5 Simple Proven Ways to Hire Better Employees

By Brittney Helmrich

With dozens or even hundreds of applications to sort through for every job opening, it can be a big challenge for businesses to recruit the right employees. Finding someone who has the work experience and the technical skills needed to do the job as well as a personality that will fit your company culture is even trickier than it seems.

So how do you narrow down your hiring options and find the perfect match? Here are five proven ways to find high-quality job candidates and make your employee search a little bit easier.

Review your reviews

Websites like Glassdoor allow potential employees to find out insider information about companies they want to work for, like salary estimates, interview tips and reviews from current and former employees. And according to a Glassdoor survey, 46 percent of its members read company reviews at the very beginning of their job search, before they even speak to a recruiter or hiring manager. This means that top candidates may not even apply to your job posting in the first place if they don't like what they see.

According to the same survey, 69 percent of job seekers said they would not take a job with a company that had a bad reputation, even if they were currently unemployed. And 94 percent said they're likely to apply for a job if the employer actively manages their employer brand by responding to reviews, updating their profile and sharing updates on the company's culture and work environment. However, it's not just about looking good online — transparency is key, too. Sixty-eight percent of job seekers said they trust reviews more when they see both good and bad reviews, and 95 percent suspect censorship when they don't see anything negative.

Taking the time to be active on review websites and post accurate information will definitely draw in quality candidates. And if your business has a lot of negative reviews from former employees, that's a sign that it may be time to work on your company culture before you try to fill any open positions. Doing so can help improve employee retention and lead to better, more positive reviews that will attract quality employees.

Get referrals from current employees

Before you spend a lot of time and money posting your ads on different job boards, you might want to consider asking your current employees if they know anyone who might be a good fit for the job first. According to a Jobvite survey, 4 in 10 job seekers said they've found their "favorite or best" job through personal connections. Recruiters agree — 64 percent said the highest quality candidates come from employee referrals.

A separate Jobvite study also found that employee referrals have the highest applicant-to-hire conversion rate, with only 7 percent of applications accounting for 40 percent of all hires, Undercover Recruiter reported. And hiring from employee referrals comes with a lot of other great perks, too — applicants hired from referrals tend to begin their position quicker than applicants found via job boards and career sites, according to the study. Referral hires also reported greater job satisfaction and tend to stay longer at companies, with 47 percent staying more than three years. Additionally, 67 percent of employers and recruiters said that referral hiring shortens the recruiting process, and 51 percent said it was less expensive as well. [11 Important Qualities to Look for in Your Next Hire ]

Write a better job description

Your job posting isn't just an advertisement to say that you're hiring — the way it is written can deter great candidates from applying if you're not careful. Many companies write out incredibly detailed job descriptions with long lists of responsibilities and requirements, but according to the Wall Street Journal, a study by researchers in the United States and Canada found that this can actually alienate qualified employees.

In the study, researchers David Jones, Joseph Schmidt and Derek Chapman rewrote 56 job ads to emphasize two different approaches: The "Needs-Supplies" approach, which focuses on what the company can do for the candidate, and the "Demands-Abilities" approach, which focuses on what the company expects from the candidate, Wall Street Journal reported. The ads drew in 991 responses, and researchers found that hiring managers rated applicants who responded to job descriptions with the "Needs-Supplies" approach higher than those who responded to the "Demands-Abilities" ads.

The more successful job postings included statements like "We seek to provide employees with constructive feedback to foster their career growth," and "You will have many opportunities to collaborate with talented people," the Wall Street Journal reported. The takeaway here? While it's important to list job requirements and responsibilities, put more of the focus on what your company can do for potential employees, and you'll attract candidates that better fit your needs.

Improve your interview process

A study by Leadership IQ found that 46 percent of newly hired employees will fail within 18 months of starting a job. Why? According to the study, 26 percent fail because they can't accept feedback, 23 percent because they can't understand and manage emotions, 17 percent because they lack the motivation necessary to excel and 15 percent because they have the wrong temperament. However, only 11 percent fail because they lack the required technical skills to do their job.

The study, which compiled results from more than 5,000 hiring managers from 312 different organizations, found that these failures may be the result of flawed interview processes. Eighty-two percent of managers involved reported that the interviewers were too focused on other issues, too pressed for time, or lacked confidence in their interviewing abilities to pay attention to red flags candidates exhibited during the interview process. And according to Leadership IQ CEO Mark Murphy, this is because the job interview process generally focuses on making sure new hires are technically competent, whereas other facts that are just as important to employee success, like coachability, emotional intelligence, temperament and motivation, are often overlooked.

When you're interviewing potential employees, be sure to dedicate as much time to making sure candidates are a good fit in these less technical areas as you do to ensuring they have the right experience for the job. This way, you'll be more likely to hire someone who's bound to find success at your company.

