Employee retention may seem less important in a down economy. After all, won’t there be lots of well-qualified applicants out there eager to work for you (perhaps even at a cut-rate salary)? That could be true, but you also have to wonder why these particular applicants were the ones who got let go? Yes, there are exceptions: people transfer to new cities, agencies close, etc. Those usually account for a minority of job seekers, though. The applicant pool often contains your competitors rejects, plain and simple. If you had a really first-rate employee, wouldn’t you do everything you could to retain her?

I sure hope so, because thinking you might be dollars ahead to replace a long-time employee with a newer, lower-cost version is short-sighted. I do recognize, however, that there are special challenges when hiring for small companies. While there are advantages galore to running your own agency, you just don’t have the employee attraction resources the big guys have. They can hire recruitment firms, offer bigger salaries and possibly better perks. That means you need to be really creative to remain competitive when top notch employees are as hard to find as your way home in a blizzard. Replacement costs for team members soar as it takes longer and longer to make new matches. These are just some of the costs involved:

• severance pay
• hiring temporary help, lost productivity while team handles extra duties during vacancy
• recruitment costs
• administrative time—all that paperwork
• calls to verify resumes, references
• aptitude testing
• your valuable time spent interviewing and evaluating candidates
• cost of making and negotiating a job offer
• orienting and retraining new hires
• Learning curve costs

Then there are the hidden costs:

• your time just to weigh the decision to fire someone
• time lost discussing it with team and figuring out a temporary solution
• lowered production due to poor employee morale
• potential loss of some of your customers
• diminishing customer loyalty and trust

The cost of replacing an employee is one and a half times their annual salary.

If that comes as a surprise, you probably haven’t been tracking all the hidden costs associated with hiring: advertising, testing, the time it takes to interview and evaluate applicants, training new staff members, lost productivity among existing team members, low productivity for the new hire, and so on. Clearly, hiring the right people in the first place and then retaining those great team members needs to be a high priority.

However, I do have this advice which may seem counter-intuitive: zero turnover should NOT be your goal! Why not? Because without new people you have no infusion of fresh ideas, and your whole team can become stagnant in their attitudes, sinking into ruts of boredom. To keep your team energized, hang on to the employees who add the most value to your customers and replace the rest with people who are a better fit. Remember, great employees are more apt to refer other great people to work for you.

So what can you do to keep your best team members? You can be aware of potential problems BEFORE they grow large—in short, be pro-active about employee retention. Even when employees are reasonably happy in a job, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll stay. Loyalty is quickly becoming an antique concept, as employees regard jobs as mere stepping stones on their career path. Fifty percent of the workforce polled in a recent survey viewed their current employment as a short-term proposition of less than two years in length. In this industry it can take that long to get a team member up to speed with all the products and agency practices, so you can see how detrimental that attitude could be to your bottom line—and morale. The reasons for team member dissatisfaction are limitless, but these are the biggies:

• They seek more meaning in their work, a sense of purpose
• They don’t feel valued or listened to
• They’re bored and crave stimulating challenges
• They don’t see a meaningful future with opportunities for growth
• Their job is not connected to their passions and interests
• They are doing work that doesn’t match their innate personalities and talents
• They are simply burned out from stress and in many cases juggling family concerns and personal issues with job demands

With so much potential unhappiness in your midst, I hope you’re growing even more convinced of the need to make employee attraction a priority. Of course, employee unhappiness and what you can do about it, is the whole point of my book, Finding Joy In Your Job. It’s overflowing with exercises for your team to help them rediscover a passion for their careers. I urge you to get involved with them in working through the book, as it’s bound to ignite all sorts of productive conversations that will lead to better communication and understanding.

Also, you can download my free report, Employee Retention Strategies: Becoming A Magnet for the Best Employees.

No this isn’t a Dating Guide, but it is about how to appeal to women job seekers when writing your job descriptions.

Let’s be honest. The majority of office workers are female. I won’t go into the psychology of why women are more attracted to that kind of work (or why they are often better at it than men). Suffice it to say, for most insurance agency and small business owners, female employees are the core of our existence. They’re often our office managers, executive assistants and all-around go-to-gals. Male business owners, however, are often lousy at understanding how to appeal to women in help wanted ads.

I’m here to help. As an ex-Marine, hard-driving, recovering Type A workaholic, I’ve learned a lot over the years from the outstanding women who have—and still do—work for me. I’ve learned women have a richer emotional life and look at challenges very differently:

• They often include more sensitive human considerations when deciding how to proceed.
• They wonder if they’ll hurt someone’s feelings.
• They think about how decisions affect a co-worker’s family life.
• They consider whether someone can be encouraged and coached to perform better.
• They notice others’ moods and ask if they can help.
• They instinctively know how to cheer someone up or cover for someone who’s going through a rough patch.
• They also take good care of their bosses and often save our behinds from the fire.

