Blog

Hiring Practices that Drive Retention in SMEs

ASCENT Huddle Session with Harsh Mariwala, Founder, ASCENT Foundation and Ashok Ramchandran, Group Executive President of Human Resources, Aditya Birla Group. The Session was anchored by ASCENT Knowledge Guru, Ashutosh Telang, Chief People Officer, True North.

Key Learnings

1. It is easy to find business opportunities, but difficult to find people who can run it. To find the right talent, it’s important to develop networks, and create viability within those networks.

2. In order to attract the right talent, one must be willing to work on making the company stand out in terms of culture, growth prospects, financials, etc. in order to attract talent.

3. When hiring new talent, it is important to look for skill sets on the basis of the contingency plan the entrepreneur has for the organisation.

4. Develop the ability to showcase the excitement of the opportunity the organisation is offering.

5. What is it you really need for the job profile at hand? There’s a tendency to be impressed by the personality of the interviewee and hire on the basis of wanting the best for the company as a whole. This can lead to talent being hired for the wrong profile. The interviewer must bear in mind that the job profile is more important for the company than prospective employees.

6. Trust in talent is essential. Give your talent the keys to the company, even if they may be younger. Be generous with the responsibilities you confer onto them.
This releases your own capacity, so you can inspect other areas.

7. For every recruitment, there comes an investment phase wherein the employer allows the employee to learn the tricks of the trade. Looking at hiring approximately 20% freshers can be a good long term investment for the company.

8. Once attracted by the opportunity, the employee will wish to share the journey and pride of success. This is the incentive for them to put in work. It’s imperative to ensure they’re compensated well for their work.

9. Spend time in connecting with the employees, and feeling for the pulse of the company.

10. Identify which departments in the organisation are the true value creators of the organisation. Hire on the basis of this.