A sense of humor. A willingness to commit. A good communicator. These are the kinds of attributes that might be found on a list of what to look for in a mate. They were recently invoked, however, when some Valley executives described what they were looking for in an employee during a discussion on “How to Recruit and Retain Good Employees” at the 40 Under 40 Reunion on Leadership organized by the Business Journal and Woodbury University. “I think, for us, it’s definitely somebody who’s a self starter and a team player,” said Jerri Hemsworth, CEO of NewmanGrace Advertising & Brand Development in Woodland Hills. “Egos are left at the door.” Meanwhile, Imran N. Chaudhry, regional director of operational excellence for the Southern California Region of Providence Health System in Burbank said his ideal employee is “passionate about what they do.” What he calls “mental horse power” is a non-negotiable for Scott M. Sachs, managing partner for the San Fernando Valley Office of Good, Swartz, Brown & Berns in Sherman Oaks. “You gotta be smart,” he said. Interpersonal skills, particularly the ability to communicate effectively with others, also topped Sachs’ list of traits employees should possess. Because he’s had some negative experiences with staffers who have had not prioritized work, Michael Jordan, vice president of ESP Computer Services, is a stickler for commitment. Now, he’s first and foremost interested in “finding someone who wants to commit to the job,” he said. Employees who’ve put work on the backburner are no stranger to Hemsworth, who declared that “entitlement is rampant” among those newest to the workforce. That said, Hemsworth added that she’s not only looking for dedication but someone who can carry telephone conversations both casually and naturally and has a sense of humor as well. “You have to be able to laugh and step up when you know you’ve made a mistake,” she explained. Employees weren’t the sole focus of the discussion, however. The executives admitted that effective managers possess certain traits as well. And in an age that is arguably best described as transitory, the discussion participants agreed that it is crucial that managers learn how to adapt to staffers’ evolving expectations of work. Employers must be “increasingly flexible, allowing people to take time off when they need it,” Jordan said. “You gain loyalty by giving in the right areas.” Another way in which employers must adapt is by realizing that many contemporary job candidates are focused more on work experience than salary. “They didn’t care about money,” Hemsworth said of some of the Gen Xers she’s hired. “They wanted to learn. I’ve had to come up with creative ways to offer benefits.” Along this vein, Jordan said that employers should teach the newest and youngest to join an organization new skills without micromanaging such employees when they attempt to put the skills into practice. Keep in mind, Sachs warned, that, while young employees want to be taught new skills, they don’t want to be worked into a frenzy. They say, “I don’t want to be stressed. I want to be challenged,” he said. To challenge employees, Hemsworth said that she sometimes gives them a glimpse of her duties. For example, she will tell them, “I’m about to make a difficult phone call to a client. Would you like to sit in and listen to it?” When she’s finished with the call, she might ask them for their opinion on how they would have handled the situation. Carrie Nebens of Equis Financial Staffing, who facilitated the discussion, said that having a mentor makes a tremendous difference to new employees. According to the feedback she’s received, new employees often feel disenfranchised when they lack mentorship. But Sachs said that managers should not only mentor but also coach. “I see coaching as a step beyond mentoring,” he said. Coaching entails rewarding, recognizing and offering feedback to staff, Sachs explained. There are a variety of ways to recognize staff from mentioning a staffer in a newsletter to simply giving a staffer a pat on the back. Finding out what motivates employees is key, Chaudhry said. Managers need “to be able to understand the personality style of employees.” Hemsworth likes to motivate employees with surprises. For example, she never tells employees when they will receive raises. Instead, she allows them to find out by seeing the hike in the amount on their paycheck. As workplace attitudes have shifted, employers have realized the importance of recognizing good work, according to Sachs. While managers used to believe that their customers were their biggest assets, they now believe that their employees are an equally big asset. “There have been studies,” Sachs pointed out. “People don’t leave their companies. People leave their managers.” This may be why the hiring process is of utmost concern to each of the executives who participated in the discussion. Sachs said that when he conducts interviews with candidates who want to leave a position elsewhere to work for him, he tries to find out why the candidate is unhappy. This allows him to decide if his firm can meet the candidate’s needs. To this end, Chaudhry emphasized devising clearly written job descriptions for candidates during the interview process. As for finding candidates to interview, Nebens said, “It is a lot about networking.” About half of employers find job candidates from referrals, she added. Hemsworth said that she has received referrals via her relationship with Pepperdine University. Moreover, Hemsworth has hired interns, for they are accustomed to her expectations. In fact, the last three employees hired at her firm were first interns, she said. To ensure that a candidate of interest accepts a job offer, making a good impression is key, the executives said. For instance, rather than relegate a candidate’s interactions to an administrative clerk during the recruiting process, give the candidate access to upper management as well, Sachs suggested. The manner in which other employees behave may also make a difference. Jordan recounted a tale about a candidate who decided to accept an offer from his firm after a handful of employees there gave a warm greeting. “I was sitting in the lobby and four people said, ‘hi’ and looked happy to be here,” Jordan remembers the candidate telling him. But if there’s one grievous mistake employers make when it comes to filling a position, it’s moving too quickly, for this could result in turnover if the new hire is a bad fit. “Never fill a seat just to fill a seat,” Hemsworth advised managers. “We need to have patience.”