Attracting,
Developing, and
Retaining Talent
Designed to support our businesses, this initiative by the Seacoast Economic Development Stakeholders is made possible through a Collaborative Economic Development Region grant provided by the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs.
Explore the hiring resource below or download the PDF version.
When it comes to building, scaling, and maintaining a business in 2023 and beyond, employers recognize the importance of a reliable workforce.
Last year our business community was asked what they believed the most important problem they faced. 34% mentioned labor shortage or the cost of labor - making it the leading concern of New Hampshire employers. It beat out the next closest concern, inflation, by a whopping 15 percentage points. Without the ability to hire, businesses can’t grow. Halted growth is not just a problem for individual organizations, but for our greater New Hampshire economy.
The last three years have caused a permanent shift in the way Americans look at work. High paid remote jobs via large multinationals has become a norm. Combine this with near historic unemployment rates, “Quiet Quitting”, and a drastically fluctuating economy, it’s no secret that employers have their work cut out for them.
Resource Outline
Prefer to listen to each module? Select the section below:
[16 MIN LISTEN][14 MIN LISTEN][12 MIN LISTEN]
Resource 1
Attracting Talent
LISTEN TO THIS MODULE [16 MIN]ATTRACTING TALENT
Brand Storytelling
Kimiko Ebata
Career Coach & Transition Expert at Ki Coaching
“With this new landscape, it's important for companies to differentiate themselves by effectively communicating their culture, their values, as well as their overall brand to their potential talent base.”
Employee Value Proposition
Bill Stowell Jr
Central Park Garage & Central Park Express
“Just look at industry norms, and if there's something that you can change – that benefits your employee – that you can implement without costing an arm and a leg, that really sets you apart from the industry standard. [That will] make you different in a positive way to prospective employees.”
The Hiring Process
Barbara Marchetti
Consultant with Leddy Group
“You have got to think about how the people perceive your recruiting process. If you're serious about hiring talent, you’ve got to put the human back in human resources. Right now, the number one thing that every candidate is looking for is engagement. That first step is going to make or break it oftentimes.”
Resource 2
Developing Talent
LISTEN TO THIS MODULE [14 MIN]DEVELOPING TALENT
Investing In Employees
Diana Bournes
President at Ascendle
“Part of our managers’ responsibility is to set a professional development plan with each team member. So each person is thinking: ‘okay, in the next 12 months, I really want to work on these areas, maybe I want to set some really specific goals, maybe I want to take this training.’ They put together a professional development plan for that year, and then revisit it every quarter to see how are we’re doing. Have we made progress together? [Are we] helping you to achieve these goals? We're always looking at that plan and tweaking it.”
Company Culture
Jilan Hall-Johnson
Owner of The Sassy Biscuit Co.
“We are a small business but we try to operate as a much larger company with a hope that, if we create an amazing culture that: 1.) It's rewarding for the employees, because work should be rewarding. 2.) It leads to less turnover. And 3.) It creates a better experience for the guests who walk through our doors – and even extends into our community as a whole. We want to be the standard that everyone tries to live up to or wants to be a part of.”
Balance > Burnout
Beth Carter
Founder of BBA Bookkeeping
“If I have turnover, I cannot grow and scale this company. Employees need to be happy. They need to be fulfilled and not overwhelmed, in order to treat our clients the way that I expect them to be treated. It's this cycle, right? We found our ideal client, but now we need to care for our ideal client. Which means I need to make sure I'm caring for the people who are caring for our ideal client.”
Resource 3
Retaining Talent
LISTEN TO THIS MODULE [12 MIN]RETAINING TALENT
Fostering Trust and Connection
Krystal Hicks
Founder of JOBTALK, former Director of Career Services at the University of New Hampshire
“My theory on this has always been that remote work is not the issue. The issue is trust, or the lack thereof, in the workspace. If you have a CEO or if you have leadership that's filled with micromanagers, then you have more trust issues. If you don't have a culture of trust, you don't have autonomy.”
Employee Recognition
Melissa Roy
Assistant Town Manager & HR Director: Town of Exeter
“Everybody wants to feel respected and heard. That doesn't mean that you're going to get everything that you want. But is there an avenue for you to share your thoughts, concerns, questions in a respectful way. I may not be able to help them with everything. And at the end of the day, there are some things that we can't change. But can we at least give them an avenue to talk about what their concerns are? I feel like that's the really good starting place on culture.”
Encouraging Feedback
Anne Nichols
Founder of K9 Kaos
“I have three supervisors that were just recently promoted. They recommended we do a team survey. And, I have to be honest, I was petrified. I was afraid to read the results; I'm not sure why. But I will say that after it was all said and done, it was valuable feedback. It wasn't horrible. I'm really glad I did it. We just actually did another one. But I would tell employers, don't be afraid [of feedback]. It really was a valuable exercise for me.”
Addendum
Special thanks to our partners in this project.
