The Great Resignation and ongoing layoffs, especially those from the likes of Facebook, Amazon, and other big tech names, are shining an exceptionally bright light on employees leaving companies—and rightfully so.
In 2022, more than 50mm people quit their jobs, while the first month and a half of 2023 saw 77,000 tech workers lose their jobs.
The mass exodus is putting many people in a challenging position, made even worse by a plummeting economy.
It’s not all bad news, though.
Many companies are still hiring, and small-to-medium businesses can use the departures as an opportunity to recruit talent from some of the biggest names in the world.
The shifts in the market should also get businesses to look inward at the employees they currently have on payroll. It’s time for them to address turnover rates and focus on employee retention.
How?
A thoughtful mix of the right workplace elements and some strategic guidance from a staffing and recruiting agency.
How Staffing and Recruiting Agencies Can Help with Employee Retention in 2023
A quick Google search for “how to increase employee retention” will surface millions of articles; many of those articles focus on post-hiring tactics, i.e., steps you can take after you hire someone to retain them.
This article for HubSpot, 18 Strategies to Increase Employee Retention, is a good example.
HubSpot does touch on pre-hire tactics, but most of the suggestions focus on the opposite—tactics like proper onboarding, DEI, a focus on mental health, and career development.
These are great ways to improve employee retention, especially for younger generations less focused on compensation and other tangible benefits. In fact, 39% and 32% of millennials and Gen Z who responded to a survey said that work-life balance was the biggest reason they chose their current employer.
That said, the key to employee retention comes ages before a new hire’s first day; the companies with the best employee retention rates are the ones that dedicate significant time and resources to the hiring process.
This is where a staffing and recruiting agency comes into play.
One of the biggest benefits of working with a staffing and recruiting agency is the time savings and speed at which they can bring right-fit candidates to the table. HR teams are often understaffed, spreading them too thin across dozens of interviews, countless outreach emails, and a pile of paperwork.
Meanwhile, hiring managers are strapped for time. Asking them to dedicate significant resources to hiring prevents them from doing the job you actually pay them to do.
If that’s the “1a” benefit, the “1b” benefit is the thoroughness of the hiring process and the length the best staffing and recruiting agencies will go to ensure right-fit hires.
At the end of the day, employees leave a company for one of two reasons: The company doesn’t meet their expectations or because they don’t meet the employer’s expectations.
Either way, those pitfalls—ones that can cost thousands of dollars—can be avoided by truly vetting the candidate. Frankly, they must be put through the wringer to ensure they mesh with the culture, company values, and everything in between.
At the same time, the hiring process should set clear expectations for the candidate and make it clear what they can expect if they join the team in some capacity.
Staffing and recruiting agencies accomplish these inherent necessities, ensuring candidates who become employees not only have the best chance to thrive in their new role but will stick around for years to come.
Want to learn more about how Wellington Steele & Associates can help you improve employee retention? Reach out today.