Recruiting costs time and money and the last thing you want is to quickly lose the person you’ve just hired. To help prevent this, here’s a few things to consider which may help improve the retention of new hires:
It’s important to make sure that candidates understand what working for you will be like. You want them to pick you over the competition but you don’t want them to leave because it’s not what they expected. Don’t be afraid to talk about the not-so-glamorous parts of the job, this is exactly what you need candidates to understand to ensure you hire people who will stay.
Many recruitment agencies offer seemingly great, no risk, temp-to-perm hires but these candidates will always have a higher risk of leaving during the early stages of employment. All the time a candidate doesn’t have a permanent job they are looking for work and even the agencies who send you the candidates may be pushing other opportunities for candidates to consider. A well-drafted permanent employment contract should provide as much flexibility as you require for a new starter and gives the candidate increased levels of job security so they stop looking for other things. Temp-to-perm can also be a very expensive way of recruiting compared to using a fixed price supplier so always ask an agency what they are paying each candidate and the margin they are charging you.
A candidate who wants to work for you and puts in some effort to secure your role is much more likely to stay than someone who just turns up for an interview and is offered a job. What this task looks like is up to you but things like sending a skills test, asking for a video interview or even getting the candidate to bring something to an interview like a review of your website can all work. This also helps you make a hiring decision as the tasks produced can give you some evidence as to the candidate’s ability and suitability for the role you’re recruiting.
Workplaces can vary a lot, even within the same company. Make sure you identify the type of environment a candidate will be working in and check that they’ll enjoy it. Some people like the structure and routine of 9-5, others find it out-dated and want to work more flexible hours. Some people like casual and chatty offices, others want to work hard all week and party harder on the weekend. Understanding the culture of your team will help you make better hires and find people who also enjoy that kind of environment.
Before a candidate even starts with you a good onboarding process can help improve retention. Onboarding includes things like offer letters and contracts being sent out in a timely manner. Invitations to do some online training or even coming in for a taster day before someone starts can all greatly improve retention. These are simple and low cost ways of improving how engaged a candidate is with your opportunity and helps you stand out from any other opportunity a candidate may be looking at.
The first day when a candidate starts with you is a very nerve-racking time for them. They will meet lots of new people and be exposed to lots of new things so try to make this first day as structured and welcoming as possible. Just like an interview, first impressions count and someone’s first day is their first impression of working for you. If its disorganised, overwhelming or badly managed they may start looking elsewhere.
Feeling overwhelmed and not suitable for a role is one of the biggest factors leading to resignations and most of the time it can be avoided with regular reviews and communication. A simple 5-minute chat to talk about how a new recruit is getting on is really helpful. Use this time to ask what they may need help with? How they are generally feeling about the job? Is there anything they dislike about the role? What do they like about the role? What have they learnt today? Also if possible, let them talk about their line manager with somebody else to ensure there’s no unspoken issues. This simple process really can be the difference between someone staying with you or looking for something else. In the first week we suggest daily informal chats with an end of week review followed by weekly or monthly reviews at least throughout the probation period.
If you would like to speak to the Finda team about this topic or something else, please get in touch.
