Attract and Retain Top Talent

Written by: Jeffin Johnson 

My first blog will discuss an article written by Julie Hugan Porter. Ms. Porter is the senior vice president of professional services for Ledgent, a national finance and accounting staffing firm. She has assisted finance and accounting managers with recruiting and hiring solutions for more than 16 years. Her article was published by the Institute of Management Accountants in their monthly magazine/journal called the Strategic Finance. In her article, simply titled “Attract and Retain Top Talent”, Potter lays out a few basic strategies to accomplish exactly what the title states – attract and retain the best employees.

Retain

Potter initiates the article by stating that “Most employee turnover can actually be prevented...The key to a successful retention effort is to focus on your top performers”.  She continues on by Illustrating the high costs that accommodate employee turnover. Potter states “When you consider downtime, recruiting activity, interviewing, onboarding, and ramp-up time, replacing an entry-level position typically costs 50% to 100% of the employee’s salary. A manager or executive-level position can cost you up to 200% of the individual’s salary!”

Step One

In order to retain employees, the first step is to find out who is happy, and who is unhappy. The most effective way for a manager to discover the truth about each employee’s level of engagement is to simply ask. Employee surveys can be helpful but a genuine conversation is more effective. Potter suggests that when you schedule a meeting with an employee, you should give them some questions to consider ahead of time.

These are the four questions that she presented in the article:

• How can I/we improve your work environment?
• How can I/we lower your stress at work?
• How can I/we improve your work/life balance?
• What opportunities can we identify for career advancement?

Step Two

The second step is to commit to regular department meetings. Department meetings allow employees to vent their emotions and receive relevant department and organizational news from management. Porter suggests that “When an executive-level leader is going to be present, allow employees to share their questions, comments, and grievances anonymously via e-mail or paper submission. A moderator can read the submitted issues or comments, and the audience can hear honest reaction and responses from the executive leader.” It is vital to take employee suggestions seriously, and to commit to implementing a plan that will allow any reasonable ideas or suggestions to be introduced over the course of an appropriate timeline.

Step Three

The last step is to be fair and competitive with salaries. Porter states in her article that “It can’t be overstated that an increase in salaries beats an increase in hiring costs!” She continues on to say that “the increase you offer will make less of an impact on your organization’s budget than the capital required to replace that top performer.”

Course Connections

These three steps laid out by Porter align with the methodologies presented in our course textbook.  Specifically in chapter five, page 165, under the subheading titled “Work Relationships”; Mathis & Jackson state that “A supervisor or manager builds positive relationships and aids retention by being fair and nondiscriminatory, allowing work flexibility and work-family balance, giving feedback that recognizes employee efforts and performances, and supporting career planning and development.”

Attract

The last part of Porter’s article illustrates four methods that can aid you in recruiting the best workers.  

1)     Become Actively involved in an association

a.     An association can aid you in obtaining first-hand knowledge of trends in your industry.

b.     It can also connect you to a network of potential employees

2)     Get connected online

a.     LinkedIn is by far the most common online tool used for networking and recruiting.

3)     Brand your department and/or organization as an employer of choice

a.     One way is by contributing online content.

                                                   i.      Post comments to online articles

                                                 ii.      Provide content for newsletters and blogs

                                                iii.      Share info about how you built a successful work environment

4)     Actively recruit with very specific advertisements.

a.      Be specific about the skills, knowledge, experience, and personal characteristics

b.      State that candidates won’t be interviewed for a position if they fail to meet one of the requirements

c.     Warn applicants that they won’t be considered for future positions at your company if they apply despite failing to meet a stated requirement.

I believe this article written by Julie Hugan Porter provides simple yet valuable information. Utilizing these methods at your current or future management positions is sure to yield favorable results, as you strive to retain and recruit the best employees.

Source Citation

Porter, Julie Hagan. "Attract and retain top talent." Strategic Finance June 2011: 56+. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.

Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA258994922&v=2.1&u=lom_oaklandu&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Gale Document Number: GALE|A258994922