Attracting and keeping great employees

‘Team-building’—it’s more than an exercise.

Building a team that works well together takes time, dedication and planning. But the result is well worth the pay-off, from business growth to great company culture and more.

After you’ve assembled the perfect squad, you’d be forgiven for taking a minute to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour…

But before you do, make sure your business has what it takes to keep the great team you’ve spent so long assembling.

You might need to think outside the box here. Are there particular benefits you can offer? Should you provide varied working arrangements? How can you deter employees from moving on?

All important questions to ask…but what are the answers?

Recruiting your staff

Before you begin the recruitment process, decide which is best: to select people from within or outside the business. Or, you might engage in a mixture of the two.

When doing so, consider the below.

External recruitment

• A non-selective external recruitment process is often undertaken when looking to hire low-skilled employees at low wage levels. Here, recruitment is carried out in a casual manner.

• Selective recruitment is undertaken where there's a demand for skilled and motivated employees who can undertake their role immediately with little need for training.

Internal recruitment

• Internal recruitment provides an excellent opportunity for you to emphasise ongoing personal development and the progression of employees. Employees tend to be happier and more diligent when they can identify potential career progression.

• Employers who prioritise internal training tend to be more focused on employee development. Emphasis is placed on viewing employees as a long-term business asset.

How can you attract new staff?

Employers and employees alike have seen how much the way we work has changed over the past 16 months.

Where businesses had to adapt to continue operating, employees settled into arrangements such as hybrid working and remote working. And now, as we ease out of the pandemic, many employees are looking to maintain their flexible working arrangements—and you can benefit from this.

Before implementing any new arrangements, do your research and plan accordingly. That includes assessing all HR and health & safety risks, as it’s your responsibility to ensure your employees have a safe place to work, even if it’s a home office.

Not only will these working options appeal to job seekers, but your existing employees will benefit too. Having a better work-life balance makes employees happier, with more time to enjoy their personal lives.

How can you keep your staff?

Employees resign for all sorts of reasons, some of which you can’t predict or prevent. For instance, an employee who works a job that requires quite a lot of physical exertion may resign for health-related reasons.

If an employee indicates they intend to resign for reasons such as lack of progression or training, you may be able to retain them with a change of tack or policy.

Here are four tried and tested options to deter resignation and retain great staff:

• Career conversations. Talk to your employees about their career aspirations and goals. See how they align with your business and what you can do for them. Plotting a clear path can convince an employee that your business is the best place for them to flourish.

• Create opportunities for employees to develop. Training, educational courses, and freedom to move within the business can all improve how an employee feels about their role.

• Let employees lead themselves. Employees much prefer to have their say in their work and how they complete it. This method is proven to improve job satisfaction.

• Introduce wellbeing initiatives. You may already have wellbeing practises in place but if not, consider doing so. An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a great place to start.

If these seem like simple steps, well—it’s because they are! There’s no need to overcomplicate how you go about improving employees’ working lives or the workplace environment. Being smart, and involving your employees from the outset, will reaffirm your dedication to them and offset the chances of employees resigning.

If you feel like you could streamline your processes, or need advice about retaining key staff, why not give BrightHR a go?

BrightHR is smart software that transforms the way you manage your people.

• Use the back to work navigator to reopen your business quickly and safely.

• Keep a secure record of furloughed staff with the furlough navigator. Use it to apply for government grants quickly.

• Complete HR software that lets you approve staff holidays on the go, log sickness with ease, and plan staff rotas in seconds.

• Enjoy unlimited document storage. Use it to securely store employee files, furlough letters and return to work docs.

See what BrightHR can do for your business today. Click here for your free demo.