2021-09-09

Are you Wasting your Employee Resources?  Here are Six Steps to Maximise Productivity

Drake Editorial Team

Employee talent and efficiency determines the pace and growth of an organisation. Whether you have tens, hundreds, or thousands of staff, they are critical resources that must be carefully hired and managed for optimum productivity. The truth is, it doesn’t matter how many resources you have, if you don’t know how to utilise or maximise them, it will never be enough. 
 
When it comes to resources, nothing lays the groundwork better for productivity and the future of your company than ensuring you hire the right person for each position. The best candidate on paper is not necessarily the right person for the job. Skills, background, and experience are not enough. If you don’t take into consideration whether their personality, behaviours, and communication styles will mesh well with your culture and team, then you are missing a significant indicator of their ability to be successful in the role.  

To maximise your staffing resources and hiring the right person every time, you should incorporate a robust recruitment and talent strategy to bring clarity to your hiring process. A talent management strategy is all about hiring the right people and nurturing them to be engaged and productive employees who will want to stay onboard and contribute to an organisation’s success.  

Here are 6 key steps to build your talent strategy and maximise your resources: 

1. Observe your top performers prior to hiring 

Whether you’re making a new hire or evaluating a current employee, knowing what to look for is crucial. Top performers stand out – they care, help build your brand, and add disproportionate value to the business. 

To hire top performers, incorporate personality and behavioural assessments into your talent strategy. Identifying the behaviours, motivators, and abilities of your existing top performers will help you understand what differentiates them from the rest. Having a clear picture of who will add significant value shortens the recruitment process and helps ensure a better outcome. 

2. Develop your managers for higher employee engagement 

Employee productivity determines the success and sustainability of any business. Without knowledgeable and motivational leadership, productivity can quickly slip away. Managers play a key role in an organisation’s success, so their ability to motivate and lead their teams effectively is critical. Behavioural and personality assessments will enable them to better understand their strengths and identify the areas they need to work on to improve team morale, buy-in, and engagement. Staff retention depends on it. 

3. Focus on creating an inclusive and innovative culture 

An important part of your recruitment strategy is building an empowered and inclusive culture where every individual feels fully engaged, actively participates in the success of the business, and thrives. Culture may start from the top down; however, everyone has a role to play. When innovation is added to the cultural mix, you create an environment where everyone (including diverse sets of personalities) feels comfortable communicating their ideas. A unified commitment to innovation amongst all members of the organisation, and an empowered culture is a major competitive advantage. 

4. Incorporate performance management strategies 

To keep engagement and productivity high, managers need to make a conscious effort to identify problems as they arise to keep everyone on course. Effective performance management is a continuous process. Setting specific, measurable, and achievable goals, regularly reviewing progress, and offering guidance empowers individuals and teams to succeed. Ongoing communication, actively listening, and providing support are vital tools in performance management and your talent strategy.  

5. Upskill your workforce and increase retention  

Employee training and development programs are critical for enhancing performance. Addressing deficiencies and building on strengths also improves employee retention. A LinkedIn Workforce Learning Report found that 93% of employees would stay longer if their company invested in their career development. Whether online, or in person, training and development plays a vital role. Training and development can be applied for numerous reasons including updating technology skills, addressing performance management findings, personal development, or helping an employee move into a managerial role. Understanding skills gaps and providing the required training reaps rewards, both for the employee, and the company.  

6. Focus on employee wellness   

Your employees are the backbone of the business so enabling them to produce their best work is important. If you want a thriving business, you need to prioritise the wellbeing of your staff to have thriving employees. It’s important that they feel completely supported and know that you have their best interests at heart. When it comes to employee wellness, remember that diversity and inclusion are also very important. Ensure that everyone has access to the resources that are right for them and their personal situation when they need it. Your talent strategy should include a focus on employee wellness that is supported from the top down and throughout the organisation.   

Hiring employees is expensive. Losing them is even more costly. Therefore, it is critical that all your valuable resources are working at optimal levels of productivity. Incorporating these key steps into your recruitment and talent strategy will guide the process to ensure that the right people with the right qualities and experience are not only onboard but engaged and fully supported in all areas of their role. 

Drake’s Talent Management Solutions offer valuable resources designed to ensure your long-term hiring and retention success. Here are a few inclusions to incorporate into your talent strategy to maximise employee success: 

Top Performer Profiling: 

Drake’sTop Performer Profiling solution identifies the behaviours, styles, and preferences that fit your unique culture and business environment. Performer profiles identify the knowledge and experience your top performers have, and their skills and abilities that differentiate them from the rest. The result is a Top Performer Profile you can integrate into your hiring, training, and succession planning processes. Discover Drake P3 today. 

Training: 

Once you have hired the right people, we will help you keep them onboard by providing the right training opportunities. Drake Training offers support across many categories such as leadership and strategy, personal development, sales, communications, industry-specific training, and much more. We can upskill your workforce to take your organisation to the next level of productivity.

With over 70 years of experience, Drake International continues to be invested in your success to help ensure you receive the right talent solutions, whatever your requirement. At Drake, we are focused on Your People, Your Performance, and Your Profit. Contact us today at 0860 22 23 24 and let us help you right now with your HR requirements and challenges.