The last month of 2014 is moving into the rear-view mirror, and the books for the year about to close. At this time in the annual cycle, managers and company decision makers usually take some time to pause, reflect, and recall the busy, optimistic planning and goal setting that took place during the same season twelve months ago. When you sat down with your hiring teams last December, what specific issues did you discuss? What problems and challenges did you decide to tackle? And have you found success? Here are a few questions that can help you put this year in the past and turn your full attention toward the year ahead.
1. Have you successfully staffed your open positions within established time frames?
How many key positions stood open at the beginning of the year? Are all of these positions now filled? What’s your average time-to-hire, and is this number where you hoped it would be at the beginning of the year?
2. Have your new hires stayed on board for at least six months?
There’s a difference between staffing a position and staffing a position successfully. If your new hires step onboard and leave within six months or a year, then it’s time to re-examine your selection process, and it’s probably time to re-examine your salary and benefits packages.
3. Have you kept your sourcing, selection and hiring efforts within budget?
It’s a difficult reality for some employers to accept, but it’s the truth nonetheless: if you can’t afford to select employees carefully, pay them well, provide them with necessary benefits, and keep them happy, then you simply aren’t ready to hire them. If you generated the revenue necessary to support your staff in 2014 without going into the red, you did well. If not, take a closer look at your business structure.
4. Have you distributed, collected and evaluated employee satisfaction surveys?
Payment and benefits are only one part of the picture; you’ll also need to carefully evaluate your working conditions and workplace culture. If surveys provide positive reports on both, well done. If they don’t—or if you haven’t polled your teams at all—then it’s time to make some changes.
5. Are your employees meeting their performance goals?
Coaching, training, performance improvement, and targeted goal setting are also crucial elements of the staffing equation. The growth and progress of your individual employees will reflect the growth and progress of your company as a whole.
For more on how to measure the success of the previous year and move forward into the next, contact the staffing experts at Cordia.