It might seem to be strange to argue that retention is all part of the recruitment process. Most recruiters seem to hope that staff do not work hard to retain their staff so that in this candidate short market, their head hunting works and results are good accordingly. For me, this a very short sighted approach as without retention there would be no recruitment. How on earth does that work, and why as a recruiter am I cutting off my nose to spite my face?
If a firm works hard to keep their staff, and maintain a happy and motivated collection of individuals, the chances are that the firm will do well and as a result will grow. Growth usually means more staff leading to further recruitment. This is why the two are so interlinked. I believe that retention is actually the most important part of staffing and recruitment philosophy and cannot understand why so many firms seem to be so bad at keeping staff that they would wish to. There are numerous reasons why people leave: Money, training, career progression, horrible boss, the list is endless. So why not address issues before they arise? From the very start of the employment right through. With recruiters headhunting staff mostly at the medium level of their career, why risk all the money and time that you have invested in them only for them to be enticed away with promises of nirvana?
With recruitment mainly driven these days by social media, and the ability for agencies to find potential candidates and approach them directly, the need to nurture is even stronger than in the past. Please don’t get me wrong – I am not deriding the recruitment industry at all – it is after all the bread and butter of the industry to attract candidates to jobs. All I am saying is that if staff were better looked after, they might not leave.
I run retention course for partners and line managers in a round-table environment, and if anyone is interested in this service please contact myself, Daniel Lewis, on 0203 823 9970.
12 January 2023