Embrace digital trends and social media

With technology taking over just about everything these days, most people want to work for companies that keep up with the trends. A survey from MIT and Deloitte found that the vast majority of the respondents, ages 22 to 60, want to work for digitally enabled organizations, which means businesses will have to continually up their digital game to retain employees and attract new ones.

One way companies can keep up with digital trends is to recruit through social media. According to a study from Aberdeen Group, 73 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds found their last job through a social network, Jobcast reported. This means that if you want to reach employees in that age group, you'll have to have a strong social media presence and a recruitment strategy to match. Jobvite backs up the idea of social recruiting, too — the same survey that said recruiters found the highest- quality candidates through employee referrals found that social media recruiting was the next best method, with 59 percent of recruiters in agreement.

Another good way to embrace the digital side is to make sure your career site is mobile-friendly. According to a 2013 Glassdoor survey, 3 in 5 job seekers said they'd searched for jobs on their mobile device within the past year, and more than half of job seekers said they read company reviews and research salary information from their mobile devices as well.

By Brittney Helmrich, Business NewsDaily Staff Writer

Customer Service Done Right: 5 Best Practices

By Nicole Fallon

Good news, business owners of today: You're doing something right. In a recent survey by communications software provider CorvisaCloud, 60 percent of consumers said they believe that customer service overall has improved from 2013 to 2014.

Despite the resources a company needs in order to keep up with increasing customer demands, smaller businesses actually have an advantage over larger companies when it comes to providing great service. And customers think so, too. Nearly 50 percent of CorvisaCloud's 1,200 respondents said small companies provide the best service. A smaller customer base means a greater opportunity to get to know each individual client, but it can also mean more pressure to deliver what those customers want.

"The customer has more power and choices than ever," said Don MacLennan, CEO of customer success platform Bluenose. "[With consumers'] ability to amplify their complaints and praises through social media, [and] the lower barrier to switching [providers], modern businesses can't get away with having subpar customer service."

Based on conversations with executives who have mastered the art of customer service, here are five best practices for keeping today's customers satisfied. [8 CRM Solutions for Small Businesses]

Hire great people

Smart business owners know that top-notch customer service comes from top-notch people. Hiring the right team and creating a people-first culture from the get-go is the best way to ensure that your employees' good attitude impresses your customers.

"Hire and train the right people to get better customer service," said Brandon Knight,vice president of direct sales at CorvisaCloud. "Customers think small businesses have more knowledge and are better prepared for dealing with customers [because they have] a more personal touch."

Robin Copland, vice president of retail for the Americas at agile development firm ThoughtWorks, agreed, noting that company culture plays a big role in the level of customer service businesses can provide.

"It's how they build their stickiness factor," Copland said. "A culture that attracts people to want to work for [the company] translates into better customer service. They project [that culture] on customers."

Make a great first impression

In job interviews, romantic relationships and business, your first impression can make or break a deal. This is especially true when you're trying to attract and keep customers: Recent research by customer-engagement company Thunderhead.com found that 20 percent of customers stop trusting a company after one bad experience, and a quarter will instantly switch brands. The brands that understand the value of a great first impression come out on top.

"Perfecting the first impression is crucial to any business given today's competitive environment," said Matt Rizzetta,president and CEO of North 6th Agency public relations firm. "Stay fully committed [to] making sure that customers receive a memorable, impactful and enjoyable kick-off phase with [your company]."

Rizzetta noted that his firm's longest-standing and most profitable customer relationships are ones that had incredibly strong starts. The difference between getting a customer off to a "good" start versus a "great" start can make the difference in a business's ability to scale over time, he said.

"Right out of the gate, a customer needs to understand your commitment to their needs, level of competence and ability to deliver what they're looking for," Rizzetta said. "They need to develop an appreciation for your culture and what makes you stand out as a service provider. There is no time to waste when it comes to making a first impression."

Be proactive

Too often, customer service is reactive; that is, a brand communicates with customers only when they reach out with comments or complaints. When it comes to negative feedback, catching a disappointed customer before that person has a chance to express his or her displeasure can make all the difference.

"By the time the customer contacts the company, it's usually because of a negative experience they've had," said Rita Tochner,head of corporate marketing at contextual marketing firm Pontis. "The customer relationship has been compromised by this point, and in competitive markets, the customer will go elsewhere. When customer service management systems operate proactively with customer experience solutions and are able to anticipate customer needs before they occur, you'll have a more satisfied customer."

"Utilize Big Data and marketing automation to proactively address the customer issues before they become a major problem," MacLennan added. "For example, if you have a software product and you know where a customer is getting stuck, you can use that knowledge to proactively reach out to other users with emails or messages that provide guides or walkthroughs." 

Offer a seamless experience

In a world of constant connectivity and mobile devices, customers interact with brands through more channels and in more places than ever before. Today's top companies stand out by providing a consistent experience through every single channel, whether it's in the store, on the Web or through social media.

