Start the New Year on the right recruiting foot
I'm always a little wary of New Year's Resolutions because rarely are they "resolute". We make them so often that they've lost their importance. I don’t know about you, but I've resolved to join the same gym 20 years in a row.
Yes, I'm wary of New Year's Resolutions. But the New Year is still the perfect time to reassess, to reorganize, and to re-commit ourselves to our ideals. It's a fresh page on our calendars just waiting to be filled in with important dates and events and milestones. With that in mind I wanted to share some New Year's commitments. Not only to our wonderful employees around the world, but also to our partners and clients. More than cliché goals and buzzwords, commitments are something we can be held – and hold ourselves – to.
We are committed to understanding our workforce.
We will measure ourselves. This is where so many New Year's Resolutions start…and end. Maybe we step on the scale, or compare our flaws and foibles to loved ones. Though you may not think of it this way, those are metrics, and they give us the unvarnished truth. And that's why we tend to avoid them – who would ever want to know, in cold, hard facts, exactly where they don’t measure up? Businesses do the same, but instead of the difference between one pound and two, it can be the difference between profit and loss.
Exit interviews, performance reviews, offer reject reviews and employee satisfaction surveys are just some of our talent metrics, and while they sometimes might not tell us what we want to hear, they tell us what we need to know. Knowing ourselves and what matters to our workforce is key to developing and retaining
top talent.
We are committed to building relationships.
Relationships are what make successful businesses successful. The best business plan in the world still relies on people. Often we can overlook this, and sometimes by necessity, but these relationships with employees, partners and clients are what set the best businesses apart.
We call it the employer brand. By taking care to "live the brand" we put these relationships first. Our recent Playing for Keeps recruiting and retention study highlights this importance by its focus on "boomerangs", those employees that leave only to return in a few years time. By nurturing top talent and embodying the employer brand, these relationships continue to bring the best and the brightest – and those committed to the same ideals – year after year.
We are committed to keeping our eyes and ears open.
Every day new concepts, solutions and hiring technology enter the market. With change happening at this break-neck speed, it can be tempting to put the blinders on. In our innovative society that can mean stagnation.
To be sure, today's indispensable item can be tomorrow's passé fad, but they also can reinvent the marketplace. And what is good for some may be not right for all. We can keep our eyes and ears open without losing our head. When innovation is tempered with best practices the result is undeniable success.
With the help of our employees, partners and clients, I know that we can keep these commitments. And we are here to help you keep your commitments as well. With metrics solutions like QTrac and Hodes iQ, our award-winning Employer Branding work, and our innovative interactive technologies, we know we can make 2008 an even better year for ourselves and our clients.
Happy New Year!
Alan Schwartz
President and CEO
Bernard Hodes Group
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