Recruiting and Retaining Staff Dr Lee Gruner1

Principles of Recruitment and Retention Aimed at ensuring that the organisation has competent, high performing employees who can sustain performance over the long term Consists of: planning, orientation, training, support Dr Lee Gruner2

Principles of Recruitment and Retention Planning--recruitment, selection, Orientation and training-ensures all are skilled for the job Support-performance appraisal, career development, good industrial relations, creating the workplace culture Dr Lee Gruner3

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Elements of a good planning process? Assessment of current human resources Assessment of future needs Development of a program to meet future needs Dr Lee Gruner5

Assessment of future needs Important to do a job analysis Not to assume that a specific type of person is needed To assess the type of job which needs to be done and the competencies required Dr Lee Gruner6

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Elements of a good recruitment process? Establish where to source people Ensure you have the right job description Develop appropriate selection criteria and a weighting system Determine how you will shortlist Determine who will interview Ensure the panel is skilled Dr Lee Gruner8

Elements of a good recruiting process Ensure that there is a clear process for credentialing and scope of practice How are credentials assessed? What documentation is provided? What scope of practice is required by the organisation? Dr Lee Gruner9

Elements of a good recruitment process Go through the questions to be asked Ensure all interviewees are asked the same questions Establish appropriate referees and questions to be asked Determine what other information you require Use the behavioural interviewing technique Dr Lee Gruner10

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What is behavioural interviewing? Behavioural Interviewing is asking a question about a candidates experience to ascertain if the way they behaved in a situation is what you want for your organisation or for the job. Behaviour in the candidate's past experience is a good guide for future performance Takes the guesswork out of interviewing Dr Lee Gruner12

Hints for behavioural interviewing Design questions beforehand Ask questions about technical skill as well as behaviour Know what behaviours you want to test Use examples of behaviour that are recent Ask questions about both failure and success Probe where necessary Dr Lee Gruner13

Examples of behavioural questions Ability to delegate: Can you describe a situation where you were organising something and had others helping you. How did you distribute the tasks? What was the outcome? Knowing limitations: Tell me about a time when you had to turn to someone else for help. Who did you turn to? What happened? Being a team player: Were you ever involved with a group of people and a problem arose? What caused the problem? How did you approach it? How was it solved? Dr Lee Gruner14

Elements of a good recruitment process Have a template for questions to referees Have a template for a letter to notify applicants of the process Have a template to offer the position to the applicant to include their responsibilities, scope of practice and process of review of credentials Dr Lee Gruner15

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Elements of a good orientation process What outcomes are you seeking? Need to consider what the employee needs to know about the organisation and about the job itself Do they need any new knowledge or skills quickly? Dr Lee Gruner17

Elements of a good orientation process Need to be oriented to the organisation and to the unit Need to clearly understand their responsibilities and the responsibilities of the organisation to them Need to meet all of the key people Need to meet other members of the unit Should be done by the head of the unit Dr Lee Gruner18

Education and training Should aim towards the principle of life long learning This is a responsibility of staff Encourage staff to constantly update skills required in the work environment Includes--technical, analytical, interpersonal Dr Lee Gruner19

Performance appraisal What are the objectives of performance appraisal? In the past was often to determine if a pay increase would be awarded Now is really for two-way feedback, professional development, understanding of what is needed by staff to do a competent job Dr Lee Gruner20

Performance appraisal Should be a positive experience Easier if there are competencies against which the staff member is being assessed Needs to include a self-appraisal Needs to include positive as well as negative feedback (communication techniques) Is an important aspect of review of credentials Dr Lee Gruner21

Career Development Performance appraisal can help with this Manager should be alert to career issues of staff Who shows potential? Who cannot move outside their comfort zone? Who is poor at taking responsibility? Who can mentor other staff? Dr Lee Gruner22

Be alert to: Changing expectations of staff Changing expectations of patients Changing environmental influences Changing social influences Culture in the workplace Dr Lee Gruner23

Developing the right culture A good work environment is critical to retaining staff Need a balance of systems (control, conformity) and unpredictability (creativity, initiative, risk taking) You can develop this in your area even if the culture of the organisation as a whole is systems based Need to use the untapped ability of your staff Use systems as the framework and bolster this with a personal approach Redefine policies and procedures to support the staff Dr Lee Gruner24

Developing the right culture Delegate appropriately and support staff in their decisions Use mistakes as learning experiences Understand motivating factors Understand differences in personality and communication styles Dr Lee Gruner25

Developing the right culture Provide copious amounts of information Foster and promote good ideas Encourage links with other departments Establish internal celebration mechanisms Ensure that every staff member feels part of the team Dr Lee Gruner26

The changing employment contract Old paradigm organisations expected loyalty and sacrifice of autonomy emphasis on control of the employee doctrine of strategy-structure-systems employees received pay and job security Dr Lee Gruner27

The changing employment contract New paradigm--knowledge is a scarce resource organisations must provide training and development opportunities for personal and professional growth change of contract from guarantee of employment to commitment to employability emphasis on purpose-process-people Dr Lee Gruner28

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Motivating staff The key to retaining good staff is keeping them motivated Which factors demotivate people? What motivates people to: Remain in an organisation Continue to be productive Be positive about their work Dr Lee Gruner30

Demotivators Inequity while doing the same job: Different conditions Different treatment Different pay Lack or perceived lack of job security If these things are fixed they will not necessarily lead to improved retention Dr Lee Gruner31

Motivators Providing an environment where all can contribute and have influence on their job Reward and recognition Participation in decision making Meaningful work Trust the leadership of the organisation Dr Lee Gruner32

Improving employee motivation Create a positive environment where staff feel valued Involve staff in the vision so that they can contribute Understand their goals and assist so that they can achieve them Assist to improve their skills Acknowledge contributions Honour your promises Match tasks to talents Provide incentives Have fun! Dr Lee Gruner33