Welcome back to our energy boost segment about looking for work, i.e. “The Employment Hunt.” Today, we’re gearing toward “the hunted” a.k.a. employers or managers. If you missed Part One, you can still read all about potential candidates and how to up your resume skills and interviewing skills. The employee hunt should be just as much fun as the employer hunt. In order to get energized about finding the next perfect candidate, you’ll want to dismiss anyone you hear singing, “Take this job and shove it” by Johnny Paycheck. These three tips on management, hiring, and retention should help you with your own side of the employment hunt.

The Hunted a.k.a. Employers

“Every hour will be spent, filling a quota, just getting along. Handcuffs hurt worse when you’ve done nothing wrong.”
~Uncle Tupelo, Grindstone

Don’t worry. We know looking for a new employee offers it’s own amount of drudge. A needle in a haystack may be a bit of an exaggeration but a needle in a stack of needles may not be. The employment hunt on your end involves a lot of sifting and sometimes a little bit of faith, trust and pixie dust. Here’s some advice for your side of the employee hunt.

Management

“Oh, I like my boss, he’s a good friend of mine. That’s why I’m standing in the unemployment line!”
~Utah Phillips, Hallelujah, I’m a Bum

The hard-and-fast of it is: the longer you are part of the employment hunt, the more money your company is losing. Much like potential candidates are trying to put their best foot forward, you and your company will want to do the same to attract the best candidates on the hunt. Potential employees will be looking at what you have to offer, both in employee perks and in overall company culture. If your company has an open door policy or an open work environment, make sure that you hire someone that is comfortable in that arena. The distractions of free-flowing ideas may not be something that everyone thrives under. Good communication with your employees starts in the interview, so encourage your potential recruit to share their ideas with you on how to improve your company.

Hiring

“R.E.S.P.E.C.T, find out what it means to me. R.E.S.P.E.C.T, take care, TCB”
~Aretha Franklin, Respect

Starting the hiring process begins with screening candidates. It can be tempting to spend just a few seconds on each resume, but remember that sometimes it takes a little digging around the old-fashioned way. A resume may not be the epitome of a person (good or bad), so taking a little extra time in the employment hunt will help you ultimately avoid a bad hire and find the diamond. Consider the fact that the perfect employee may not actually exist, despite the number of resumes you received. Lowering your expectations a bit doesn’t necessarily correlate to lowered talent or lowered productivity. Trust your instinct, if something sticks out to you as a positive, pursue it, despite a deficiency in another area. You may end up pleasantly surprised by the chance you took.

Retention

“My very first job, I said thank you and please. They made me scrub a parking lot down on my knees. And then I got fired for being scared of bees, and they only gave me 50 cents an hour.”
~John Prine, Fish and Whistle

As part of the employment hunt, we know looking for employees is not something you want to do often, which is why retention is the buzzword around most HR departments. Keeping your employees long term offers multiple benefits to both you and them. Create a culture of fellowship and friendship that will be difficult for an employee to want to leave. Make sure that the work provides challenges and that you recognize and reward when the challenge is accomplished. Respect your new employee’s home and family life outside of work and instill trust in them that will make them want to give you their best for years to come. A little effort making employees feel valued goes a long way when they are considering finding a new job.

So now that you’ve been properly energized about the employment hunt, get out there and find that next new job so you can whistle while you work all the day long.