I often help my clients with interviews for their prospective employees. I help facilitate with some interview questions that help us understand more about the candidate, the depth of their experience and what they find important. No one has a fail-safe formula for keeping an employee long-term, but I hear some common themes within these interviews. Perhaps they can help you with your own recruiting and retention processes.
There is always consideration for the workplace style of the employee, and I often use the DiSC profile to gain an understanding of their respective style and how they fit with the rest of the team.
However, no matter where they fall on the DiSC grid of styles, the following seem to be the things I hear the most:
1. Feeling valued
They want respect for their experience and what they bring to the table. They may be new to the position in your company, but they may have many years of experience and valuable perspectives.
2. Culture is not simply a statement, but a lived experience
They desire a culture that is consistent with your “sales pitch” when you interviewed them. They want to be able to embrace it and trust what you told them to be real.
3. Accountability is evenly applied
Most understand that accountability is a requirement but want to know that there is transparency in holding everyone equally accountable within their roles.
4. Feeling supported
They want a leader who has their back and works with them to get up to speed and become successful in their role. They really want to be mentored and observe both what is expected and what is acceptable.
5. Comfort and safety
Having a place to freely ask questions, share ideas, concerns, and needs is paramount for them. This is one way that they learn effectively and become self-sufficient.
6. Appropriate levels of autonomy
Most candidates do not want to be micro-managed but want to earn their autonomy over time. They will work to build trust but expect trust in return. They learn from constructive conversations and will adjust over time.
This is not meant to be a fully exhaustive list, but clearly a reminder of ways to think about engaging candidates during the interview process. You will be far ahead in your hiring and onboarding process if you truly understand what your future employees find important.