Attracting and retaining talented employees is essential to the success of any business. However, it can be a daunting task to figure out the best ways to attract and retain great employees. This week, we’re sharing how RCI member Romolo Chocolates has been able to build a successful team by utilizing effective recruiting and hiring practices, nurturing a healthy company culture and rewarding performance, so that you may be able to apply some of these techniques to your business.

Recruiting

When recruiting potential candidates for a job opening, it’s important to look in the right places, as this will increase the potential pool of qualified candidates and make the recruitment process more successful. Romolo Chocolates has found the most success using Indeed.com for online recruitment. Indeed offers employers the opportunity to ask questions which helps to pre-screen potential candidates. They also utilize bulletins at local colleges and high schools to post job openings. By simply posting signs about hiring in their windows, they’ve had success with generating interest and interviews.

While Romolo has tried using social media as a recruiting tool, it has not led to a single successful interview. Instead, they have found it to be more of a platform for their followers to post I Love Lucy memes. 

Hiring for the Right Fit

It's not often that businesses come across true star employees, but when they do, these people can become a great asset to the team. Despite best efforts, it can be hard to identify the qualities of a star performer from resumes and interviews. Even if that person appears to have the right qualifications, that doesn’t always mean they will be a good fit for the business.

When assessing potential job candidates, it’s important to identify those who share the same values and goals as the business. It is also beneficial to assess the candidate's attitude, desire to learn and grow, and ability to collaborate with others.

Company Culture

When asked to identify their most successful tool for retaining employees, Romolo Chocolates says, it’s their company culture. They have spent time exploring the company’s culture from the founder’s perspective and historical successes, which has allowed them to define their values, vision, purpose and “key ingredients” for a successful team. To introduce the new culture, the staff was reoriented over the course of several culture education and Q&A sessions.

Romolo Chocolates’ culture is constantly evolving to ensure that management and team expectations are met. It covers important topics such as safety and customer experience, for which everyone is responsible.

New Hire Training

At Romolo, new hires come on board under a 90-day probation period before receiving benefits. The team usually knows within the first four hours if the hire will work hard and absorb the knowledge they are teaching.

On their first day, new hires take a tour of the facility with a member of the culture team. At this time, paperwork has been completed and they are wearing a new uniform when they step onto the floor. During the first two weeks of training, they attend a culture session with other starting or returning team members, which helps them understand the company values and purpose, as well as the expectations and policies.

Team members are assigned a trainer each day who not only teaches, but also takes breaks and lunch with the trainee. The culture of Romolo Chocolates emphasizes kindness, and they ask their employees to train with respect and kindness.

Cross Training

Romolo Chocolates encourages cross training, and employees who are trained for more than one position earn higher hourly wages. Cross training allows employees to be versatile and proficient in multiple roles. Cross training staff can offer numerous benefits to businesses, such as improved performance and greater job satisfaction.

Performance-Based Rewards

The company rewards employees who excel at their job. Employees are rewarded with wage increases, continuous learning opportunities, gold-tier health insurance, a paid time-off program and pension plan. In many instances, maintenance hires who excelled at their job have been moved into production work with wage increases. Team members who demonstrate great people and organization skills have also been promoted to leadership.

Romolo Chocolates is proof that effective recruiting, hiring for the right fit, creating a healthy company culture, training and performance-based rewards are all powerful tools for building and nurturing a successful team. With the right tools and knowledge, any business can create an environment that encourages and rewards excellence. As a result, these businesses are more likely to attract and retain top talent.

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