The talent shortage has been a top concern for employers across the globe for a while now. Now more than ever, it’s almost impossible to recruit without utilizing a recruitment firm in filling searches. Employees are leaving their jobs and it’s time to develop a retention strategy. Even when every external factor is checked off and you’ve hired the perfect candidate, you can easily lose your newly-hired employee if you’re unable to meet their expectations.
Here’s how you can keep your employees from leaving…
Provide room to grow
Surveys have shown that the majority of people would stay at their jobs longer if they had more professional development. Since most people aren’t satisfied with the same role their entire lives, they need professional pathways to get them to where they want to be.
In addition, raises are considerably lower than hiring bonuses. Generally speaking, a good salary increase when changing jobs is between 10-20% compared to a 4% pay raise. When your pay raises aren’t matching (let’s face it, they usually aren’t), it’s hard to convince someone to stay.
Stay ahead of the bleeding edge
In other words, a lot of employees want to work for a company that’s on the frontline of new and innovative ideas. People will leave a company that is outdated. Why? They also want to keep their skills current. As a result, they seek employers who also value the importance of leveraging cutting-edge ideas. When things become extremely rudimentary, people get bored and leave. Always stay up-to-date on the newest processes within the industry.
Focus on strengths
Not all employees are going to share the same skillset. With time, you may find that some employees embody certain aspects of their role while falling short on others. If you capitalize on your team’s strengths, instead of solely pushing them to improve weak areas, you’ll find they perform better and are happier with their job.
Be flexible
Industries like hospitality and senior living are unique in that most workers don’t fall in the typical 9-5 mold. While the industry is demanding, it’s becoming more and more important to be aware of the flexibility needed to obtain top talent. Whether that means allowing your employees to work remotely or have a flexible schedule, you’ll find that people will be keener to work for you.
Build a positive culture
It’s hard to discuss the retention of top talent without mentioning culture. Researchers unanimously agree that culture is key.
It’s obvious that employees are more likely to stay in a place where they want to work. If your culture is struggling, you might as well quit the search. You can guarantee that the person you hire won’t last. Offer good opportunities and stay open to employee suggestions. Don’t brush complaints under the rug and find what steps you need to take to resolve them. To attract people externally, you need to fix issues internally.
Focus on the initial hiring strategy
The truth is, top talent will always be compensated higher. If you’re stumbling through the numbers and you are not open to negotiation, you’re going to need to reevaluate your standards. Does your onboarding process require them to hit the ground running? Or are you open to a slower training process?
Prior to your candidate considering the role, they served in other roles. Figure out what’s most important. Your dream candidate may be out there, but it’s possible they’re not at the peak of their career. Brand experience, skills and attitudes are all things that need to be considered. Keep your mind open and know your values.
Find the right recruitment firm
Using a recruitment firm is almost necessary for today’s economic climate. With talent being seemingly unavailable, a recruitment firm will help you break through the clutter and find viable candidates from their network. A generalized recruitment firm may not have the right resources, but one specialized in the industry will.
Have you been struggling to find quality candidates in the hospitality or senior living industry? Call JDI. Joseph David International is consistently one of the top-ranked executive recruiters because we work hard to find the ideal fit for both the managerial candidate and the client. For more information about hotel recruiting services please click here.