Hi, dear business owners and recruiters who have been battling pandemic challenges for the past two years. As we near the end of this disaster worldwide, I decided to write an article to jumpstart the new phase of our post-pandemic business. Guess what I want to talk about? "Employee recruitment and retention strategies" is the main challenge for business owners and employers. I'd like to discuss this matter because one of my friends has lost about a third of his outstanding staff in the previous year. And the reason was mismanagement and ignorance of staff recruitment and retention strategies. Then let's talk about this topic; I hope it will be helpful for you.
One of the primary concerns of CEOs in all industries is retaining the top employees, as they are essential to the business's and organizations' growth and success. This is also a concern for you and me because we aim to hire the best employees and move in by providing suitable work conditions for business development. But that doesn't always go well, especially this year in 2021. Do you know why?
The uncertainties of 2020 affected employee retention and layoffs peaked at 11.5 million in March 2020, according to the Work Institute 2021 Retention Report. And let me give you another worrying statistic: after a pandemic, about 25% of full-time employees are looking for a job with a new employer. This statistic is somewhat alarming, but there must be a reason. Join me to talk a bit about why.
How would you describe the growth of a business? This may sound like a funny question, you are right, but I would be grateful if you could answer it in your mind. Providing a quality product? More sales? Excellent user experience? All this means success, but in my opinion, hiring top talents and keeping these talents in the business system implies success. To achieve this success, we must use a series of strategies. But before we talk about these strategies, let's talk a little bit about the reasons why employees change jobs.
Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about it is employee dissatisfaction with the pay situation. However, compensation has never been the top one reason employees leave their positions. According to several years of research, the first and foremost reason for leaving is employee dissatisfaction due to the lack of appropriate facilities for learning and advancement in the workplace. According to the Work Institute 2021 Retention Report, 1 in 5 employees quit because of this. And the second main reason for the early departure of employees was issues related to health, family, and work-life balance. Were you able to provide these three main conditions for your top talents?
If you said yes, I must say that you are amazing! If the answer is no, I've written some helpful strategies for hiring and retaining employees in the following sections of the article.
As you know, the methods of hiring and finding a job in recent years have changed their face in general. We all try to use new hiring technologies such as hiring platforms or social media, as do job seekers. This was due to difficulties that had plagued business owners and employers for a long time. For example, according to Jobvite, 75% of recruiters have experienced candidates changing their minds due to a lack of maintaining contact. In this regard, 89% of candidates claim they accept a job offer more quickly when contacted by a recruiter. So, according to LinkedIn statistics from 2019, 89% of hiring executives believe that poor employees generally lack soft skills. To deal with these issues, it is better to consider a few simple strategies during the hiring process. For example:
An employer brand is something that differentiates your company or organization from others. By creating this brand, your business will be recognized by your brand on pages, social media, and banners and will reflect your business culture and values. So, jobseekers will analyze your job offers with more confidence.
Before launching the hiring process, always consult with current employees and ask for their feedback and suggestions. They are the ones who are inside the system and are aware of the needs and necessities of a good work environment. In addition, employee referrals are among the best ways to attract top talent. According to FinancesOnline, recruiters hire almost 30% of their best talent with current employee referrals.
Now, we came to the role of social media and Al in the recruitment process. I am sure that you know the importance and impact of this platform in hiring talented and capable employees. Did you know that almost 100% of Chinese firms and 87% of US employers use some form of AI for recruitment? Furthermore, according to SHRM and Jobbatical 2020 data, 60% of recruiters and hiring managers use video technology, and 84% of organizations use social media for recruitment. I've used LinkedIn, as well as career websites like Indeed and Upwork, and I must say that these platforms have completely transformed the world of employment.
Well, I think the importance of using these platforms with this static has become quite clear, and I no longer want to bore you with additional explanations. Let's move on to the next strategy.
Let me explain this with an example. In an interview for a job position, the interviewer asked me, "What is your biggest weakness?" Answering this question did not make me feel good during the interview and changed my general opinion about the company and its personnel. As a result, we should try to ask behavior-oriented questions in interviews and structure the interview process according to the candidate's preferences.
These four factors are often considered the main steps to having successful employment. But as an HR or business owner, you may have some interesting ideas and strategies. I'd be happy if you could share these with us. So, let us move on to the next topic of our discussion: workforce retention.
Is hiring important or retaining top talent? Answering this question might get us a little confused. But in my opinion, each in its place is important and effective for the growth and success of a business. But I guess you may be more upset about losing a skilled workforce. Apart from the moral aspect, data reveal that replacing an employee costs between 10% and 30% of your annual compensation. Well, this figure is high and shows the importance of retaining employees for you. But before we talk about employee retention strategies, let's see why they get tired of their jobs. I will briefly mention some of the main factors here:
These are the main factors that force employees to leave their jobs. So, what strategies do we need to use to be able to retain and grow our talented workforce? I'm sure you know all these strategies and use them in your business, but I would like to mention some of them here.
As I mentioned in the previous section, about a quarter of employees are laid off due to a lack of growth and learning opportunities. Because if talented workers feel that their work environment prevents them from growing and advancing, they will quickly think about changing jobs. So as an employer, try to provide a good platform for training and learning employees.
While wage difficulties are not the primary cause of employee departure, they can become one of the leading causes of leave if combined with other factors. My brother experienced similar conditions at work last year and stopped working with his employer. Their employer did not offer employees any diversity or job security and paid salaries with two to three-month delays under the guise of a pandemic. And because of all of these circumstances, the company lost over half of its top staff in less than six months.
Do you have a good relationship with your employees in the company? Is there an intimate working atmosphere among employees in your organization? Implementing these conditions may require training even for you and your managers. Why? Because if employees feel lonely in the workplace or can not talk to the manager, their performance will be significantly reduced. They will be forced to change jobs as a result of this loss of performance. According to the Cigna 2020 Loneliness Index, three in five Americans feel lonely at work, and lonely employees are two times more likely to quit their job.
How much have you invested in this principle? I think diversity and inclusion are principles that have won the trust of employees and even customers significantly. Now, in terms of how practical this approach is in retaining employees, I must say that it has a significant influence. Even Josh Bresin's findings confirm this, saying that companies with Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) practices are up to 8x stronger at retaining employees. So, we should not neglect this principle at all.
Anyway, we've come to the end of the article! But some of you may like to read this section more. So, to reach a conclusion, it is important to write a brief summary of this helpful article here. Today we talked about employee recruitment and retention strategies that are essential for all business owners and recruiters. One of the most challenging difficulties for businesses has been effectively recruiting and retaining the top talent since the earliest times, especially this year, following the pandemic.
As you know, to have a successful business, in addition to having a quality product and potential customers, it is necessary to have a talented workforce. What should we do to have and retain such talents? In this article, I talked about the strategies of a successful and up-to-date recruitment process. I also described employee retention strategies. I'm sure you're more knowledgeable about these strategies than I am and use them in your workplace. Perhaps you've used other innovative approaches. If you'd want to share your experiences with us, we'd be pleased. Below this article, you can write to us about your creative strategies to use in future updates.
