Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Steve, This is a great process. The only thing that I would add is to make certain that you have a well written job description that clearly and concisely reflects the job. Dr. Patricia Kapper

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Do Employee Retention Strategies Work?

Dj, You are right on target with all of your suggestions. Another idea (and another MaxKnowledge course offering) is to effectively and selectively delegate tasks to employees in allow them to develop new skills. Regarding your first suggestion, I agree completely with involving staff in the decision-making process. Where we so often have difficulty is that we fail to communicate decisions and the reason or reasons why a particular decision was made. I also agree with your second point. I would take it a step further and make certain that once we know what motivates them, we need to take… >>>

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Retaining Your Top Employees

Gayle, Good point, Gayle. It also impacts the morale of the group with many resenting the person who left because of the need to redistribute the workload, usually with no additional compensation. As you say, it is disruptive and continue to be disruptive until the new hire is integrated into the group. Between recruiting and allowing for the learning curve to work through, it can take up to six months for the productivity to return to normal levels. Dr. Patricia Kapper

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Retaining Your Top Employees

Susan, It does. It also negatively impacts employee morale of those needing to pick up the slack because of the vacancy. Management needs to keep its eye on employee turnover. When it is becoming excessive, it is time to explore the reasons why and identify ways to resolve. It is also important to determine how much turnover is voluntary vs . involuntary. Are there other issues driving this situation? Dr. Patricia Kapper

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

The Effective Job Interview

Tennille, Some fields tend to be more active on social media sites making it easy and logical to do the necessary research on each candidate. In fact, in your field, you would be missing a huge opportunity to get to know the candidate if you didn't do this. This is also a great teaching moment for students to understand how important it is to post appropriately and ethically because the failure to do so could come back to haunt them in a number of ways for years to come. Dr. Patricia Kapper

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Recruiting the Best Person for the Job

Chris, That is certainly a cost effective way to recruit. It's effectiveness is certainly dependent on the position for which you are recruiting, however. Some positions lend themselves well to hiring graduates. Other positions, like faculty, tend to be better served by hiring someone who is experienced in the field and can share that experience with the students. Dr. Patricia Kapper

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Do Employee Retention Strategies Work?

Vanessa, You are spot on with your approach. You may have read in previous posts that I am a true believer in treating our employees with dignity and respect. Being a manager who is not afraid to communicate with their employees has a multitude of advantages. For one, you know what is going on in terms of employee unrest. Also, Employees will support changes that you want to make if they know what and why and if they are given an opportunity to provide comment. A great exercise is to create a list of management behaviors which will enhance employee… >>>

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Recruiting the Best Person for the Job

Rachel, Your post provides a different perspective regarding the interview. So often, we consider only our reaction to the candidate, but you are also looking at the relationship from the candidate's perspective. In an interview, it is really a two-way street. The candidate is assessing us just like we are determining their fit for our organization. I also continue to agree with your support for multiple interviewers. Everyone reacts differently and it is important to hear those varying opinions. Dr. Patricia Kapper

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Retaining Your Top Employees

Katherine, If this kind of situation is allowed to extend beyond a reasonable length of time, it begins to impact overall morale as well. Some turnover is a good thing as it has the potential to bring in new blood and new ideas. It is when that turnover becomes excessive that the problems you mention begin to impact the whole institution. Hopefully, management will recognize the signs of this becoming a problem and will put in motion practices to address the issue. If not, employees need to feel comfortable speaking up with ideas for resolving the problem. Dr. Patricia Kapper

Dr. Patricia Kapper

Discussion Comment

Employee retention

Alana, That is so true. It is, however, the responsibility of the supervisor to create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing these thoughts without fear of retaliation. The supervisor who values their employees and who creates a "safe" environment will be less likely to have a retention problem. I really had not thought of employee retention from the standpoint of age. I guess that could be a potential factor as well. Dr. Patricia Kapper