Key rules of staff retention
Neil Simmons is Tunbridge Wells Business Magazine’s expert on recruitment. Here the founder of TN Recruits reveals principal ways to ensure prospective employers successfully retain their best people…
This might seem crazy for a recruiter to say, but we love working with companies that have great staff retention. Often we hear that recruitment consultants must love companies with high staff turnover but this really isn’t the case.
Typically, we are judged on how long one of our candidates stays with a company. If I’m honest, this is a little unfair. The recruitment sector charges an ‘Introduction Fee,’ therefore we introduce candidates to our clients, and it’s up to them to choose the right candidate and, most importantly, manage and train them appropriately so that they want to stay with the company.
Having said that, we do have a responsibility to introduce the right candidates to our clients in the first place, and if we don’t, we will lose the client—it’s as simple as that. But what are the best employers doing to retain their staff? Our experience and research show that these are the top three most important things to attract and retain the best talent:
Career Progression
This is the number one requirement our candidates look for. Whilst examples of how current employees have progressed their careers are useful, a number of the best organisations will have competency frameworks in place which measure performance and how one can reach the next level in their employment. Training also falls under this category. A solid induction period should be put in place to give a new person the best possible start in a new role. This should include a variety of training methods as not everyone learns in the same way. Classroom-style training will take you so far, but backed up with videos, role play, and deskside coaching, you can hopefully find the best way to meet your new incumbent’s needs.
Hybrid Working
Since the pandemic, it has become expected to provide some level of remote working. Certainly, when we take on a new vacancy from one of our clients at TN Recruits, if the role is 100% office-based, it tends to be a much harder sell when presenting it to our candidates. As an employer, I much prefer when my full team is in the office, but I can completely appreciate the benefits of home working as it helps with:
X Work-life balance.
X Saving costs on travel.
X Preventing the stress of the commute.
X Fewer distractions.
X Improved well-being.
In turn, an employer can expect a happier workforce who appreciate the flexibility and will be far more productive across the working week as a result of some autonomy.
Benefits
You don’t have to give 30 days of holiday or a 20% pension scheme—most businesses understandably want to be profitable—but there are some simple things you can do to keep your team onside. They include the following:
Healthcare:
With GP appointments becoming tougher to secure, a basic health insurance plan will often include telephone or video GP appointments which can be booked within 24 hours. It doesn’t have to cost the earth and is very well received. We use David O’Toole from WPA, who is well worth contacting for a no-obligation quote.
Free Parking:
If you can do it, it’s money well spent in my opinion. There is nothing worse than seeking a parking space in a town centre location every day. In return, an employer gets a happy employee arriving at work at a consistent time each day.
Team Social Events:
‘A team that plays together stays together’ is an old adage, but it is very true. A frequent reason for leaving that we hear from our candidates is that they are looking for a good team environment. That doesn’t necessarily mean they want to be throwing paper planes across the office or that they want to get drunk every Friday, but getting to know your colleagues outside of the office and finding common ground can only make for a happier workplace.
If you would like an extensive list of possible benefits, please feel free to email neil@tnrecruits.com.
www.tnrecruits.com
