4 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 47, No. 2 From the PLSO Office Aimee McAuliffe, PLSO Exec. Secretary Think back to a time in your career when you were the happiest. Chances are, it was when the company you worked for made you feel appreciated, and what you were doing lined up with your values, interests, and skills while also providing a sense of purpose. If you don’t work there anymore, why did you eventually leave? Did the culture change or were there no opportunities for job growth? While we, as a profession, are all working on growing our future workforce by promoting the profession, it’s also important to make sure we build the infrastructure to retain the people we have. As students are entering the workforce, are you too busy to do anything but have them face trial by fire, or are you creating an environment that makes your employees or colleagues want to stay? Improving entry-level employee retention is crucial for organizational stability and growth. Not only is recruiting, hiring, and training new employees costly, but you are losing company knowledge each time an employee leaves for a job at a competing company. Instead of paying for turnover each year, I suggest you commit your resources—whether it be time, money, or effort—towards building a foundation that offers a return on your investment. Here are several strategies to enhance retention among entry-level employees: 1. Effective Onboarding: Implement a process that introduces new hires to the company culture, policies, and procedures. It’s really important to be clear on expectations, responsibilities and processes. All companies should have an employee handbook, which gives a detailed overview of policies that are specific to your organization along with other key procedures, guidelines, and employee benefits. If you run a department and have clear procedures you want followed, I suggest providing this as a supplement to the Employee Handbook. 2. Clear Career Pathways: Offer clear career pathways and development opportunities, such as creating a mentorship program, allowing them to attend the PLSO Conference and participate in the Emerging Leaders and Young Surveyors programs. Mentorship programs are a valuable tool for fostering professional development, knowledge sharing, and employee engagement. Start by clearly defining the objectives and goals you hope to achieve, such as skill development, leadership succession, or fostering a culture collaboration. For a guide to being a mentor check out The Mentorship Guide in the Members Only section of the website here: www.plso.org/ mbrresources. FROM THE PLSO OFFICE While we, as a profession, are all working on growing our future workforce by promoting the profession, it’s also important to make sure we build the infrastructure to retain the people we have.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Nzc3ODM=