Como crear un metodo para consultar en una tabla de una base de datos

public List<Employees> getEmployees() {
    final String query = "select * from employees";
    List<Employees> employees = new ArrayList<>();
    try (Connection connection = getConnection();
         PreparedStatement stmt = connection.prepareStatement(query);
         ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery();) {
      while (rs.next()) {
        Employee employee = new Employee(rs.getString("name"), rs.getString("lastname"));
        employees.add(employee);
      }
    } catch (SQLException ex) {
      System.err.println(ex.getMessage());
    }
    return employees;
  }