Recruiting and retaining top talent in 2020

How do you stop your best employee seeking pastures new?

How do you attract top talent to complement your team or replace those who have left?

These might be burning questions at the front of your mind as you start 2020.

Employee expectations and demands have already been shifting considerably as we came to the end of the last decade.

Now we’re in a new one, with so much competition in the market, a good salary, while always important, may no longer be enough on its own.

So, what else can you do as an employer to keep your existing team happy, so they want to stick around in the long term? And how can you attract the best people?

1. Flexible hours

Rather than being seen as a ‘nice to have’, flexible hours are now viewed by many people as a ‘must-have’ when applying for jobs. Many prospective employees are looking for a new company to be able to offer them flexibility, perhaps because it makes life easier for taking care of children, doing the school run, or avoiding the worst commuting times. People want a better work-life balance and this is a key way to achieve that.

2. Working from home

Closely linked to the point about flexible hours, prospective employees now increasingly expect to be allowed to work from home or remotely for a portion of their week. For many, this can help with child-care responsibilities or simply reduce the amount of time they have to spend commuting. Ultimately, if it makes employees happier to have one day working from home per week, they’re likely to be more productive and want to stick around for the longer term, whereas forcing them to work in the office could have the opposite effect.

3. Career plans

One way to increase loyalty among your people and to make them feel more motivated about working for you may be to set out a clear career plan with timely objectives that can be achieved along the way. If your employee feels they are becoming stale and have no personal goals to aim this can lead to feeling stuck in a rut and seeking fresh employment. Conversely, show them they can achieve their ambitions with your firm, and you’ll keep them engaged and content for much longer.

4. Appealing company values

When potential new employees are looking at whether they want to join your company, they want to quickly see at a glance what kind of workplace they can expect to be joining. One way you can achieve this more easily is by creating a set of values and a mission statement. Could you consider a company-wide survey to discover what the values should be? This can help your current employees feel more engaged.

5. Better communications

It shouldn’t be underestimated how important it is for your people to feel valued. Think about how you can show your appreciation for the work they do. Could the CEO send a note of thanks as part of a regular internal update to all employee? Do you have a team newsletter? These can be great ways to recognise the work of colleagues, issue praise and communicate more effectively. If employees feel like you’re talking to them regularly and, at the same time, showing appreciation, that builds a state of contentment.

6. Employee awards

Do you have employee awards at the moment? Could you think about introducing a monthly or quarterly award to recognise the achievements and efforts of your top performers? Again, it’s about making your people feel appreciated. Giving out regular certificates and trophies to the nominees and winners can help foster a better working atmosphere and make your team feel more valued. If you open up the nominations to everyone, that also builds engagement and a feeling of being part of something worthwhile.

7. Make it fun

Have you thought about ways to make your office a more fun place to work? Do you offer activities like games, team-building or group getaways? Something simple like table tennis or pool in the office could boost interactivity and camaraderie. Could you have a monthly group breakfast or lunch? Perhaps organise events to mark Halloween, Easter or Christmas? Anything that helps to show employees that it’s not 100% about the job and introduces a social element is a good thing. Helping them feel part of something bigger can really boost their sense of well-being in the workplace.

8. Get employees to help you recruit

Do you offer incentives to your teams to encourage them to recommend a potential hire? If not, you could think about offering them a bonus for a successful applicant – be it cash, gift cards or extra time off. Some companies even give their employees ‘recruitment cards’ – something for them to hand over to impressive individuals they meet in their daily lives when they think they might be a good match. Let employees promote the positives of being part of your business.

9. Share the good word

LinkedIn is a hugely important platform nowadays and has enormous power to positively promote your business. Many prospective employees will search your company LinkedIn page, as well as your website. You can entice new talent by sharing lots of details about your firm – perhaps dedicated recruitment videos, photos of internal events and testimonials. Anything that shows it’s an enjoyable place to work. This applies to other social platforms such as Instagram too. So, get posting and sharing.

10. Upgrade your HR applicant tracking system

Lastly but not least, when was the last time you refreshed your applicant tracking software? There are many ways applicant tracking systems can help small businesses improve their recruitment process. Larger businesses can take advantage of the recruitment software built especially for IRIS Cascade HRi.

And on that note, to discover how Cascade could help support your recruitment and onboarding process, please contact our team.