Finding Quality Employees: Ideas to Attract and Keep Top Talent

We are in 2019, and it is time to modernize your relationship with and treatment of your employees. They are not slaves of your company. They are important assets for your business. Without them you have nothing. It is easy to think, “Well, if they do not like working here, there are 200 candidates waiting their turn.” That way of thinking no longer applies. Today both suppliers and clients need trust, stability, and security. A business with high staff turnover does not inspire confidence. So maybe plenty of people can replace employee X, but thinking that way may not serve you well.

Ideas to Attract the Best Employees to Your Company and Keep Them

1- Offer Flexibility to Your Employees

If you ask my teams about the type of contract they have, it is simple: you have goals, hit them, and do what you want. For example, I set no vacation limit. Here in Mexico the so-called godínes get 5 days a year. My employees have no limit. The idea is straightforward:

You have goal X with deadline Z
Hit it and you have vacation until date Z
BUT: if you want bonuses, hit X + Y and we pay you that bonus amount with NO CAP. The more you exceed your goal, the more money you earn

On top of that, there are no fixed schedules. Certain roles that require being in the office answering the phone obviously have set hours, but everyone else can take transferred calls on their cell phone. You can work the entire week from home this way. Just show up for meetings and you are good.

2- Signing Bonus

This can work very well if, like me, you hire people from the competition for key roles. Give the person a bonus of X dollars for signing a contract with you. It works in 99% of cases. That kind of offer is hard for any potential employee to turn down.

3- Access to Courses and Seminars

Serious employees want to grow. They may not be entrepreneurs, but they understand the value of growing professionally, personally, and academically. If your offer includes a couple of courses and/or seminars each year to improve their knowledge and performance, you are giving them a path to level up inside your organization. It is added value that only quality employees will truly appreciate.

4- Personalized Support Perks

Add to your offer a car, a phone, a company credit card, a computer. These kinds of tools that help the employee are always well received, and people are usually very grateful for them.

5- High Salaries

Not long ago I spoke with a few CEOs from the competition in Mexico’s wine industry for one of my companies, CPF Francia. We covered several topics, but one where they looked at me like I was crazy was when I told them how much I pay my commercial directors and zone managers. I pay around 30% above the national average. It turns out that what has taken them between 4 and 7 years to achieve, such as getting into certain hotel chains or stores, has cost me less than a year with these employees. Why? Because I am not just paying a salary. I am buying a book of clients from executives who have held the same clients for more than 15 years in the industry.

6- Regular Bonuses

Why wait until the end of the year for a year-end bonus? My offers always include a quarterly results review by department. That way we can evaluate which goals have been met or exceeded and award bonuses to the corresponding employees. There is nothing better than getting paid for delivering more than your boss asked of you.

7- Free Time

The idea behind paying bonuses, offering unlimited vacation, flexible hours, and the rest is simple: more quality time with your family, your friends, and yourself. It matters to me that my employees feel comfortable, responsible, free, and committed to my business, their family, and their friends. Because one happy employee will always deliver 10 times more results than 10 unhappy ones.

In the end there are many solutions to this topic. Make sure you hire the right people and let go of those who do not fit without waiting, and with a strong work environment, schedule flexibility, and extra perks, your company will be unstoppable.