Don’t Neglect Your Retention Strategy

Recruiting in today’s marketplace of active or even passive job seekers is an uphill battle, with the leverage being almost entirely in the hands of these prime candidates swimming in opportunities. HR and recruiting professionals in the trenches work tirelessly to appeal to and process top-tier applicants. But, while we fixate on the next exceptional hire, are we overlooking our existing high performers? Is our retention strategy able to support a leak?

“We’re all working so hard to plug the leak of recruiting top talent for our open positions, and in doing so might be overlooking the more significant RETENTION leak.”

 Recently, Jeff Bockelman, Chief Recruiter and Founder of Pedagog, elaborated on his experience with economic rebounds and its impact on Retention. After recalling previous years following industrial recovery, Jeff has found that the threat to Retention is at an all-time high. This threat comes almost explicitly from the increase in incentives and options available in the open job marketplace. 

A recent 2021 SHRM report concluded the following areas to be at the center of retention loss in high performers:

• Higher pay, work-life balance, and benefits
• Career advancement opportunities
• Wanting to make a career change (The pandemic allowed time for employees to reflect on what their career passions and goals are)

Here are a few essential steps to counter retention loss:

Action: Look for the signs of burnout or possible intention to leave within your company. Begin by creating a work environment that welcomes open conversations to tackle those root causes before it becomes irreversible. 

Take Note: Partner with platforms like Qualtrics or Waggl to build customized engagement surveys with your internal team. Use the data you receive to get a pulse of where your team currently rests in job satisfaction.

Higher Wages: It comes at no shock that better pay ranks the highest in those looking for new opportunities, but it also means it will be a huge factor in keeping your key players content. Start by taking stock of your current team roles and reevaluating your pay structure to get in front of you. 

Flexibility: To complement or in place of higher wages, when the budget doesn’t allow, look at providing flexibility in workdays or opening up remote work options. 

When countering a retention crisis, a thorough strategy is needed. These are only a few options to get you and your team started. For a complete list, check out this 2021 article by Zenefits.