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Have you ever hired a top candidate only to see them leave within a year? Or recruited someone with an impressive CV, yet felt they never quite reached their full potential? If you’re nodding in agreement, then you know that traditional methods are no longer enough to attract and retain talent in today’s competitive job market.
Finding and retaining top talent is one of the biggest challenges for employers. Success requires both strategy and an understanding of what really drives today’s workforce. Here are eight tips to help you attract and retain the best employees.
1. Understand what drives your employees
To attract and retain the best talent, it is important to understand what motivates them. Good employees often look for employers that offer a combination of challenging tasks, good pay and a positive working environment. According to the Randstad Employer Brand Research 2024 survey, the top criteria for choosing an employer are:
- Attractive salary and benefits
- Pleasant working environment
- Work-life balance
- Job security
- Interesting work tasks
Think about it: How well do these criteria match what your business offers to current and future employees? Is there anything you can improve to provide even better opportunities?
2. Build an attractive employer profile
A strong employer branding strategy is crucial to attracting top talent. According to a LinkedIn survey, 75% of jobseekers consider the company brand before deciding to apply for a job. In addition, 52% say they look for information about the employer on the website and social media first.
Use social media to showcase your company culture, employee stories and behind-the-scenes content. Post regular updates on company events, team activities and successes. This gives an authentic insight into the company’s values and working environment. By creating an attractive employer profile, you can stand out from the competition and attract the best candidates.
Tip: Tell stories about your employees – what makes them unique? Why did they choose to work for you? What is their day like?
3. Optimise the recruitment process
Effective methods of finding and attracting talent include using technology and data in the recruitment process. Automated systems and AI-based tools can help identify the most qualified candidates faster and more efficiently. Use background checks to avoid recruitment errors. Validata offers different types of background checks to help you verify candidates’ credentials and backgrounds, such as education checks, salary checks and criminal records checks. An optimised recruitment process saves time and resources while improving the candidate experience.
Think about it: How can you improve your recruitment process? How do you do background checks in recruitment today?
4. Create an inclusive and motivating work environment
A workplace where everyone feels included and motivated is crucial to retaining top talent. Today, only 35% believe that senior managers are fair when it comes to opportunities for new roles or career development, according to the Randstad report above. Five in ten employees also say they would leave a job if they did not feel they belonged in the company.
Diversity in the workplace contributes to a richer company culture and better business performance. Inclusion and diversity are key factors in creating a work environment where employees want to stay.
Tip: Share stories about how you work with inclusion. Do you have any inspiring examples of how diversity has led to concrete improvements in your business?
5. Invest in development and career paths
Development and career paths are crucial for employees to feel valued and motivated to stay. A full 59% of respondents in the Randstad report think it is important that employers offer opportunities to retrain and learn new skills. At the same time, 23% say they are not given enough opportunities to develop in their role. In a context where it is difficult to find and retain the right skills, this underlines the importance of employers offering opportunities for skills development.
Tip: Highlight concrete examples of training programs or career paths that you offer. How have these programs helped your employees grow?
6. Offer competitive benefits and flexibility
Benefits and working conditions play a big role in retaining talent. Offer competitive benefits and flexibility to meet employee needs. Salary and benefits top the list when Swedes choose an employer, but only two out of five feel their employer matches their salary expectations. What can you do to close the gap?
7. Build strong relationships and engage employees
A culture of engagement and belonging is important for maintaining a company’s culture. Hold regular appraisals and provide feedback to build strong relationships with employees. Engagement and belonging create a positive work environment where employees feel valued and motivated. As many as 95% of employees highly value a good relationship with their manager, according to a previous Randstad survey.
Tip: Share examples of how your managers work to build strong relationships with their teams. What do they do differently?
8. Measure and improve the employee experience continuously
Even if you as an employer perceive relationships to be good in the workplace, the reality may be different. Use surveys and feedback tools to objectively and continuously measure employee satisfaction. Use the results to improve the work environment and processes. Employee experience is a key indicator of how well a company is retaining its top talent.
At Validata, for example, we use the Dutch Fan Scan tool from Fan Factory internally in our business to measure employee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.
Find the right people – start with background checks
Background checks are an important part of the recruitment process to increase the likelihood that you hire top talent who will fit in with the company and want to stay for a long time. Validata offers extended background checks to help you verify candidates’ credentials and ensure their suitability for the role.
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Want to know more about how Validata can help you prevent a mis-hire and reduce the cost of staff turnover. Contact us today for more information or to book a demo.
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