Employee Retention Starts Before You Hire

Introduction

With Ireland approaching nearing full employment, finding talent has become increasing difficult. This is something I’ve seen across sectors, including the one I work in. Constant staff turn-over is expensive and can effect service delivery. In sectors such as health-care, insufficient staffing can have potentially dangerous consequences for both the service deliverer and the service user. This bring to the fore the importance of Employee Retention. Here are 3 ways in which you can encourage employee retention at the Interview and On boarding stage.

Advertising your Job:

Most job ads tend to be targeted towards people who are actively searching for jobs however, with the current shortage of talent, engaging passive job candidates has become a necessity. They may not use job boards because they aren’t searching for jobs so diversify where you advertise. Use social media or professional networking sites to publicise your vacancy. Our Digital Marketing Executive, Aaron Nolan suggests tailoring your ads to a passive audience. Set yourself apart from other employers by telling potential job-seekers what makes working for you different.

Retention at Interview:

Review your candidate experience. Look at things like how long it takes for a candidate to know whether they are shortlisted for an interview or how long it takes for candidates to know the outcome of the interview. Once you’ve been though your current process, think about what you’d do differently if you were to treat a potential employee as a customer. During the interview, include questions that focus on the candidate’s work motivation.  Here are examples of questions you could use:

How does your current work contribute towards your future goals? What could your current company change to keep you from moving out?

This will help you ascertain whether the candidate’s wants, needs and goals are likely to be met in your organisation in the immediate or long-term.

Engagement during the ‘Silent Period’:

I recently read an article about The Silent Period. These are times of low communication and can happen either between the interview and final decision-making process or between the acceptance of the job-offer and start date. The HR Bartender suggests including hiring managers in the on boarding process. This could include something as simple as sending the candidate a quick note updating them about what’s happening in the hiring process or a quick phone call to keep them in the loop. Opening a dialogue between the candidate and hiring manager will allow for the manager to build a relationship with the candidate before the employee starts work. Another recommendation is providing information that the candidate will find useful in their first few days at work. For example, HR Coordinator James O ’Flanagan sends out a ‘Meet the Team’ document along with other on boarding documents so candidates know who they’ll be working with.

Finally, integrate what you’ve learnt about the candidate with other HR processes such as Career Planning, Comps and Benefits, etc. Understanding that candidates are individuals with different wants, needs and aspirations and communicating how your organisation’s culture, processes and benefits align with what they’re looking for, is key.