While many believe that the key to retaining talent in an organization lies in the current market conditions, we are here to tell you that that is not necessarily the case. Yes, there are factors of the market that influence an employee's decision to stay or leave a company yet it is up to your team to do everything in your power to recognize these shifts and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Let’s take a look at how you can retain talent while continuing to develop your organization from within and leverage its strengths to accomplish your goals.
While there has been an abundance of articles written recently about candidate-driven and employer-driven markets, your talent strategy should not be about reacting to the market but instead about attracting, developing, and retaining your key talent at all times..
While there are strategies you can employ to attract great talent during a candidate-driven market, being consistent with your employees and providing feedback, recognition, development and career planning will reinforce their value and future at your company –– increasing their engagement. Furthermore, engaged employees are an incredible advocate and potential referral source of additional talent. This also has a positive impact on morale and your culture, making you an employer of choice.
Taking the time to continually refine and enhance your people processes will help ensure you are attracting and retaining talent regardless of the market.
No matter what market you are hiring in you should always invest the extra time to identify the people that support your mission and values and who are motivated by similar objectives. When you place your attention on the fit of the candidate rather than just their experience or hard skills, you will be able to deliver stronger results and retain talent longer. This is where crafting an engaging candidate profile can become a valuable asset.
Unlike a job description, this profile outlines who you are as a company, what inspires you to do what you do, and the impact the right candidate can deliver, with the hopes of attracting those individuals who share this same passion. Additionally, it doesn’t solely focus on technical skills necessary for the role but defines soft skills that are necessary to succeed in the position.
Learn More: Crafting an Engaging Candidate Profile
One of the key ways you can ensure you attract and retain talent is by investing in your employer brand. This brand explains to both current and potential employees why they should want to work for you. As more employees look to work for companies that align with their personal beliefs, one of the best ways your branding can work for you is by showcasing your workplace culture and values. Naturally, you will appeal to those that resonate with your same attitudes.
Related: Employer Branding: Telling Your Company Story to Attract Talent
Once you have the right people on your team, those that align with your brand and culture, it is important to foster those relationships and begin building genuine connections. Investing the time to see them as people rather than just objects to accomplish business goals will allow you to empathize with them during challenging times and overcome those situations together.This mindset also helps you keep their best interests at heart and provide them with the guidance and coaching they need to succeed and progress in their careers.
By aiming to show up more authentically in your everyday interactions with coworkers, you can build a stronger team –– one that is more committed and engaged to the overarching goals of your organization.
Read More: Effective 'Stay Conversation' Strategies to Reduce Employee Turnover
Through the connections you make and the conversations you have, you can begin to identify personal ways to engage your team members. And, because each employee will be motivated by different things, it can be extremely beneficial to provide customized solutions that engage them in a relevant way.
For example, while one employee may want more of a challenge in their day-to-day tasks, another may be motivated by becoming a mentor to another member of their team. As a result, you can lower the likelihood that your employees “quiet quit”, or only do what's required of them during set work hours, but rather motivate them to go beyond the norm. Once you identify ways your team is inspired, you can begin to light that fire and create momentum across all departments.
Another key factor for employee retention is the compensation package they receive. If you want to remain competitive in the market, take the time to analyze your current components and if they are rewarding to employees. This is a great way to understand your employees' motivations so sit down with your teams and discuss ways to improve or add new offerings that will help you motivate and retain talent.
Often included in compensation packages are training and educational opportunities. When looking to retain talent, this simple strategy can make a big difference. How much you may ask. Well, 7 out of 10 people say that training and development opportunities influence their decision to stay with a company.
While you may offer to cover seminars/webinars/external training opportunities, or even offer reimbursement for MBAs or other advanced degree programs for your top performers, you should also make continuous improvement an integral part of your company culture. Throughout the year, look for occasions to offer workshops and learning opportunities to the whole team. These events will help increase job satisfaction, motivate employees to continue to progress in their career paths, and continue to stay committed to your team.
In today’s day and age, flexibility in the workplace is one of, if not, the most important factor when it comes to employee retention. With more remote and hybrid work opportunities available to employees than ever before, those looking to prioritize their work-life balance and their overall well-being. Yet, where people work isn’t the only way you can provide flexibility –– you can also look to offer flexibility in the job roles and responsibilities too. In this way, employees are given the freedom to do more of what provides them with a sense of fulfillment –– another important value to many employees today.
Ultimately, the key to retaining talent regardless of market conditions lies in the business's ability to examine its current policies and processes to refine and enhance them to proactively address the t needs of the company and its employees. By doing so regularly, you can identify trends in hiring that may be occurring and consider them when making business decisions –– or identify when the next shift is set to occur and adjust accordingly.
At Kinsley Sarn, we are firm believers that investing in your top performers will reduce turnover and create a more engaged workforce –– delivering meaningful results for all areas of your organization.
Our executive search services allow you to hire the most quality fit for your business's mission, culture, and overall goals. Once hired, we help them transition into their new role in a structured way, improving their chances of long-term success.
Over time, as you continue to build a strong, trusting, relationship with your employees, we help you foster growth and genuine connections. One way we achieve this is through in-depth executive assessments. The visibility they grant you can help you empower your leaders to use their skills for the greater good of the company.
If you would like to sit down with one of our professionals to assess your current hiring strategies and employee development initiatives, get in touch with us. We would be happy to discuss how a partnership with us can transform your team and take your business to the next level.
