KIPLINGER RECOMMENDS

Home > Recruiting and Retention, Small Business

COMMENT

DEL.ICIO.US

DIGG

CHECK OUT:

EXECUTIVE POLL

Should Congress lift the ban on drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?

OUR PREMIUM CONTENT

The Kiplinger Tax Letter
The Kiplinger Agriculture Letter
The Kiplinger California Letter
Kiplinger's Biofuels Market Alert
Kiplinger's Retirement Report

SUBSCRIBER HELP

CURRENT LETTER

By Knight Kiplinger

The Kiplinger Washington Editors

July 3, 2008

The largest U.S. banks are hurting badly, and the pain is starting to spread. Most small and midsize banks are still ready to lend to businesses, but they're getting nervous. This week's Kiplinger Letter examines the outlook.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Jobs, Employer Health Costs, Estate Taxes, Retail Retrenching, Legal Trends, Infrastructure Spending

PREVIOUS ISSUES

TRY THE LETTER: Subscribe | See Sample | Get Free 30 Day Trial

YOUR FEEDBACK

SUBSCRIBERLOG: Got a topic you'd like to discuss? Or a problem or question? Please join our exclusive forum for Letter subscribers only.

ASK US: A Kiplinger Letter editor will promptly answer subscriber questions.

OPEN FORUM: Share your insights and analysis with other visitors.

I am a strong believer border security, keeping track of work and student visas, etc but do you think that deportation of illegal immigrants is a waste of money?

-- Dingobiscuit

Reputation Could Be Hampering Recruiting Efforts

Persistent hiring trouble hurts your bottom line. Here's how to find out whether your recruiting problems stem from the way your company is seen by potential hires.

Worth Reading: The Quick Take from Kiplinger

November 2007

Select International Inc.

Select International Inc. is a Pittsburgh-based provider of employee recruiting tools and services for businesses of all sizes. It has developed Web-based, computer-based and traditional employee evaluation tools and candidate tracking systems.

It may be overstating the obvious to say that a company's reputation and the way it treats workers will make it easier or harder for it to find and keep employees. But companies can spend considerable time and money on consultants and software to develop state-of-the-art screening processes and still scratch their heads over why their hiring is so low and their turnover so high. The fact is that the most carefully thought out hiring system in the world will be of little help to a company regarded as a lousy place to work.

If a firm is having difficulty recruiting and retaining skilled workers, it would be wise for it to take a long and honest look at how it is seen by prospective employees. Select International, which helps companies develop employee hiring and evaluation systems, has created a method for assessing how your company stacks up against the competition in the eyes of potential hires. A company that falls into the poor to middling range of the "Employer of Choice Continuum" (ECC), shouldn't be discouraged. Obviously, not every company can pay top scale or be the "best" employer in town.

"Almost every company can successfully recruit, regardless of their ECC rating. But they must understand the profile of employee that will have long-term success in their company and then invest appropriately into recruiting that profile," Select International says. "They must also understand that both recruiting cost and employee turnover increase with lower ECC ratings, but this trade-off can be well worth the savings experienced from a less burdened payroll."

READER COMMENTS