by Russell Dawson

Created on: December 12, 2006   Last Updated: December 13, 2006

In corporate terms: You are what you employ.

So if getting the ultimate team together can be the difference between market domination and receivership, how do good managers ensure that they both hire and retain the best employees possible? Well, if you find any of the insights I've gained over the past 15 years hiring staff (on behalf of several large restaurant franchisers and franchisees), help yourself. The following represents what I learned after interviewing hundreds of potential employees and dozens of prospective management candidates.

These are the 8 things I wish someone had told me when I first started:

1) In a situation where a number of people hire employees, track the success of each new employee hired and who made the hire. Some managers are better at hiring than others and their opinions should be given more weight.

2) Understand that some of the best hires you will get will be referrals from your top employees. Understand also that some of the worst hires you make will be referrals from your top employees.

3) Employees who share in the company's success are more loyal. Employees absorb cutbacks easier when they feel that they also shared in the gravy times.

4) Employees who earn low salaries but high commissions are more likely to move to companies that offer a moderate base salary and commission rate. People understand the cyclical nature of the economy and 9 out of 10 employees prefer security to the potential for quick short term gains.

5) Experience isn't everything. Some people with a lot of experience can bring a lot of other things to your firm too-like bad habits, hardened attitudes and they may try to intimidate some of your existing personnel.

6) Employees need to hear when they are doing a good job too. We know how quickly they hear when they don't! It isn't enough to think that an employee will construe "no news is good news" about the job they are doing. They do not need cash or rewards every time they do something well-sincere appreciation and knowing they are valued goes a long way.

7) Try behavior-based interviewing. In an interview, ask the prospective employee how he or she has handled or would handle a difficult customer. If the interviewee doesn't have such an experience or can't imagine themselves resolving a problem professionally, go to the next candidate!

8) Allow good employees to move onwards and upwards. Shortsighted managers will sometimes try to discourage employees from moving up which can create a very stagnant and toxic environment. Get a reputation for being someone who develops people and you will find an ever growing line-up of people wanting to work with you.

Had I known these things, I'm confident I would have cut employee turnover in half and saved big bucks on training.

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