Hiring Away...

[Karen Tiede]

Hiring away from

No, not like anchors away....

Hiring a new employee away from another business... when you know the business owner.

• Does it matter if he's a competitor, or simply someone you know?
• Does it matter if she knew the employee wasn't working up to potential, and you have a great opportunity?
• What if the employee approached you before you thought of making an offer?

People in my circle have a mixture of responses to these questions. Small business owners who have fought hard to learn to hire good people lean a bit more to the "unethical" side. People who have been laid off
on the whim of a major corporate restructuring (or who watched their
jobs go to India) think more along the lines of "every man for himself"
and are less inclined to give weight to loyalty to an employer.

David Novak, in The Education of an Accidental CEO, says he never understood the impact of leaving a former manager in the lurch until one of his direct reports left on short notice. He's CEO of
Yum! Brands, formerly at Pepsico, and before that Pizza Hut. One might
think those companies would have invested in succession planning.

Not hiring anyone who's currently working for anyone you know is a tight limit to put on your business, especially in a not-so-big town. (It's actually not very much different from not hiring anyone who
doesn't currently have a job.)

The situation may never arise. If it does, however, giving a little thought ahead of time will make the after-effects smaller.

• How will you feel and more important, how will you respond, when one of your employees leaves to work for someone you know?
• Have you given any thought at all to a succession plan, or at least to keeping the applicant funnel full (See Help Wanted, Help Found)?

On the theory that hiring is just like marketing, only harder:

• It's cheaper to do business with customers you already have than to go out and continuously find new customers.
• It's way cheaper to keep good employees happy and working for you than it is to find new employees.

What are you doing to keep the employees you have? Let me know in the comments! thx

[Bob Wagner]

It's all about building relationships with your staff. They need to know you care and see actions behind it. Personalized appreciation frequently and timely is a must to maintain a great staff!
Like a spouse in a marriage, when an employee feels valued, wanted and appreciated they will be less apt to stray, even if something better looking knocks on their door.

Most employees move on because of the way they are treated (or not treated) by their manager or supervisor, not because of pay or benefits. The kicker is the manager or supervisor doesn't know it because the employee lies so they can get a good reference and gives some other reason.

[Karen Tiede]

Agree about exit interviews not being as helpful as people want to think! You get more useful information interviewing the people who stay. Thanks!

[Bob Walton]

Good post Karen. I agree particularly with your last point, "It's way cheaper to keep good employees happy and working for you than it is to find new employees." My experience in 'corporate America' left me baffled at the not so infrequent short-sightedness some managers had when it came to treating its employees poorly in the lean times. They never quite got it when people 'jumped ship' the moment it was easy to get hired elsewhere. Not much more to add since I'm presently self-employed. :-D