Employment Guidance: Getting the Right Staff

Every good employer, no matter what their industry or sector, knows that their best asset is their staff.

That’s why it’s essential that you source you the perfect people for your jobs, but also why it’s important to create a workplace that encourages your staff to stay working for you.

A high turnover of mediocre staff can be a recipe for disaster, and even if your business manages to stay afloat, it could mean sacrificing the quality of your work, the service you deliver and even the health, safety and well-being of your staff.

The Six Principles of Choice

So how can you attract and retain the best candidates for a job? In a flooded employment market, with so many desperate for a job, it can be hard to wade through a sea of applications for the right workers.

Well, Employers-of-Choice have identified the six key points for creating high engagement levels amongst your staff. Supported by scientific research and occupational psychologists, they believe these six principles are the key, not just to retaining your staff, but to creating an environment where people actually want to work – this means you will be able to handpick the best people for any position.

1. Caring

Proving that you care about your staff as individuals, as well as the wider team, and their future with your business, ensures every employee feels valued, appreciated and respected for their skills.

2. Honesty and fairness

Including employees in everyday decisions and ensuring that they see your reasoning for reaching certain conclusions will build trust, helping them to respect you, your managers and understand the necessary processes that lead to changes in the way they work.

3. Open communication

Being open and transparent are some of the best ways to create a positive environment that gives your employees the opportunity and confidence to contribute, stimulating ongoing innovation and a drive to develop.

4. Involving

By inviting people to take part in the decision making process, they will buy into new ideas, feel a sense of ownership and be committed to reaching a positive outcome, helping to strengthen their dedication to the business and its success.

5. Coaching

Training, supporting and coaching individuals as well as the team will inspire them to attain certain personal goals that could benefit your company’s progression by encouraging the development of new skill sets and ideas.

6. Ethical management

By initiating an ethical management process that helps your workers to feel safe, secure and well-cared for, as well as giving them a sense of direction and meaning in their day to day roles, you will create an environment in which they want to stay.

Despite the simplicity of these principles, it is not always easy to engender this type of culture in a more ‘traditional’ workplace. But if you begin to use these six points and focus on how people want to be treated at work, enable them to achieve success and realise their full potential, building a level of trust and sense of purpose, it will help to make your workplace a positive and enviable place to be.

The team at Health and Safety Training Ltd are dedicated to helping you achieve this, and by investing in your staff to provide the right training, you will not only protect yourself from the legal repercussions of inadequate training, but ensure your staff feel valued and encouraged in their job.