HR CAN HELP CREATE GREAT CULTURE TO ATTRACT, RETAIN TALENT

BY TOM VAN JACOBS NSGA MARKETING COORDINATOR

Mindy Flanigan, a human resources expert and the founder of Inspiring HR, spoke during the Tuesday morning session at this year’s Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit in Nashville to change those perceptions of HR. Flanigan wanted to make HR simple and illustrate how to create a culture that will attract and retain employees. There isn’t one simple fix when it comes to creating a successful culture. Culture is the brand, personality and how you make others feel both internally and externally. HR is the glue to keep the infrastructure together, which in turn allows your company to develop a culture where employees want to come to work. Flanigan simplified four factors of HR in her presentation:

• Labor Law/Compliance

• Compensation/Benefits

• Hiring

• Burnout/Stress in the Workplace

LABOR LAW/COMPLIANCE

Flanigan started with a refresher course in labor law and she emphasized “compliance equals credibility.”

Compliance is about minimizing risk, staying informed, preserving credibility and not incurring unnecessary expenses. Employee handbooks are important to have for compliance, but Flanigan strongly encourages creating the handbook through the lens of the employee and not having it written by lawyers, because this will allow employees to understand it better. Your frontline leaders are your best resource when it comes to training and teaching your staff the employee handbook.

COMPENSATION/BENEFITS

Money is not the ONLY thing employees want. Compensation and benefits are necessary to an employee but more important is a sense of purpose. When creating a strategy for your compensation and benefits, make sure it aligns with your values and culture and be intentional about it. Start with your budget and then use resources around you to create the perfect compensation and benefits program.

One major resource is your employees. Ask them to list four or five big things they find important and think about how those can fit into your program. Also, the wellness and flexibility your employees have are benefits, so make sure to put effort into making sure your employees feel supported and heard.

Hiring

Hiring is a sport and in our world today we have a declining population but more jobs to fill. Flanigan calls for employers to win the talent war but today’s hiring environment is different from the past.

Culture and the ability to keep employees engaged in their work is particularly important when it comes to hiring and retention and companies should leverage that as a competitive advantage. Flanigan said you need to get the right people in the right seats and that comes with hiring slow and trusting your process of what is needed for the position.

Candidates expect more in today’s job search. Instead of using cookie-cutter job descriptions, describe what makes your company a uniquely desirable place to work. Also, Flanigan stressed that when searching for the right people, look at skills and abilities and not just experience/education in the sporting goods industry.

Once you hire the right people it is just as important to retain them. Create an onboarding program where a new employee feels comfortable.

BURNOUT/STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE

Burnout and stress are major factors that cause an employee to leave or “silent quit.” Flanigan mentioned how less than 1 in 4 U.S. employees feel strongly that their employer cares about their well-being (Gallup report). Less hours, more paid time off and higher pay would help anyone with their stress and burnout, but it is not a long-term fix.

Flanigan stressed that leaders need to have empathy and listen to their employees and create a sense of meaning/purpose for working at their company. Small changes such as these make for big differences in the workplace and the culture for employees.