Recruitment to Retention

Fermion has conducted thousands of psychometric tests for recruitment. The results of these tests and profiles are interpreted and explained to our clients in the context of the candidate’s testing behaviour, their CV, the role they have applied for and the culture of the workplace.

At times, we would get a new client and do their testing, however, when the candidate did not work out the client would blame the psychometric testing without looking at the wider context of their recruitment process or workplace.

From this we set ourselves the goal of developing a fool-proof way to recruit good staff and keep them engaged, motivated and loyal. 

We set about reading, listening and researching and eventually we designed a process or framework that achieves these goals and we called it, “Recruitment to Retention: How to Select Good Staff & Keep Them”. 

We can virtually guarantee that you will never have to be stuck with a toxic, destructive, under-performing new employee again. Fermion will show you how to select good staff and keep them at a fraction of the cost of one poor hiring decision or losing one good employee prematurely.

So what is the “What is the “Recruitment to Retention" framework? 

Selecting good staff and keeping them requires a three-step process:

• Effective recruitment and selection process

• Proper induction or onboarding

• Implementing an ongoing staff retention program

This solution is not difficult to implement and maintain; with the more difficult aspects occurring in the design and training phase. 

A manager or leader does not have to be high energy or a visionary or a dynamic person to deliver this solution. This solution is not about “transforming” anyone or making someone a different person, but instead it can be used by anyone and once it is in place allows you to focus on your core business instead of being too distracted by staff issues.

Mis-hires are costly; as is losing good staff prematurely. Fortunately, both problems are preventable.

Typically, the process of selecting staff relies on interviews and reference checks.  These are necessary, however, it is the timing of those steps, who asks what questions, and when to incorporate psychometric testing, that marks an effective selection process and one that will significantly increase the likelihood that you will hire a good candidate.

The recruitment process is a bit of a dance or a game. Candidates put their best foot forward and accentuate their positives and minimise their deficits, which is fair enough. Whereas you are trying to read between the lines and get a more honest and realistic assessment of the candidate.

On top of that, you have your own biases and ideas about the candidate and how to recruit, you can also have a bad day, be distracted or just off your game and then you can either miss a good candidate or hire a dud.

An effective recruitment method begins with the wording of the job advertisement, is standardised, methodical and structured, albeit with a degree of flexibility. An effective method capitalises on our biases and intuition, uses some form of psychometric testing and profiling, and introduces the candidate to the culture and context of your workplace early in the process. The process needs to be unique to the role and the organisation as a person doing the same role in a different business may not automatically do well in your business.

If you want a good candidate to become a great employee, then the induction process must be a priority; it is the nexus between your staff selection process and staff retention program.  

Induction, or onboarding, is an extension of the recruitment and selection process. Do not just hire someone and hope that it works out. No matter how effective your recruitment process is, there is still a chance that you have made a poor hiring decision or the new employee is not what you thought they were going to be. Thus, the first few weeks of a new employee’s tenure can be a time to confirm what was learned through the selection process and if any unexpected behaviours emerge they can be addressed early.   

Induction is also the process that helps a new employee go from being a stranger to a successful new team member and them gaining a sense of belonging as quickly as possible. It is the process of orienting new employees and training them to become contributing members of the team. 

The induction process is an opportunity to reinforce the organisation’s culture and minimum, non-negotiable, expected standards of behaviour by clarifying your vision, values and behaviours for the business or organisation.  

The faster that new employee feels welcome and prepared for their new job, the sooner they will become productive employees. Onboarding is easily one of the main factors that impacts employee retention, so it is essential that it be a priority and done correctly.

Recruitment and induction are just a prelude to how you manage your staff on an ongoing basis. Without a proper retention program all your preceding work will be less effective with time. If you have an effective staff retention program your employees will be more motivated, more engaged, and more enthusiastic about their role. Not only will you improve staff motivation and engagement, by implementing an effective retention program you also take away from those recalcitrant and difficult employees the claim that they are not listened to or heard. 

How do you consolidate an effective staff selection and induction process and turn a good candidate into a great employee?  

The answer lies in tapping into a person’s intrinsic motivation for the job. That is, the individual enjoys going to work and finds the work rewarding and satisfying; the employee wants to do well and they care about the outcomes.  

Extrinsic motivation, the opposite of intrinsic motivation, is when behaviour is driven by external factors, be it incentives or bonuses, or threats. They are drivers that are separate to the job or task per se and whilst they may drive short term behaviours, it is not particularly effective for long-term motivation and staff engagement.

There are three factors that improve intrinsic motivation and they can be applied to the workplace as a framework for engaging and motivating staff. 

The three components are: 

Relatedness:  How well staff at all levels get on and relate to each other. People relating to each other as colleagues and co-workers; supporting and trusting each other and helping to get the job done.

Autonomy: Employees participating in decisions that affect the day-to-day business of the workplace and where possible, allow the employee to determine how they tackle the daily demands of their role. 

Competence: Staff being trained in their role to a high standard and given opportunities to improve, be it through training, mentoring or peer collaboration.  

If you get these three factors incorporated into your management and leadership style, then you are on a winner. 

The final cost depends on the size of the organisation and the number of roles and employees. That said, for most small to medium size businesses based in Sydney or Wollongong, the cost is $9000 (excl.GST) excluding psychometric testing and writng job advertisements.