I often speak openly about what is best practice recruitment. Over the last 25 years, I and many of you have seen such rapid change in people, process and technology. Nothing new there as most professional services businesses can say the same thing.
One aspect I would like to share with you that as a recruiter, we are also responsible to consult and support our clients in retention!
To make any business work for the long term, long tenure of engaged workforces are more likely to meet the aspirations and exceed expectations of any business plan!
We’ve all seen it: carefully crafted LinkedIn posts about culture, glossy employer brand campaigns, and team off-sites with trust-fall exercises. They look good (maybe), sound good, and momentarily feel good. But here’s the question – do they really shift retention in the medium to long term? I have always been sceptical of the value they bring other than a feel-good break away from the day to day.
From where I sit in IT recruitment, retention doesn’t live in the posters on the wall or the highlight reel from the off-site. It lives in the everyday. It’s the micro-decisions managers make, the conversations they hold, and the clarity they give their people. Too many organisations confuse strategy statements with operating systems. The truth? Employee retention is not about the big gesture once a year. It’s about activity that starts on a Monday morning!
I also want to add – constant communication can be tiring. It is so important to be ‘match fit’. here. You have no choice. When I consider what has worked well in my business and what does not, I can generally put it down to a lapse in regular and specific conversation and direction.
Match fit to me is about mentally preparing what you are going to share and setting the time aside to do it. In fact, creating a habit of regular check-ins (personally, phone calls, zoom – whatever medium works for your business). I am aware we all know this, however, my challenge for us all is to be more consistent!
Communication is only part of it, of course, as we all recognise salary, environment and other factors influence attrition.
Always up for a chat on this subject, so please reach out if I can assist in any way.
