Luring Labor: School of Management Review, April 1999

“The secret to employee attraction is retention,” Seawright Pileggi explained, adding that it is important to know what employees value. For example, many workers wish to have family-friendly policies, stock options, flexible hours, career potential or a strong company culture.

To become an attractive business, a company should be an “employer of choice,” and there are a few criteria that classify a company as such. “An employer of choice is a company that emphasizes career development,” Seawright Pileggi remarked. It is also profitable, has a positive community reputation, offers attractive compensation packages, promotes a distinct corporate culture and has strong leadership.

Since the criteria of being an “employer of choice” includes offering attractive compensation, a company needs to have competitive wages in order to entice potential job applicants.

“The contractor needs to ask the following questions,” Seawright Pileggi pointed out. “Do I pay in the market range? When was the last salary survey we did? Am I just guessing at pay rates?”

THE HIRING GAME. Once the owner/manager feels that the company is attractive to applicants, the hiring process begins.

“To hire good people, you have to first get the current employees involved in the business,” Seawright Pileggi commented. This goes back to her statement that retention is the key to attraction. If applicants see that the current employees are satisfied and involved with the company, they will be more likely to show a strong interest in working for that organization.

There are several recruiting strategies that will help a company find that perfect employee. The hiring authority should identify lifestyles of ideal candidates and infiltrate the places these people normally spend their time, according to Seawright Pileggi. Other tactics include getting the word out by Internet recruiting, web pages, customer referrals and even radio announcements.

“When hiring, identify the winners,” noted Seawright Pileggi. “Choose the person with the right attitude. You can hire for attitude then train for skills.”

There are four major areas to examine when hiring, Seawright Pileggi explained. These include the candidate’s past experience, the position itself and what it requires, background requirements and whether the applicant fits into the company culture.

In order to determine who can fit into the company culture, it is necessary to decide ahead of time how the owner/manager defines the culture and how the employees define it as well. Then, during the hiring process, it can be established whether or not a candidate fits.

If issues such as company culture are resolved before the hiring process ever begins, managing the employee should be easier down the road. “Hire hard, then manage easy,” Seawright Pileggi said. For example, read through the candidate’s application thoroughly before the interview. Compare the application to the resume to make sure they correlate to each other. Also, ask more than just the basic questions.

When asking these questions during the interview, it is important to remember that it is the applicant’s job to do most of the talking. “In an interview, you should listen 80 percent of the time and talk for only 20 percent,” Seawright Pileggi commented.

RISKS AND CHALLENGES. “In hiring, there will always be risk,” Seawright Pileggi mentioned. “Reducing the risk is the overall goal. There will be pitfalls, but you have to reduce the liability of negligent hiring.”

Seawright Pileggi offered several suggestions to take risk and guesswork out of the hiring decision.

• Administer an aptitude test so the employer knows what to expect in terms of the candidate’s ability to learn.
• Review performance appraisals from previous employment.
• Administer a personality profile as well as a job-related, pre-employment test.
• Have several people interview the candidate.

Along with the risks come challenges since today’s market is difficult in terms of hiring.

"The objective is to stay one step ahead by ensuring that you are an employer of choice,” Seawright Pileggi noted. “Is yours a company where people want to work?”