The last few years have been painted as years of reaction and response to the changing landscape of work, but 2022 is where the narrative changes and the commercial world takes control of its future.
Business leaders in the Alcon Maddox network have shared their experience, opinions and advice regarding this year of transition. As the grip of the pandemic abates, we move into the new normal. Here, we examine the key topic of recruitment and retention, and offer it to the wider Alcon Maddox community for review and reflection.
Recruitment and Retention
Finding and keeping the best talent for your organisation has always been a key business challenge, and in our new working environment it gets magnified tenfold. With the erosion of geographical borders that remote working has facilitated, businesses are no longer in competition for talent with competitors based in their locality, now the competition has gone global.
As a business leader, what can you do to place your organisation at an advantage in this ongoing war for talent?
Put Candidate Experience at the Centre of the Process
The impression a candidate has of your organisation begins with the way you advertise vacancies. Your attention to detail and how you emphasise the key reasons to join your business will have a profound and lasting impact. Once the interest of the candidate has been secured, the interview and selection process provides the next layer in the impression that a candidate forms of your company. Ensuring that hiring managers and interview panels place candidate care at the top of their priority list will increase the likelihood that a candidate has a positive experience, but it doesn’t stop there. Your teams should be trained and well prepared to conduct interviews that allow the panel to effectively assess a candidate while simultaneously allowing the candidate to assess their own fit within your company.
Put these key areas of focus at the centre of your recruitment and retention strategy.
Your Employer Value Proposition
The rates of fixed and variable salary must form a focus for any leader. However, it’s imperative that these factors are assessed against market rates, not on the previous years spend. Candidates have never had more access to market rate data - they know their value in the market and failure to meet this base-line level will place any company at a severe disadvantage.
Now more than ever, salary is certainly not the only focus of the candidate pool. Today’s candidates have expectations with regard to hybrid and remote working, work life balance, and health/wellness support. They also want a keen understanding of the organisation’s purpose, its vision and mission, whilst also witnessing its commitment to corporate social responsibility. Very often candidates insight into this wider EVP will be a result of the detailed narrative that your organisation has in any public facing media, along with access that they may have to direct feedback from your existing employee population. If a candidate recognises a lack of congruence between what your organisation says it does, and what your employees say you do, there will be an immediate red flag.
Putting energy into designing and implementing an authentic EVP will have the single biggest impact on your ability to attract and retain top talent.
Employee Development
The age-old story of the conversation between the CEO and the CFO…
CEO: We need to invest in the development of our staff.
CFO: But what if we make that investment and they leave?
CEO: Ah… but what if we don’t, and they stay?!
This might seem tragically dated now, but the point still remains that investment in the development of your staff is not an option - it is a necessity. The rapid rate of change in technology, service delivery, management practices, etc., means that if you aren’t investing in your people, their ability to perform within your organisation is stunted. Personal development and career development are two key areas of focus that have a massive return on your ability to retain high quality talent.
Put these key areas of focus at the centre of your recruitment and retention strategy. While the challenge of attracting and retaining top talent will never be truly over, by keeping recruitment and retention top-of-mind you will be in the best position for success in 2022.