5 Simple Steps to Better Talent Retention

Finding the right talent in the pharma and medical device industries is difficult enough. Keeping your crucial staff members around can be even harder. Like most things, good talent retention starts with a plan. Lets go over 5 simple steps you can take to retain your best employees...

1. Know Retention starts with Recruiting

Good employee retention starts at the beginning of the company’s relationship with a candidate. You need to identify the candidates that make the most sense to your team and find people who are more likely to stay around. There are a few ways you can do this, such as:

• Looking at work history: Start by looking at how long your would-be employee stayed with previous roles. Do they seem to jump from one position to another every few months? Or have they persevered with a company for years at a time?
• Exploring evidence of commitment: How passionate is your candidate about this role? How much effort did they put into training for this exact position, and how committed do they seem during the interview and application process?
• Finding shared values: Does your candidate share the same values as your company? How will they fit into your existing company culture?

Using a recruitment team to help you find the candidates most aligned with your business goals. When the time comes to choose a new employee, pick the person who sees a future with your team.

2. Invest in Workforce Planning

Workforce planning is the art of analysing your existing workforce , determining which skill gaps you need to fill now, and what kind of talents you’re going to need in the future. This process helps to boost retention in a few ways. First, it ensures you’re not overwhelming your existing employees by piling tasks on them that aren’t relevant to their roles.

When companies don’t have the right staff structure, it’s easy for existing employees to become stressed and overwhelmed, trying to fill the gaps that another specialist should address.

Workforce planning also helps you pinpoint areas where you need to nurture your teams for future development. If you have a good idea of the kind of talents you’re going to need in the future, you can offer existing employees an opportunity to build their skills in this area and look forward to upward, lateral movements in their careers.

A good workforce planning strategy shows you what your staff should look like in the future while highlighting opportunities for advancement to your employees. When staff can visualise new opportunities with your company , they’re more likely to stick around.

3. Empower and Support Your People

The pandemic caused many changes in the recruitment and employment world, and not all of these transformations were negative. One new trend that will continue to come is the demand for empathy and genuine support from employers. Today’s team members are looking for leaders who care about their people. So how can you use this to retain your staff?

• Show a strong employer brand: Demonstrate your ability to continue guiding and assisting your employees, even in difficult times . During the pandemic, how did you make sure your staff felt appreciated and supported in your team? Can you continue to offer new forms of support now, like continued hybrid working strategies and physical and psychological help for every employee??
• Highlight company culture: Making everyone feel like part of the same team is an excellent way to retain employees. Your staff should feel like you’re all in this together. To build connections, ensure every employee is kept up to date on business changes, and constantly highlight the important parts of your company culture. For instance, if you value transparent communication, have regular video meetings where everyone can connect.
• Give employees options: Ask employees to have a say in how they work. Let them choose when they might want more flexible schedules and ask them to make suggestions on making their roles easier. For instance, some staff members may appreciate having access to more innovative tech to help them stay productive.

4. Deliver the right benefits

Enticing candidates with the right benefits has always been an important part of recruiting . Continuing to offer the benefits your staff need throughout their life with your company is crucial too.

Since the pandemic, the benefits your employees are looking for may have changed. Today, many pharmaceutical and medical devices professionals are looking for more opportunities to work remotely, often according to their schedules. For teams who work mostly online, you can consider giving staff more autonomy over their routine.

For some employees, the most important benefits may revolve around training and development. If this is the case, you can offer more access to online webinars, events, and classes for earning relevant certifications.

Speak to your team members to make sure you’re delivering the right benefits throughout the employee lifecycle. Consider building individual benefits plans for each person, depending on what they need most from their role. Alternatively, ask people to vote on the kind of benefits they want most.

5. Listen, Learn and Evolve

Employees abandon their roles when they feel they can get something better elsewhere. Most of the time, it’s not better pay that leads to staff moving, but improved company culture, new opportunities, or even just a different kind of management.

While you might not stop every staff member from leaving your team, you can improve your chances of retaining your top talent by taking more time to listen to your staff. For instance:

• Have regular one-on-one meetings: After recruiting your medical device talent , commit to knowing each employee and their goals individually. Schedule regular meetings where you can plan shared goals and get staff excited about the future.
• Ask for feedback: Request as much input as you can from your team, and don’t punish anyone for a negative review. Anonymous surveys and polls are an excellent way to collect some information about your workforce.
• Have exit interviews: When people do decide to leave – find out why. Have an exit interview to find out what people like and dislike about working with you.

The more you listen to your team, the easier it will be to implement strategies for retention that work.

What Next?

If you are looking for your next health care role or want to build your talent pipeline and want our help, contact our team on +971 (0)4 442 0921 or at [email protected] to find out more about how our expert team of recruiters can enhance your business starting today.??

Thanks,?

Chris

About Kinetic:

Kinetic ?are the market-leading recruitment solutions provider for the MEA Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Industry. Established in 2012, we are a dedicated and niche provider of effective recruitment and HR solutions led by industry experts with over 50 years combined experience and are driven by innovative, established, and proven research.

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