Posts Tagged ‘Attracting Staff’

Attracting & Retaining Staff – Irish firms offering extra incentives

Monday, April 28th, 2008

It finally seem like Irish firms are becoming a bit more creative in the war on talent. In a bid to attract new staff and retain existing staff Irish firms are offering new benefits such as free laundry service to cleaning homes. If this was offered to me I would smell a rat – obviously they will be working you that hard you won’t have time to do it yourself.

On a serious note salaries remain high on the agenda when employee enter the job market but there is increasing evidence that lifestyle perks are increasing in popularity with job-hunters. The whole work life balance issue is a popular topic particularly in Ireland with the ever increasing demands on workers.

So how can employers differentiate themselves outside of salary?

Pensions
Further Education
Health Cover
Flexi-time
Holidays
Gym membership
Onsite creches
Free bicycles to travel to work (I wouldn’t risk it)
Free housekeeping
Free dry cleaning service

So what next on the perks front? If you have an additional perk that you would like to share with us just post it below.

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Posted in Recruitment, Staff Retention, Work-life Balance | No Comments »

Recruitment of the Irish Football Manager – Can employers learn from this?

Monday, February 4th, 2008

It has now been 4 long months and the search for the new Irish Football Manager does not seem to coming to an end. They say out of every negative event is the seeds for something positive. Apart from being quite funny there are some key learning opportunities for employers.

The cost of a bad hire – Steve Staunton was a great player for Ireland but unfortunately these memories have been erased through his endeavors as a manager. I don’t blame him as I would have taken a million a year if given the opportunity. His employers the FAI are to blame. They were slack in the initial selection and assessment and it cost. The costs include poor performances and the lost revenues, staff leaving (player retirements), poor morale, salary during employment and the pay-off. If you are an employer this is a prime example why you should hire staff with you eyes open – don’t let this happen to you.
Never fire an employee until you have a replacement – I always tell employees never hand in your notice in until you have alternative employment secured. It is slightly more difficult from the company point of view but I think the FAI should have had a contingency plan in place.

Pay peanuts and you will get monkeys – Do I have to say any more?

Get experienced people to recruit for you – We can slag off recruitment agencies and their relations but the fact remains that if you want to get the best you need to use the best resources available to find the candidates and screen the candidates. The CEO messed up and no disrespect to the “three wise men” but recruitment requires more that just technical knowledge (in this case football).

The impact of negative PR on attracting staff – You can say that salary is a problem in attracting a new Irish manager BUT there are other reasons. I believe the negative PR is having a greater impact in turning away potential targets. The lesson is – get a bad name and you won’t attract staff.

Prediction: Ireland 2 – Brazil 1

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Posted in HR, Recruitment | 1 Comment »