Attracting & Retaining Talent :: It’s a War Out There
February 3, 2014 at 3:45 pm aepcentral 4 comments
In November of 2013 Carol & I were invited to host a breakout session at the Rusk O’Brien Gido + Partners Growth & Ownership Strategies Conference in Naples, FL. The Breakout Session that we hosted was titled “Attracting & Retaining Talent :: It’s a War Out There.” The topic was marketed as follows:
The day of the easy to fill empty seat in a firm is gone, and the ability to keep talent from joining a competitor is more challenging than ever. This breakout discussion will focus on ways of attracting talent and then keeping them from walking out the door with clients and staff. Using their combined experience of over 40 years exclusively within the A/E marketplace, this session will offer you the proven secrets that have helped hundreds of firms navigate difficult employee recruitment and retention waters. The day of the easy to fill empty seat in a firm is gone, and the ability to keep talent from joining a competitor is more challenging than ever. This breakout discussion will focus on ways of attracting talent and then keeping them from walking out the door with clients and staff. Using their combined experience of over 40 years exclusively within the A/E marketplace, this session will offer you the proven secrets that have helped hundreds of firms navigate difficult employee recruitment and retention waters.
Carol & I hosted our breakout session late on a Thursday afternoon, right before happy hour after a long day of sessions, but we were excited to see that our session was overflowing with an interactive group of executives poised for the growth of their respective companies. Our session dealt with the following topics:
Five Methods To Attract Top Talent
- Visibility of company and staff in the industry / marketplace
- Successful, happy and engaged employees
- Satisfied clients
- Social media
- Executive search services (internal and external)
Mastering the Art of the Interview
- Process
- Well planned
- Well communicated
- Well defined
Selling the Candidate
- Roll out the red carpet
- Great listening
- Personalize the close
Six Methods To Retain Top Talent
- Develop and implement on-boarding program
- Allow and encourage feedback at all levels
- Utilization of talents and skills
- Making staff feel valued
- Provide opportunities for training, development and advancement
- Deliver what was promised: truth and responsibility
It was a jam packed session, both from seats taken and with information shared. The feedback that received from those in attendance was all very positive; we only wish we had longer than 45 minutes!
If you are interested in downloading the Power Point Presentation along with the detailed notes please click the following link:
If you are interested in further discussing any of these topics please make sure to comment below in our comment section, or feel free to contact Matt Barcus or Carol Metzner at:
Matt Barcus: mbarcus@precision-recruiters.com
OR
Carol Metznter: carol@themetznergroup.com
And one quick side note here ~ if you have it in your budget and are able to attend the 2014
BE SURE TO DO SO – IT WILL BE WELL WORTH YOUR WHILE!
Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc
Managing Partner, CivilEngineeringCentral.com
View Matt’s profile & connect with him on LinkedIn
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Entry filed under: Career Development, Civil Engineering, civil engineering blog, Civil Engineering Companies, Civil Engineering Issues, Civil Engineering Jobs, Civil Engineering Shortage, Corporate Recruiters, Employee Retention, Human Resources, Interviewing, Recruiting, Social Media, The U.S. Economy & Civil Engineering, The Workplace, Uncategorized.
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1.
Bob Gately | June 17, 2014 at 3:43 pm
Hello Matt and Lalith,
80% of employees self report that they are not engaged.
80% of managers are not suited to managing employees.
The two eighty percents are closely related.
Employers keep hiring the wrong people to be their managers and then they wonder why they have so few successful, engaged employees. Successful employees have all three of the following success predictors while unsuccessful employees lack one or two and usually it is Job Talent that they lack.
1. Competence
2. Cultural Fit
3. Job Talent
Employers do a…
A. great job of hiring competent employees.
B. good job of hiring competent employees who fit the culture.
C. poor job of hiring competent employees who fit the culture and who have a talent for the job.
Identifying the talent required for each job seems to be missing from talent and management discussions. If we ignore any of the three criteria, our workforce will be less successful with higher turnover than if we do not ignore any of the three criteria.
1. Competence
2. Cultural Fit
3. Talent
There are many factors to consider when hiring and managing talent but first we need to define talent unless “hiring talent” means “hiring employees.” Everyone wants to hire for and manage talent but if we can’t answer the five questions below with specificity, we can’t hire or manage talent effectively.
1. How do we define talent?
2. How do we measure talent?
3. How do we know a candidate’s talent?
4. How do we know what talent is required for each job?
5. How do we match a candidate’s talent to the talent demanded by the job?
Most people cannot answer the five questions with specificity but the answers provide the framework for hiring successful employees and creating an engaged workforce.
Talent is not found in resumes or interviews or background checks or college transcripts.
Talent must be hired since it cannot be acquired or imparted after the hire.
2.
Bob Gately | February 4, 2014 at 5:34 pm
Hello Matt,
But how do we hire employees who have the talent and who will become long-term successful employees?
3.
aepcentral | February 4, 2014 at 5:44 pm
Hi Bob –
Thanks for reading. That’s a good question Bob – you do your best to make sure you take the time to hire what you perceive to be the right individual, not just out of desperation. Once on board managers need to take the time to listen and understand what motivates their employees, and then deliver opportunities that address those needs…so as long as the employee delivers on what is expected of them as well. So many factors to the equation though.
4.
Lalith | February 12, 2014 at 2:32 pm
Bob,
Talent is out there. Once you find it grab them and make them part of your plan, give them recognition for their contributions, loyalty and hard work. Don’t use their talent & skills to get ahead and then replace them with cheap labor. Think about long term. Your returns could me four or five times over! Besides, you never replace them.