Retaining Talented Staff in a Candidate’s Market

Candidates or job seekers have a lot of choice in the market today, and employers need to be proactive and aware of this if they want to retain talented staff. Don't leave discussions with your staff about what is important to them in their career, until the day they hand you their resignation letter.

The media is currently full of reports on how the job market is once again a candidate’s market, not an employer's market. Understanding what employees are running from and what turns their eye and makes them leave, may make the journey less painful for businesses.

It no longer seems to be enough to occasionally check in with staff and ask how things are going. Nor is it enough to assume a smiling face or a response of “yes I'm fine”, will be enough to retain your talented staff. You need to have more honest discussions. McKinsey & Company have written a good article where they state that, “failing to invest in a more fulfilling employee experience and failing to meet new demands for autonomy and flexibility at work, some employees are deliberately choosing to withdraw entirely from traditional forms of full-time employment.”

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/great-attrition-or-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours?li_fat_id=fc801b12-0d9a-42ba-90f6-c9f01d42eb30

If you want to know how to have these conversations with staff without causing alarm, or you want to learn how to carry out an employee satisfaction survey and learn the ways to react to the findings, give my team a call. We will take the heavy lifting out of this for you.

Please contact the IHRS team via email HRhelp@ihrsolutions.co.uk, call 01604 709509 or visit our website.

Posted by Katherine Watkins on 16 Dec 2021

Human Resources , People

About the author

Katherine Watkins

Katherine is a member of the senior management team at RWA. She has over 20 years’ international experience working in HR, across various sectors, including financial services, insurance and regulated environments. Over the years, she has collaborated with some exceptionally talented HR professionals, with whom she has joined forces on special projects. Her network of HR professionals provides advice and training to companies and other HR teams.

In her role with RWA, Katherine heads up RWA’s Human Resources Consultancy and provides objective support to firms on employment law and HR issues. She uses her extensive skills and knowledge to work with firms to help them develop strong and resilient HR strategies and establish healthy organisational cultures.

Katherine holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Northampton and a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Strategies from London Metropolitan University. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD).