A common challenge for all employers is sourcing and recruiting the best people in the market. But once they’re hired, how do you ensure that you’re making every effort to retain them? After all of the effort that goes into finding and identifying the best fit for your company, the last thing you want is for that talent to simply walk out the door.
The first challenge is identifying or spotting the right people for your organisation. A CV can present a potentially great candidate but that person may not culturally be a strong fit for you or your team. Finding the right people talent can be as much about trusting your instincts as it is about identifying the right skills and experience. One key thing I always look for is “passion”. Does this candidate demonstrate their fit by articulating their relevant skills and experience in a passionate manner? After all, if they don’t show that they care about what they do, why should you?
Another great way to spot talent is to test the candidates skills and experience under duress and see how they respond. The best talent in the market will always display a cool, calm demeanour on the surface, irrespective of how trying the circumstances. Another great indicator of prospective talent is past examples of an unconventional or unique approach they took to tackle a business related problem. Candidates that demonstrate the ability to “think outside the box” and a solution driven approach to problem solving are usually best in market. This ability to identify the good from the great and the average from the best is what truly separates those companies with the best hiring and attraction rates in the market.
Once hired and bedded in, your objective should be to ensure you retain your best people by keeping them sufficiently motivated and challenged. Offering above market salaries whilst attractive to some, is usually not the only solution as many people leave their jobs for non financial reasons. Identifying an individuals career aspirations and putting a proper structure in place allowing them to achieve their dreams is ultimately more rewarding. This can be difficult to achieve in many organisations where leaner, flatter structures are the norm, but the best companies irrespective of size and structure will find a way of offering their valued employees career guidance and a planned career path worth pursuing.
Employees who feel their future careers are as important to the company are more likely to remain loyal, thus ensuring a lower attrition rate in longer term. A great retention strategy for any organisation is to provide realistic and achievable benchmarks against which their employees contribution can be measured and by providing precedents of previous hires who have progressed in their organisation. Providing a roadmap to success in your company from day one is possibly the best retention strategy of all and will ensure that your best people deliver and overachieve on a consistent basis when they know that the rewards merit it.
To discuss your hiring and retention objectives, why not contact Campbell Rochford today to speak with a Talent Acquisition and Retention expert.
Tel: 01-9065116
Email: [email protected]
Campbell Rochford – Turning Good to Great.
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