5. One size does not fit all. Each company needs tailored solutions that create sustainable results for employees and their performance.
6. Learning and evolving are not negotiable in any company.
7. Growth is the only evidence for the life of a company.
8. Empowered people transform organizations.

Along with this, eight key areas must be looked at: employee performance and productivity, employee retention, employee engagement, customer engagement, the brand's reputation, interpersonal communication and conflict and regulatory compliance. Howard calls this the M-Factor.

If you're always looking to build and maintain a strong and empowered team, Howard's main advice is to engage the employees in how to do that. "The trainings happen with them, not to them," Howard reminded me. "This empowered the employees to create a great organization."

Applying universal principles and decades of experience can lead to easy-to-implement, measurable results that change customer engagement dramatically. It's possible to help your company thrive through your employees and improve profitability while boosting motivation and personal satisfaction.



Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/
Image Credit: Shutterstock

For the past two years, we’ve all watched the evolutionary workplace processes prompted by the Great Resignation. Take flexible work arrangements, for example. They’re now the norm in many industries that used to claim jobs couldn’t be done well remotely. However, one outcome of the mass employee exodus still needs to be explored and examined: how to help employees feel like their work matters.

Do employees actually care if they’re progressing in some way? According to research, yes. Of those who quit their job in 2021, Pew Research Center found that 63% cited no path to advancement as the reason. In other words, they had no way to realize their goals at their companies—so they left in the hopes of finding new employers that wouldn’t thwart their growth.

If you’re a leader, you must pay attention to figures like those. Even if your team members seem satisfied and aren’t quietly quitting, they might still feel like they’re spinning their wheels. In that case, they might not be your team members for much longer.

Rather than risk preventable attrition, consider applying the following management strategies. Each one is designed to turn your workplace into a space where employees can name, claim, and exceed their personal goals.

1. Acknowledge and accept that everyone has different goals: Tonya Towles, founder and CEO of The PCS Pro Team

You already know your personal goals as an entrepreneur, CEO, or executive. Just don’t assume that all your employees share your goals. That’s a huge mistake, but it’s one that many high performers make. What makes it so potentially disastrous? You’ll be dangling the wrong carrot and won’t realize your workers are uninspired until it’s too late.

Tonya Towles, founder and CEO of The PCS Pro Team, admits that realizing her team members didn’t share her big goals was an eye-opener. However, she’s used this realization to improve how she leads others. “My mom had an expression,” she explains. “'If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.’ Not everyone’s contentment or success is the same. Remove the bias of what you think is a good goal. Who wouldn’t want to make a million dollars? It surprised me when someone told me they didn’t.”

The best way to discover your employees’ goals is to ask. Of course, as the boss, you might not have time to do this with each person. Ask supervisors to talk with their direct reports about personal goals. The more you know, the more you can help everyone around you grow.

2.  Allow team members to make mistakes: Melanie Clark, CMO at Abstrakt Marketing Group

Have you made many missteps in your career? Of course. We all have. That’s how we make discoveries. Those of us who are lucky end up not repeating the same errors twice. And those of us who are really lucky end up working at companies where mistakes aren’t punished.

How can you ensure your team members know it’s OK to stumble? Melanie Clark, CMO at Abstrakt Marketing Group, has an answer: Provide support so employees can feel comfortable stretching themselves. “From stressing the importance of risk-taking to encouraging team members to speak up and take ownership, we’ve been able to develop a workplace culture that rewards ambition and creativity,” says Clark. “When I first took on my position, I knew that it was up to me to set the tone. We had to be willing to take risks and serve as role models for our teams. That meant encouraging them to take ownership of projects. It also meant providing support when things didn’t go as planned.”

The point is that you can’t tell your employees, “We support you going for your goals,” if you don’t let anyone fail. Wins are great, but failures can become the stepping stones to greatness. Everyone’s heard that Thomas Edison’s light bulb invention journey was a slow, arduous process of experimentation. The reason was simple: Edison knew that to move closer to his goal, he had to break a few eggs (or bulbs!).

3. Check in with employees to revisit their goals: Kelly Knight, integrator and president at EOS Worldwide

Are you still focused on accomplishing the same goals you had 10 years ago? Five years ago? Last year? Probably not. So, try not to fall into the trap of thinking that your employees won’t change their goals either. They will—and won’t necessarily tell you if you don’t ask.

This is why Kelly Knight, integrator and president at EOS Worldwide, ensures that all managers have quarterly check-ins with their team members. The meetings allow both parties to ensure they’re on the same page. “Listening to your team members during this conversation is imperative,” Knight notes. “They want to feel heard and valued. Allow the space for team members to be honest about their goals and professional dreams. This builds trust. Once trust is built, there can be increased openness to explore how that individual is working toward their goals.”

It’s OK if you find that employees are reluctant to speak openly about what they want to achieve at their first check-ins. Give them time. When they see that it’s safe to say, “I want to become a manager,” or, “I’d like to learn the skills to transfer to another department,” they’ll begin to open up. And you can help them blossom from there.

