Come On Get Happy
1. START WITH THE HIRING PROCESS
An oft-overlooked part of retaining employees is making sure you have the right people to begin with, and that starts with the hiring process. Especially in regard to sales positions, make sure new hires know what to expect from the industry, and that their goals are in line with those of your company. “Years ago we would hire literally hundreds of people a year, a lot of salespeople inexperienced to our industry, or experienced salespeople who had some background experience from other industries, but not [our] industry experience,” said Chris Vernon, MAS, president of The Vernon Company, Newton, Iowa. “And like a lot of companies, about 10 to 15 years ago we went away from that because the turnover was huge, probably in the 80 [percent] to 85 percent range for a year or 18 months out.”