June 4th 2010 was Mike Sipple Sr., President, and Centennial’s 35th Anniversary! On a day of celebration Mike Sr. wanted to share feedback to a question that regularly comes up with client companies. This is the area of engaging and on-boarding talent…it happens to be an area that he has been personally passionate about since 1975!

The question he often asks leaders is, “Once you get the right talent and leadership on-board what do you do next?”

Too many executives and business owners look back at him and say, “I do not know – I just want to get them on our team.”

When asked this recently he shared, “If you’re already being proactive with recruiting, in terms of attracting talent into your doors, I would suggest you consider the next steps in the process, which many companies tend to forget (but they are, indeed, part of the recruitment process!)

1. I would recommend you do a culture survey. Find out what people think internally. Many companies can attract “A” talent, but they can’t retain them. It’s critical to find out why you’re either able to keep talent or why you lose them. You need to get the ideas and opinions from people on the inside who know these answers.

2. You should be intentional about putting your best foot forward and being proactive – not reactive – in the process. Many companies forget that the “attracting” process still needs to continue after a candidate is in the process. If you like a candidate, you need to have what I call “your selling and attracting shoes” on.

3. You need to develop formal processes to keep the attraction process continuing without unnecessary delays. Internal delays can keep a process from moving forward. Unfortunately, the “A” talent may have multiple offers and opportunity with the ability to choose from the best.

4. You need to be sure what you promise in the recruitment process is what’s being delivered to the new employee. Recruiting and attracting talent continues during the on-boarding process and should be a key part of new job assimilation for three to six months to be sure the transition is smooth.  So many companies lose people within the first six months, and it’s often due to un-kept promises or surprises.

5. There needs to be a process for on-boarding that follows people through these early phases of their employment and ensures that they’re feeling good about their decision. This should include that all expectations are being met from both sides. This is the time to lay a solid foundation of trust, communication and engagement.”

We encourage you to provide your thoughts and feedback with on-boarding/assimilation.

• What have you have seen or experienced that makes a difference?

Let’s ensure we don’t just hire talent but engage and retain those we worked so hard to identify and recruit!

Warmest Regards,

Mike Sipple, Sr.
President

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