4. Show employees how their innovation, creativity, and hard work can pay off: Suzanne Bates, managing director at BTS Boston

Do you give regular raises? Promotions? If so, do they happen occasionally, or is there a structured path employees can take to move up the ladder? Suzanne Bates, managing director at BTS Boston, believes that one of the critical ingredients to motivating workers to set and achieve goals is showing them how they will be rewarded once they hit various milestones.

Bates says that her company’s “clear, globally aligned performance and promotion criteria that are made transparent to everyone” has been a massive reason that team members have been able to succeed personally. “Within the criteria are many development goals that provide people with the chance to demonstrate capability through critical experience and exposure,” Bates explains.

Now is an excellent time to map out this type of “success ladder” at your company. When employees can see where they are, they can see what they must do to make progress. Because you’ll be designing the framework of this ladder, you can be sure that it aligns with your organization’s overarching goals. Everything connects, and everyone wins.

Each of your employees has multiple personal and professional goals. As an employer, you’re in a position to shepherd and guide them toward their North Stars. And your reward will be more satisfied workers who feel good about their contributions.



Source: https://www.forbes.com
Image Credit: Supporting employee goals | Getty Images

Is it possible to keep your brightest team players from moving on? Yes, if you focus on growth. Here's how to do it sustainably — and with a people-centered focus.

The floodgates have opened for talented professionals. Now that the Great Resignation is alleviating people's fears of becoming "job jumpers," high performers are seeking greener pastures. But this doesn't mean that your company can't hold onto your best employees — you just have to win their loyalty.

One of the best ways to do this is to focus on your corporate growth. How does growing your business, brand and revenue help you reduce turnover? According to Ceridian's "2022 Pulse of Talent" report, 30% of active job seekers say they are looking for new roles due to a lack of growth opportunities at their current jobs. Almost 20% say it's because their work doesn't align with their skills.

A lot of workers want their skill sets to be identified, molded and honed. They want to be immersed in a company that sees them as part of the solution today and tomorrow. By scaling your business, you can satisfy all these employee desires. As you grow, you'll have more money to invest in training, more positions and roles to offer talented workers and more chances to create a culture that makes people want to stick around for the long term.
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Of course, growth won't happen overnight. It won't happen by accident, either. To increase your corporate profits and provide team members with the opportunities and encouragement they're craving, you'll need to make intentional changes. Here are three steps to get you started.


1. Empower top talent to think like entrepreneurs

As a founder, you know what it's like to be an entrepreneur. You've had to innovate, facilitate and advocate for yourself and your business to get where you are. Do your other team members have the same experiences? Only 16% of adults in the U.S. could be considered entrepreneurs, according to Babson College research. However, your employees (and company) could benefit from adopting an entrepreneurial mindset.

To drive growth and simultaneously reward top achievers, ask key players to help you overcome obstacles and problems standing in the way of growth. Empower them to devise creative solutions. You might even want to authorize them to take steps forward without asking, such as by building a product prototype or working with marketing to attract untapped audiences. Google, for example, encourages employees to spend 20% of their time on what they think would most benefit the company.

Just make sure you offer a soft landing for any ventures that don't pan out. Giving your employees permission to experiment and then pulling away the safety net when they don't succeed isn't fair. When workers feel like they can flex their entrepreneurial mindset, they tend to be more adaptable, more innovative and less stressed. Plus, they'll be more apt to go the extra mile for your company, which can prompt faster growth.

2. Paint a clear vision of what's down the road and around the bend

To maintain your best team members and propel your company toward growth, you have to show your team where you're going. Never assume that workers have read your annual business plans or that they can somehow read your mind. Employees won't know your chosen direction until you tell them.

This puts the onus on you and the rest of your leadership team to lay out company goals for employees. You'll need to go one step further, though. In addition to describing your plan, illustrate how every person can contribute to it. Be as specific as possible so your teams can see where they fit in.

When people feel valued, they'll think twice before leaving. They might also feel more energized because of their sense of belonging. Throughout 2021, Gallup noted a drop in employee engagement. Providing a business roadmap can help stimulate the mental excitement your employees might be missing. At the same time, your purpose-driven team members will be more likely to want your business to grow — and to contribute to that growth.

3. Promote from within when possible

When your business promotes from within and is on a growth trajectory, talented employees know it. They realize that they might just be months away from landing their next role or fulfilling their career path dreams. As such, they'll be less likely to reach out to recruiters.

Although business growth might open up promotion opportunities, you'll also want to reimagine how every employee can contribute to your company's success and scalability. For example, you could reconfigure a role to utilize someone's unique skill set. Case in point: You could pay your best cold caller more and also put them in charge of training other sales team members.

Promoting internally and moving people around creates closer connections in your workforce. Employees will get to know each other and form bonds. Just be certain that you're coaching everyone appropriately and educating your managers on how to mentor their strongest team members. A case study by Together found that employees who took part in a company mentorship program were almost 50% less likely to leave the organization.

Sometimes, business growth means bringing on new talent. That's understandable. Just be sure that you focus on retaining as many high performers as possible. If you don't provide top talent with the career and development opportunities they're looking for, then you'll find yourself back where you started.



Source: ​https://www.entrepreneur.com/