(To read an excerpt from Mel Kleiman’s 100 + 1 Top Tools, Tips & Techniques to Recruit Top Talent, click here.)

The secret to hiring great people is to find those people not only interested in doing the things they like to do, but those who are willing and have the determination to do the things they don’t like to do (or the smarts to figure out how to get someone else to do these tasks for them).

Do your hiring forms really help you screen in the best and screen out the rest? To preview the efficient and effective employment application, structured interview, and interview rating forms Humetrics has perfected over the past 20 years, click here.

(To read an excerpt from Mel’s “classic,” Hire Tough, Manage Easy, click here.)

1. The wrong person was hired
2. No clear expectations
3. Poor job design
4. Ineffective orientation and training
5. Problem work environment
6. Unsuitable organizational structure
7. Ineffective communications
8. Lack of rewards and motivation
9. Insufficient performance feedback
10. Outside influences

(For everything you need to know about recruiting, selecting, on-boarding and retaining the best hourly employees, visit: The Humetrics Bookstore.)

1. They discourage your best employees. (A-players don’t like or need to play on B teams.)
2. They reduce overall workforce motivation.
3. They consume management and supervisory time. (I have yet to figure out why most managers spend 80% of their time dealing with the 20% of employees who are problems.)
4. They frustrate and annoy managers, fellow employees, and, many times, customers.

(Could you use a good chuckle? Take a look at part of Mel’s fun, pre-presentation slide show.)

(For a complimentary copy of our special report, Why the Wrong People Get Hired, visit The Humetrics’ Free Knowledge Center.)

(For a complimentary copy of our Employee Commitment Card, go to www.KleimanHR.com and click on the “Members Only” tab. (If you’re not a member, it only takes a minute to join.)

Before that presentation, I had never even heard of Decisions Log, but, since then, I’ve started to keep one. Amazing what you can learn when you keep track of each major decision, what caused to you to make the decision, and the reasons you took the resultant actions.

For example, suppose you just hired a new employee…

1. Why did you hire this person?
2. What was the impetus for this decision at this time?
3. Why this person over others??
4. What were the positive and negative considerations?

As you hire more people, it is interesting and informative to see what patterns develop and what you could do to make better decisions down the road.

P.S. This does not apply only to hiring, it works for all major decisions.

(For a complimentary copy of How to Hire Tough to Manage Easy in Today’s Turbulent Times, visit The Humetrics’ Free Knowledge Center and click on the “Special Reports” link.)

(“Mel Kleiman’s new book, The 5 Firsts, is a must read for every manager. So many books are focused on theory, but short on practical steps that can be implemented immediately and with little cost. Once again, Mel has hit the mark, providing an easy five step recipe to help new employees feel respected and valued from the moment they walk in the door.” —Monique Kahkonen, Director, Human Resources. To order, click here.)

So what will you do differently in 2012 to keep your best employees? If you don’t do something, you aren’t going to keep them. Some suggestions:

1. Give them challenging assignments
2. Give them plenty of positive recognition
3. Give them a chance to grow and learn new stuff
4. Give them a family-friendly environment

(Do your hiring forms really help you screen in the best and screen out the rest? To preview the efficient and effective employment application, structured interview, and interview rating forms Humetrics has perfected over the past 20 years, click here.)