First of all, this question has nothing to do with antacids.   My question relates to the Human Capital Resources in your business.  How do you spell relief when it comes to hiring and retaining your employees?  All too often employers make one or more of these Top 10 Hiring Mistakes:*

1. Not knowing what you are looking for
2. Inadequate interview preparation
3. Poor selection of interview questions
4. Hiring too quickly
5. No awareness of the halo effect
6. Hiring people just like you
7. Raising standards unrealistically
8. Using only one interviewer
9. Not checking references thoroughly
10. No interview process in place

So let’s assume you’ve made it past the hiring hurdle. You’ve done your homework and have a system in place which has taken care of the mistakes listed above.  You have an enthusiastic group of employees.  Now how do you ensure that they don’t quit?  How do you ensure that they work well together?  How do you keep them engaged and empowered? 

“We have all heard this euphemism Sink or Swim. Obviously as business owners and managers, we should be focused on swimming (succeeding), but what happens to us when conditions are turbulent? We can’t touch the floor? We can’t see the bottom?”

Sink or Swim? I think I’ll swim…

As I was working on my article for this month the euphemism, Sink or Swim just kept coming to mind. While on vacation with my family in Mexico I experienced a near panic attack. I was swimming in the beautiful blue waters. I am a fairly good swimmer as long as I can touch or see the bottom. On this day the beautiful waves were breaking close to shore and you didn’t have to go far into the ocean before you could not touch the floor or see the bottom. I was enjoying a refreshing swim, until my husband said he was going in, I told him I was going to stay out a little longer and float but I couldn’t seem to do that, the waves and current were pulling at me from every direction. I began to head into shore but felt like I was just swimming in place. Luckily my husband was still close by so I called to him for help. He immediately saw the panic on my face and told me to calm down and breathe. He offered me his hand and we swam in together.