Recruitment and Retention

The problem of retention begins with recruitment! In most of the organizations the recruitment function operates independently of the retention department.

HR people have so far been naive to the direct relationship between the two and the resulting increase in employee turnover. It is therefore in the interest of organizations to understand how the hiring process impacts the employee turnover and devise strategies accordingly.

In recruitment Human resource department comes across a wide range of people who are different in terms of their psyche, their attitudes, beliefs and all other factors. It becomes difficult to judge what motivates whom.

Incentives may motivate a certain person but may be equally unimportant to some other. Money it has been observed is the prime motivator in most of the cases but it motivates only to a certain extent and fails afterwards. How does talent management deal with all this?

Can we have strategies in place that are almost universal in appeal or in other words can we design programs that motivate one and all? A universal solution may or may not be possible and may vary across organizations. But talent management has an answer i.e. look at the holistic picture - deal with whatever you have. We therefore have certain recruiting factors to take care of that impact retention. Here they are:

• Candidates Who are Money Focused

  It is very important to keep a track of people who are motivated by money. Often people tend to switch fast if they are not offered raises, bonuses, and stock options.

  No matter how great is the growth and development trajectory, if it is not being well complemented by a corresponding raise in salary the employee may leave soon! It is only during recruitment that such employees can be tracked easily.

  It is the interview feedback database that helps in making an assessment of what motivates whom. Further employee surveys may be conducted in order to receive their inputs on what they think is lacking in their professional lives. Here the questions should be asked implicitly.

• Past Experience or Average Tenure with Other Organizations

  Ones past experience can offer deep insights into the stability of the individual. An individual whose resume reflects frequent job changes may well be one who will soon leave your organization also once he gets onboard. On the other hand there are individuals who are in high demand because of their talents and who work on a project basis, their resumes will also reflect spontaneity. The decision lies with you.

• Induction and Orientation

  First impressions make lasting impacts. In one research conducted in Indian IT companies it was found out that fresh employees decided in their very first days that how long they were going to stay in that company! How is your induction and orientation program - fine, good, too good, exhilarating? It is high time to assess and review your programs. Try to create a kind of culture that looks challenging and rewarding.

• Role of Recruiters after Hiring

  Recruiters know well what motivates and what de-motivates or annoys the people they have hired. It is often a good practice to keep your recruiters in touch with the ones who have hired them. They add value and offer mentorship and guidance to the fresh employees. They may suggest way outs of obstacles that have come their way, both behavioral and otherwise.

Apart from this there are practices like rewarding managers for less turnover, introducing diversity into the way employees are trained (training and development). All this falls in the ambit of talent management and is common in many good global corporations.

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