Hey – Walker and Davis here.
Happy Saturday morning to the Laying Foundations community!
As a business owner or leader in your organization, you will interact with and manage many different types of people from all different backgrounds.
But before you manage them, you must attract them to your company, so how do you go about doing that?
Today’s issue takes about 5 minutes to read, and was written for you by Walker Lott.
Enjoy.
Quote Of The Week
How do you attract entry-level employees?
You hear the phrase “entry-level” thrown around in many different contexts, and you often see it looked down upon to be entry-level. However, every single person working at one point was entry-level, which basically means you are new to the industry and have limited experience and knowledge.
But for a company, hiring entry-level employees is the only way to keep the company alive in the long run.
A company is only as strong as its employees, and hiring the best new hires is the key to growing your company and staying successful as a business.
So, how do you attract the best entry-level talent to your company?
1. Develop a Culture People Want to Work in
The word culture is thrown around a lot nowadays, and I think many get confused as to what the word actually means.
By definition, company culture means a shared set of workplace beliefs, values, attitudes, standards, purposes, and behaviors. Now this definition describes what culture should be, but too often, companies mistake having a good culture for having ping pong tables and a cool break room as what new employees (and current) are looking for.
This is important, and employees definitely would appreciate these things, but having a good company culture starts at the leadership level and flows down.
- Do you keep your word?
- Do you care about people?
- Do you put others first?
- Do you speak to others with respect?
- Do you admit when you are wrong?
- Do you make things right even if it costs you?
- Do you care about your family more than you care about your job?
The qualities/actions above are really what culture is about, and for entry-level employees, this is usually much more valuable to them than the cool soda machine.
2. Develop an Effective Training Program
This one should go without saying but believe it or not, I know of larger companies that do not have a training program.
Training the next generation is necessary in order to continue the life of an organization. As the older generation retires and the younger takes its place, if the level of skill does not match or exceed the previous generation, then the quality of that company will fall as well. Over time this will lead to a company no one wants to hire because they do not do a good job on projects.
New hires want to be trained and shown new skills. They also want feedback as to if they are doing it well or not.
That is why a training program is so necessary to attract entry-level employees because you can tell what a company values by what they spend their money on.
3. Create a Mentorship Program
This is similar to point #2 but maybe even more important.
New hires are looking for someone to guide them through this new stage of their life. Many are fresh out of college, have never truly been on their own, nor have had a full-time job like this.
Having someone who can walk them through the whole process and lead them to the right decisions will allow any new hire to thrive in a new company.
Pair a new hire with someone who is 5-10 years ahead of them. This is an ideal gap because the mentor is not too far removed from being a new guy but not close enough that they still don’t know what they are doing.
The mentor should be able to provide actional advice, leadership, and guidance to the new hire as they begin their new career.
If you have a company of people who want to help others, you will have a successful company.
Quality of the Week: Self-awareness- Being able to look internally at your actions, beliefs, feelings, etc., and realizing what you can improve/stop doing or start doing.
20-Year-Old Self Advice: Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone you don’t know and try to develop a relationship with them. Everyone wants to make new friends/acquaintances.
Check out episode 116 on The Laying Foundations Podcast!
Join us for a conversation with the CEO of Mobilization Funding, Scott Peper. Scott started his construction journey working for his dad as a part-time glazer during the summers between school. During that time, Scott saw his dad’s balance sheet – a cardboard box. During this episode, Scott talks about what got him to where he is today. Make sure to tune in next week to learn about construction cash flow!
