Retention is better than recruitment

Retention has been described as the alternative to recruitment. It's even been labelled as 'the new recruiting'. 

It's not hard to see why. Having said that, the importance of retention is sometimes forgotten. This is not a new game-changing, radical or revolutionary idea that is being touted here. It is just plain good old-fashioned common sense. The answer to a lot of the recruitment issues that many organisations face has been sitting underneath their noses all this time. It lies within the organisation's existing workforce.

Imagine you could provide a cost-effective stream of proven talent. Talent that is in tune with the culture and ethos of a company, understands the way the business inside-out and would be perfectly capable of hitting the ground running from Day 1. This sounds like any recruiting team's absolute dream. It would be the recruitment's industry equivalent of the Holy Grail.

That potential and that talent is currently sitting within an organisation. Sometimes existing employees are unappreciated and undervalued. Often they are overlooked as organisations appear to be fixated on attracting new talent in the belief that it is this that will drive the organisation forward.

For some companies, there has been too much of a focus on recruiting talent and not enough of retaining it within the organisation. The case for realigning efforts more in favour of retention is as strong a business case as it is a 'common-sense' case. It would result in considerably lower talent acquisition costs and it would offer a considerable boost to employee engagement. When employee engagement is strong, it will undoubtedly strengthen the employer brand. This, in turn, will make it easier to promote the employer brand more authentically (perhaps, through employee advocacy). This means that when the organisation needs to recruit externally - which it still will, of course - the organisation should look like a very appealing prospect for potential candidates.

Concerns about retention rates are widespread. It is certainly a problem that is shared by many organisations across many sectors. In many ways, it is also symptomatic of the changing employment landscape and the way that attitudes to work have evolved. Younger workers, particularly, don't expect to stay with companies for any great length of time. They want to take on new and different challenges. 

The notion of putting in years of dedicated service and a receiving a carriage clock at the end of it is an outdated idea. However, this doesn't mean that organisations should just shrug their shoulders and accept that 'this is just the way things are these days'. Organisations can be doing more to improve retention rates.

Unsurprisingly, the promise of higher remuneration elsewhere is one of the top reasons why companies lose staff. But it's certainly not the only reason. Many workers who move on say that would have stayed at an organisation if the employer had done something to stop them leaving. Rewards and recognition are other key factors.

Offering competitive salaries is obviously important, but simply throwing money at a problem hardly ever yields the best long-term results or delivers real value to an organisation. Companies need to dig deeper and try to understand what will keep their employees happy and engaged. This could be facilitating a more agreeable work-life balance. Recognising the contribution employees make and ensuring they feel valued is crucial. This is low investment for a high return and can have a considerable impact on the employer brand.

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