Of course I’m generalizing here. Sure, there are men out there who are in touch with their emotions, but for the most part, we guys just want to solve problems and take action. We like those check marks on our lists. We don’t want to get involved too deeply with our employees. We fear messy situations, because we often don’t know what’s expected of us or are at a loss for effective words. So it’s no wonder we can’t write employment ads that really appeal to women.

Sure, women respond to our ads regardless. I’m talking about upping your game so that your ads attract the best and brightest women, the experienced stars of your industry, the in-demand prospects that anyone would be thrilled to hire.

The secret is to get emotional in your help wanted ads.

Not to go all Oprah on you, but women will respond to ads that give a sense of your company as a place where employees are valued as humans first, workers second.

While it is of course important to state what you require of your new employee, the majority of your employment ad should be focused on selling the job hunter on why your agency or company is a great place to work. You may be used to thinking of employment ads as you being the buyer of something, namely a new employee. Instead, you need to think of it as selling yourself as an Employer of First Choice™. Think of this as writing sales copy, and you’ll be on the right track.

When all your ad does is describe the position you want to fill, it implies that all you care about is quantifiable qualifications. You must include the human qualifications in the equation. Here are some examples.

BAD AD: We need a great go-getter Office Manager for busy insurance office. Ideal applicant will be well-organized, skilled at prioritizing, a pro with agency accounting systems, detail fanatic and have five or more years similar experience.

GOOD AD: Friendly, welcoming insurance agency has an opening for someone to join our team who wants to make a difference in people’s lives. We pride ourselves on really caring about our customers and helping them through their life crises. On top of that, we have a great time doing it. Fun is encouraged in our office, and no one takes him or herself too seriously. Life’s too short for an all-work-and-no-play attitude. Customers love to visit our office, because they always find a warm greeting, a cup of coffee, a good listener and problem solver—and maybe even a homemade cookie. It might even be Balloon Bouquet Delivery Day! Sure, we also get our work done, but we do it in a spirit of cooperation with one another, not competition. This is the kind of office where team members become friends for life and return years later just to visit and update us on their family. If this sounds like your kind of working environment and you have five or more years insurance experience, we’d love to meet you and chat over coffee. Please give Linda, our Office Manager a call.

The actual ad would have a few more facts, and yes, it’s a much longer and more expensive ad—but which one would you rather answer? No contest. To be really instructive, here is the same ad copy, with the key emotionally tinged words in red.

Friendly, welcoming insurance agency has an opening for someone to join our team who wants to make a difference in people’s lives. We pride ourselves on really caring about our customers and helping them through their life crises. On top of that, we have a great time doing it. Fun is encouraged in our office, and no one takes him or herself too seriously. Life’s too short for an all-work-and-no-play attitude. Customers love to visit our office, because they always find a warm greeting, a cup of coffee, a good listener and problem solver—and maybe even a homemade cookie. It might even be Balloon Bouquet Delivery Day! Sure, we also get our work done, but we do it in a spirit of cooperation with one another, not competition. This is the kind of office where team members become friends for life and return years later just to visit and update us on their family. If this sounds like your kind of working environment and you have five or more years insurance experience, we’d love to meet you and chat over coffee. Please give Linda, our Office Manager a call.

Be sure to describe in glowing color your office culture—the tone you set, the attitude of your team, the overall vibe of the place. Some items to consider and explore in your ad:

• Is your office extra casual, or more professional in tone?
• What do you as the business owner value in setting the mood of your workplace?
• What’s your personality and how does that impact how things run in your office?
• Name something fun you have done as a team outside the office.

I hope this inspires you to rethink how you go about writing your help wanted ads and encourages you to get more emotional as you do it. Ask your female employees for help—they’ll know just what to say.

For much more detailed information about writing effective job descriptions, download my free report here.

It’s easy to use tough times as an excuse to slack off on employee appreciation efforts.

After all, your employees should be grateful just to have a job, right? Well, sure, but you should also be grateful not to have to recruit, hire and train new employees any more than necessary, since that’s an expenditure you can do without. Don’t let employee retention efforts fade away, as that could cost you a lot more than it would take to keep your team humming along.

What’s the key to employee satisfaction? Simple but frequent verbal appreciation is always underrated by bosses and conversely highly valued by employees. Beyond that, when your budget allows, consider some of these ideas, certain to spread smiles around your office.

Relatively inexpensive perks can really cheer someone up.

