In the Rush to Hire – Don’t Forget the Employees Who Decided to Stay

It is easy to get caught up in hiring strategy and acquiring more talent to join your workforce, but it’s essential not to forget about the employees who stayed. This post shares how to focus on those employees.

1. Start with hiring and moving up employees from within

Consider what outcome you want to create out of this uniquely disruptive time. This is a time to be grounded in pragmatism blended with possibility, gratitude, and recognition of what your people, old and new, are going through. Find out if anyone within the company is looking to move up or make a lateral transition. Try recognizing their ambition and filling holes within the company with current employees while also seeking new hires from outside the organization.

2. Be aware of your actions while in the hiring process

As leaders, people watch you all the time, whether you realize it or not. Pause and consider how you are showing up in your words and actions. Let’s say your company is experiencing record turnover and hiring is falling below target. Your people are worried and stressed. How do you communicate the realities of these pain points to your employees? Are you aware of how your own concerns and frustrations are translated or viewed by others? Are you unintentionally adding to their fear and uncertainty? When you become aware of your impact, you can control it and steer it in the right direction, easing current employees’ tensions while also reassuring new hires of their future with your company.

3. Give respect and attention to current staff

The marketplace for talent has shifted. You need to consider your employees as customers and pay thoughtful attention to retaining them. This is the first step to slow attrition and regain your growth curve. And this does not happen when they feel ignored in the fever to hire new people or underappreciated for the effort they make to keep business moving forward. You cannot take your people for granted and expect them to stay — healthy relationships do not work that way.

4. Make it count

According to Forbes, recruiting new blood is vital for growth, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of existing employees. Ensuring current staff are nurtured, supported, and have everything they need to feel motivated to stay should be a priority. Is the compensation package you’re offering competitive? Are the training and development opportunities you’re providing enough to ward off the approaches of headhunters? These are questions you need to ask, whether as part of a “stay interview” or end-of-year appraisal. Speak to employees one-on-one and find what they enjoy about their job, what could be improved and what you can do to ensure they’re enthusiastic about staying. The key is to listen to what they have to say and be prepared to act on their feedback.

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