Ms. Lewis

Human Resources, Recruitment & Training

Your Senior Leaders Can Affect Whether Your Best Employees Stay…or Not

By Rene Lewis, Director of Human Resources , Signature Worldwide

“You’re hired!” It’s good to hear those words again! And depending on who says them in your hotel or business, they can have a profound affect on establishing the right cultural fit between your new hire and your organization.

You might have human resources staff who recruit and on-board new employees. It might also be someone in your operations group who leads this charge. But without the involvement of your senior leader or leaders, you are missing an opportunity to ensure success through recruitment and retention of your key talent.

Finding and keeping your best people is only partially dependant on recruiting. The culture of your workplace will have impact on who is attracted to and who chooses to stay with your business. Numerous employee retention studies have popped up recently as human resources and other leaders across the country develop an understanding of the long-term effects of the economic recession. The findings are all consistent. Despite tough financial times, the main reasons why employees choose to leave a business are still the same as they have been for the last fifteen years: 1) The relationship and trust in their direct supervisor, 2) their belief that senior leaders make good business decisions and act ethically, and 3) their belief that if they work smart and hard, there will be career growth for them. Although we observe that compensation has generally moved up the list in the last two years, it still doesn’t usually make or break a person’s decision to leave their company.

Senior leaders (are you one of them?) manage and direct the cultural and operational decision-making processes regarding these three things each and every day. There is a direct correlation with businesses where senior leaders are visible, accessible, AND involved in recruiting and retaining employees producing great cultures, productive, fun work environments and bigger bottom lines.

High employee retention begins with great employee sourcing, recruiting and on-boarding. Executive or senior leader participation in recruiting and on-boarding makes a big difference in introducing company culture to prospective employees. It proves to new hires that investment takes place in employees from the very beginning; that the business cares what they do and how they behave. The top candidates are looking for business environments that compel them toward success and offer professional and sometimes personal mentorship.

Including senior people in interviews or in orientation and training will create a sense of connectedness and will motivate and engage employees from the very beginning. The rule of “first impressions” counts for your internal customers, as well as your external customers. This is something we forget. The hard and soft costs of employee turnover can run into the thousands of dollars, depending on the position.

In interviews and training, senior leaders can explain the raison d’etre and branding of your organization, and describe company culture and ethics. This will send a strong message and create a clear image about the important role each and every employee plays in the success of your business. They can and should talk about the mission, vision and values of your organization.

The inclusion of a vested senior leader in selection and hiring is essential to finding the right people to fill positions. They should have input in building, with the staffing agent, an up-to-date and accurate description of the business need for the position and the position itself. The area or department manager, in addition to top leadership, can both serve as the technical expert in determining whether or not a candidate meets the qualifications of the job. In turn, candidates are interested in working for a business and a manager which foster personal development. Accepting or declining a position is a personal decision and so is keeping a job.

Employee disengagement and the breakdown of the belief that those three main satisfiers (supervisor, senior leadership and career satisfaction) are no longer a part of their experience will cause key employees to think about and, ultimately act on, leaving your business. When key employees leave your business, they take historical knowledge, as well as customer relationships and retention, with them. This is not good for you or your business!

Employees become disengaged when they are no longer interested in linking the business’s success to their own. Some signs of employee disengagement are: increased absenteeism, tardiness, poor productivity/sales/performance, poor participation in company meetings and events, poor participation in employee feedback processes, complaining without offering solutions, and social relationships at work dissolving. Employee disengagement can be a progressive process or can happen with one single experience an employee has.

Senior leaders can prevent disengagement by being a regularly seen face and voice to your employees and by making certain that employee development is a priority in the business. Leaders should expect human resources, if they are a part of your organization, and/or other managers, to habitually talk with employees and solicit ideas about how to improve employee experiences. Engaged employees want senior leaders to support managers in holding non-performers accountable, too. They want to see the leaders making smart decisions for the good of the business, and for their own security and careers.

And don’t forget that your managers can also become disengaged. When this happens there are similar warning signs, with the added pleasantry of high employee turnover in their areas. There are four common leadership “traps”, such as the “workaholic”, who thinks he’s engaged but really isn’t. Great senior leaders will beg, borrow and steal to keep employee and manager disengagement at bay and it starts with setting the right tone, culture and expectations about working in your organization.

Here are some great ideas to involve senior leaders (again…is that you?) in employee processes, from start to finish, that will prove to attract and retain your best employees:

Recruiting:

• Talk with your leadership about your hiring needs. What are they and why? What gaps do you have in delighting your customers? Make sure you know their marching orders, opinions and perceptions about how the business is running.
• Have them help update job descriptions and interview questions, and have them help to identify the perfect candidate, even if it’s now and then.
• Involve them in interview and selection processes.
• Involve them in hiring decisions.
• Persuade them to talk at conferences and other external meetings about what a great workplace they have.
• Ask them to call and make the employment offer, including why they believe the candidate is the very best choice.

New Employee On-boarding:

• Invite them to introduce themselves and share how they can be reached.
• Ask them to give the company and location history.
• Encourage them to talk about the vision, mission and values of the organization and what they mean, exactly.
• Arrange to have them give the tour.

On-going Employee Retention:

• Make certain they take time to be visible and accessible to all employees.
• Support them in regular and transparent employee communications about the state of your business and what employees can do to make a difference.
• Influence them to formally (through surveys and meetings) and informally (through individual employee conversations) solicit employee experience, satisfaction, and engagement feedback.
• Expect them each and every day to commit to employee development, which can be small, internal trainings for better performance to full-blown tuition assistance for the next step, depending on your financial means.
• Hold them accountable to the values of your organization. Make sure they walk their talk. Remind them of what you’re trying to accomplish by maintaining or establishing culture and their part in it!
• Support and encourage them to eliminate people who, no matter what investment, are not part of making a great culture at work.
• Insist on a formal and, at least, semi-annual performance feedback process for all employees.
• Encourage them to write personal notes or e-mails commending great employee performance and behavior. When a customer is delighted, find out why and spread the news!

Even taking one or two steps in each category above can have a quick and impactful affect on the engagement of your key people. When your best employees are engaged you will keep them and attract others like them. Senior leaders can and should be a big part of your business and the happiness of your workplace.

As the director of human resources for Signature Worldwide, Rene Lewis is responsible for talent management, employee relations, workforce planning, change management, company communications, leadership training and strategic organization planning. Ms. Lewis brings nearly 15 years of human resources experience to Signature, with 10 of those years being at the leadership level. She has held manager and director positions while working for such companies as Red Envelope, Orange County California, Gap Inc. and Caterpillar Logistics Services. Ms. Lewis can be contacted at 614-766-5101 or renelewis@signatureworldwide.com Extended Bio...

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