Employee Retention - Behavior Descriptive Interviewing - Part 2

       If you recall in the last issue I promised to start the education process for retaining employees. The hiring process is a good place to start.

    Do you invest a huge amount of time and money looking for new employees? Following are a few steps to ensure your investment does not go to waste during the hiring process:

    Do you have an application screening process in place? You might want to start with questions about the applicants values. If your company values don’t match those of your future employees, how can you expect them to work for the company’s betterment?

    The values that your company is based on should be written and adhered to. They should be like the mission statement devised by management, but shared by all employees.

    How do you get to know potential employees values? A few years ago I remember going for a job interview. I was so overwhelmed with the fact that I got the interview, I failed to find out anything about the company. I din’t know their industry well and I din’t bother to find out their mission statement. The result was that a fit was not made.

    In this new world, a better approach would have been for the company to provide me with some information about themselves. Along with this information, they should have provided a simple questionnaire to help me determine whether my values and lifestyle matched those of the company. This questionnaire might include some work environment, communication style, leadership style and value questions. I would have known not to apply to this company and I would’t have taken up their time. If I chose this company, I would have been confident that I was a good fit.

    This is a bit of a twist to Behavior Descriptive Interviewing, an old world style of information gathering. It is imperative that companies look at the different generations and create Behavior Descriptive Interviewing type questions on an individual’s values, work styles, etc. In addition to values being symmetrical with employees, we need to ensure that we are aligned with our new generations. This is even more essential for companies who haven’t changed their workplace to encompass the generation styles.

    Statistics Canada now has stats on who the different generations are and how they differ from one another. Nexters (born after 1980) make up 7% of the workforce. Gen-Xers (1961-1980) comprise 32% and the boomers (1944-1961) account for approximately 51%.

    Gen-Xers typically lead teams selected by themselves. Boomers as leaders need adoration from their team. So far, there isn’t enough history for Nexters to lean towards leading teams. They prefer to be a part of a team, just not in the lead. It is clear to see the majority of influence is coming from the boomers and boomers are disappearing fast.

    Once your company’s HR Department is aware of these differences, the adaptations can be made. It isn’t onerous to make these adjustments. It is all about having enough information.

   Let’s review:

    First you put the call out for resumes, possibly an ad in the newspaper or a placement agency. Once the resumes are received you will return via mail a one-sheet company overview and a mini questionnaire to prospects. The overview is a promotional piece on your company. The mini questionnaire has the work environment, communication style, leadership style and value questions. This is your chance to shine. Keep in mind that in the new world you need to be selling yourself to candidates. If positioned properly, the one-sheet promotional piece and mini questionnaire will do this for you.

    Following a lapse in time you call to arrange for face-to-face interviews. It is when this interview is taking place that you ask your Behavior Descriptive Interviewing type questions, modeled around the mini-questionnaire you sent out previously. You can now make your decision.

    The hiring process should not be overlooked. An Ontario survey showed 17% of employers “wing it” and 45% use traditional interviews. You know the type of interview where you talk about your past experiences and employment and not about you and your behavior type.

   This is the beginning of retaining your employees. There is a list of other items to be considered to get the job done right, all of which lead to the ultimate goal of keeping your key people.

    Next issue, I’ll share with you another important point
on employee retention rewards. Should they be in place or are they a waste of time?

    Employee retention can be a challenge for companies. As an employee retention expert, Peg Lund shows you tools to bring results. Email: powerfulpeg@shaw.ca