You may be thinking, why are recruiters writing about how to boost employee retention when our business is based on recruiting candidates for the right jobs?! Right now, we are in a great position to help strengthen the labour market.
We, along with the rest of the world, want the economy to bounce back and thrive, and with 87% of companies struggling to fill job opportunities, we wanted to share our experience to play our part to rebound the economy.
Most organisations can clearly identify the current labour market is exceptionally candidate-driven, owing to the skills shortage, amongst other factors such as the shift in priorities since COVID-19.
Yet with 90% of UK employers seeking to recruit in 2022 which is a significant increase from 66% in 2021 we need to look at why employees are leaving in their droves. A recruitment survey found the following best common reasons for employees leaving their position:
- The desire for more flexibility
- Change of priorities following the pandemic
- Salary
- Opportunities for career growth
- Lake of recognition
- Feeling overworked or burnout
It’s difficult for any company to address all the above and make changes overnight, especially after the undeniable challenges over the last 2 years.
How do you increase employee retention before it becomes a systemic problem?
Let’s explore the top 5 ways to help any organisation boost employee retention:
- Embed training and development, this has become an essential ask from employees. No one wants to feel stagnate in the workplace, and growth opportunities motivate employee engagement. Encouraging employees to upskill will also keep your organisation agile.
- Set the tone during the onboarding experience. We all know ‘first impressions are everything’, and you only get one chance to establish your perception as an employer. A clear and engaging onboarding process is essential and not to be overlooked.
- Encouraging internal promotions and opportunities, often overlooked from the fear of it, creates a backfill in roles, but it could kill two birds with one stone when appropriately leveraged.
- Talk to your employees and find out the issues – show that you’ve heard and tell your employees what you’re going to do with the feedback.
- Set clear expectations and be clear about the future of the company, connect with new employees and express the company culture and plans for the future to demonstrate stability, growth and security.
If you would like more help to improve employee retention or to discuss any frustrations you may have with recruiting in 2022, we love to offer a listening ear and share our experience with you. Contact us.