The First Key Element Of Employee Engagement - Recruitment

Behind every exceptionally successful organisation is employee engagement. An organisation can only be a competitive market leader and a driving force in its industry, if it has a team of people who are truly engaged.

Introduction 

Most managers confuse the term employee satisfaction with employee engagement. Employee satisfaction is when you have a happy team. And that’s it. Employee engagement, however, does so much more.

Employee engagement is when your employees are dedicated to their jobs and the organisation. It’s when they talk positively of their employer, go the extra mile for their customers, put in extra effort than what’s required, and reward the organisation with their loyalty and commitment. Above all, organisations that champion employee engagement become employers of choice, and when you’re an employer of choice, you attract the best possible employees in the marketplace.

There are four key elements to employee engagement. These are:

1. Recruitment,
2. Support,
3. Relationships, and
4. Opportunities

In that order, they form the ‘employee engagement journey’. Whilst these four elements are absolutely critical when creating an engaged team, there are many more factors within these elements which need to be considered. Identifying these factors will provide you with a fantastic start for your employee engagement journey.

Recruitment 

It's always easier to engage the right kind of employee, and that's why recruitment is the first important element in the engagement journey. The people that you recruit can make or break your team's success. Think back to a time when you had to manage people who were unmotivated, not focused, and not suited to their jobs. We've all been there and can acknowledge how difficult, awkward and time-consuming such situations can be.

It's possible these employees should not have been recruited in the first place and we often find ourselves asking "who hired this person?" Therefore, when you have the opportunity to recruit someone, it's critical to do it properly - even if it means being without a vital employee for an extended period of time. The following are the critical components of the recruitment process which have an impact on employee engagement.

Busy leaders often hastily prepare a position description, don't update previous ones, and sometimes even recruit people without having one in place. The end result is a lack of clarity for the employee in terms of what they are meant to be doing at work.

A well-prepared position description outlines the position title and where this fits within the organisation's structure. It also details duties and responsibilities, qualifications and experience required, reporting lines, the purpose of the position, selection criteria, and other preferences such as flexibility, hours, and character traits.

Importantly, the position description should be presented to a potential candidate before they're even interviewed. This is so that the candidate can see early on in the recruitment process exactly what the job entails. This then gives him the opportunity to withdraw his application (thereby saving everyone's time) or to ask further questions during the interview process.

Carefully consider how you're going to structure your interview process. Think about whether any of the following would provide you with value when trying to find the right person:

• Telephone interviews can be used to screen candidates before they make it through to the face-to-face interview, thereby saving time.
  
  
• Face-to-face interviews are the most common method of recruitment. The most effective interviews contain a mixture of both behavioural-based and situational questions. The best interviewers create a relaxed and comfortable environment so that the applicant is able to display his true characteristics.
  
  
• Group exercises are used to see how people work with others.
  
  
• Role plays and simulation activities give an indication as to how a candidate may potentially perform in a role.
  
  
• Psychometric testing is used to ascertain a candidate's level of intellect and personality. It's important that this testing is not looked at in isolation but in conjunction with all the recruitment tools.
  
  
• Reference checks are a form of testimonial, usually conducted by a previous manager.
  
  
• Background checks are more thorough checks which delve into the accuracy of a candidate's employment and educational history.
  
  
• Job trials usually occur for a period of one week in order to observe a candidate's ability to do the job before making an offer.
  
  
• Presentations, conducted by the candidate, are useful if the job involves significant amounts of presenting.
  
  
• Headhunting services tend to be used in times when finding the right applicant is incredibly difficult.
  
  

I don't recommend using all of these; rather, the ones you use will be dependent on the nature of the job.

The biggest mistake managers make during the recruitment process is they recruit only based upon skills and experience. But you can teach skills and you can obtain experience. What you can't teach or obtain is the right attitude.

Hiring only based upon skills and experience is dangerous - because this method brings in bad habits. It's easier to coach and train someone with the right attitude, than to change the attitude of someone who's got the right qualifications.

So you've found the perfect person ... but are they culturally aligned with your organisation? The perfect employee can be destructive if his values and ethics do not match those of your organisation. Further negative impacts can develop if his personality is likely to clash with his colleagues.

Likewise, if your corporate culture is not suited to the candidate, even he will find it demoralising. It's almost impossible to become an engaged employee if your behaviours are out of sync with those of the organisation.

A good test is to walk the candidate around your workplace and observe his reactions to what's around him. This will give you (and him) a good indication as to whether you're suitable for each other. You may also like to incorporate questions during the interview that relate to his values to see if they're aligned with the organisation's culture.

Upon recruiting the right employee, be clear on your expectations, and generally the position description is a good starting point for this discussion.

Outline in detail the behaviours you expect, the values and ethics you'd like him to uphold, the performance indicators he's required to meet, how he goes about achieving these, and how his performance will be measured.

To maximise engagement levels, try and be flexible with your expectations, encourage creativity and permit the employee to challenge the status quo. Doing otherwise may make him feel restricted and micro-managed.

Emotional intelligence is someone's ability to understand and influence their own and others' emotions. Managers that possess emotional intelligence are able to use this to their advantage by relating and connecting with their employees.

Whilst emotional intelligence isn't a necessary attribute to look for when recruiting for front-line employees, it is absolutely essential if you're recruiting for leaders who'll be managing people. If you're a manager of managers, promote and recruit managers that display a healthy level of emotional intelligence so that you know they'll respond to your employees with a solid understanding of how their words and actions will impact each employee.

Read the article 'The Second Key Element Of Employee Engagement - Support'

Read the article 'The Third Key Element Of Employee Engagement - Relationships'

Read the article 'The Fourth Key Element Of Employee Engagement - Opportunities'

Buy James Adonis’ Audio Seminar CD from the Resource Centre:

Employee Engagement: Solved!

James Adonis is Australia’s leading expert on employee engagement. He shows companies how to reduce staff turnover, engage Gen Y, and win the war for talent. For more information and free e-books, visit www.jamesadonis.com, phone +61 2 9331 2465, or email james@jamesadonis.com.
First published: 29 May 2007.
Last updated: 29 May 2007.