Finding and Keeping Great Employees

By Tamara Reis

One of the challenges facing many of us in the Human Resource industry is the lack of good qualified people in the work force. Individuals who have the education, qualifications and good work attitude – often they are sought out and employed immediately.

With approximately 32,507,874 people living in Canada, and more immigrating daily you would think it would be easy to find good employees. In Canada our employment rate is 62.6 percent, with an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent. Comparatively this unemployment rate is at a low and this indicates that Canadians are working. As well, every year the number of people receiving post secondary certificates, diplomas and/or degrees has gone up from the year before. So why is the job of finding a good employee so difficult? It is not difficult to fill positions. It is difficult filling them with the right people. Here are a few characteristics companies are looking for in employees:

1. A positive work attitude – This is an ability to see the positives in work situations; to be able to look at challenge as an opportunity to grow and learn, instead of a burden.
2. The ability to think independently – This means whenever possible an individual is able to discuss the solutions instead of problems. All too often people take the problems to management without ever putting together a list of solutions.
3. Experience in the industry – Two years experience is generally viewed as the minimum requirement for most positions, with five years being the average.
4. Education – An education which is aligned with the type of work needed by companies, including technical skills
5. Long term potential – How long will this person stay with the company and what is their long term growth capabilities.

These are just some of the more basic abilities employers are looking for and vary from industry to industry.

So why is it so difficult to find people who have these characteristics? Well there is a misconception out there, “If I have an education that is enough”. As consumers, we are constantly looking for more value for our dollar. We need to ask ourselves, “Why should an employer get any less?”

In the past, companies have been run by sheer hard work and determination. As the Baby Boomers leave the work force they are being replaced by a more educated Generation X. Although there are many benefits to hiring the quality of employee that is coming into the workforce, we are slowly losing the knowledge base from employees who have been working at the job for fifty plus years.

In order to fill in some of those gaps there are some key areas to look at. There is no difference between employees twenty-five years ago and today. People are people. Now assuredly there are a few eye brows raised with that statement. Think of it this way. Do the employees today still dress in the morning? Do they still eat lunch with co-workers? Do they still breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. I believe it is fair to say for the most part the answers to the questions are yes. So why then are there so many differences in the work place? Perceptions have changed.

Understanding that employees are the same is important. So many believe a great employee just exists. In fact, they are made. If an employee has the right education and technical skills needed, you as an employer can influence the rest of the skills. Some employees come with many of the additional skills and attitudes – someone taught them these skills.

Training is an important factor in the development of great employees. It is unfortunate that universities do not teach great attitude 101. However, this is not the case. And as it was before, the more you put into something the more you are going to get out. There are great employees out there; they just don’t know they are great yet. Here are some tips to produce great employees:

1. Lay out clear expectations. At times we are afraid as employers to tell our employees to just do it. People learn more and faster by just diving into something than by any tutorial. Let them know it is OK to make mistakes, but is not OK not to try.
2. Set career goals with employees once a year. All people will work harder to reach there goals than they will for a basic pay check. If goals are laid out clearly, this will produce an employee on a mission.
3. Have daily and weekly tasks laid out clearly. As people we can find endless amounts of time to waste. If tasks for the day, week and if possible month are laid out clearly this will encourage individuals to get them done. Then follow up should be done. This encourages a sense of urgency to complete tasks, knowing they may be asked to see their progress on any given assignment.
4. Have clear deadlines. People will again work hard to live up to expectations. If you give an employee a clear deadline (ie I need the report by Friday at noon, which gives you three days. Is this timeline going to work with you?) chances are you will get results. If you are not clear (ie. as soon a possible/some time this week/ when you are able to…), chances are you will be disappointed with the results.
5. Praise work done well publicly. Everyone likes to hear they are doing a good job, this does not change as we get older. Continually tell your employees you are proud of them and they will continue to try to make you proud of them.

Even those people who have the innate skills to become great employees were also trained by someone else. It only seems they were born with these skills because it is not you training them and assisting them to develop these skills. Nevertheless, some where down the line there was someone who taught them to be great; whether it was a co-worker, role model, mentor or parent – these skills were taught and/or observed. Understanding this principle, we can start changing the perceptions of employees. This is the first step to having great staff. It needs to be understood that most individuals have the potential, they just need the right training. It is our responsibility as human resources professionals to assess individuals not as they are, but what they are capable of becoming. We need to take employees skills and be able to develop them into the employee which is needed. In each person is greatness, it is finding that greatness which can sometimes be the challenge.

*all stats came from the Statistics Canada Website, www.statcan.ca/start.html.

For additional information you can contact Tamara Reis at Dimension 11 Ltd. 2301-15th Avenue, Regina, SK S4P 1A3 306-586-2315 or Tamara@dimension11.com.