Did you know that it costs an average of
$4,129 to fill a business vacancy? It also takes 42 days. This is time and
money that a lot of businesses do not have.
This statistic alone shows why it is important to
make a dedicated effort to attract the best talent and hold onto these
employees, as they are the heartbeat of your business.
However, this can be a lot easier said than
done, especially when there are competing businesses that are always looking to
headhunt your best employees and take your greatest talent.
The key here is to ensure that job
satisfaction levels are here, the work environment is a positive one, and
employees are proud to work for your business.
With that being said, below, we are going to
take a look at some proven ways of attracting and keeping the best talent at
your company in 2022.
There is only one place to begin, and this is
with your corporate and social responsibility efforts. Making a difference in
the community is vital when attracting and holding onto the best talent.
People want to feel like their jobs are making
a difference, not purely lining the pockets of the people in charge of the
business. This is why it is critical to consider how you can help in your local
area and around the world.
You can use the likes of Alaya CSR software to track your efforts and manage your CSR approach,
ensuring your business makes an impact.
In fact, there have been a number of studies that have shown that CSR has
a positive impact on a company’s ability to attract new hires and prevent
turnover while also boosting commitment, loyalty, satisfaction, and motivation.
Our next piece of advice is to make sure you
understand why someone wants to leave your business in the first place.
Whenever an employee moves on, this is something you should ask them and track
their answers so you can keep on top of the common reasons why people decide to
leave your company.
It is important to make sure that your
ex-employees feel comfortable enough to be honest with you. Ask them kindly,
tell them to be brutally honest, and state that you simply want to know so that
you can learn going forward.
Their answer may not be nice to hear but the
information is incredibly valuable because you can use it to ensure you hold
onto your best talent in the future.
After all, you may simply assume it is because
they have gotten a better financial package elsewhere, but money is not the
only reason why people decide to leave their current position and go elsewhere,
so it is important that you find out the truth, especially if you have a very
high turnover rate of employees at your company.
One of the main reasons why a lot of people
leave their current jobs is because they feel like they are in a dead-end role
and there are no opportunities for progression. People want to feel like they
are going places. They want opportunities to learn and develop their careers.
This is why it is imperative to consider
promoting internally at times, as well as offering training opportunities. From
online courses to training days, there are many different ways that you can go
about this.
Your employees will appreciate the opportunity
to advance their skills and become more qualified. At the same time, you are
going to benefit from a workforce that is getting more and more knowledgable
all of the time, which can only be a good thing in terms of client outcomes and
revenue.
Aside from the points that we have mentioned
so far, it is also vital to create a good work environment. We are going to spend
most of our time working, and so it is vital that we enjoy doing so.
It is vital that your culture makes people
feel welcome and comfortable. People should feel happy about going to work
every day. If your employees dread going into the office, you have a serious
problem.
There are a lot of different ways that you can
influence the culture within your office. It all starts with leading by
example. Make sure that people in leadership roles set a good impression and
treat everyone equally and with respect.
At the same time, it is important to create a feeling of transparency and openness. Your employees should feel free to speak their minds and offer ideas.
The layout of your office can actually make a
big difference when it comes to the overall culture. You may want to consider
an open workspace, so everyone feels like they are part of the team.
All businesses need to have a concerted
diversity effort, at a minimum, no matter where they are located or what
industry they are operating in.
You need to make sure that you have a strategic effort in place to bring a diversified set of talent to your company. You should also make sure that your executive leadership team represents the rest of your workforce.
If everyone in your leadership position is a white, middle-aged man, ask yourself what that says about diversity and inclusion within your business.
Being intentional in terms of diversity is
vital for your retention and attraction goals. These efforts should incorporate
leadership, partners, employees, and even community events.
Most of us will agree that work/life balance has been off-kilter in recent years. We seem to be spending more and more time working than ever before. While this may seem like a productive approach, it is not. It will only lead to your workforce burning out.
Thankfully, it seems that business owners are starting to realize the importance of being flexible and promoting a good work/life balance. In fact, some have even started to experience a four-day week.
Being flexible in terms of work hours and environment can also make a massive difference. Do you really need everyone to work from 9 am until 5 pm every day? Couldn’t you allow someone to start earlier and finish earlier so that they can pick up their children from school?
Hybrid workplaces can also help to attract and
retain the best talent, i.e. when your employees work from home on some days
and go into the workplace on other days. This can help people to achieve
balance and enjoy their work-life more.
Of course, we cannot talk about employee attraction and retention without mentioning employee benefits. There are so many different types of benefits offered by businesses today, including gym memberships, healthcare plans, days off for birthdays, pensions, life insurance, and much more.
Benefits are incredibly important when it comes to attracting the best employees because they sweeten the deal massively, ensuring healthcare and future protection for workers and their families.
However, with most businesses today offering competitive benefits packages, you need to make sure you go one step further and create something that is better than the rest.
One of the best ways to understand how to do
this is simply by talking with your employees. Ask them what sort of benefits
they would value the most. Some may prefer childcare vouchers whereas others
may want store vouchers. The possibilities are endless.
Last but not least, it is important to create
the sort of business name that people are proud to have on their LinkedIn
profile or CV.
If a business has a bad reputation, people may
feel embarrassed about working for it, which would cause them to try and look
for alternative employment that they can be proud of.
This is why branding and the way you operate
as a business also makes a massive difference when attracting and retaining the
best workforce.
So there you have it: some of the different ways that you can attract and retain the best talent at your business.
There is nothing more frustrating than when one of your best employees decides to leave. In some circumstances, such as retirement or a move abroad, this is unavoidable. However, in other cases, you could have held onto your best talent if you sweetened the deal on their end.
Try the different approaches and techniques that we have mentioned above and you can increase the chances of employees wanting to stay on your team instead of turning to the competition.