How to Build Team Loyalty

What can your company do to increase employee loyalty and decrease turnover? This question is always burning in the back of employers minds, but has become extremely prevalent in the recent economic downturn. Nowadays companies are able to weed out mediocre employees and hire the best of the best now that everyone is scrambling for a job. So how do you keep your top-notch employees and build employee loyalty? Here are a few tips to help you keep your team safe from other employee-hungry companies.

As an employer you should create clear and frequent communication within your company. When employees know what is happening around the workplace and are aware of changes they will feel more included and trusted. If you open up the lines of communication you can start asking employees for their input on certain projects, which will make them feel important and more committed to the company.

It is also important to offer continuous training and tuition reimbursement to employees. Providing training is important because it is an investment in employees, and when you invest in your workers they are more likely to invest in your company. Furthermore, by offering a matching 401k employees will take notice and become more interested in the company when you have a say in their financial future.

While following that advice will get you far, here are a few smaller tips that will help build loyalty: Reward and recognize employees often, expect greatness, provide career counseling, and allow employees to branch out and work on new projects.

Building loyalty can be a hard task to accomplish. The challenge is to build it up and maintain it so you have an excellent staff of dedicated individuals. If you can achieve this then your team will stick with you through thick and thin.

Spotting Lazy Resumes

It’s really easy to spot a lazy resume in only a few seconds. Just look at the “objective.” If the resume is written properly, then some thought should be put into that objective. It should be specifically crafted towards your business. However, that’s usually not the case. For the most part, you’ll get one of these:

“To obtain a challenging position that exercises my talents and knowledge while expanding my experience.”

It sounds real good, but it doesn’t say much at all. What it says is that the person wants a job, but does so with three times as many words. If you read something that generic, then you just know that person didn’t just apply to you, but rather everyone with a ‘help wanted’ sign got the exact same resume. This person doesn’t want to work for you, he or she just wants to work.

I would almost rather get something like this:

“I’ve always wanted to work in advertising.“

Sure, it’s simple. Sure, it’s direct. But it’s honest and on message. I at least know that the person knows what business I’m in (if I were in advertising). I would want something more from the actual resume before I invited this person in for an interview, but I would read further based on this objective. I wouldn’t read any further based on the initial objective.

You’re Not a Banker – Why Stick to Banker’s Hours?

The competition for the top job candidates is getting fierce. Companies are starting to really transform their benefits package as a way to entice the best and the brightest into their fold. They’re looking at retirement funds, medical and dental and even insurance for pets as a way to attract new employees.

However, what’s most attractive to employees, the one aspect they want more of, is time.

That’s not to say that employees want to work less than 40 hours. If they enjoy their jobs, they will work a full week without complaint. What they really desire is more control over when they work.

If your company is having difficulty recruiting or retaining employees, even with what you consider an exemplary benefits package, perhaps you should explore other possibilities.

Begin by considering the necessity of having all of your employees at the office at the same time. Could some work later shifts? Could some employees work earlier and leave earlier to avoid traffic and be home for their children? Maybe some employees could come in late and stay late?

At the same time take a hard look at exactly how many days an employee needs to be actually in the office. Is it possible for some of your employees to tele-commute? Think about letting some employees work three days in the office and maybe two at home. That relieves them from two days of commuting, two days in a car and possibly several extra hours at home with their families.

You could even take that line of thinking further. Let’s say you decided that you want your employees in the office. Perhaps you want to monitor them and want them there for more accountability. If that’s the case, a new idea that might work for your company is longer days and shorter weeks. Instead of the standard eight hour days five days a week, consider ten hour days four days a week. This gives employees an extra day at home, shaves off two grueling commutes, and still provides the company with 40 productive hours a week of work.

Thinking outside of the box on benefits will not only help your company recruit the best talent available, it will help you retain your valuable pool of current employees. Who know? You might like the changes for yourself as well.

How Soon is Too Soon?

Whereas there are instances where the person you are interviewing is so off the mark, you have every right to end the interview early and not feel bad about it; what about the people who are really trying, but you can tell from the first question that this person just isn’t the right one? How long do you reasonably need to take with this person to at least look like you’re seriously considering him or her for the job?

If you’ve done enough interviewing, you know what I mean. The candidate shows up early, dresses appropriately, is perfectly earnest with his or her answers, but obviously is wrong for the job. The first response to your line of questions is so botched that you automatically know that this person either lied on the resume, or you fudged up and called the wrong number. You don’t want to waste anymore of your time, and you want to stand right up and offer your hand. It’s a busy day and you can’t waste it on someone you know you won’t hire.

But you don’t want to be rude and send the poor person away then and there. At the very least, if you conduct at least half the interview, you’re helping that person prepare for future interviews. Consider the person’s feelings more so than your schedule. After all, it’s important to be human just as much as it’s important to do your job well.

Cover-Letter Deal-Breakers

Is your “Maybe” pile of potential employees just begging to be lessened? It’s really nice of you to consider so many applicants for the position you’re trying to fill, but let’s be realistic: there are only a few in that pile who will really make a difference for your company. The secret is right in front of you, too – in the cover letter.

If a prospective employee doesn’t include a cover letter, he or she usually isn’t really worth a second glance. Someone could have all the skills you need and even all the desired ones, but does he or she really expect you to take time to read through qualifications when you haven’t even been invited to? Because that’s what a cover letter is – an invitation for an employer to consider a resume for a position. Handing over a resume is the application equivalent of breaking a door down instead of ringing the doorbell (well, more like knocking). It may not seem this way – it’s just a few pieces of paper, after all – but in today’s world, a cover letter is a must and not a polite addendum.

A cover letter should not be a summary of one’s qualifications; that’s what a resume is for (which, by the way, should never be more than two pages – then they’re just showing off, and no one wants to read all that gibberish). Cover letters are, as I mentioned before, an invitation to get you to read the resume. They should be formatted correctly and contain very few to no errors. More than two or three typos are usually a sign that the applicant cares little about the first impression.

Also, don’t get caught up in fancy diction. An applicant who throws around big words like there’s no tomorrow and has nothing else to offer may not be a worthy candidate (for example, using the word “utilize” instead of “use” – they mean the same thing, but “use” is much shorter and doesn’t sound like you’re trying to impress with wordiness).

The first paragraph should aim to impress. It should show that the applicant has done research on the company and prove that her or she wants to work for you and not just any (insert general company type here). That first paragraph should really get you to want to continue reading. A general intro (“Hi, my name is Joe Schmoe and I want to work for you”) won’t cut it. The writer has only that first paragraph to really get you initially interested, and if your company is one he or she really wants to work for, you’ll know.

The second paragraph should tell you why the applicant is perfect for the position. Sometimes this includes a very brief summary of his or her qualifications that relate directly to the position. However – and this is very important – the applicant should be telling you what he or she can do for your company instead of the other way around. A bunch of “I believe this position would help me grow”-type sentences are a big no-no – why should you care what the company can do for the applicant? Of course there is potential for that later, but you’re not looking for now. At the moment you begin reading that cover letter, think “What can this person do for me and the company I work for?”

The last paragraph should wrap everything up nicely and emphasize again how strongly the applicant wants the specific job he or she is applying for, complete with a thank you. If an applicant has these characteristics within his or her profile, then they deserve a second glance.