Donna de St. Aubin is the co-founder and principal of St. Aubin, Haggerty & Associates, Inc., a boutique human resources consulting firm, headquartered in Northbrook, IL. She has authored numerous articles and white papers and specializes in advising senior management on building and sustaining team and organizational cultures that attract, engage and retain the best talent. She is the co-author of 50 plus one Tips When Hiring & Firing Employees, (Engouragement Press, 2007) and lives in Evanston, IL with her husband and two children.
Brian J. Carlsen is the practice leader of organizational learning for St. Aubin, Haggerty & Associates. A seasoned workshop facilitator and speaker, he specializes in working with business leaders to tailor and execute learning and development solutions that lead to greater workforce effectiveness. He has authored articles for various industry journals and co-developed a best-in-class online course for hiring managers called The Effective Interview, 8 Practices for Hiring the Best©. Brian is a member of the Human Resource Management Association of Chicago's research committee and lives in Buffalo Grove, IL.
From the Introduction to Attract, Engage & Retain Top Talent.....
"Leaders of great organizations have learned the strategic worth of sustaining a full and ever developing talent pipeline and of unleashing the real desire all talented people share to contribute value. It starts with attracting and hiring the best talent for your enterprise. You are known as a magnet for talent by establishing an appealing employment brand. An organization with a superior employment brand is one whose leadership and workforce behaviors match the company brand. This means that the value proposition for the business is reflected in the actions of the employees at all levels of the organization. We know from recent organizational studies that productivity, earnings and return on investment is superior in organizations with strong culture and thus employment brands.
Even for organizations that attract the right talent, the challenge remains to engage them in their work and to retain them longer than the competition. Engaged and committed employees are proud to work for their employer, are dedicated to the organization and willing to give the extra effort necessary to achieve the goals of the enterprise. Engagement is a leading indicator of financial performance. Companies that increase their engagement levels can expect to significantly improve their subsequent financial performance.
Two studies conducted by ISR, a Chicago-based HR research firm, resulted in these findings:
• A 52 percent difference in one-year performance improvement in operating income between companies with high vs. low employee engagement. (High engagement companies improved 19.3 percent. Low engagement declined 32.7 percent.)
• A 13.2 percent improvement in net income growth over a one-year period for companies with higher employee engagement.
• A 5.75 percent positive difference in operating margin and 3.44 percent positive difference in net profit margin of high vs. low employee engagement companies.
Forward-thinking leaders have discovered that an opportunity exists to thrive in the competitive marketplace by better engaging the hearts and minds of employees—and in Attract, Engage & Retain Top Talent we explore a myriad of approaches to go about doing just that. The ideas within these pages emerge from experiences and lessons learned from organizations seeking to excel by unleashing the talent of their people. As you seek to undertake talent pipeline initiatives, remember that no organization can or should do everything. It is important to deeply understand the unique leadership strengths of your organization, strategic business drivers, market demands, differentiating competencies and workforce requirements in order to craft your unique approach to attract, engage and retain the talent that is needed to accelerate success."