People are the foundation and cornerstone of our business and retaining our talent is hugely important to us. Increased levels of unplanned turnover can be extremely disruptive and can be indicative of other underlying issues, which any business should seek to understand and where required, take action.
According to our Spring Risk and Confidence survey, six months ago, multinational businesses were prioritising investment in plant, equipment or property – in our latest report (Autumn) that focus has shifted significantly towards hiring the right talent – with 62% of businesses involved in the survey prioritising securing permanent staff ahead of Brexit and potential limits to the right to Freedom of Movement. Looking forward, those same business leaders predict that their focus will shift to leveraging that talent to deliver top-line growth.
To successfully deliver that growth businesses must maintain a focus on retaining and developing their new talent whilst encouraging loyalty amongst their current workforce and here are some tips on how to do that:
Leadership: An effective leader should encourage individual and team commitment and collaboration to drive business success and improvement. It’s the job of a leader to bring a team together. Transparency with your team will lead to more open and honest communication, improved engagement and a positive and more productive working environment. Ensure ongoing communication, constructive feedback and keeping promises you make.
Culture: Create a positive culture employees can thrive in. We must all act in line with, and hold each other accountable for, role modelling the behaviours that lead to success.
Opportunities to learn and grow: Providing opportunities for continued learning in line with individuals’ strengths and career interests will ensure they can continue to grow and remain engaged. Being able to continue to grow and develop is often as important for people as financial rewards.
Succession Planning: Honest succession planning is key. Understanding your talent pools, their capabilities and career aspirations will enable you to understand your organizational strengths and weaknesses and therefore develop strategies to bridge or fill those gaps. Creating stretch opportunities for your existing employees, increases engagement (aiding retention), leverages existing skills and organisational knowledge and keeps costs under control.
Reward and recognition: With at least 3 generations currently in the workplace, incentives and benefits to reward employees for their successes are still effective but are changing. Whilst bonuses will always be popular, the perception of work is changing and other benefits such as agile working are often even more valued.
In summary think about the data points you already have available to you as a business, be that engagement surveys, feedback from focus groups or exit interviews – all can help you evaluate the reasons for unplanned turnover. Retention of talent within a business is not just the remit of HR but every leader within your business.
Claire Parkinson, HR Business Partner
These findings come from our Risk and Confidence Survey, for more insights download your copy here www.cnahardy.com/pulse.