No matter what industry or role you’re in, chances are that your success is built in part on establishing meaningful relationships. Nowhere is this more evident than in human resources and recruiting. When it comes to employee satisfaction and retention, positive relationships can be the key to assembling and sustaining a quality team.
The following framework explores how recruitment and human resources professionals can build rapport by learning about four key areas of a current or prospective employee’s life: their family, their organization, what they do for recreation and their long-term dreams.
This approach will give your company a leg up in hiring and recruitment practices, but it requires spending meaningful, authentic time with employees and prospects. When you put in the effort, this connection allows you to develop trust and familiarity, which are essential in developing a positive company culture.
In the spirit of keeping it simple, let’s talk about how you can build lasting relationships around these four key segments, which come together to form the acronym "FORD."
Family
Family is often closest to the heart, so learning about and expressing interest in an employee’s family is a natural way to establish a connection. That means remembering birthdays, anniversaries and other key dates. It means remembering kids’ ages, extracurriculars and college application deadlines. It may take time to learn about an employee’s family, but think of how you feel when a friend or acquaintance remembers something you mentioned months back. You feel listened to, cared for and invested in. It all comes down to simple questions such as, “You mentioned you have a sister in Minnesota. How did she end up there?”
Realistically, some people may not want you to probe into their personal lives, especially at the start of a relationship. Be sensitive to any pushback when discussing personal information. You’ll likely find that as you share things about yourself, people will open up and share important milestones with you.
Organization
When getting to know an employee or prospective hire, find out more about their current position, as well as about other organizations where they have worked. You can also learn where they went to school and ask what their focus has been since graduating. These probes are often the easiest part of the conversation, as people are generally happy to share their professional background with you. You may even want to begin with this area because it can be a great way to introduce and establish your relationship.
Before meeting with a prospective employee, a best practice is to view their LinkedIn profile to find out their professional history. By absorbing a few key details, you’ll be prepared to ask questions about how they got into the industry or how they ended up in their current position. You might say, “Chloe, you had a long career at Gucci. How did you decide to get into this business?”
Recreation And Passion
Whether it’s volunteering with a local organization, horseback riding, cycling or supporting the arts, most people enjoy talking about what they do in their time outside the office. Finding out what a person does for fun is often more important than learning about their career. This is an opportunity to see which organizations your employees belong to and the hobbies about which they’re passionate.
Recreation can be an easy conversation-starter when you are talking to prospective hires on the phone or face to face: “Meghan, tell me about your volunteer work at Vital Voices.” When you discuss after-work or weekend activities, you have the chance to tap into people’s passions and connect on a more personal level.
Dreams
Over time, you can begin to learn about your employees’ long-term dreams and aspirations. Dreams can be the most intense part of your conversations, as they tend to be very personal. You don’t necessarily want to jump into a conversation about this topic; it’s something that should arise naturally as you get to know each other.
One way to invite employees to discuss their dreams and aspirations is to share your goals first, which may encourage others to open up to you. You might say, “When I retire from this industry in 10 or 15 years, I really want to teach at a college. I’d like to give back some of the knowledge I’ve gained. What do you think about 10 years down the road, Beth?”
Take your time as you delve into your employees' hopes for the future. Because they're personal, you need to have a positive and comfortable relationship before learning about someone’s dreams and aspirations. It may also relate to their career trajectory within your company, so be prepared to address questions about their growth potential.
By actively engaging with current and prospective employees in these four areas, leaders and human resources professionals have a framework for establishing positive, mutually beneficial relationships that can last a lifetime. In reality, building relationships is never cut and dried; it’s a process that takes time, energy and compassion to develop and sustain. When you focus on truly getting to know your employees and learning what is important to them, you can develop a loyal, passionate and engaged team.
