As just 8 candidates apply for each highly skilled vacancy HR must turn its attention to employee retention. Here are five secrets to getting started:-
Review your salaries : Starting salaries for new hires may be rising to attract talent but employee pay rises are not keeping pace with inflation. This trend has prompted the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) to advise people who want to increase their pay to look for a new job. If your business is seeing increasing levels of departures among qualified staff, an uncompetitive salary may be influencing their decision to leave. Last month, the Open University noted that 90% of businesses have experienced problems in filling vacancies in the past year, forcing employers to pay higher salaries to fill the skills gaps in their businesses.
Take wellbeing seriously : Paying attention to the wellbeing of employees has a direct impact on productivity, engagement and retention. PwC’s 2017 Work Well survey found that one third of UK employees struggle with mental health and four out of five (83%) believe the state of their wellbeing influences their productivity. One third also believe that their wellbeing has also influenced their decision to leave a job. Wellbeing policies don’t have to be complicated. Ernst & Young adopted its ‘R u ok?’ initiative to encourage workers to support and check in with each other and remove the stigma that surrounds mental health. Companies including Netflix and Hubspot also offer their employees unlimited vacation. Any efforts to improve employee retention should go hand-in-hand with your wellbeing policies.
Talk to your employees : A Totaljobs survey found that over a quarter of UK employers are struggling to engage their workers, leading to poor performance, falling productivity and disengaged employees disrupting the workforce. Strong communication will help to reconnect with your disillusioned workforce but over half of employees have very little contact with HR. A simple 'thank you' or recognising staff for their efforts goes a long way towards boosting morale and engaging your workforce. Creating an effective employee experience which prioritises meaningful work is also critical to retaining your top talent.
Get your hiring decision right first time : Nearly half of employers responding to the Totaljobs survey stated that hiring the right person is one of the most important ways to improve engagement and ultimately retention levels. Returning to the same talent pool, narrow screening parameters, relying on social media for your background checks and selecting candidates based exclusively on the interview are all common reasons for the rise in bad hires. Support your talent acquisition strategy with HR technology to reduce the number of failed hires and hold on to the talent your business needs to achieve its goals.
Automate your processes to transform productivity : In a recent report Robert Half suggested that the automation of time intensive tasks means that more ‘value-added’ work can replace them. This is especially relevant to recruitment where automating mundane, repetitive tasks such as screening leads to a better candidate experience and quality of hire. The report also suggests that digital transformation offers a number of benefits including improve efficiency and productivity at work, leading to happier employees and higher staff retention.
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