"We expect a lot more from the brands and companies we interact with," Copland said. "The omnichannel experience [is] where service breaks down. [Customer] experiences are disconnected for the most part."

Copland noted that taking a "360-degree view" of each customer is the best strategy for connecting that person's multi-channel experience with your brand.

"Tie [the experience] together in a more comprehensive way," he said. "Understand [customers] beyond the four walls of the store, beyond the interactions with an associate or on digital [channels]."

Treat customers as individuals, not demographics

Until recently, the standard approach to marketing was dividing customers into segments and using broad demographic assumptions to serve them. Marketing has gotten much more sophisticated and personalized, and customer service is following suit.

"Customers see themselves as distinct individuals, and expect brands to see them this way as well," Tochner told Business News Daily. "Customer service tactics should be as dynamic and agile as the customers they serve. This means utilizing solutions that allow marketers to move past segmentation and to embrace personalization."

One way to ensure a personalized experience, and build loyalty, is to develop real, genuine relationships with customers beyond their initial purchases.

"We see the most positive results [when] customer engagement occurs throughout the entirecustomer lifecycle," Tochner said. "Maximize engagement continuously and in real time, according to the customers' regularly changing needs. Radio silence for any industry should be avoided, and open lines of communication should exist and remain open."

Originally published on Business News Daily

By Nicole Fallon, Business News Daily Assistant Editor

How To Develop Emotional Intelligence In Customer Service

 

Emotional intelligence is the ability to learn or understand the feelings of others. When translated to service delivery, emotional intelligence becomes the ability to learn or understand the feelings of your customers.

To do this effectively, it becomes imperative that everyone in the organization learns to display a good degree of empathy in discharging service to the customer. To this end, I still find it difficult to understand why some organizations fail to pay as much attention to the ability of a potential employee to display a high sense of emotional intelligence as they do to job specifics. In as much as it is important to get the job done, it is even more important how you get the job done. In my opinion, it is pointless to hire an employee (especially a front office employee) who lacks proper emotional judgment, cares less about how the internal or external customer feels but only cares about getting the job done and receiving a paycheck.

Customers are emotionally attached to companies that show them that they care about how they feel and not just about their money. Companies’ that display a high sense of emotional intelligence in service delivery ultimately get rewarded with repeated patronage.

So here are some basic tips to help you display emotional intelligence in customer service delivery:

·         Acknowledge the Customers Presence by Greeting: When you come in contact with a customer, be sure to greet and welcome them. Welcoming a customer show that you are happy to see him/her and that you appreciate the time they have taken to patronize you.

·         Smile: Develop the culture of smiling. A smile is one of the most powerful tools to engage in customer service delivery. When you smile, you are more likely to get one back in return. A smile is likely to calm you when you are having a bad day and may even rub positively off on a customer who came in frustrated or angry. A smile means many things to many people. It welcomes, shows happiness, demonstrates care, soothes an irate customer and could brighten someone’s day.

·         Maintain Eye Contact: Be sure to maintain eye contact when addressing a customer. Maintaining eye contact makes you come alive, creates a listening ear and makes you observant to the customers’ mood or feelings. Eye contact also shows you are attentive to detail. Not making eye contact could be interpreted in some quarters to mean a nonchalant attitude or disrespect.

·         Address the Customer by Name: Addressing a customer by name is a good way to gain his/her attention. When you address a customer by name, you are personalizing the service. Customers feel honored and appreciated when they are addressed by personal titles.

·         Listen: Actively listening to a customer is crucial to displaying emotional intelligence. There is a time to talk and a time to listen. A gentle affirmative nod of the head is a good way to demonstrate that you are listening. It is important to demonstrate in body language that you are listening in as much as you really are.

·         Be Polite: Avoid offensive words. Be professional in your choice of words, diction and tone of voice.

·         Engage the Customer in Conversation: If you have the time and there aren’t others waiting in line, try engaging the customer in conversation. You can ask them about their business and how they are doing, feeling or how they perceive the quality of service you are rendering to them. Be careful not to be so personal. Engaging the customer in conversation can help you uncover some useful facts that may help you improve your service to them.

·         Avoid Offensive Acts that Depict nonchalance: Nonchalance is distasteful to every customer. Learn to avoid actions that may demonstrate or suggest to the customer that you do not care.

·         Empathize and Manage the Angry Customer: Put yourself in the customers’ shoe. Show professionalism in all situations even when managing an angry customer. Let them know you understand how they feel about your service and be ready to make amends where necessary.

·         Be Sure to Wish the Customer a Nice Day: After a customer has finished doing business with you, be sure to wish them a nice day. This gets them leaving your presence with a positive feeling and they sure will feel good about coming back.

By Valentine Okolo
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