Hiring, retaining talent and keeping employees engaged is really difficult for a lot of organizations in normal circumstances, much less during a pandemic!

Hiring the wrong person, not being able to retain top talent and/or having cranky, unengaged workers costs companies a lot of money. For example, according to McLean & Company, disengaged employees cost the American economy up to $350 billion per year due to lost productivity. And according to Gallup, disengaged employees have 37% higher absenteeism, 18% lower productivity and 15% lower profitability. This can be avoided. Investing in hiring practices, retention initiative and engagement programs have a huge ROI for the businesses bottom line. What you can’t put a price on is the time it will save you and the headaches it will relieve.

However, just because an organization struggles with these things does not make them bad organizations, it just highlights room for leadership and procedural improvements.  Even though times are tough, there are things business leaders can actively be doing to improve in these areas. We are constantly saying to our clients, be proactive, not reactive! Knowing this is a top concern for organizations, our consultants developed the following tips to get leaders thinking about ways they can start improving hiring processes, retention initiatives and engagement programs.

1. Diversity
   • Recruit from diverse populations
   • Widen your search perimeters for new candidates
   • Offer training and/or internship opportunities to reach new demographics
2. Inclusion
   • Make sure your employees feel valued and safe
   • Celebrate differences and encourage open dialogue
   • Communicate an inclusive culture to new candidates
3. Morale
   • Praise employees when they have done a good job
   • Have fun! Get creative with team building activities and events
   • Be transparent, communicate well and provide constructive feedback
4. Technology
   • Be flexible and willing to try new ideas and products. Don’t be afraid to get ideas from your employees.
   • Do your research to ensure you’re using the most effective tech for your organization. This will show by how smooth your processes are running and by the satisfaction of your employees and customers.
5. Incentives
   • Ask employees what motivates them and provide incentive opportunities to match. Investing in exploring your team’s personality profiles can go a long way in understand how your people work and what motivates them.
   • Examples include: buying lunch for everyone, giving bonuses or sign on bonuses, team activities or outings, gift cards
6. Community
   • Utilize community resources and organizations, especially for finding and developing talent
   • Examples in Tulsa: Workforce Tulsa, OJT, Staffing Agencies, Career Development Partners, Tulsa Tech. There are so many others. Please reach out if you want the full list.

There are solutions and services we provide that can address any of these tips for improvement. Reach out to us if you would like support in getting some of these solutions started!