Steve Higginbotham: Employee Engagement Starts From the Interview. Broken Interview, Broken Engagement!

Engagement! 

Well, not the type of engagement you might be thinking of. 

Engagement in the business sense. Employee engagement is the one critical element that leads to the success of your business!  Which I believe starts from the first point of contact with your organization… yes before someone is hired! 

Today’s Quote:

“Not what you say, not what you do but how you make people feel.” - Maya Angelou

Guest Bio:

Steve Higginbotham is the Branch Manager of Volt Workforce Solutions. As an executive business partner and inclusive leader, Steve brings two decades’ of experience leading organizational transformations with leading companies. Changing the way Staffing Companies engage with their customers is vital. Having a deep connection with your business and an inclusive approach will continue to add value through a Total Talent Management partnership. Steve has expertise in Technical Recruiting, Business Development, Technology Consulting and Human Capital Solutions. He continues to deliver immense value to companies and business leaders through his strategic partnerships. Steve believes in a customer service approach for business success.

Steve has experience leading multiple types of organizations from Fortune 100, mid-market, private equity, & VC backed start-ups. In addition, Steve has developed 15 different divisions within eight different businesses while managing large business units & increasing enterprise accounts. His track record includes leading, coaching, mentoring and developing people into highly successful business leaders.

Steve has spent his career aligning business professionals with career opportunities. The value that he brings to companies identify with their strengths and opportunities for growth. Steve's experience coaching individuals helps improve communication. He has also conducted numerous presentations to board members and C-Level professionals with highly respected clients and industry associations.

A people oriented leader who drives business collaborative to maximize team performance while mentoring & coaching individuals through aligned approaches to achieve desired results. 

Show Highlights: 

• What Engagement is, what it isn’t
• Why engagement is critical today
• How to engage people to create emotional attachment!

What is engagement and why is it important? Engagement

• How you communicate with your company

Hiring managers - I want to hire the best talent, retain top talent

• What happens in the middle from what you want vs what you are getting

The company gave 3 hours of training, no orientation, on the job training.

• Employees responsibility - Who owns engagement??

Problem

3 sides of the engagement - Who’s responsibility is it these days 

• If a person is not engaged correctly, they are going to bounce quickly… first 30 days. 
• The company needs to train leaders to be better leaders
• The dual partnership between the company's & managers

People leave quickly or they stay and are just there because of the paycheck

Belief in mission, vision values. 

Outlining issues that you cannot control

• Employee: losing engagement with the job… nothing more that is being contributed

Rick’s Thoughts

• Engagement starts with your job posting, email or phone call
• Critical in attraction & retention
• When you care, you win

Human Contact is the key

• 1:75 people call back. 
• There has to be a personal approach. 

Steps to maximize engagement

• Sources are not recruiters… 
• Everyone with at least relevant experience NEED to be called
•  train recruiters on what needs to be asked
• Discuss career worth
  • Poor career planning. No mentoring, support or growth

 Once they start:

• Not scaling back on your onboarding process
• Social media posts are not onboarding
• Clearly, have a process

Train your recruiters

• What information to gather
• The importance of a conversation
• Reward finding gold nuggets!
  • Create a hiring bonus for people who were passed over because of a resume but are actually good

Pick up the phone and call people!

Key Takeaways:

• Differentiate yourself from the standard hiring process
• Create a structured and standardized interview process
• Train your employees to be Talent minded

Remember in engagement – how you make the candidate feel is more important – please be genuine in your approach, efforts and ensure timely and responsive feedback – always