Recent years created conditions for an entirely different labor market and employers are feeling the need to reassess their employee recruitment and retention.
With the rise of employee caregivers and the 'sandwich generation', some employees have been forced to leave the workforce altogether–due to caregiving responsibilities or relocation, among other reasons. Additionally, many are actively choosing to leave organizations.
The pandemic experience was the spark that pushed individuals to take a step back and rethink their situation. Employees are burnt out and seeking more work-life balance. There are also many individuals seeking new opportunities for higher pay, enhanced career development, or remote work potential. The focus is shifting to employee recruitment and retention, but first we need to examine why people quit.
What is causing employees to quit?
A study by Gallup shows that those with the highest quit rates include individuals who are either not engaged or actively disengaged. Having disengaged workers poses a problem to organizations–when your employees are actively disengaged, productivity drops, which can be costly. To combat this disengagement, employers should focus their efforts around retention and a positive work experience, ensuring they have the right strategies in learning and development, pay equity, work-life balance, and flexibility.
While the best way to curb these effects of on your organization is to develop strong employee recruitment and retention, but we know that won’t entirely stop the leak. Your talent acquisition team will feel the effects, with the responsibility of backfilling leaves and hiring for new roles. This makes a robust employee recruitment strategy critical to your future success as an organization.
4 employee recruitment strategies to bring in new talent
1. Create a simple application process.
This first step is a key in ensuring your employee recruitment and retention success. Make job openings easy to find through your website, LinkedIn, etc., and ensure that applicants can apply in a few clicks, with a quick resume upload and a contact form.
2. Ensure a seamless, enjoyable interview process.
Keep strong communication with your candidates on next steps and anticipated timelines. Make every step in the process count–get your questions answered, and be sure you provide candidates with ample opportunity to ask their own questions and get a sense of your organizational culture.
3. Establish an employee referral program.
Your employees can be some of your best access to new talent. Incentivize employees to share job postings to their network through avenues like LinkedIn, email, and word of mouth, providing a realistic look at what it’s like to work at your organization.
4. Build a benefits plan that speaks to employee needs.
Revamp your benefits plan to include perks like:
- Family benefits and caregiver support
- Remote or hybrid work opportunity
- Flexible schedules and generous PTO
- Work-from-home stipends
- Investment in learning & development
As employers scramble to improve employee recruitment and retnetion, your organization will undoubtedly feel the effects. While it may seem daunting to keep up with the labor market, with a fresh look at employee recruitment strategies, organizations can use this as an opportunity to pivot their strategy.
First, get to know your employees, their wants, and their needs. Then, build your culture around what matters. There’s a great pool of candidates out there who are looking for precisely that.
