Finding and Keeping
Good Employees

If you want to attract the best employees, make it harder for them to get hired. This is advice from the author of The Passionate Organization, Jim Lucas of the Kansas City-based Luman Consultants International. Maureen Anderson, host of the syndicated radio program The Career Clinic, regularly features Lucas on her show, and the following is a conversation with him about how to find and keep good employees.

Organizations often lower the bar when they have trouble finding qualified candidates.
That’s true, and I think it’s a big mistake. You want applicants to know this is a nice place to work, it’s an elite place to work, and we don’t take just anyone who walks in the door. Good people are drawn to that. Think of it like the admissions office of an Ivy League university. If your advertising for the position says you’re only interested in the highest-caliber people, that’s what you’re likely to attract.

You use Southwest Airlines as an example.
In a recent year, the company had 137,000 applications for about 1,700 openings. To my knowledge, they don’t have any substantial difference in pay or benefits. Southwest Airlines has created a culture that’s unique, and they sell that culture. They feel they’re on a mission. They talk about flying people, not airplanes. That appeals to a person who’s as interested in serving others as they are in a paycheck.

How important is a competitive salary when hiring?
There is never any excuse for not paying people what they’re worth. But what draws people to your company and keeps them there is a feeling they’re accomplishing something and are valued for that. To find good people, let them know that in the interview you’re not going to do a credential-experience matchup to the job description. The purpose of the interview is to communicate the company’s mission, and find out if the potential employee’s passions are in line with that mission.

The ideal job candidate wants to feel like by working for you, they can accomplish what they’re born to do. With that kind of connection, keeping them is easy. Just stay out of their way.

In other words, don’t babysit.
Exactly, I think the fundamental problem with management is, we ask the wrong question. We ask, “How do
I control my employees?” Instead we should be asking, “How do I put my employees in a position to succeed?” Most people don't like someone looking over their shoulder while they work. It's demoralizing.

How else can you stay out of an employee’s way?
Consider eliminating performance reviews. I think performance reviews are a tremendous tool for alienating good employees. They’re like report cards. You’re telling someone if they’re naughty or nice—and most employees are turned off by that.

Without a performance review, how do you justify giving someone a raise?
I suggest replacing them with performance agreements, where both parties come to the table as equals. The employer shares what they need, the employee shares what they can deliver, and you negotiate. Then you let them monitor and measure themselves.

Wouldn’t a savvy manager couch a performance review as just that?
Perhaps, but that’s where integrity comes into play. To find and keep good employees, it helps to be a good person. We often set up either-or scenarios. Either I’m strong and tough and I get what I want, or I’m nice and I’m kind—but I don’t get very far in life.

I don’t buy that. I think you can be very straightforward, very no-baloney, very direct—but also very honest and gracious and kind. I think you can make strong statements in a very caring way. You let people know I’m saying this strongly because my definition of loyalty is not, don’t rock the boat. My definition of loyalty is, I care about you and this organization too much to not let this thing be said.

You know, finding and keeping good employees is easy—if your company is a fun place to work. It’s like what they say about marriage: it’s not so much finding the right person as being the right person. The more integrity you show when hiring and managing, the less likely you’ll need to do either one.

Maureen Anderson can be reached by e-mail at maureen@thecareerclinic.com. To order The Passionate Organization, call 800-262-9699 and to learn more about The Career Clinic, go to www.thecareerclinic.com