Hiring and keeping top talent is a challenge for many companies, but it’s especially true of solar. The industry’s demand for talent is only increasing, and there are concerns about the shortage of skilled talent that could impede growth.
One of the best ways to recruit and retain A-player talent is with positive company culture. Salary alone isn’t enough to recruit or retain employees, so it’s important for companies to give employees a unique workplace culture that shows they’re just as invested in them.
Why Does Company Culture Matter?
Company culture is the shared values, goals, attitudes, and practices that characterize a business, including how people behave, interact with each other, and perform their work. A positive culture helps everyone succeed, while a toxic one drives high turnover, low productivity, and poor job satisfaction.
And for job seekers, company culture is more important than ever. They’re aware of how culture can impact their long-term productivity and satisfaction in a position, and it’s now an important criteria for evaluating a job offer.
Here are some tips to promote a unique company culture to attract new talent and retain your A players.
Flexibility
If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the business.
Many different generations are in the workforce currently, including millennials, baby boomers, and Gen Z. Benefits that include flexibility are important for all of these generations, especially when it comes to work-life balance.
Consider benefits like hybrid work schedules with some remote time, giving new parents extra paid time off to transition into parenthood, or allowing flexible work schedules. Employees can take time to run errands, go to appointments, or enjoy personal time without it impacting their work schedules.
Career Advancement Opportunities
Companies that are growing or looking to expand the workforce need to invest in their employees to ensure they’re in it for the long haul. If you invest in your employees, they’ll be more productive and less stressed about job security.
You can do this a number of ways, including implementing one-on-one mentor partnerships or by providing access to career training programs. Another option is to bring in a sales coach to help employees develop skills and work better as a team.
Robust Benefits
A strong benefits package is a good selling point for a new employee. At a time when many companies are limiting benefits, just seeing an attractive package could give you an edge with an otherwise comparable job offer.
Better yet, offer customizable benefits packages that allow employees to focus on their own priorities. Supplemental insurance policies, paid time off, and tuition reimbursement are all good options.
Rewards and Recognition
Employees that feel undervalued are not likely to stay in their current position. It’s important to recognize employees that are working hard or excelling in their position and validate how they contribute to the success of the business overall.
Remember, rewards don’t need to be huge bonuses. Something simple like a card, gift, or email blast highlighting their achievements to the company can be enough to show that you value them. As an added bonus, doing this for one employee can motivate others to improve their performance and strengthen the overall culture.
Cultural Fit
Culture is at the center of this conversation, but it’s important to remember that your candidate needs to also fit into your culture. If you settle and hire an employee in desperation to fill an opening, or because you liked what you saw on the resume, you could be harming your own culture and contributing to turnover.
Technical skills can be taught – emotional intelligence can’t. No matter how good someone looks on a resume or in an interview, make sure they’re a cultural fit in your company. Otherwise, you could waste a lot of time and money bringing in the wrong person and have to go through it all again, not just with that position, but others.
Build a Solar Company of A Players
Attracting and keeping top talent is challenging in the current business environment. What used to keep people at their jobs isn’t necessarily enough anymore, so companies need to enhance their workplace culture and show appreciation and value for their employees.