Staff Retention – What Does it Truly Take?

You may feel like the biggest budget wins the best staff. But if employment decisions boil purely down to cold hard cash, then you’ll always lose to the highest bidder.

So, is staff retention all about the money?

Let’s have a look at the main reasons people leave a company…

• Uncompetitive salary and benefits
• Poor management and leadership
• Low morale and poor company culture
• Poor communication, feedback and recognition
• A lack of training and development opportunities
• Poor work/life balance

Just one of those reasons is financial and whilst financial motivation is undoubtedly vital, it isn’t the reason that employees stay with you when loyalties are tested.

If your best-performing team member was suddenly offered a 15% pay increase to join a competitor, how would that affect your business? Would you quite possibly lose 40% off your clients as a result?

Actually, the companies winning the war on staff turnover recognise that there is a lot more to employee satisfaction than mere money.
Covenant clauses restricting such a move are rarely worth the paper they’re written on, and many unscrupulous agencies want their new (and your former) recruit to hit the grown running – bringing half your contacts in the process.

By the time the deal is done, you’re left with damage control and a somewhat bitter taste in the mouth. It’s easy to become mistrusting and feel like you’ve been taken for a ride.

Savvy recruitment companies are keen to avoid this debacle and forge a bond that goes beyond finances. By creating a prudent partnership with their staff and teams, they see to it that the circling recruiters are successfully rebuffed when the time comes.
And staff retention goes far beyond a happy, productive team…

With motivated people by (and on) your side, you can look forward to an improved customer experience. A huge focus point across the board in 2022, improved customer experience means increased loyalty, brand advocacy and the icing on the cake – increased sales and customer retention.
With staff morale high and turnover low, companies report up to a 21% increase in profitability. Your business is its people and with them, it moves forward and progresses.

With low staff morale and turnover high, you spend thousands in recruitment fees, gain no traction and momentum, and the cycle is hard to break. It also deeply affects your business as client retention and staff retention is closely linked. There will always be customer attrition, but stable relationships with your company and staff reduce customer churn.

So, what can you do to motivate, engage and keep the best staff?

1. Communication

Would you know if your righthand person was looking to leave? With many of us raised on, “no news is good news,” unhappy staff or sudden exits can come as a shock. No one said anything. Why didn’t they tell you? How long have they been unhappy? Rather than waiting until the ship has left the port, proactive, consistent communication can prevent departures. A recent study showed that employees are more interested in personal recognition such as a simple thank you or employee treats, rather than monetary recognition. A whopping 41% of millennials stated that employee recognition was their strongest motivation. So, if gratitude is the attitude how can you build a rewarding, communicative company culture? Listen to your staff, ask regularly for their feedback and input. Address their concerns and make them feel valued. Listening is often one of the most underrated tools we have. Include your teams in the bigger picture, strategy and tactics – they’re far more likely to buy-in. Don’t wait for things to go awry before you give feedback. This outdated attitude serves no one. Recognise and encourage all the good behaviours, efforts and attitudes. Create open-door policies and promote feedback. From social outings and clear communication channels to frequent one-to-ones; recruitment companies need to invest in a strategy that retains the best staff and clients. Because if your door is not open and welcoming, it’s a pretty safe bet that someone else’s will be.

2. Work/life balance

Covid-19 has a lot to be sorry for. But if we could find one sliver of a silver lining, it would be the amount of time employees were gifted. Commutes ended overnight. Long drives and tube delays were swapped for fresh faces, coffee and a lie-in. Parents who just about raced home before their child fell asleep got to create a new routine and be there. Suddenly freedom and flexibility were on the menu and for many, it was a much-needed change. Recruitment companies need to evolve with the movement and offer flexible, family-friendly solutions and digital touchpoints as well as the office environment.

3. Training and development opportunities

60% of workers embarked upon their own skills training in 2020 highlighting a significant gap in employed training and learning opportunities. Improved job satisfaction involves providing the skills and knowledge for people to excel in their current roles and realise their potential. It’s a win-win as the correct training and knowledge benefit you both. For example, do you have a new employee training programme to support your recruits and lead the way? Training delivers confidence and ensures that your customers receive the same high levels of consistent service regardless of who they contact. A study by IBM demonstrated that trained teams had increased productivity of 10% creating a suitably satisfactory result on the bottom line. From coaching and mentoring to eLearning and qualifications, your staff and customers will thank you.

4. Strong leadership and management

So, the saying goes; people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses. Managing people seems easy from afar. But in reality, it’s a difficult skill to master. Many people are promoted as they excelled in a previous role. But competence as a recruiter does not guarantee competence as a recruitment manager. Constant criticism, playing favourites, being beaten with endless KPIs, or the carrot and stick management tool are motivating no one. Staff actively avoid that manager and start to switch off inside. Managers – just like most other roles – require investment and training if you wish to see results. When you hire or promote someone because you believe they can do the job and then give them all the tools and training they need to excel, you create a powerful recipe for success.

5. Uncompetitive salaries and benefits

The constant rhetoric of “know your worth” can be toxic for recruiters. The average recruitment consultant earns £23-£27K (depending on the sector) according to Total Jobs. The higher the salary, the higher the expectation a business will have. Average performance usually equates to an average salary. Be transparent with your expectations and banding of expectations. Clarity and structure set clear expectations from the start and recruiters know what they need to do to meet their financial and career goals. Employment benefits and incentives are another way to increase morale, productivity and acknowledge hard work with 75% of employers more likely to stay with their employer because of benefit programmes.

You may not be the recruitment business with the deepest pockets. But that doesn’t have to prevent you from retaining the best staff.

Leadership, culture, training, recognition, flexible working… build a thriving environment where your staff knows their worth, their contribution and their impact on the business and it’s highly unlikely they’ll want to leave.

From mentoring and building business confidence to strategic growth and training, I help service-based and recruitment businesses retain the best talent and profitably scale their business.

Are you ready to build your best and most profitable team yet?

Then please get in touch for more info.