3 Ways to Attract and Retain Talent in a Competitive Industry

How do you attract and retain talent and recognize ‘A Players.’

Although when attracting and retaining talent, intelligence and experience are critical, their character, personalities, drive, and internal drive are the intangibles that are important as well.

Top talent is drawn to innovative companies with strong reputation and a culture that rewards success.

One of the major challenges businesses in growing industries face is the rising competition.

The rise of online recruiting has provided new opportunities for young professionals, letting them compare different jobs until they find the right one. 

Most importantly, the growth of the industry and new technologies makes employee retention more difficult. Today’s employees are tech-savvy and they perceive their careers differently. Superior talent is hardworking and dedicated to their jobs, but they’re on a constant lookout for new professional challenges and opportunities. 

Therefore, if you don’t meet their expectations, they will leave you. Stats say that half of the high-retention-risk workers are constantly searching for better jobs.

Here are a few tactics that will help you attract and retain top talent.

Create Career Advancement Opportunities for Attracting and Retain Talent

Career advancement opportunities (or the lack of them) are the main factor that determines whether an employee will stay at your company. 

Stats back me up on this. 

According to the research study conducted by the American Psychological Organization, only 49% of employees were satisfied with their professional growth opportunities. What about the other half? Unfortunately, chances are they will leave your organization. Namely, staff members that cannot achieve the desired professional goals at your company are 12 times more likely to leave. 

The Randstad study claims that limited career paths and the lack of challenging responsibilities are one of the major reasons why people hop jobs. 

That’s why you need to invest more in your employees’ professional progress.

Start right from your hiring processes. When attracting top talent, create job posting ads that would emphasize the career advancement opportunities you provide. Your job description should emphasize how dedicated employees can grow and what they can learn. Explain the mission of your employee learning program and even provide employee testimonials to back you up. 

Now that you’ve attracted top talent, you need to deliver on your promises. Talk to your employees regularly and build an employee-centric learning plan that celebrates their individuality and creativity. Let staff members build their own plans and pick the skills they want to learn or improve. 

This will help you create personalized learning content for them and, in this way, maximize their satisfaction. According to some recent studies, 78% of employees emphasize a solid career advancement plan would motivate them to stay at their company longer.

Not investing in this area will deter potential new hires and send your existing talent base to your competitors. Carve out the time and budget for professional development. It will pay massive dividends in the end.

Reward Staff Regularly to Retain Talent

According to studies, 88% of workers believe that incentivizing employees for good work is necessary. Moreover, the above-mentioned study by Randstad shows that 27% of employees would leave your organization because of the lack of recognition. 

Rewarding your employees regularly is one of the most effective ways to prove that you care about your employees, appreciate their dedication and, above all, to let them know that their hard work makes difference. And, one of the best ways to do so is to combine tangible with intangible rewards.

Tangible rewards are easy to see, touch, or spend in a certain way. Probably the first thing that crosses your mind is probably raises or bonuses. But, what if I told you that your employees prefer non-cash rewards?

Namely, the expectations of modern workers have changed. They want their employers and managers to understand their individual needs, hobbies, and interests and pick a personalized reward? 

For example, if they love reading, why not buy them a gift card at their favorite bookstore? If not sure what their favorite brand or store is, you could also give out prepaid cards that can be spent in multiple locations.

As for intangible incentivizing methods, these are rewards that cannot be touched or seen. Better employee benefits sound like a good method of incentivizing. For example, why not pay for a better insurance plan, buy them newer equipment and furniture, or throw a huge office party for them? You could also offer additional days off, more flexible work schedules, or the above-mentioned career development opportunities.

You can also provide your employees with corporate prepaid cards and load them with funds. That way you can cover their smaller day to day costs such as lunch meetings, transportation, and anything else they might need to make their job easier and work environment more comfortable. This will not only be rewarding and beneficial for your employees, but it will also simplify your daily accounting tasks.

Build your Corporate Culture on Honesty 

Gaining your employees’ trust starts right from your recruiting process. Before you even decide to hire a candidate, you need to make sure that they’re the right fit for your organization. Talk to them openly about your company’s values and missions. Describe the workplace atmosphere the way it is and highlight their responsibilities and obligations. 

Keep in mind that fitting in is not always easy, especially for new employees. Build and nurture the open-door policy and build a culture of open communication and honest relationships. To encourage them to talk to you, you first need to get to know your employees and, above all to show candid interest in their wellbeing, thoughts, and problems.

You should also keep in mind that not everyone will voice their problems, concerns, or ideas publicly. To get your employees’ honest feedback and learn what they really think about you, you should also rely on some alternative methods of collecting their feedback, such as conducting anonymous surveys or questionnaires. 

Honesty is a two-way street

Your employees expect you to be honest with them, too. 

For starters, talk to them about their performance. The idea is to provide them with feedback that will help them improve. Start by setting the right KPIs to track your employees’ performance. This will help you determine whether the employee is meeting your expectations or not. Now, there are numerous ways to provide feedback to employees. 

For example, you could create detailed employee performance reports. You don’t have to create monthly or quarterly reports only. Issues are popping out unexpectedly and, if left unsaid, they may harm your entire company’s performance. This is why weekly or even daily reports may be helpful. Stats back me up on that, showing that highly engaged employees receive feedback from managers weekly.

If someone is underperforming, never criticize them publicly. Instead, schedule an in-person meeting with them. Talk to them openly about the problems they’re facing, ask what prevents them from completing their assignments and, above all, offer help. Sometimes, non-verbal communication, such as tight faces, gasps, or downcast eyes may tell you more than words.

The idea is to always end on a positive note. Let your employees know that the purpose of your feedback is not to make them feel bad. On the contrary, focus on providing constructive criticism – one that will help them understand the mistakes they make and remove them fast.

Over to You on Attracting and Retain Talent

When building your employee recruiting and retention strategy, keep in mind that top talent is scarce. That is why you need to adapt your corporate culture to their needs. 

This means providing greater flexibility and better career growth opportunities. Listen to your employees and show that they are a valuable cog in your well-oiled corporate machine. 

Provide them with regular performance feedback and constructive criticism that will help them improve. 

Above all, reward them to keep them motivated and loyal. 

There is time when it might not make sense to hire new talent outside of the organization. They turn to outsourcing firms for HR, marketing, engineering, and other functions. Read About Hiring A Marketing Agency the 8 Benefits Realized.

 Hope this helps!

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