Attraction and retention

Attracting and retaining good staff is a massive issue right now with many businesses finding it very hard to get staff amidst the well-publicised staff shortages and those that do are finding that salary requirements have increased substantially. With the prospect of further interest rate rises and inflation showing no signs of reducing, the current situation is unlikely to change significantly for some time, and so now, more than ever, it is vital that businesses retain valuable staff and where necessary attract good new employees. So how is this done and where should the focus be placed? 

If a business is able to retain staff but not attract new employees, then while it may be able to continue on a BAU (‘business as usual’) basis, over time the workforce will become stale with a consequent impact on new ideas and innovation. Conversely, if a business is able to attract staff (perhaps through paying higher salaries) but is unable to retain employees, then the cost of employment (and staff training) becomes very high and the level of staff churn is likely to create low morale, not to mention a poor reputation for the business. Clearly being able to both attract and retain is important, but the primary consideration is really retention since if the talent pool is leaking, there is a continual drain on cash and resources, so plugging the leak needs to be done first. 

Oakstone International (a UK-based recruitment company), identified the top eight reasons staff stay with a company (https://www.oakstone.co.uk/new-blog/2018/8/10/the-top-8-reasons-employees-stay-with-a-company/#believe): 

1. They believe they are part of something special: Culture, team, environment.

2. They believe in what they’re doing, and it has purpose and meaning.

3. Their work is recognised and appreciated.

4. They appreciate and respect their co-workers

5. They have a mentor who encourages them

6. They have trust in the business leaders

7. They are emotionally invested and genuinely care about the company

8. They are treated fairly

Note that none of these reasons has anything to do with financial reward, but they do have everything to do with company culture.  It is well known that typically “staff don’t leave companies, they leave bosses” so this really does underpin the need to ensure that a company culture is created that is healthy, positive and supports staff growth and development. In fact, the 2019 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report found that “94 percent of employees say that they would stay at a company longer if it simply invested in helping them learn.” 

Once a company’s talent pool drain is plugged, then the focus can shift to attracting new staff, safer in the knowledge that they will stick around for a while. There are a few essential steps to getting this right which are often overlooked. Key to the process is ensuring that the healthy company culture is clearly articulated in marketing and job-related materials since this is likely to then describe why the role is exciting as opposed to just what it does. If appropriate, the list above can be used to extract key benefits that are likely to appeal to good candidates. Finally, although salary is not the be all and end all, you must at least pay market rates otherwise even happy staff may get tempted to leave. 

Ian Ash ACC AIECL AInstIB
Managing Director OrgMent Business Solutions - www.ombs.com.au