• Perhaps you can barter for some discounts or gift cards from area merchants,
• Buy an entertainment coupon book and hand out pages over several months
• Organize a potluck picnic for Friday lunch
• Bring in flowers from your own backyard and have one of your team members arrange them in a nice vase
• Encourage your team to spruce up the office a bit—a can of paint or a modest shopping spree at an office supply store and spice things up. Never underestimate the power of colorful tools. Really. People who spend all day behind a desk appreciate brightly colored folders, sticky-notes and so on. Manila = dull and boring!
• Stick a lottery ticket in each paycheck
• Write thank you notes to team members on attractive note cards and leave them on each desk to be found Monday morning
• Next time you’re tempted to bring in a box of donuts (because that’s what YOU want!) call ahead and see what treat your team would rather have. They might prefer non-fat frozen yogurt or fresh berries from a farm stand.
• Have a “Bring Your Dog To Work Friday” (perhaps sequentially, so there’s just one at a time). You might be very surprised at the morale boost a pooch can add. Customers get a kick out of it, too.

As a culmination of your employee satisfaction program, how about creating a celebration wall in your office with certificates of appreciation from you to your team, as well as any you receive for community effort?. Perhaps you have a fancy plaque made up to honor some special achievement. Add framed photos of your team on outings or just at the Friday picnic. Do you have a company softball team? Hang up a hat or shirt, too—anything that documents that this is a well-rounded group of people who enjoy working together. This wall serves as a permanent record and reminder that you care about your team. It’s also a great thing to point out to job candidates on an office tour. Put someone in charge of the wall who will make sure everything gets documented. It wouldn’t hurt for the wall to be visible to clients, either, as it reflects well on you as an Employer of First Choice™. You never know when a client will think of you as more than just an insurance agent and refer a friend or family member as a job candidate.

I think you can see that your employee satisfaction campaign doesn’t have to bust your budget. It really is the thought that counts. Also, don’t neglect the simplest tactic of all—ask THEM what you could do to make their life easier. For more ideas, please see my report: Employee Satisfaction: 25 Way To Say Job Well Done.

There are now three generations of employees in the workplace, and the youngest, Generation Y, requires special tactics to attract and retain.

They’re apt to be very tech savvy, and they enjoy jobs that offer the latest technological tools to work with, as well as ongoing training to make the most of those tools. Also, as a rule, they make few distinctions between their personal and professional lives, which means they can have high enthusiasm fro work as long as they find it challenging and rewarding on several levels.

Also called the Echo Boomers, Generation Y (born 1981-2000) are often the children of Boomers. This large generation of 68 million people is three times larger than Generation X (born 1965-1980), and 40 million of them are already working full-time.

This group displays the greatest changes in temperament and attitudes toward work. Imagine never knowing a world without personal computers, fax machines, cell phones and so on. Think of the Gen Yers as Gen Wired, and you’ll be on the way to knowing what makes them who they are.

That they bring enormous technical ability to their careers is a given. However, the same technology that they’ve mastered has also created a new breed of person with a vastly altered attention span. Because they grew up spending eight or more hours a day watching TV, playing video games and using computers, this generation focuses in very short increments. Their attention tends to wane after eight minutes—about the length of a TV show segment.

On the other hand, Boomers grew up without remote controls and tended to stay put on the couch during commercials. Gen Yers are champion multi-taskers, and they are not passive consumers of TV commercials. Instead, they are instant messaging friends, sending text message votes to American Idol, surfing the web from their iPhones or any number of other things while waiting for the program to resume. Video games, with their emphasis on ever-increasing speed and digital dexterity, have also contributed to hard-wiring Gen Y brains to be hyper-reactive and to make them quick decision makers. Conversely, they find most traditional learning situations deadly dull and slow.

Some of those traits can be harnessed in the workplace, while others need to be faced head-on if you are to successfully employ a typical Gen Yer. They can be great innovators and in touch with their creative abilities. In fact, a strong trait of this generation is that they crave self-expression. This is the group who was raised to participate in endless activities, and they were also brought up to believe everyone was a winner. They played on teams where no scores were kept and where everyone received a blue ribbon just for showing up. That consciousness still pervades their thinking today.

Attracting younger job candidates

As the Boomers retire, younger people are being groomed to take over. As I discuss in the Employee Attraction System™, they have completely different values, priorities and ethics from the generation who preceded them. Technically competent and savvy younger employees have been brought up in an era of freely available information and communication, while corporate culture has traditionally been reserved and structured.

Unfortunately, most insurance agents don’t really realize that we can offer things that will appeal to them:

• a supportive environment where lifelong friends are made
• an office where we work more with people than machines
• opportunities to learn transferable skills

How do you recruit this highly mobile, flexible and diverse workforce? You attract them by creating a workplace where they’ll feel comfortable, one that signals you understand them and their needs.

