Attracting the right employees is critical for the growth and success of a business.
Whether you are a small 10-person operation with one office, or a large business with 9,000 employees and 20 different entities in Colorado alone, like Comcast NBCUniversal, finding the right employees who will, as we like to say, “create the future with us” is more simply said than done.
So, let’s take a step back and focus on a few themes to help the right candidate for your business assimilate, develop and stay with your company throughout their career.
Be Transparent
According to Glassdoor, “93% of employees/job seekers say it’s important to be thoughtful and informed about all aspects of a company (e.g., culture, values, mission, business model, future plans, pros and cons about the workplace) prior to accepting a job offer.”
When listing positions, in addition to highlighting the primary responsibilities and requirements of the role, it’s also important to highlight your company culture and values.
For example, at Comcast we have a long-standing tradition of hiring and supporting the military community, and we highlight this commitment in every listing. We also feature our culture on our careers website, so when job seekers are doing their research, they can easily find our core values and learn about how new team members will get the personal support of a small company with the possibilities of a global industry leader.
Think about what makes your company culture unique and highlight it prominently on your channels and throughout the interview process.
Train to Maintain
Once a new employee is on board, provide them with development and growth opportunities. This includes providing leadership experience, exposure and education.
Experience is about on-the-job development – build on their current skills and responsibilities by giving them special projects or stretch assignments.
Expose them to different parts of your business. Encourage your employees to participate in job rotations or to connect with colleagues on other teams for shadowing opportunities.
Education enables them to continue to reinvent and grow their careers. According to a study from EdAssist, 93% of respondents said that using their employer’s tuition assistance program helped them to develop the skills they needed to grow within their company. At Comcast, we offer financial support for coursework, academic and financial advising and discounted tuition and fees.
The right combination of training and educational benefits helps foster innovation and growth for business and employees.
Challenge through Opportunity
We have a team of people who work in the heart of Downtown Denver on our Comcast Technology Solutions team, and their team culture fosters the entrepreneurial spirit to explore the art of what’s possible without constraint.
Ken Klaer, executive vice president of Comcast Technology Solutions and Strategic Infrastructure, notes, “You can’t just focus on one thing. You need to offer great packages; you need to provide an amazing, welcoming workplace culture and environment; and you need to provide employees with a steady stream of interesting, inspiring work.”
Motivating employees who thrive on exploring what’s next and who are passionate about achieving success through new and creative means are invaluable to an organization.
Leverage Your Workforce to Create Impact
It’s important to educate employees about the work a business does in the community to be a good corporate citizen and how it impacts our communities.
One way we do this is by leveraging the unique aspects of our company and workforce. At our Telemundo Denver station, our employees provide local underserved youth behind-the-scenes tours of the studio to see how it operates and allow youth to explore future career opportunities.
There are many ways to involve your workforce in your corporate social responsibility efforts, but if you put the unique skills of your workforce into action, your employees will feel valued and connected to your business and community.
While there is no silver bullet approach to attracting, hiring and retaining the right employee for your business, if you keep these themes in mind your business will be well-positioned for being a great place to work.
Leon Barnes is the Vice President of Human Resources for the Comcast Mountain West Region
