Smart Business Magazine, December 2018

16 Smart Business Cleveland December 2018 READY TO LEAD TONY MAZZELLA Attracting vs recruiting Why there is a difference in the way you approach hiring While the reasons for this challenge are pretty clear the solution is not Unemployment is at a nearly all time low and many of those currently not working likely dont have the skills the motivation or the experience you are looking for in a new hire A contributing challenge includes the huge group of baby boomers who happen to be our longer term employees who have hit or are hitting retirement age Planning for their exit and transferring their knowledge is a must before they go But who are you going to transfer it to Your best source is likely people who already have a job Yes this issue is common But did it make your list of business priorities for 2018 How about 2019 All businesses and CEOs I know establish annual areas of focus often referred to as business priorities These initiatives usually focus on a few areas that leadership has determined as opportunities to grow or areas of weakness they want to focus on improving They are meant to keep everyone in the organization focused on what is important and to help resource appropriately to make the initiative a success In todays world I believe that leadership teams in every business must include an initiative that supports attracting and keeping good people This people related initiative should deal with specific areas that would fall under culture or process Any business priority designed to confront people issues should answer at least the following questions Do we have the right culture to both attract and keep the people we want Do we have creative recruiting and hiring practices that will attract people I want and who already have a job Do our onboarding processes make the new hires instantly feel like they made the right choice and are contributing to the success of the organization First impressions really do last I believe that most organizations would be better served with an attracting mindset rather than a recruiting mindset Frequently our best source of new hires comes by way of referrals from current employees Do you have a robust system to reward your current employees who help bring the right people into your organization Is your website built to attract new hires or just customers If a prospect goes to your website will they get an honest feel for your culture or is it just a posting of open positions Do you use video of current employees or company events so prospects can get a feel for your culture and whether they might be a fit Of course theres no one right way to attract and retain good people My point is that in todays environment a more conscientious approach may be required to be successful Every business meeting I attend or business survey I have seen lately seems to result in one particular common business challenge The topic that is the No 1 top of mind business issue everywhere today is the ability to find and retain good people TONY MAZZELLA CEO Mazzella Cos Tony Mazzella is the second generation leader of the family owned Mazzella Cos Tony took over the business in 1988 and since then Mazzella Cos has grown from 42 employees with two locations in Ohio to a company that employs over 750 people with more than 30 locations across North America Mazzella Cos was a 2017 Smart Business Cleveland Business Longevity honoree 800 362 4601 tmazzella@ mazzellacompanies com www mazzellacompanies com