Reasons Why Some Companies Struggle to Hire and Keep the Best Talent
As an executive recruiting firm in business for sixteen years, Key Corporate Services has worked with many corporate clients over the years, matching great candidates to key positions.
Recruiting top talent and keeping them can be an ongoing challenge for some companies. Ultimately, some of these Middle-market companies repeatedly see great employees leave to work for bigger businesses. Other similar-sized companies have extremely low churn rates. They get top candidates who stick with them long-term, bringing great value to the organization.
“Why do some companies struggle with employee churn, while other similar-size companies don’t,” you might ask?
A 2014 article has some interesting insights into churn and what companies struggling to attract and then RETAIN top talent need to do.
They summarized four areas of increased focus:
The Employee Brand needs to be clearly defined
A company needs to be able to identify themselves clearly to prospective employees. What does the company stand for? What is their mission statement? What is their culture? Candidates need to know before applying if the company represents a brand they find attractive and will fit in with.
Core Competencies for key roles must be understood
Companies must know the core competencies required for key positions. Otherwise, how can they possibly expect to recruit the best candidates? It’s these skills, abilities, attributes, personality traits and motivators that will be the predictors in determining the “right” candidate during the interview.
Effective interviewing techniques are critical
Sadly, a majority of hiring managers are not very good at interviewing. So, they end up hiring someone a lot like themselves. Companies need to invest time in providing training to managers in this area. Think about it. The interview plays such an integral role in the recruiting process. Any improvement in interview skills could make a dramatic difference in staff turnover and associated churn costs.
Companies need a retention strategy
For all the costs associated with filling a key position in a Middle-market company, most do not have a plan in place to foster retention of that high-potential employee once they join the payroll. A LinkedIn “exit” survey of 7,350 members identified the top reason workers left their jobs was because they wanted greater opportunities for advancement. Companies need to have defined career path and career development plans in place and actively engage/socialize these with new employees soon after they join the company.
By focusing on these four areas, companies can slow the revolving door of interviewing, hiring, then replacing high-quality candidates who have left for better opportunities only a year later. Identify your branding to attract the best talent initially, establish core competencies and great interviewing techniques to hire the brightest candidates, then provide an ongoing retention program that will keep that new employee happy and content.
The last thing you want is for a new, excited employee to quickly become disenchanted with their purpose, direction, or lose sight of career opportunities within the organization. That only leads to low morale and more turnover.
