by Barb Dusek
Relevant Movement
You will find very few who are more passionate about helping organizations excel at finding, selecting, and retaining talent than Mary Nutting and Alissa Henrickson of CorTalent. These dynamic women partner their talents to bring the term “right fit,” into action for companies of all sizes in a variety of industries. Here is a sample of what they shared with us at our October Breakfast Club learning event.
First, talent management starts with culture. And, as Mary shared with us, a company needs to understand their own values and beliefs in order to be effective in matching a person to the culture. She suggested we start asking ourselves questions like, “have I clearly articulated expectations to staff, and “does the organization routinely listen to ideas from employees?” The costs of employee turnover are very high, no matter how you slice it. Therefore, the first key to a successful process is to start by answering these critical questions about culture.
Second, recruiting is a process; not a single event. Alissa did a great job of helping us recognize that creating (and following!) a consistent process, in a timely manner, is crucial for both the potential new hire and the organization. Hiring managers want to know if candidates are really invested in their company. Yet, those same hiring managers can drop the ball of selection activity and end up losing the very candidate they needed. Stay the course is the message here. Maintaining active engagement with the candidate is vital.
Third, orientation is not a substitute for onboarding. Both Mary and Alissa spoke about the need to think of onboarding a new employee as an activity that spans well beyond a traditional orientation meeting. Onboarding connects new employees with coworkers, their new manager, and others in the company. This doesn’t happen overnight. So, like recruiting, we need to think of onboarding as a process, not a single event. Plan to meet and debrief what is working and what is not working with a new employee at least four to six times in their first three months on the job. Doing this will intentionally build a relationship of value.
Building relationships, and connecting those relationships to each other, creates a culture of community. And it is community, not company, that creates a sense of loyalty.
