Finding Balance: Recruitment -vs- Retention

The current job market has brought significant attention to the role retention plays in keeping companies fully staffed. For decades companies have been steadily increasing their investment in the tools, technology, and talent needed to bring on the talent. For TA leaders, having the ability to fill open positions faster and faster each year, while at the same time dramatically increasing recruiter capabilities, has made it a “golden age for recruiting”.? So where does retention fit in with all of this?? To answer that, you need to understand the relationship between the two.

Let’s start first with the voracious need for talent that exists today.? It is an insatiable hunger driven by a society consuming goods, services, and technology, faster and faster, day after day, year after year, and it is the role of TA leaders to feed this beast.

I like to use visualizations to explain things, and for this recruitment -vs- retention discussion let’s use a balance scale.? On one side sits the current and expected need for talent or “DEMAND”, and on the other sits the TA department's candidate supply or “SUPPLY” . To succeed, TA leaders need only balance Demand with Supply, and this “Golden age for recruiting” has made it easy for many to do so. Most newly opened positions were quickly met with a robust pipeline of qualified candidates balancing out the scale. Each termination or resignation while also adding to the DEMAND side of the scale, could also be balanced with a qualified candidate SUPPLY, making it difficult for leaders to justify the ROI for retention. Post COVID cost control measures at many organizations have led to the significant reduction or even the elimination of funds set aside for retention programs.

That changed in the first quarter of 2023, as most companies saw their scale tipping significantly toward the DEMAND side, with TA leaders struggling to find balance through the SUPPLY of qualified talent. Not waiting for the supply of talent to come through traditional means, many recruiters have turned their focus towards passive candidates, hoping to acquire (or poach) talent from their competition.??

This tipping of the scales has led to a renewed focus on employee retention, as organizations seek to reduce the DEMAND by keeping their existing workforce. This growing interest may even usher in a “golden age of retention”, inspiring investment into the tools, technology, and talent needed to provide an exceptional employee experience. With some companies accustomed to recruiting their way out of a now unmanageable 100% this may prove impossible.? We shall see what the future holds.

If this piqued your interest in learning more about? recruiting and retention, feel free to drop a comment below or shoot me a message.? The team at Appcast also has also compiled a treasure trove of information that YOU CAN FIND HERE in its resource library. As always please remember to like, comment, share, and subscribe to The Monday Minute .? Have a great week in recruiting and retention!

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