How to ensure your hiring plans stay on track

In an age where employee retention is one of the most critical issues facing businesses it’s never been more important to ramp-up your approach to hiring. According to the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, as many as 1 in 4 UK-based workers are receptive to new opportunities or proactively looking for a new role. If you want to hang on to your top talent, you need to understand the reasons behind the trend and start focusing on longevity.

In-house candidates should be your first port of call

Today’s empowered workforce seek development from the off, increased opportunities for personal growth and more tools to manage their own careers. If employers aren’t savvy enough to provide this, then high performing employees will begin to look elsewhere to meet their career development needs.

But, by shifting the focus of your hiring process to offer promotional and lateral opportunities to worthy internal candidates first, you can boost morale, aid retention and still achieve your recruitment goals.

Establish on-boarding procedures from the get-go

According to Forbes, one-third of new hires quit their jobs after six months. As an employer, you might think that your role is done and dusted once the new team member is through the door, but in reality you should just be getting started.

By establishing an engaging on-boarding process you will significantly reduce the risk that you’ll be recruiting for that same position again in six months’ time.

Adopt a data-driven mind-set

To improve long-term business impact, hiring initiatives need to be driven by data and facts. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your current recruiting process, you can track the progress of your hiring plans. You can even go one step further and use data to build up a picture of what retainable talent for your organisation looks like so that you continue the cycle of hiring the right people.

Make sure your job ads are specific

If your job advertisements read like all the others, the chances are that you’ll receive a slew of generic applications. If you can build time into your hiring plans to focus on making your ads more targeted, you’ll be much more likely to attract the most appropriate and relevant talent.

The last thing you want after spending money and time on recruitment is for a new hire to leave a few months on because the job wasn’t right for them in the first place.

Be in it for the long-haul

When devising your hiring strategy for the year ahead, it’s crucial that you focus on building a team that will survive long-term, as opposed to hiring to meet short-term targets. Without taking into account what the company will look like in a 1-2 years’ time, you run the risk of not retaining employees and having to repeat the hiring process over and over again.

Recruitment is only hard when it isn’t done right. Having worked with many of Oxfordshire’s leading Employers for 20 years, we can help guide and support you hiring efforts. Get in touch with the team today.