Attrition is an issue that many companies face. Depending on your industry, you can see attrition rates as high as 24%. Even lower rates can still spell trouble for your organization. It costs much more to find and train new candidates than it does to retain existing employees. The key to solving this problem is to address this situation in your hiring strategy.
By hiring the right candidates for the job, and focusing on a few other areas, you will be able to lower your attrition rates and ensure that your existing workforce will remain productive, on task and motivated to stay with your company.
Targeting the Right Candidates
Before you post another job opening, it’s important to create an ideal employee persona. Much like companies create buyer personas to help them market more effectively, an employee persona will help you identify which traits are the most vital for new hires to have and what skills they’re going to need. Sit down and talk with your department heads and managers to get their input on this persona for each position. You may be surprised at the insight they’ll have to share with you.
Tailor your interview questions around finding out whether or not the candidate in front of you has these desired skills and fits this persona.
Personality Based Hiring
Finding the right candidate can also be based highly on their personality and how they fit in with your corporate culture. If you are in a fast paced industry and demand a lot from your employees, you’re going to want to hire someone who is naturally driven and has a high desire to succeed. Hiring a more laid-back person who needs a lot of motivation and direction to get going is going to be a disaster in that type of situation.
Personality tests can be administered to your candidates during the interview process and will help give you additional insight into the people who are going to be perfect for the position.
Making it Worthwhile to Stay
As the job market begins to recover, it’s tempting for existing employees to want to stray. In fact, candidates you find may only be interested in your position until something better comes along. Make sure you are that something better by offering a solid benefits package and other perks that candidates won’t find elsewhere. This is often the tipping point when it comes to attracting the right kind of talented candidate you’re looking for.
Your retention levels should start to improve as soon as you begin implementing these strategies.
Need more help in lowering attrition rates and finding the right candidates? The experts at Solopoint Solutions are here to help.