People in Projects

Finding and Keeping the Best Employees

Edited by Joanita M. Nellenbach

PM Network 7 (June 1999)

Hiring used to be a fairly straightforward matter: You selected the people you wanted, put them to work, and waited for them to sink or swim. Like much of life, however, the hiring process has become increasingly complicated. In the strong economic climate in many regions, finding and keeping good employees is extremely difficult.

For growing companies, hiring just one unqualified employee can have a terribly negative effect on productivity, profitability, and morale. The time required to duplicate work and rebuild customer relationships because of employee incompetence is costly. In addition, losing good employees to competitors is expensive. With ...