Hiring is nearly as depressed as consumer spending these days. New hiring has flat-lined, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently posted sharp drops in hiring in the manufacturing and service industries – no surprise given the vast unemployment numbers posted each month.
In this climate, when hiring new talent is not an option, keeping existing talent fully engaged and passionate about the company they work for is essential. And learning from this when the economy turns around is equally critical.
Maintaining consistent mechanisms for gathering employee feedback is crucial for creating and maintaining engaged employees who feel valued at their workplace. But the benefits of consistent communication with employees doesn’t stop there: you can also use employee feedback in your recruiting efforts when the economy turns around. Here are five ways to use feedback from employees to attract new workers and retain current employees.
- Ask for and implement employee suggestions whenever possible. Your employees know your customers best, since they assist them face-to-face. Listen to their front-line suggestions, and you’re likely to win more engaged customers. And your bonus? More engaged employees, too. Like any of us, your employees like to know that their opinions and suggestions are seriously considered. Who wouldn’t stick around in that kind of self-affirming environment?
- Analyze and understand the effects of new policies. Once you’ve taken your employees’ opinions into account, keep them involved as you implement new policies. They’ll likely know first whether your new programs are working, and what should be tweaked. Plus, keeping everyone in the loop creates a team environment where everyone is working together to consistently exceed customers’ expectations. Moreover, keeping all of your team members involved will boost retention and attract new workers who dream of being as valued.
- Research how employees would like to be recognized for their excellent work. How do you figure out what your employees want? Ask them. We all have our own “carrot,” so to speak, that motivates us to do our best work. Ask your employees how they would like to be rewarded, and watch how many of them blow you away with their earnest efforts. This kind of self-determination keeps employees around for the long term.
- Track employee opinions over time. In a customer-centric culture, every employee’s feedback is important, as it can be mined for ways to improve your business. As an aggregate, employees’ opinions can reveal hiring trends, sensitive sticking points, and areas for improvement. So many businesses make the same mistake time and time again, frustrating cycles of employees in the same way. Let your employees be your HR teachers, and your Employee Engagement and retention rates are likely to soar.
- Include glowing quotes in job postings. Just as a recommendation from a fellow reader boosts book sales on Amazon.com, positive quotes from current employees are powerful tools. Such peer-to-peer recommendations are more powerful than any manager’s pitch.
Learn more about taking action on employee feedback through Key Driver Analysis, Segment Migration Analysis, and Performance-Importance Mapping.
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Top photo by Henry Faber.
Tags: attracting employees, employee feedback, recognizing employees, Retaining Employees, Society for Human Resource Management, survey