When discussing recruitment, we often talk about attraction and retention separately. While as concepts they are fundamentally different, neither work without the other, so should both be considered when thinking about your attraction methodology.
A job offer doesn’t mean the recruitment process is over
Simply put, it is your job to attract people to come and work for your organisation. Making your business look attractive to applicants is great, but there is no point having that magnetism if people are repelled as soon as they arrive.
For example, I spoke to one organisation who told me they had lost four people for the same role in the space of three months – two didn’t even start. They worked on the basis that, as soon as they made an offer, the problem was solved and the vacancy was filled. In reality, that’s arguably where the main challenges of recruitment begin, not end. To get as far as they had, they had most likely ‘sold’ the business to each candidate, either through its people, its Employee Value Proposition, its website, its promises out to the market or word of mouth, but the trouble is, if these elements aren’t authentic and actually reinforced when your people arrive, you may struggle to keep them happy.
The data
“Those who are proud of their organisation are 4 times as likely to say they would turn down a better-paying job than those who were not.”
McKinsey, 2023
A 2022 study uncovered the most common reasons for people quitting their jobs:
- Feeling unmotivated (15%)
- Being overworked (14%)
- Management don’t care about wellbeing (14%)
- Poor atmosphere (14%)
- Less pay than I wanted (13%)
- Rude boss (11%)
- No room to progress (11%)
Suppliers will tell you how vital data is and that they can fix all sorts of things for you, but it might not be possible to solve many of the above with just a system. So, let’s get back to some suggestions of what you can do.
5 top tips to help make your business ‘sticky’
- Make sure what you sell is what people will experience when they arrive. What I would call ‘straight line’ recruiting. BE AUTHENTIC.
- Be honest about any issues you have and do something about them. DON’T HIDE FROM WHAT YOU NEED TO CHANGE.
- Work just as hard on retaining someone as you did to attract them. ONBOARDING IS CRUCIAL.
- Invest in development of people in their role and their career as a whole. I see so many people who stick with organisations out of loyalty due to a business’ nurturing approach, and so many leave who felt lost or abandoned the moment they walked through the door. SET YOUR PEOPLE UP TO SUCCEED.
- Make sure everyone in your business is wired to make others feel welcome. Teams with similar values, energies, attitudes and behaviours will get along better in a personal capacity, which will help them work far more effectively together. IT’S EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY.
If you are looking to diagnose and solve what is stopping you being ‘sticky’, but it seems a challenge too complex to solve alone, talk to us. Our team have all had real-world experience solving the challenges you’re facing – meaning that we’re ideally placed to offer advice and lend a hand if you need it. For more information, head over to the organisational change section of our website – or give us a call on +44 (0)1491 414 010.
