Continuing on from Candidate Retention Part1 Robin Poddar discusses in more depth the proven tactics on retaining candidates by improving a working environment.
How Do Employers Tackle Overqualified or Underrated Employees?
This is a common problem and we see a huge amount of candidates coming to us looking for new positions because they feel underrated. Employers should look for reasons why to hire someone rather than why not.
Personally, I’ve placed exceptional candidates that go on to be top performers who come with, judging by their CV, little or no relevant experience for the role. On the contrary I have experienced, on numerous occasions, clients feeling their candidates are over-qualified or too senior for a role.
Overqualified candidates sometimes accept positions to complement their personal life, taking into account their growing families, long commute times, expensive travel cost and so on. Sometimes the perfect position is not all about climbing the career ladder. Underrated employees comes from a lack of internal structure and management; you should have a process to engage with all employees, not just the loud ones that demand attention. Sometimes the quiet ones are the best performers and you lose them before noticing there is a problem.
Employers need to dig deeper when interviewing and look to understand the candidate’s career aspirations, for they may align with the business. When you truly understand a candidate’s reasons for working, they have a much better chance of staying the course. Money, opportunity, progression, environment, culture, flexibility, working environment – all these and more will play their part.
How External Recruiters Help?
The reasons why many employees leave a company are often things that can be taken care of at hiring. Many recruiters feel their job is done the moment a candidate starts their new role and the invoice is sent. Here are Psixty, we share the responsibility of onboarding the candidate with the client. Checking in with candidates is crucial.
Usually the recruiter has built a relationship with the candidate and the candidate may share initial concerns with them rather than go directly to their new boss. Making sure the client is aware of these concerns, which are normally easily rectified, is essential.
It really starts well before this. Recruiters need to further qualify the role and company with the client – understanding what works well, why people are leaving, after how long and the problems they’re having. This can all be addressed prior to a recruitment drive and measures can be taken to improve not only the quality of candidate coming through but the likelihood of success and retention.
Successful recruitment isn’t based just on the number of placements (it’s not a numbers game), but on how well those placements do in their new jobs and how long they stay with the company.
Need help with your recruitment process and candidate retention?
Robin is an experienced billing consultant and manager who has long believed that the traditional blanket approach to recruitment is fundamentally flawed. With this in mind, he set up Psixty to focus on providing a more personal level of service to clients and candidates alike. His key skills lie in understanding the tiny details that add up to make successful long-term placements. If your recruitment process is in need of some external help, contact us today.
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