Tools of the Trade: Priority Tips

- Recruitment

- Retaining Staff

- Retraining Staff

- Employer Branding

Staff Recruitment

Your goal is to hire staff who will add value to your business and who will be productive. Here is a summary of key steps you might consider:

• Do you need someone for a one-off short-term project or in an ongoing capacity?
• What specific tasks do you require the person to perform?
• Does the person need to have specific formal qualifications?
• How many hours a week do you anticipate needing someone?
• Should you take on an apprentice or trainee?
• How much can your business afford?
• Prepare a job description/advertisement - this will define the job responsibilities, tasks and activities to be performed.
• Access recruitment sources that are suited to the type of staff you need (and your budget) - options may include engaging an employment agency (link this to the WDO page that includes the list of JSA's, SQ4W programs, Community Orgs running employment programs), advertising using local media
• Select and appoint a suitable applicant - it is a good idea to interview a few potentially suitable candidates - even if you have been referred someone by a colleague, to help you determine suitability. You may also consider conducting referee checks to further confirm suitability of preferred candidates.
• Issue a letter of appointment - this should include a starting date, award or agreement under which you are employing them under, a probationary period, leave arrangements, hours of work, remuneration, the nature of the job, terms and conditions of resignation/terminations etc.

Consider this.....
- How effective has your recruiting been?
- How well do you train your staff?
- Do you assess your staff's performance?

One of the most significant investments any business makes is into the team that drives the success of the organisation. How often have you struggled to find the right team to support the needs of the business and fit within the culture of your business?As a business manager, it makes sense that you make the most out of the time involved and the money spent when recruiting new staff.

A useful option is to contact the Logan Office of Economic Development and talk to our Workforce Development officer about the range of locally funded programs and services to assist with finding skilled work ready candidates through links to local funded Government Employment Services and Job Services Australia providers.

Retaining Staff

Many businesses in Logan benefit from and utilise training programs to invest in staff development and report back that by up-skilling existing staff, productivity and motivation has been enhanced.

The effectiveness of internal communication, the extent to which employees are motivated to perform well, and the quality of the leadership given by management, all play an important role in retaining staff. All these factors relate to the strength of the organisation's employer brand and the way that it is perceived internally by current employees and externally by potential future recruits.

Training also encourages loyalty and allows employees to grow and develop, take ownership of their position, and make a positive contribution to the company

Develop your employees' skills for increased productivity.
Supporting your staff to keep their skills up to date and aligned to your future business needs makes sense. As business sector and industry conditions change, so does the skill set needed by your employees. Are you keeping track of what you need your staff to adapt to so your business functions, and technologies and processes are met?

Retraining Existing Staff

There are many government funded programs to help you to retrain your staff - these incentives can be utilised to pay for the training, and the majority of training can be done on-site. Contact us today to discuss your retraining needs to suite your business.

Today most business leaders realise that staff training and development is critical to business success. One main motive drive staff training: potential for improved profits. There are dozens of employee development and training topics available to business in Logan City. Contact our office to obtain the appropriate linkages and resources to help you get your training needs met.

Employer Branding

Organisations around the globe are facing similar business challenges; the difficulty of attracting talent and retaining quality employees, a lack of employee loyalty, increased overseas competition, enhanced generational change and a shortage of skilled candidates.

In turn, companies are increasingly being forced to compete on a global scale for human resources and are struggling to understand how to position themselves and make themselves desirable to future employees.
Many organisations are focusing considerable attention and resources on developing a strong employer brand.

What is an employer brand? What are the major factors at play that are influencing the increased necessity for companies to develop and maintain employer brands? How does an effective employer brand assist in the attraction and retention of quality staff, particularly Generation Y? How do organisations research and develop an employer brand that delivers results?

Hints and Tips

1.  Research your company's current attraction and retention performance: 

• Ascertain for which departments or job titles you have problems hiring;
• Assess whether your current employees represent the calibre of employees you would like to hire in the future;
• Ensure the right people at your organisation are conducting candidate interviews - do they represent the image you would like to convey?
• If you make a job offer and it is declined, find out why the candidate wasn't interested in working for you;
• Conduct exit interviews to establish why people are leaving.

2.  Conduct an audit on your company's values and points of difference:

•  List the reasons why someone may opt for employment with your organisation
• It may be worthwhile to conduct a survey and/or a focus group with internal and external stakeholders to compare your stated company values with the reality of internally and externally held perceptions and opinions about your organisation;
• Consistency between brand reality and the image you sell are critical for success;
• Ensure current employees are aware of what the organisation represents in terms of culture and values;
• Measure the consistency of your employer brand across all channels;
• Speak to your Robert Half consultant: the finance, accounting and banking fields continue to experience a severe shortage of candidates and the media landscape is continually changing. Placing an advertisement in the paper is no longer sufficient. We use a very diverse range of print advertising, online and networking channels to attract candidates and our consultants can talk you through the merits of each one. Consultants can also help you identify and highlight your organisational selling points based on what candidates are being offered in the market place.

3.  Initiate your roll out plan: