top of page
Search
Josh

Retaining Employees in 2021

Retaining their best employees is the number 1 focus for growing companies in 2021.


Did you know that it costs on average, 2.5 times someone’s salary to replace them, when they leave and regardless as to how long they have been in your employ?

I worked in the recruitment industry for 26 years (not anymore) and use to ask our clients why someone had left? The answers varied:

  • “They left to join Google”. So, what this person was really saying is that Google are better company to Join. This client (at the time) was an award winning, and the fastest growing company in the South West! Why would someone leave an opportunity to be part of this new success story?

  • Others would say “they have been offered more money”! This is rarely the real reason but is easy for the line manager to justify it in their mind.

  • “We haven’t held the EXIT interview yet”! If you need to wait for the exit interview you are obviously too late. This is like putting on your seat belt after an accident. If it takes the interview to uncover the real reason, it shows that the line manager was out of touch with this team member.

  • “They have been poached by a competitor”.

  • “I don’t really know”?

  • “They wanted training, but we don’t offer it”.

  • “A bloody recruitment company poached them out”.

  • “People come, people go, that is just the way it is”!

The truth is that some people will move on eventually. The generation that grew up just after the second world war expected to be in a job for life. The expectation has now changed. A number of people think that our Millennials and Gig generations are flighty.

Research does not agree. They all still want long term stability and the things that the previous generations wanted. The difference is that they are gadget proficient, want to work for a company that values them, is purpose based, offers long term development, a progressive career, a flexible working culture, relaxed dress codes, maybe a dog in the office and most of all they want to be listened to.

The key to improving retention is to firstly:

  • Create a job/role specification with day-to-day tasks and clear and truly measurable Kpi’s.

  • hire the right person with the right behaviours to do the job and achieve the Kpi’s.

  • Assess how suitable they are for your specific job role.

  • Ensure your onboarding structure is both friendly and concise.

  • Create a personal development plan with each new person. (see previous doc).

  • Set dates (that are always met) for continual review and support of the plan.

  • Advertise all internal job openings to all employees.

  • The leaders of the business need to be consciously discussing the Company Vision. The strength of this vision will act as a forcefield around your employees. This is too often underestimated and overlooked.

The best businesses form a strategy based on “How to be the Employer of Choice”.

Everyone wants to work for the best. Everyone wants to stay with the best.



3 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Commentaires


bottom of page