A few hallmarks of a Gen X- and GenY-friendly office are:

• The latest technology is in use. Both hardware and software are state of the art.
• A cheerful, colorful, modern office space says: we’re not stuck in the 20th century.
• Environmentally-friendly policies reinforce one of their core values.
• They can see other younger employees on your team—it’s tough to recruit them if everyone else is over 40. They want peers for friendship.
• The boss is approachable and regardless of his or her age, comes off as able to relate to someone much younger.

That last one is very important. Younger team members want to feel like they can relate to you and vice versa. They want a leader who will inspire them and guide them and share his or her experience. They are thirsty to learn from seasoned professionals—as long as the training isn’t delivered in a top-down, condescending style.

Don’t be afraid to hire younger employees—they can also be a great value in a challenged economy. It’s true that they aren’t likely to stick around for a decade or more, but if you understand how to motivate them, you’ll both get good value from their presence on your team.

To learn more about retaining Gen X and Gen Y employees, download my free report: Retaining Younger Employees.

Also, I found a video from an Australian firm that adds more insight into this issue. Watch it here.

I believe job interviews are far too important to leave them to chance or to conduct them unprepared. Over my 30+ years owning an insurance agency, I’ve made it my business to learn how to do meaningful job interviews—and formulate the kind of interview questions that will tell me what I really want to know about each candidate.

It all comes down to developing and testing a system that works for you and using it consistently. At the end of this post I link to a free report that details my process, but I’ll give you the highlights here. It may sound a bit overwhelming if you’re not used to using some of these tools, but like most things, it’s easy once you establish the practice.

First, Linda, my invaluable Office Manager pre-screens applicants by phone. She is so skilled at this that she saves us all lots of time by doing this.

Second, there’s an application to fill out. Then I hold the first interview. Even my small talk openers have a purpose, as you will see. I ask questions designed to tell me the following things:

• Does he know my area?
• Can she follow directions?
• How far away does he live?
• What’s her living situation, and family profile?

Obviously we don’t discriminate against parents, but knowing how many pre-schoolers someone has in daycare can be important. I like to think I run a family-friendly business, but you still need to know what you may be faced with down the line.

Instead of asking: Are you familiar with the area? which will often encourage them to be less than honest, I say: Did you have any trouble finding the office? That seems more friendly, less of a direct question that may be loaded (even though it is!).

If the applicant is highly qualified, I may ask Linda to join us. She’s been with me for many years and is a great judge of whether or not someone might fit well with our team. Then I move on the behavioral-based questioning. (See this earlier post for more on that.)

Asking the right questions during job interviews is essential

If the job candidate passes this phase, I often have her take the Wonderlic test and the Kolbe A profile to help us see where their skills lie and whether or not they have the personality traits that we’re looking for. I aim to have balance on my team, not necessarily all the same sort of person—though there is certainly a “type” who excels in an office environment.

After all that—and this is key—I have them call us back to schedule another interview if they are interested.

This demonstrates how much initiative they possess. That’s essential in my business. If someone can’t even follow up for employment, she’ll never be able to succeed on my team.

The third major step is to check the applicant’s references and evaluate her test results. Then Linda and I plan behavioral questions we’ll ask during the next round. Why another interview? I want the very best employees who are as thrilled to work for me as I am to have them working here. I want both of us to take enough time to fully consider all the aspects of such a major decision. I want this hire to stick—to be someone who’s still here in two years. I put a lot of effort into training my team, and the cost of a bad hire is a needless expense.

The fourth step is the follow-up interview. This is when we get into nitty gritty questions about salary expectations and so on. To avoid problems, I ask them to bring in their most recent pay stub. That saves them the embarrassment of lying abut their wages and having us find out. It’s a great reality check. Now here’s where it gets interesting. Sometimes I have Linda join me, but in any case, while she and I confer, I send the candidate off to chat with other members of my team and I encourage them all to be candid and ask whatever they like.

I want them to ask what kind of a boss I am. I want them to find out what my expectations are, what kind of a “ship” I run. Again, this is because I want a good fit for both of us. If someone is used to a laid-back setting with lots of coffee breaks and plenty of time to do personal email, then this is the wrong position for him, and he should learn that now.

Fifth, I may have them take another test, the Hogan Assessment, and I also confer with my whole team and gather their feedback. If I decide to pursue the person, then they are invited back for the job offer interview—which might even contain a few final questions if I have any lingering doubts. At this point I feel serious applicants should be ready to say “Yes” to my offer.

I know this sounds like a lot of hoops to set up, but it’s absolutely worth it. Small business owners can’t afford hiring mistakes and simply must become better skilled at evaluating potential employees.

For a much more detailed look at my job interviewing process, please download the free report: My Job Interview Method.

Happy Hiring!