Too Busy to Hire and Retain Good People? Think Again!

BV practices face a critical issue in retaining the employees they want to keep. Leaders must actively anticipate shortages of overall talent and a shortfall in employees with the specialized competencies needed to stay ahead of the competition. Why?

• Turnover is costly.
• Unwanted turnover affects the performance of your company.
• As the availability of skilled employees continues to shrink, finding and retaining sought-after talent will only be more challenging.

I hear you saying that while you are drinking from a fire hose, the days, weeks, and months have clipped by like a fast train, and you feel that you can’t afford to invest time to do what it takes to keep that experienced professional … too many other priorities to address. That’s what happens when you have a lot on your plate.

I hear you rationalize, “There is no way I can pause to do what it will take to keep my top-shelf talent to grow my firm.  That takes energy, resources, work, and time I don’t have!” There is always another project to tackle, new business to secure, day-to-day operations to run, existing clients to serve …. got to keep those plates spinning … “I’ll think about hiring (or keeping) key people in a few months when I have more time.”

Then your hair is on fire while your business starts to burn, and your best folks and business walk out the door.  Always at a critical time (is there any other kind?). You’re too busy running to look up until you’re flat on your back without your key staff.

Hiring the right talent is a cumbersome, time-consuming process.  The ROI comes from getting the right employees on board, ensuring they grow with you, contributing to your overall success as a business, and reducing the need to hire again and again for each new leadership position you may develop down the line.

Employee job satisfaction and engagement are critical ingredients of employee retention programs. Addressing these factors is essential, but doing that takes time, and leaving these tasks for another day feels more convenient. However, the payoff from focusing on employee retention—in terms of increased performance, productivity, employee morale, and quality of work, plus a reduction in both turnover and employee-related problems—is well worth your time and financial investment.

I know the fire drill. It’s easy to postpone the decision to begin the hiring (or retaining) process because timing is never convenient. Maybe the question you should ask is: “How much value am I destroying every day by not having key vacancies filled?” “What is the opportunity cost to my firm by not building out new ownership options for my business to retain key promising employees?”

Do you need help creating a strategically designed hiring process? Ellen Warden works with BV/LS practices around the country to help them align their HR solutions with long-term objectives. You can reach Ellen at WorkPlace Synergy.